How To Watch All of the Original ‘Resident Evil’ Movies in Order

Paul W.S. Anderson and Milla Jovovich have collaborated on six installments of the Resident Evil film franchise, inspired by the wildly successful video game series of the same name. The series has plenty of clichéd phrases typical of the early 2000s in addition to its rowdy, engaging action, futurist technology, and vicious creatures. The films adapt elements of the games, such as antagonists and supporting characters. Still, they have unique plots and feature Jovovich as a neophyte to the Resident Evil canon.

Paul W. S. Anderson’s scripting and direction brought out fan favorites despite the movies’ limited links to the game’s narrative. The franchise has broken records for the highest-grossing film series based on a video game and the highest-grossing film series about zombies.

Let’s say you’re interested in seeing the Resident Evil films in order from the franchise’s beginning. As each movie is a continuation of the series, it doesn’t matter whether you watch them in chronological or release order.

Here are the Resident Evil movies in order:

1. Resident Evil (2002)
2. Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
3. Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
4. Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)
5. Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)
6. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016)

Without further ado, let’s dive into how to watch the original Resident Evil movies in order.

1. Resident Evil (2002)

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Video game enthusiasts were eager to see their beloved Resident Evil characters on the big screen when the first movie came out in 2002. Instead, they were given whole new characters to join the recognized canon of the games.

The original character Alice (Milla Jovovich) was developed for the film series Resident Evil and debuted in 2002. After waking up with amnesia, she eventually recalls being a private security officer for the Umbrella Corporation.

The film’s tension and unsettling atmosphere come from the well-written story, the strong performances of Jovovich and Rodriguez, and the eerie soundscape by Marilyn Manson. Perhaps the best decision is to adapt practically nothing from the games’ current narrative, as the positive impact the games did have is far greater: In this case, the thought of utilizing zombies to delve into the horror of biological warfare and the catastrophic character of capitalist greed.

There are, however, several callbacks to Resident Evil 1 and 2, as well as the first hint at Nemesis, the horrifying rocket-wielding monster of Resident Evil 3.

The film was met with mixed reviews from reviewers and audiences alike; complaints focused on the film’s excessive action sequences, repetitive language reminiscent of video games, and disappointed gamers. Yet, it became an instant cult classic thanks in large part to the spirited performance by Jovovich as the film’s seductive, stoic, and indestructible heroine Alice and the excitement of the film by fans of shoot-em-up action movies.

Experience the classic horror of “Resident Evil” (2002) – buy your copy now on Amazon and prepare for a thrilling ride into the world of survival horror!

2. Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)

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Jovovich’s Alice returns in Resident Evil: Apocalypse, the sequel to the 2004 film, to continue the struggle against the undead. Anderson returned to write the sequel but didn’t direct it. Instead, Alexander Witt made his directorial debut with the film.

This film has been deemed the strongest and worst in the series and is the most and least related to the franchise, respectively.

Resident Evil is a survival thriller with a strong story that employs the “protagonist with amnesia” cliche and follows the tried-and-true horror format of thinning out a huge cast of characters.

However, Apocalypse throws that out the window and becomes an all-out action film, establishing Alice as the series’ definitive butt-kicking femme fatale. It trades the original film’s confined atmosphere for a more spacious one, complete with larger stakes, more sophisticated weapons, and more dangerous adversaries.

In many ways, Apocalypse successfully continues the story established in the previous film. Nevertheless, it also suffers from many typical flaws plaguing action movies. It’s campy, bordering on absurd at times, with mostly lackluster performance and an irritating reliance on tropes.

Ultimately, this isn’t a picture that scored well with audiences, but if you can get beyond its flaws, you may find yourself impressed by its human stories and pleasantly surprised by its fine editing—perhaps not by the church rescue sequence, though.

Get ready for the ultimate battle with “Resident Evil: Apocalypse” – buy your copy now on Amazon and join Alice in the fight against the undead!

3. Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)

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The third entry in the original live-action Resident Evil films series is Resident Evil: Extinction. Although the inclusion of cloning and psychic vision epicness added some needed novelty to the action, the film otherwise failed to set itself apart from its predecessors.

Anderson is back in the writer’s chair for the third installment, with Russel Mulcahy at the helm. Despite negative reviews, the picture opened at number one in the United States and earned over $148 million worldwide.

By the start of the third movie, poor Alice’s situation had not brightened. The zombie outbreak has rendered Racoon City untenable, so she and a small group of other survivors travel across the Mojave Desert to Alaska.

The Umbrella Corporation continues its experimentation, resulting in horrifying mutations in the infected, making them increasingly nastier. At the same time, Alice learns the full scope of her new abilities due to the virus and that her blood may contain a cure.

While some excellent combat scenes stand up even today, the film seemed a touch clichéd despite the interesting concept that enabled for a far more captivating tale than the previous.

Several game elements and characters appear in Extinction, such as Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) and Albert Wesker (Jason O’Mara). Iain Glen is also fantastic as Dr. Isaacs, and we even get to witness him transform into a Tyrant, among the greatest foes in video games. Often regarded as the greatest film of the franchise, Resident Evil: Extinction is tense, creative, and gorgeously filmed.

Don’t miss out on “Resident Evil: Extinction“, available now on Amazon! Join Alice and her team in battling the undead and Umbrella Corporation in this action-packed third installment of the franchise. Head to Amazon and add it to your collection today.

4. Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)

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This fourth live-action sequel of Resident Evil was again written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. It was shot in 3D using the same techniques pioneered by James Cameron and Vince Pace for their wildly successful 2009 film Avatar.

Milla Jovovich returns as Alice in this installment set in Tokyo, Japan, and earns her the Scream Award for Best Science Fiction Actress. To top it all off, Resident Evil: Afterlife grossed over $300 million, making it the second highest-earning film in the franchise’s history.

An entire year has passed since the events of RE: Extinction, and Alice and her clones finally came together to strike Umbrella Headquarters and kill Albert Wesker. The zombie apocalypse is going swimmingly for Alice until disaster strikes, and she loses the abilities that have helped her so much.

As a result, Afterlife becomes a generic zombie movie about a group of survivors attempting to flee a building surrounded by marching corpses while contending with the darkest aspects of humanity. It accomplishes its job well enough, but it falls short of expectations.

“Afterlife” made a last-ditch effort to appease gamers by inserting Chris Redfield (Wentworth Miller), arguably the major hero of the video games, into the narrative as if he had always been there. Was the intended effect achieved? It’s anyone’s guess.

The fight scenes were exciting because of how precisely they were executed, and the story was cleaner and more interesting than what came before. It also generated a substantial amount of earnings. The film’s reception, however, did nothing to improve the series’ standing with reviewers.

Own “Resident Evil: Afterlife” now on Amazon!

5. Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)

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Resident Evil: Retribution, released in 2012, is set after the developments of Afterlife. In Resident Evil 5, Alice is imprisoned in an underwater laboratory in the North by the villainous Umbrella Corporation. Retribution, the picture that pandered to franchise fanatics the most, was entertaining oddly.

Following four films that hardly allude to the games’ characters or stories, “Retribution” inserts recognizable faces from both the games and the movies to assist Alice in her search for retribution. See what we did there?

In the fifth RE installment, Leon S. Kennedy, a protagonist from the video game series, is introduced to aid in the rescue of Alice, who is now attempting to escape Umbrella’s undersea research facility with the support of her antagonist, Albert Wesker.

A restored Red Queen AI from the first film took over Umbrella Corp. and had plans to wipe off all existence on this planet, and the unsettling team of Alice and Wesker are trying to stop her. In addition, Umbrella has successfully corrupted Jill Valentine off-cam, and she has returned as a notable antagonist.

With all of its action and intrigue, the picture seems oddly bloated. A dozen plots are afoot, including one featuring Soviet-era undead armed with missile launchers. The film is thrilling even when it’s ridiculous.

The movie received mixed reviews, with several reviewers noting the usual franchise tropes like skin tight clothing and over-the-top battle scenes. The movie has several flaws, but the violence and gore are positively received.

Get ready for non-stop action and zombie-slaying with “Resident Evil: Retribution“, now available on Amazon!

6. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016)

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In Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, the adventure returns to its roots as Alice returns to The Hive underneath Raccoon City. Alice and the remaining survivors must compete with time to deploy the anti-virus well before Umbrella Corporation unleashes the T-virus and annihilates the remainder of humanity while the wealthy and privileged sleep securely in cryogenic chambers.

Alice finally uncovers the reality about her identity after being betrayed by a clone of her comrade (Wesker, shocker) and fights her ultimate struggle against death.

It boasts one of the greatest second acts but a weak storyline. Isaacs commands an undead army in armored tanks, with captives hooked to the rear as the lure for more undead meanies, leading to epic combat between himself and Alice. If you thought the Battle of Winterfell in Game of Thrones lacked a sound understanding of warfare strategy, you’d be pleased to know that Isaacs’ attack on the last human stronghold follows a rather strategic vision.

Despite Anderson’s intent to resolve all dangling narrative threads, only four characters from the preceding films appeared in the final picture, leading many viewers to wonder what became of the characters they never saw again.

As the highest-grossing and critically-acclaimed installment in the franchise, it did not disappoint loyal viewers.

Head over to Amazon to watch “Resident Evil: The Final Chapter“.

Bonus Must-Watches and Special Mentions

More Resident Evil hack-and-slash awesomeness is available, but these CGI productions are more directly connected to the games than the Anderson-Jovovich universe, making them obvious fan favorites.

• Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008) is set sometime after Resident Evil 4
• Resident Evil: Damnation (2012) is a prequel to the video game Resident Evil 6
• Resident Evil: Vendetta (2017) is set between Resident Evil 6 and Resident Evil 7
• Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness (2021) happens between Resident Evil 4 and 5
• Resident Evil: Death Island (2023) is a direct sequel to Resident Evil: Vendetta

Although produced in Japan, each film is delivered in English, with voice acting performed almost solely by Americans. The game’s fans who speak English and want to learn as much as possible about the overarching Resident Evil storyline won’t have to worry about a language barrier.

The reception has been lackluster at best. However, it may vary from player to player depending on how invested they are in the game’s plot. However, it should be made clear that the CGI incarnations of Claire and Chris Redfield, Leon Kennedy, and Ada Wong don’t have any bearing on their live-action counterparts and don’t fit in the twisted world built by Anderson and Jovovich.

You can also watch the Resident Evil series on Netflix. It occurs in its own parallel world and alternates between two periods. Jade and Billie Wesker are followed from their childhood in New Raccoon City, when they learn their father’s and Umbrella Corporation’s terrible secrets, to the future, as Jade finds herself facing the world’s final days 14 years in the future.

The premiere of Resident Evil occurred on July 14, 2022, and was met with unfavorable reception from both reviewers and the general public. After just one season, the show was canceled in August 2022.

There’s also the limited-release Japanese 3D animated biopunk horror film Biohazard 4D-Executer runs for just 20 minutes and is based on the Resident Evil video game franchise.

Final Thoughts

In November 2021, we discovered that the Final Chapter wasn’t final. A new iteration of the franchise called Welcome to Raccoon City debuted. The seventh film used a different perspective than the other six to depict the essence of the games accurately.

The purpose of Welcome to Raccoon City was to breathe new life into the Resident Evil franchise. Despite its take on the story and faithfulness to the events of the first two games, it was not a commercial success. You can still stream it on Amazon.

There, there you have it, a recap of the original Resident Evil live-action movie franchise. If you want to relive the excitement of Alice against the zombie-ridden world, get the Resident Evil Complete Blu-Ray Collection on Amazon.