Prometheus - spoilerific verdicts

[J A Eyers]

If you haven't seen it yet but were too tempted not too avoid this thread, here's the best spoiler you can get: go see the film, watch until the title finally comes up, and if you're not fine with what you've just seen I recommend getting up, leaving the cinema, getting a refund and not looking back.

They were right when they said this isn't an Alien prequel. In fact I was surprised just how much it isn't a prequel. That chestburster at the end doesn't make it a prequel. In fact, I dare say AvP was more of a direct prequel. But this film basically says those films aren't canon.

The biggest general criticism I can make is that whilst Alien was a little film that achieved all its modest goals perfectly, Prometheus has ideas above its station that dwarf what it's capable of doing in two hours. Basically it's 2001: A Space Odyssey with monsters instead of the bad acid trip starchild.

I don't think the trailers gave too much away. The main monster isn't in any of the ones I've seen. But it's not like it's an unpredictable movie anyway. It might not be as straightforward as Alien, with more attention to character arcs and backstories, but it's still pretty simple and linear. Until the last half hour, which is the strongest part of the movie, all of the twists are unshocking. You know who is most likely to die next, and you know that Weyland is going to be on board and that he is Vickers' father. I can see why, because they wanted to hammer home the point about creators vs creations, but they already did that perfectly with David.

Actually, I'm going to write the rest tomorrow. On the verge of collapse into some much needed sleep!

[The Drunkk Machine]

Good advice. By the time alabaster Grant Mitchell had disintegrated into a dodgy, Mummy Returns-esque effect my expectations were falling rapidly. That said, I’m stunned by just how lame it was. Did nobody think that to reboot Alien they shouldn’t take so many cues from Alien vs Predator? Ancient aliens meddling with primitive civilisations. Security staff who act surly for no apparent reason. Mission briefings that never seem to happen before departure. Endless poorly-lit stone corridors. A meddling old bastard called Weyland. A novelty chestburster at the end. This is the story that lured Scott back to science fiction?

What original ideas did it have? Well, the eye worm was good. That was the moment people started paying attention, as if we all might start seeing some unexpected, disturbing shit. No wait, he’s already doing the Borg grey vein thing. No wait, he’s dead. They should have made this a straightforward prequel or something else entirely. It doesn’t stand up by itself and when it trades on Alien it more or less shits on it at the same time. Who the fuck was the art director on this movie? Why do the dead jockeys look like something from the ADI back lot? Why use the Alien derelict design if you’re going to jettison the Giger elements that made it worthwhile in the first place? Where the fuck did the alien come from? Why did the jockeys leave us directions if they wanted to wipe us out? Why isn't the old man played by an old man, rather than a young man acting like Alexander Siddig when he had to play Julian Bashir as an old man in that episode of DS9 where he gets trapped inside his own comatose mind? Why is Benedict Wong in every shitty scifi film? Why is the only answer given to the film's questions given in the very first scene? Why did the final monster look like gollum-doctor from Last of the Time Lords? Why is the medpod set to male only? Why did it have to happen Jon?

[J A Eyers]

Originally Posted by The Drunkk Machine

They should have made this a straightforward prequel or something else entirely.

Yes, I can't help but think that in the original Alien: Prometheus script the main differences to the Prometheus we got were that the ship would have been the future Derelict after all, there were aliens at the end, and everyone died.

And whilst I liked the movie more than other fans, I'm not sure I want to see a continuation of this storyline, whereby she actually finds the Space Jockeys. Unless they are all dead. But then there's not much of a movie to be made about spacegirl and head-in-a-bag rooting around dead Space Jockey cities for 2 hours. Even if there are aliens running around.

I would have taken her experiences in this movie, and the fact that in 2,000 years the Space Jockeys never salvaged their installation on this planet, as a good indication they have been wiped out by their creations at home too.

To be honest, the only thing that really irked me in the same way that a lot of it irked you was when David was able to watch Shaw's dreams! The rest I was prepared to take as it came, whether or not I necessarily thought it a good idea, but that bit just didn't seem to belong in this universe. Too Star Trek. You know when you have to use a dream sequence to set up both character and a future plot development that you've got the wrong writer...

But still, with regards to writing, it's a lot more solid than Alien 3, Resurrection and AvP. The problem is that Prometheus is directed by Alien's director, so you're automatically expecting it to be in that league. And it's not. It's not just that it's a different kind of movie, it's the fact that it doesn't compare to Alien in the same way that any other film, sci fi or not, doesn't compare to Alien, when it's simply just not as good.

Having now read through the reviews, from normal people as well as critics, I don't agree that nothing much happens for most of the movie. I found it fast paced, perhaps too fast paced for all the stuff it was trying to cram in. It was only half an hour from the end when I realised that it was actually entering the final act.

