The Alien franchise is coming to HBO Max – including the brilliant and terrible director's cuts and special editions

Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley and Carrie Henn as Rebecca during the sci-fi movie, Aliens. — (Image credit: 20th Century Fox)

While the Alien franchise is owned by Disney, HBO Max is the latest streamer to get access to the storied sci-fi horror franchise. Starting on April 1, almost all of the films in the series will be available to watch on the service, which recently launched in the UK (find out more in our guide on how to watch HBO Max in the UK).

Excitingly, the launch also includes director's cuts of most of the films – some of which are highly recommended. (And some which aren't...) The films that are coming to HBO Max are:

Alien
Alien: Director’s Cut
Aliens
Aliens: Director’s Cut
Alien 3
Alien 3: The Assembly Cut
Alien Resurrection
Alien Resurrection: Special Edition
Alien vs. Predator
Alien vs. Predator: Extended Cut
Alien vs. Predator: Requiem – Extended Cut
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem

The three films that aren't included are the most recent ones. These include Ridley Scott's somewhat controversial prequels, 2012's Prometheus and 2017's Alien: Covenant. Also not in the drop is 2024's Alien: Romulus. This was generally considered a bit of a return to form for the franchise, with our Alien: Romulus review calling it, "full of shocks and suspense." To see those films you'll have to head to Disney Plus.

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Which version of the films should I watch?

Alien movies in order: a xenomorph in the movie Alien Covenant drooling. — (Image credit: 20th Century Studios)

All of the films here are accompanied by an optional director's cut. In some cases these make dramatic changes that are genuinely worth checking out. But which version of each film should you go for?

Alien: Ridley Scott's director's cut is unusual in that it's actually about a minute shorter than the theatrical cut! Scott seemingly wanted to up the pace of the film, but given that Alien's slow, dreamy atmosphere is a big part of its appeal, we say stick to the original.

Aliens: The Aliens director's cut adds in an extra 17 minutes, including a lengthy prologue sequence on Hadley's Hope before the xenomorphs wiped everyone out. While the theatrical cut is faster-paced, the director's cut of Aliens is the more overwhelming and immersive experience – so go for that.

Alien 3: There's no question here. The "Assembly Cut" of Alien 3 (so-called because it wasn't put together by director David Fincher, who has washed his hands of Alien 3 entirely) is leagues better than the theatrical version. The film's pacing issues have been smoothed out, the characters are better developed and, overall, it transforms a weak, half-finished-feeling project into something more substantial.

Alien: Resurrection: The first outright bad Alien film is made even worse in its special edition (again, not a true director's cut). It includes 13 minutes and 5 seconds of new footage, but simply exacerbates the movie's faults. Stick to the original.

Alien vs. Predator: The first PG-13 rated Alien film gets some of its edge back in a bloodier special edition that's worth seeking out.

Alien vs. Predator: Requiem: Does it matter? Skip both and save yourself the pain of watching what is easily the worst film in the entire franchise. If you really must watch, then the special edition is about 7 minutes longer. But is that really a good thing?

PRODUCTS

Will Salmon is the Streaming Editor for GamesRadar+. He has been writing about film, TV, comics, and music for more than 15 years, which is quite a long time if you stop and think about it. At Future he launched the scary movie magazine Horrorville, relaunched Comic Heroes, and has written for every issue of SFX magazine for well over a decade. His music writing has appeared in The Quietus, MOJO, Electronic Sound, Clash, and loads of other places too.