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The first film in the "Predator" franchise benefits from a very straightforward core premise that sets the stage for lots of storytelling invention. Set in the jungles of Central America, the film follows a group of highly trained, deadly paramilitary operatives led by Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger), whose rescue mission to the area is interrupted by the arrival of the title creature.

Right away, with the help of some of the best weapons wielded by a Predator in the whole series, the title creature — an alien hunter who travels the galaxy looking for the best prey it can find — begins to pick off members of the team, rendering all their firepower useless with its futuristic tech and setting up a showdown with Dutch.

This 1987 film is home base for everything that works about "Predator," from the concept to the creature design to the ways in which human perseverance and ingenuity are able to triumph over a technologically superior foe. Every "Predator" film that follows is either a reaction to or deliberate expansion of this setup.

"Predator" is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.

20th Century Fox

"Predator" established the idea that there is an alien super-killer out there in the galaxy who might return to Earth at any time and any place to test its combat skills against human opponents, which left 1990's "Predator 2" free to pick just about any spot on the globe for a follow-up.

The film's creative team chose Los Angeles, specifically a version of Los Angeles in the midst of a hyper-violent drug war, for the setting of the "Predator" follow-up, and it pays off in terms of pure explosive visual power. From the very beginning, "Predator 2" is laced with shootouts, explosions, and chaos, giving it a more chaotic feel than the tension-laced first movie. 

The urban environment provides lots of contrast to the first film, the Predator gets some new weapons to play with, and the film establishes that the United States government is now onto the Predator species and its hunting excursions onto Earth. "Predator 2" is also the first film in the series to introduce more of the Predator culture, and to seed the idea that these creatures have been hunting on Earth for a very long time.

"Predator 2" is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.

20th Century Fox

The first of two crossover films between the "Predator" and "Alien" franchises, 2004's "Alien vs. Predator" moves the action to the early 2000s near the South Pole, where a group of explorers are lured to what turns out to be both an ancient Predator hunting ground and an incubator for new alien xenomorph soldiers. What follows is an all-out battle between the two species, with humans caught in the middle and carnage exploding from every possible direction.

Just as the title suggests, this film is an excuse to get these two classic movie monsters together in one film, let them fight, and see how things shake out. Like "Predator 2," it's a film that plays with the idea that the Predator species is built on a culture of respect for superior hunters and killers, and in this film we even get to see a Predator reluctantly collaborating with a human. Yes, you can skip the two "AvP" films if you want and still get lots of "Predator" fun from the other movies, but the whole point of the "Predator" franchise is watching all the different ways you can play with these creatures, making this film and its sequel essential.

"Alien vs. Predator" is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.

20th Century Fox

Set immediately after the first "AvP" film, 2007's "Alien vs. Predator: Requiem" follows what happens when a Predator/Alien hybrid creature is born and crashes a Predator ship in a small Colorado town. Just as the previous film built on the Predator culture and how they deal with their prey, "Requiem" expands the story even further by establishing that there's a veteran Predator back on the species' homeworld, ready to come to Earth and deal with an emerging alien threat.

What follows is another knock-down, drag-out fight between xenomorphs and Predators, culminating in what turns out to be a key piece of plot information for the future "Alien" timeline. That means that this crossover franchise, at least in terms of pure connective tissue, might lean a little more toward the "Alien" movies, but there's still lots of fun here for "Predator" fans. Apart from the simple joy of watching the creatures in action, the film also digs deeper into how they respond when their way of life is threatened on another world, and helps set up even more expansions to the Predator lore in future films.

"Alien vs. Predator: Requiem" is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.

20th Century Fox

It took 20 years for the Predator to return to its standalone franchise after "Predator 2," but when it did, it did so with a fascinating spin on the setup provided by the first two films. Like "Predator," 2010's "Predators" follows an elite group of killers in the middle of a wilderness who must face a deadly alien threat. But unlike "Predator," the human killers in this film are transported in from elsewhere, with no understanding of how they arrived on what turns out to be a remote alien planet. They're simply dropped there and forced to work together to survive, all while alien hunters close in from all sides.

As the title suggests, "Predators" depicts the Predator species hunting as a group, using every tactic available to them on a world that they control. It introduces the idea that there are certain "Super Predators" who have grown beyond the kind of hunter we saw in the original film, and digs even deeper into all the different ways the Predator society has interfered with human life over the centuries.

"Predators" is streaming on Hulu and available to rent or buy on Prime Video.

20th Century Fox

Though it might finish last in a list of the "Predator" movies ranked worst to best, there's still lots of juicy lore to explore in "The Predator," the 2018 film written and directed by original "Predator" co-star Shane Black. Set in the present day, the film follows a group of military and special forces prisoners who get embroiled in the recent crash of a Predator vessel on Earth, and the resulting fallout as the creature who piloted the ship comes into contact with another, more advanced Predator.

While it wasn't well-received upon release, "The Predator" did add a lot of interesting ideas to the overall franchise, and is therefore worth watching for a complete picture of the series. Like "Predators," it deals with the idea that there are levels to Predator society, as some members are clearly more advanced killing machines than others. The film also introduces the idea that, as part of their goal to become the ultimate hunters in the galaxy, the Predators are essentially augmenting their DNA with that of their most prized prey, and even introduces a Predator-hunting suit that could be used by humanity in a battle against the creatures. There's a lot to take in, which might explain why the film is a bit of a mess.

"The Predator" is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.

20th Century Studios

Director Dan Trachtenberg's 2022 take on the "Predator" franchise is, as the title suggests, a new vision of some familiar concepts, and marks the first time a feature film has moved the series into prequel territory. Set in the early 18th century, the film follows a young Comanche woman (Amber Midthunder) as she encounters a more primitive version of the Predator in the Great Plains of North America.

The film's setting and characters offer a lot of variations on some classic "Predator" movie tropes, and of course, "Prey" helps to flesh out the idea in previous "Predator" films that these creatures have been visiting Earth for a long time, doing their best to defeat humanity's most gifted killers throughout history. It's a film that gives us a horrifying new look for the Predator itself, a new hero to root for, and lots of potential for the future of the franchise. After all, if the Predator can show up in the Great Plains in the 1700s, it can show up just about anywhere.

"Prey" is now streaming on Hulu.

20th Century Studios

While we've established that the best way to watch the "Predator" films is probably in the order that they've been released, to get a better sense of the way the franchise develops and plants seeds along the way, it's not the only way to watch these films. After all, at a certain point the franchise gave us the option of looking back to the past, via its first prequel, before catching up with the present-day narrative.

So if you're looking for an alternate viewing order, you might consider starting with "Prey" as the very first film you watch. Since it's set more than 200 years before the events of "Predator," and because the franchise is not full of direct connections between the films in the first place, you'll get a nice freestanding adventure before moving to the relative present and the original 1987 film. Then you can just carry on watching in sequence all the way to "The Predator." It all still works, and you get the added connective tissue of flintlock guns that were used in the "Prey" era being brought back again in "Predator 2." So the alternative order looks like this:

20th Century Fox

We've covered the key ways you could watch the "Predator" movies in the main series, but what if you'd like to take an expanded view of things? After all, the "Predator" films are part of a two-movie crossover with the "Alien" franchise, and if for some reason you've watched one franchise without ever seeing the other, you might be looking for a little more context.

With that in mind, you could also put together a viewing order that allows you to experience the "Alien" films alongside the "Predator" films, which will allow for maximum enjoyment of "Alien vs. Predator" when it comes along in your list. This means that, while watching the "Predator" films, you should also make a little time to work in two films from its sister franchise, which will add context and depth to "AvP." That viewing order looks a little something like this: