10 Reasons There Are Only 2 And A Half Good Alien Movies

7. The Class War Subtext Got Forgotten

Alien’s human characters were space truckers, grimly piloting their space tug while complaining about their bonuses. Aliens’ humans were mostly military grunts, with limited knowledge of what they were doing or why, and a healthy distrust of the REMFs in charge. Alien3’s characters were the lowest of the low, life-term prisoners overseen by supervisors barely any less despised by the system than the convicts.

Their conflict was never just with the xenomorphs, but also with the corporate forces that treated them as disposable property. Thus the most memorable line from Alien became the ship’s computer informing Ripley of her ‘crew expendable’ status. The war between the working men and women, and the soulless corporate overlords, was as much a part of the Alien series as the grinning space reaper itself.

Sure, Alien: Resurrection has its scummy band of space mercenaries and their opposing military scientists. But the prequels boast an elite band of scientists and colonial administrators as protagonists. Weyland-Yutani is still an antagonist, but without the blue-collar heroes to throw its corporate psychopathy into contrast.

The Alien series’ heroes aren’t normal people any more - they’re the superior scientist-heroes of smug, old-school sci-fi, and we don't give that much of a toss when they die.