Things I liked immensely would be:

David, or Michael Fassbender, whichever is appropriate to credit. He did indeed steal every scene, and he was - ironically - the only one to have a proper emotional storyline attached. He carried the subtext of creators vs creations just fine without the unconfident doubling up and belabouring of the message with the entirely unnecessary Daddy and Daughter Weyland subplot.

The self-caesarian scene. Presumably this is the bit Ridley Scott intimated at when he said there's one scene with Shaw on her own that harks back to the body horror shock of the chestburster. The scene caught me unawares as it happened because I had expected it to come right at the end. I'm glad it wasn't a chestburster she had in her. And I may have been the only person watching to not guess that her little proto-facehugger-queen baby would go on to be the star of obligatory one-that-got-away-showing-up-for-final-showdown-just-when-you-think-it's-safe scene at the end.

Those were the only things that I can say, whether as an Alien fan or as just some guy in the cinema, I thought were nail-on-the-head 5/5 contributions to this movie.

Other things that I liked but which were in the 3/5 to 4/5 category would include:

Elizabeth Shaw/Noomi Rapace. Though Fassbender stole every scene, I thought she carried the movie really well. She's not Ripley and she's not Sigourney Weaver, and nobody will be talking about the character in the same way in 6 weeks, let alone 30 years. She had a proper character arc and developed believably and subtly. The self-caesarian was obviously the turning point, but I liked the fact that her going badass was done that way, rather than going on a bug blasting expedition. Ironically, given how light on fighting the movie was, I think this is the Alien film Weaver would have liked to make...

Janek/Idris Elba. It was only a small role, but I really liked the character, 1 part Parker to 2 parts Hicks. Though he made a massive impression as Stringer Bell, I never thought of The Wire at any point in the movie. He's the only one indulging in Alien-style improvisation, and it shows. Everyone else is clipped and proper. Elba is making noises and doing his own thing like a real person. And I liked his suicide pact (of sorts) with Shaw.

Fifield/Milburn. I wanted more of these two. They were the only other characters that really stood out. I thought Fifield was going to be developed to be like the guy in The Thing who sabotages the radio and helicopter so nobody can take the alien away from here, even if it dooms them to die. Instead... see my other points below.

Charlize Theron. Put at the end of the list because despite all my reservations about her daddy subplot (hence why I'm crediting the actress, not the character too), kudos to her for receiving top billing, being called the star of the movie, probably getting the highest salary, and yet knowing her place.

Things that I would have done differently (so let's put these down as 2/5 at best, 1/5 when I just did not think it worked, even if it didn't irk me like the dream bit):

Everyone dies far, far too quickly. They get bitten, infected, whatever, and they're out of the movie within 2-3 minutes. Only Shaw gets to live any longer than that! I think it would have been a lot more of a tense movie had the infected characters actually got back onto the Prometheus rather than either being killed on the surface or at the spaceship's back door. As it is, the only bit that felt remotely suspenseful was when Fifield and Milburn were trapped overnight on the Space Jockey ship. And you know they're going to die the moment that happens anyway.

I'm sure there will be more when other people have posted.

[nemarsde]

I enjoyed it, I must admit; but thought there were elements of incredible sloppiness about it.

I made sense of it thus.

(Are you sitting comfortably?)

***

The Engineers visit Earth 35,000+ years ago. They have a molecular substance that's programmed to create humans. It requires an Engineer host to sacrifice his life to seed the new life into Earth's oceans. I'm assuming the idea of this gene seed is to combine with the planet's aboriginal life and create an Engineer Mk.2 that's adapted to the Earth environment. i.e., Mankind.

Skip forward to 2093 and humans arrive at what they assume is the Engineer's home world. Except it turns out the planet's just the staging post for their pan-galactic terraforming project.

For some reason these Engineers changed their mind about humans about 2000 years ago -- I blame Jesus -- and decided to eradicate us by weaponising the molecular substance, so that it creates a weaponised lifeform out of the host.

Fortunately, before they can perfect it (i.e., control it), it gets loose and destroys its creators, as these things tend to.

Unanswered questions:

1. Why was there an unsecured shrine-like room on the surface, containing the substance?
2. Why did it have the carven image of an Alien on the wall?
3. Why did they change their mind 2000 years ago? (This is the film's final question.)

My answers, in order. 1., The Engineers must have found a new religion. The ultimate form of the weapon they created was the Alien. This they revered, and built a shrine so anyone else wandering by could feel the love (2). Some of the Engineer zealots were killed when the weapon got loose, some sealed themselves in on the ship's bridge. I'm not sure why they didn't take off to nuke Earth from orbit then, if that was their intention.

No idea what the answer to 3 is, but it's clear the surviving Engineer recognised humans and really really didn't like us. Although the Engineer did only turn hostile after David spoke to it. Maybe it was what he said? (Or possibly hair envy. I know how that feels. Only a theory -- maybe not up there with caste vs cowl, et al.)

Btw, film takes place on Lv-223, and the Engineers are about half the height of the Lv-426 Space Jockey. So it must be the prequel to the sequel that's a prequel to Alien.

***

So it's not a very tight plot, and if you look too closely is a bit silly. Welcome to Hollywood. Neither Alien (let alone Aliens) stand up to close plot scrutiny very well. So I'm fine with that.

Sloppiness though.

1. The zombie Fifield. He returns as the undead with his face intact, having been shown having it dissolved. Continuity error maybe? And the purpose of his return is to jump around the airlock, killing nameless mercenaries/red shirts -- whom I hadn't even noticed were aboard until that scene -- before being destroyed.

Why have this scene? Fifield's already dead. The mercs are introduced for the scene. The undead Fifield didn't do any procreating. It seemed incongruous with the main threat. What was the point of it? Waste of screen time. Sloppy. Just cut that whole scene. Tighter film.

2. Vickers abandons the Prometheus. From a story perspective, you'd assume this had a point. The character survives so that she can further the story, perhaps a confrontation with Shaw that develops both characters, perhaps closing the arc that started with Vickers thinking Shaw's blind faith is ridiculous, etc. Nope, she lands, gets out of the escape pod and gets flattened. What was the point in that? Wasteful and as I say, sloppy.

There was other sloppiness, like of course the security team brought weapons that were crude, ineffectual and massively out of line with the technology portrayed in other aspects of the film.

Of course, the biologist who previously showed commendable good sense in trying to avoid any lifeforms, suddenly gets all whimsical when he sees one -- which you could understand if it looked like an Ewok, but not a giant slimy, prehensile penus lurking in a pool of insidious black goo.

Overall the performances were solid though, Noomi Rapace and Fassbender stood out. There was strong drama and engaging sound and visuals throughout. Tellingly, I'd watch it again; which I can't say about any film in the franchise since Aliens.

The high point for me was the caesarian. (Btw, I assumed it was Weyland's medbot, hence configured for males only, because that's the selfish cockpuncher he was.)

The low point was the Alien at the end. The design and CG looked so spectacularly shit it wouldn't make it into the background of an MIB film.

As a side note on low points, I timed the adverts at the start of the film at 33 mins, not included trailers.

[PsyKore]

I can't really add a lot here. What I do agree with is that the film did need better focus; either be an Alien prequel or don't be. The film felt leashed to the Alien universe but at the same time it also felt as it was trying to break away from it. So very conflicting there.

I also really did not like Weyland. I thought he was totally hoaky and tacked on. This is probably my biggest complaint about the film. Guy's acting was comical and it really detracted from the serious tone of the movie. Every other character/performance was great, but Weyland really ruined the momentum for me. Also, that Weyland twist in the movie I felt also negated the whole thing with Shaws Alien-baby. It was as if no-one cared about the fucking Alien in the medical bay that she'd just had! There was just no need to have Weyland at all in this film.

I agree, there's sloppiness with this movie. But apart from that, I thought the film was great. It's a great ride.

[Sablicious]

This film fails on so many level it's almost admirable!

To list the inconsistencies, the scripting screw-ups, the laughable acting, the shoehorned set pieces, the spoon fed sequences, the derrr-dumb plot devices... would exhaust the post count threshold on this forum.

All I can say to sum up Poor-movie-this-is is:

GIANT OCTOPUSSIES WITH PENIS IMPALERS THAT IRRUMATE THEIR VICTIMS!

[Eldritch]

Ok, time for me to write something about the movie.

WARNING!!! HUGE SPOILERS!!!

I went to see it for the second time yesterday evening, this time in 2D. The 3D was brilliant. It's the first 3D movie I've seen where the 3D blends in perfectly. After a while, I forgot it was in 3D. Everything looked so awesome! It is a beautiful movie, and only Ridley can pull this kind of beauty off.

My heart was racing most of the movie, much due to the very good score. The pulsating strings just sent shiver after shiver down my spine of excitement. And again, I see a lot of beauty in the mixture between screen and score, it all fits so well together. I can only remember the last time I felt this kind of satisfaction, and it was Gladiator, another beautiful movie.

So, the movie kicks off on distant-past Earth (or it could very well be an Earth-like planet, who knows?) where we see landscapes of different appearance, each more stunning that the other (Iceland seems like the place to go for beautiful scenery!). After a few shots, we see a looming shadow of something HUGE. It's a large, circular spaceship. VERY COOL looking, as it glides softly through the air. We see a cloaked figure walking on a cliff by a waterfall. As the ship starts to leave, breaking the clouds in a manner I've never ever seen in a movie before (it looks stunning in 3D), the cloaked figure is revealed to be a pale-skinned, VERY muscular humanoid. This is one of the Engineers. Upon seeing him, I was awestruck. They looked extremely cool, and very well designed. Someone mentioned a Greek God statue, I can only agree. This Engineer eventually becomes the starting point of evolution of life, which I find an intriguing concept.

Then flash forward to the future. Isle of Skye in Scotland (beautiful place, been there). Shaw and Holloway discover a cave with paintings, and some stellar configuration that they recognize. Flash forward a few years.. we see a lone spaceship gliding through space. Now.. I would've liked a few more scenes to detail the acquirement of Weyland's attention, the take-off of the Prometheus etc. but in the end, it was not terribly needed as most things will be explained within the next 15 minutes or so.

The actors are pretty good I must say. All of them feel like they have a purpose. There might've been good with some additional character development, but it works as it is. We get to learn that Milburn is an enthusiastic and positive biologist. Fifield is a grumpy (and mad-looking!) geologist. Shaw and Holloway actually fit very well together, though almost opposite sides of the same coin. We have the corporate suit, Vickers, which is played very well by Charlize Theron. And then we have David. Michael Fassbender does an excellent job at portraying a mostly expressionless android that, at first, seems to be quite friendlier than Ash, but it is soon discovered that there is a darker agenda to him being there.

The landing sequence is quite short.. I wish it could've been longer. They find the temples/pyramids too fast I think. But it works nontheless. In 3D, the stormy weather, with lightning et al, looked stunning as hell! There could've been more room for speculation about the pyramids, and absolutely the Nazca-like markings on the ground, but again, it works as it is. The second time I saw the movie, I thought they did speculate a bit more than the first time, but I was probably too awed

Inside the temple, Fifield pulls out these cool metal balls that flies around scanning the environment, relaying the data back to the Prometheus to create a 3D image of the complex. A very cool idea IMO. Now I just need to patent this kind of system and get cracking on how to solve anti-gravity The interior design is ok. It works. Eventually, David seems to activate some sort of record system, showing Engineers running away from something. One of them is overtaken by something and is decapitated by a door.

It was creepy to see the old and decayed body suit laying there without a head. The whole recording playback idea is used mildly in the movie, and works to drive the story. It does not feel cheap, which I thought at first. They find the head/ampule room. Lots of Giger-ish stuff here. Here, you start to question what you see. What is the head? What is the xeno-like statue embedded in the wall? What's the green thing standing on a podium in front of it? What does the mural in the ceiling mean? Well.. we do not really get any answers, but there is a thought process that starts to kick in at this moment, and I think it is deliberate, as the astronauts themselves are beginning to question what they see. Read my speculations further down.

A storm is suddenly moving in over the area, full of electrical stuff, so they need to evacuate. The storm looks absolutely F'CKING amazing in 3D. I've never seen anything like it. My heart was racing faster than a Formula 1 car on a straight road at this moment. So much to take in, but still I felt sure of what I was seeing (the second viewing felt even better, as I know had my speculations to back me up). Shit hits the fan when Shaw wants to save the head of the decapitated Engineer that they located inside the ampule room.. Tada, David to the rescue!

The examination of the head is quite cool. When they lift off the helmet and discover an Engineer head underneath, I was awed. Again, the Engineer design is amazing. The whole "space jockey is a suit" thing really works well. Poor Fifield and Milburn got lost in the temple/pyramid, and we get to see some nice character building dialogue. I liked this scene a lot. It ends with worms and black goo It's now that shit starts to hit the fan. They go back to look for the dynamic duo, only to find Milburn dead and Fifield gone. Holloway has gotten infected (guess by whom...), so they retreat. Again, some missing stuff here that would confirm that Fifield is indeed gone would've been good. Back outside the Prometheus, Janek orders Vickers to open the door. She's reluctant and sports a flamethrower. Holloway realizes he's in for it and allows Vickers to torch him. Shaw becomes all upset and screams over this.. fade to white(?) A bit more "sad music and slow-mo" showing Shaw trying to get to Vickers to beat her silly would've been nice here. Also, Janek and the rest of the team seems pretty much ok with the idea that Holloway got the torch instead of being put in quarantine while a possible cure is researched.. a bit strange I thought. Next, we see Shaw laying on a medical bed. She's awakened by David, who eventually tells her she's pregnant (something that she thought was impossible, as stated in an earlier scene). She wants the damn thing out of her, but is sedated by David. Fade... Next she's awakened by Ford and some other dude and beats them up. She escapes to a medpod and has a C-section. What is revealed is quite disturbing... Unfortunately, this scene was spoiled in the trailers.. damn them!

The little bugger is killed off (or so we think). Shaw runs through the corridor (Noomi does a very good job in this movie, and especially during these scenes) and stumbles upon a newly awakened Weyland. He's here to find a cure for death as one of the Engineers, who were thought to all be dead, is still alive (discovered by David earlier). To go to "meet their maker", literally Again, the Engineer is AWESOME! I bet that his reaction, which leads to almost everybody getting the heart-stopping treatment, is caused by Shaw. He seems to look at her as if he understands her, word for word (telepathic?). David speaks to him in some ancient language (Sumerian?), which causes him to react violently, but I still think that he's reacting to what Shaw says somehow... just a speculation.

The juggernaut (derelict type ship) takes off. Janek and his crew rams it. The crash looks great in both 3D and 2D. But... now we hit the downsides of the movie... the last scenes. Vickers escapes from the Prometheus in a pod. The lifeboat (Vicker's quarters) is also jetonized since it can sustain life for 2 years.

The juggernaut crashes and starts rolling.. Shaw and Vickers run, in the SAME direction as it is rolling. Why not run to either side!? Eventually, Shaw just rolls out of the way, which I found a bit hilarious. Vickers dies, in a way I found both amusing and silly.. a big minus for this in my book. Shaw gets inside the lifeboat, but receives a transmission from the still alive David that the pilot of the juggernaut is coming... Also, something is moving in the lifepod medbay.. perhaps the "baby" wasn't dead after all.. I actually like the next few scenes, but it feels too short. I know there were more footage shot of the struggle between Shaw and the Engineer, and I hope it will surface on the Blu-Ray/DVD (there were shots of the Engineer holding Shaw by the throat, but it never appeared in the movie). In the end, the Engineer is overtaken by what is evidently a nod to the Facehugger that we all know about, only this thing is many times the size.

Shaw gets David, who tells her that there are more juggernaut ships. She tells him she wants to go to where the Engineers came from, to find out why they changed their minds about destroying us (we learned earlier that the Engineers were heading for Earth with their cargo, before all hell got lose and their creations infected them). A sound idea, but a bit too thin and easy... she's let off easy I think.

The movie ends with the Engineers body, rattling and shaking, and the eventual birth of what seems to be a proto-xeno. This scene was obviously a nod to the Alien fans out there, but it sucked! The proto-xeno looked silly, and the whole idea has been beaten to death so many times already. I'd felt much better if it was a mouth-burster or something.. but this...?

So.. the verdict: Good acting, amazing visuals, amazing music. Heart pounding suspense. Some scenes that could've used more detailed scenes and dialogue. Moderate action. Many story elements, unfortunately not so well explained, but they make you start thinking and speculating, which I find to be unique. We're always spoon-fed these things. My only gripes were Vicker's death and the proto-xeno. I would've liked Vickers to survive but get killed off by the Engineer in the end, and the Engineer giving birth to something nastier-looking through the damn MOUTH instead!

I give it 8/10. It's the coolest sci-fi movie I've ever seen. It brings some awesome technological concepts to the table, and throws us a bone on how we could've been created and how an encounter with our makers could play out, with human selfishness becoming key as the quest for immortality becomes the main goal. I love the Engineer design! The design overall is very very nice. I just wish that the movie had not raised so many questions.

Ok, time for some speculation.

The Engineers on this planet used it as a military reasearch center, researching biological weapons. The black goo is evidently a weapon of sorts, a biological accelerator and mutagen. It changes your DNA and accelerates evolution, and in some cases it just fucks stuff up (Fifield). The Engineers were set to leave for Earth to destroy us. Why? Had we become a nuisance to them? What I think is this: They create life, as seen in the opening scenes, by sacrificing one of their own. We grew, and they visited us many, many times, teaching us various things. Eventually, we became too selfish and we more or less betrayed the trust of the Engineers, and they left (various religious scriptures mentions this... like Adam and Eve eating from the forbidden tree, the apple representing knowledge). So, they find us "demanding more space and freedom" (according to the Sumerian texts, we were built as slave machines to harvest gold, primarily). If we think about the whole Replicant concept. We've given them 4 years to live, so they can't get uncontrollable and eventually destroy us. It's the same thing here. We're an experiment that has gotten out of hand. Now, it took the Engineers many centuries to perfect their weapon, but eventually it got loose and destroyed the crew. All but one. He put himself into stasis, awaiting his fellow brethren to come and "bail him out" so to speak. Why did they not come? Well.. I think that these particular Engineers were outcasts. Much like Lucifer and his band of fallen angels. Perhaps the Engineers decided not to pursue their plans to destroy us as some seemed proud of us (again, the struggle beween Alalu and Anu in the Sumerian mythology is what can tie this to), so these Engineers break lose and leaves for a remote planet. There they begin researching the ultimate weapon. The head in the ampule room could resemble their leader, the Engineer that decided to break free (Lucifer). The xeno-like statue in the same room seems to be some sort of religion as the green gem-like thing in front of it looks like a sacrifice. Perhaps they worshipped what they were working on (much like employees at Apple are fanatics :P). And, I think the Engineer that they find reacts to what Shaw is saying somehow. His expression tells me so. What David says, we'll probably never know, but it triggers something, perhaps some memories of what he and his fallen comrades were doing here and for what purpose.

Phew, a long post.. but so many things I wanted to cover. I left out some stuff. I hope you've all enjoyed the movie. Too bad I was spoiled rotten by the trailers and people on AvPGalaxy... but in the end, I feel it is one of the best movies I have ever seen.

[Eldritch]

Hmm, weird formatting... :P :P :P

[Xenomaniac]

My feelings are mixed on this. I did enjoy it and Ridley did excellent with the visuals, acting was great, good beginning to some what Alien orign, etc. On the other hand, plot holes, unexplained things, not scary (not at all), too many characters not enough screen time, etc.

I'll have to think on it and report back later. It's late and I need my rest.

[isis]

Just got back about 2 hours ago. My feelings on it are up in the air, and im not sure that's a good thing. I'll sleep on it and see how I feel when I wake up.

One thing I didn't like though, was the way they quickly found a solution to Holloway's infection. I felt that portion was rushed.

[Injektilo]

the movie is riddled with elementary oversights, focusing on grandeur and mystery. just like everything else lindelof writes.

still, for all the kids who are frothing at the mouth at how bad they think this film has turned out, frankly, nothing in prometheus compares to the ridiculousness of the alien awkwardly bumping off the door of the narcissus, releasing a torrent of bum gravy over the entire aesthetic of the preceding terror and replacing it with "luls look at the terrible rubber suit man against a stark white background".

[Eldritch]

There, fixed my formatting :P

[J A Eyers]

Originally Posted by Injektilo

the movie is riddled with elementary oversights, focusing on grandeur and mystery. just like everything else lindelof writes.

still, for all the kids who are frothing at the mouth at how bad they think this film has turned out, frankly, nothing in prometheus compares to the ridiculousness of the alien awkwardly bumping off the door of the narcissus, releasing a torrent of bum gravy over the entire aesthetic of the preceding terror and replacing it with "luls look at the terrible rubber suit man against a stark white background".

See, I could overlook that when I first saw it. It didn't ruin the movie for me. And my nostalgic view of the movie is still locked in, so I can still overlook it now. But I think if I saw the movie for the first time at a more jaded age then I would have just laughed, and that would have been my final impression as the credits rolled. Alien is definitely a movie you need to see when still young and open enough to be scared shitless by it.

I've been following the comments posted following the Guardian's two reviews (both generally positive, one more than the other) and there's a lot of vitriol flowing there, with some calling it the worst film they have ever seen. But a lot of them are considering the film only in comparison, not even to Alien, but to their perfect memory of what Alien was, and the expectations built on that perfect Alien rather than the real one.

Really, someone can't call Prometheus irredeemable shite because its plot revolves around people repeatedly going down to the basement and sticking their heads in dark holes, not if they're then claiming Alien was any different.

Alien was as good as slasher movies ever got, but I don't believe a word of it when people on the Guardian (though perhaps one shouldn't be surprised, given the paper attracts pretentious windbags) are claiming their main attraction to Alien was always the intriguing psychosexual subtext, rather than the sweaty palmed visceral terror of space beast stalking a bunch of hapless humans.

[nemarsde]

My No. 1 favourite film of all-time is Jaws. Bruce the shark is laughable, and tbh even with nostalgia on its side, I still grimace a little in scenes with Bruce. Perhaps more so because I'm now so knowledgeable about great white sharks (entirely due to Jaws).

Anyway, my point is, there are scenes in Alien that irk me. Dallas in the vents. Parker and "Get out of the way, Lambert!" (she'd have been Kentucky fried chicken if it were me). My favourite scenes are actually with Ripley and Ash.

Prometheus has its flaws, no doubt, but no worse than any other Hollywood picture. I think its worse flaw is merely flabbiness. I'd have cut it down some, tightened it up.

[isis]

I've reached the conclusion that I'm not quite fond of Prometheus. To me, part of the appeal of the original franchise was that it was dark, gritty, and believable. It's not hard to imagine that some working class stiffs could stumble upon a long lost alien ship and be boarded by a parasitic nightmare. The situation on LV 426 is something that would be believable in real world terms. Save for Alien Resurrection, I can imagine all the Alien movies happening in reality. Prometheus took the feasible universe and turned it into something from Star Trek. For me, it was too much of a stretch to think that we're all descended from Space Jockeys. I don't like the route they went with when defining these creatures. I would have preferred that maybe they're an entirely alien race and we stumble upon their genetic playground or experiments. After seeing the movie last night, I would have preferred that they'd left the SJ mystery untouched. It was more fun speculating where they came from then the solution that presented itself in the movie. They took the specialness of the franchise and turned it into something a little too ordinary.

[The Marinator]

Originally Posted by isis

I've reached the conclusion that I'm not quite fond of Prometheus. To me, part of the appeal of the original franchise was that it was dark, gritty, and believable. It's not hard to imagine that some working class stiffs could stumble upon a long lost alien ship and be boarded by a parasitic nightmare. The situation on LV 426 is something that would be believable in real world terms. Save for Alien Resurrection, I can imagine all the Alien movies happening in reality. Prometheus took the feasible universe and turned it into something from Star Trek. For me, it was too much of a stretch to think that we're all descended from Space Jockeys. I don't like the route they went with when defining these creatures. I would have preferred that maybe they're an entirely alien race and we stumble upon their genetic playground or experiments. After seeing the movie last night, I would have preferred that they'd left the SJ mystery untouched. It was more fun speculating where they came from then the solution that presented itself in the movie. They took the specialness of the franchise and turned it into something a little too ordinary.

we still don't know where they came from,we still don't know what the black stuff is,we still don't know if we "come from them" or simply if they engineered "us" as "we" engineered david.I get the feeling that 99% of the viewers are still "blind" regarding this movie.

[isis]

I get the feeling that 99% of the viewers are still "blind" regarding this movie.

And that's what happens when you hire the writer of Lost.

[The Marinator]

he's script for lost was brilliant but just think that Lost had such a huge succes that he was forced to write more and milked out of ideas by the studios

[Cpl._Badass]

Just watched it tonight, hard movie to wrap my head around. Like others have said, it's not without flaw but it's great. One I think will be appreciated more in the coming years. I'll write a full review later but one thing I loved was that it asks questions and doesn't have all the answers. Most movies tie everything up in a nice bow, but Prometheus let's us try and use the clues it gives to form our own speculation and opinions. Def a cult scifi and not for casual audiences.

[Shataan]

That was a very cool review /take on the movie... Eldritch. I am going to see this in 3D this weekend. Looking forward to this now.

[Cpl._Badass]

SPOILERS
Heres my general thoughts on prometheus.


Now that I have slept on it, my opinion of the film is settled. I really thought it was pretty great. But their are one or two points that held it back from being amazing (one being Vickers death, I felt it was rather silly and a waste of the characters salvation from the crash.)


Now a lot of people seem to dislike the lack of anwsers the film offers, but I enjoyed it to be honest. They left the mystery of the ship on lv 426 intact. We still dont know how old that ship in alien was or exactly why it carried a different form of their genetic monsters ( the xenomorph we know). I speculate that the ship in alien may have been from another era of the engineers long history. Maybe the xenomorph in alien was used to wipe out other worlds (possibly illegally) seeded with humanity. The black goo may have been a more modern jockey creation that eventually destroyed even them. I could be all wrong but I really enjoy its lack of connection with alien. Personally I don't think this will line up with alien in any way. I think the events on LV-223 are seperate including the proto-hugger and proto-xeno. I don't think they are the fathers of our xenos but a newer mutation caused by the genetic black goo something unintended.

In any case I there are millions of questions now but I think scott has set something up that will lead into a new direction to be explored. The mystery of the original alien and that jockey's purpose remains intact.

I felt the score was perhaps too grand and epic for what should have had more creepy/erie undertones. But this is only a minor gripe for me, I could understand score builds on the idea or spirit of meeting our makers.

I thought the guy getting all up close with the ooz eel was way out of character and was kinda a wtf moment. But the scene was nasty and well executed.

Fifield and holloways infection was a strange addition but I got the feeling they were turning into something else, what I dont know. The jockeys were awesome I thought, really liked their design. Fassbender was awesome and strangely menacing. The c-section was disturbing imo and pretty memorable.

Guy Pearce was alright but kinda meh. Lots of strange jesus undertones... I can forsee a future of really mixed reviews coming for this film. If I had to rate it I would probably land on 8/10. With a lil reworking I think it could have been 10/10.

Ridley I think has definitly moved this universe into a new direction, one that I think is excellent science ficiton. In anycase Im on board for the ride should it continue.

[Injektilo]

just seen again. definitely improved after the second watch.

[Derek237]

Prometheus is a scarring and devastating film, an excellent future-set thriller with some truly horrifying scenes and visuals that are wondrous to behold. It also offers great science fiction, with fresh and fascinating ideas that just about warrant Ridley Scott's 30-year absence from the genre. It has a much larger scope than its sister film, Alien, which isn't to say it's better, but it's more thoughtful.

It could almost serve as a response to his own 1979 film, which as good as it is, and as much as I love it, is an extraordinarily crafted "monster in the house" film. You may even notice that Prometheus' general concept is strikingly similar to that of Alien Vs. Predator. I don't know if Scott saw it, or if Prometheus is a response to that film, but here is Ridley Scott several decades later with a vast career under his belt, with lots of time to consider a companion piece to Alien, and the result is what happens when science fiction is actually taken seriously.

It's a tried and true cautionary tale of defiant mortals seeking the knowledge of the gods and the horrific consequences that ensue. The title of the film and the name of the crew's spacecraft isn't just for kicks, afterall. The expedition to discover the possibilty of mankind's inception is lead by a crew of scientists who follow ancient archaeological clues to a distant planet which takes years to reach. The crew is awakened from their hypersleep and are greeted by a hologram of Peter Weyland, who funded the mission, played by Guy Pearce in old man makeup, who looks straight out of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He recalls, with what I think is a smile, the story of Prometheus and how he brought fire to the mortals. Of course he leaves out all the horrible things that happened to Prometheus afterwards, but, you know, details slip in old age.

It's a movie about ideas, which I appreciated, it was not content to be a run-of-the-mill monster movie. Some truly interesting areas are explored, or implied, and there's far too much for my little mind to wrap around with just one viewing. It features the scientists asking "why?" to the great eternal question, bluntly staring science and new possibilities to this question in the face...curiously, it does not bawk at or dismiss religion. At least not entirely. I kind of think it would be outright pompous to not at least put it on the table.

I thought the cast was exceptional- Michael Fassbender was indeed a standout, playing the ship's android, David, and I really enjoyed the great Idris Elba as the ship's captain. There are two strong female characters, played by Noomi Rapace and Charlize Theron, and wisely they are not presented as carbon-copies of Ripley, the role made famous by Sigourney Weaver. Their character traits are very different, but in a strange way, with their qualities, such as Theron's character's cold, no-nonsense attitude, and Rapace's character's vulnerability and willingness to move forward in the face of unspeakable horror, they could almost be mothers to her.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, I thought it was brilliant, and yes, it was well worth the wait. Maybe the only portions I wasn't entirely in love with was the final few scenes, which were there almost to satisfy anyone looking for something similar to the original Alien. Scott infamously said that it was not directly an "Alien" film, but fans would recognize strands of Alien's DNA, which, seeing it now, I realize is oh so clever of him to say in more ways than one. It certainly puts the peices together to set the stage for Alien, but it stands alone as its own story with its own unique goals. A lot of things are left open and it seems to have set its own course for a sequel which may or may not happen. It's a little frustrating in that sense, but Prometheus, like most good thought-provoking science fiction films do, decidedly raises more questions than it cares to answer.

[The Marinator]

anyone noticed the Alien score piece when weyland's hologram showed up?thought that was awesome.
indeed derek,indeed

[Injektilo]

yep, I liked the occasional cinematic nod. the ship "listing lazily to the left!" into the planet's atmosphere for one.

[Xenomaniac]

Originally Posted by The Marinator

anyone noticed the Alien score piece when weyland's hologram showed up?thought that was awesome.
indeed derek,indeed

At the end of the film when you see the music credits it says "Theme from Alien," as one of the songs.

[J A Eyers]

Originally Posted by Derek237

It could almost serve as a response to his own 1979 film, which as good as it is, and as much as I love it, is an extraordinarily crafted "monster in the house" film.

I think you can see it as the other side of a particular coin. The subtext of Alien is all about some Freudian male fear of sex and childbirth, the beginning of life. Prometheus on the surface is about the beginning of life, but it's also clearly an older man's film about fear of dying. Why didn't Ridley Scott cast someone his own age as Weyland? Would that have been too close to home?

A lot of things are left open and it seems to have set its own course for a sequel which may or may not happen. It's a little frustrating in that sense, but Prometheus, like most good thought-provoking science fiction films do, decidedly raises more questions than it cares to answer.

Despite what some of the film's more negative reviewers have said about it being purely setup for a sequel, I think it works fine as a standalone film. Yes, it leaves some unanswered questions, but none any more important to the plot of this film than knowing who the Space Jockeys were by the end of Alien.

[Hamz]

I loved the movie, impressed me, surprised me and scared me. I went in thinking it was going to be more horror but whatever.

I was almost hoping going in that Scott was going to go against the whole insect style structure that Cameron introduced.

[PsyKore]

I saw it a second time and liked it more. I just wish they cared a bit more after Shaw walks in all stitched up after having the cesarean. I mean, not even a "whoah, are you alright, love?" from anybody. It does feel fragmented like that in parts, but I hope there is more footage in the bluray that may seam it together better.

[The Marinator]

I just wish they cared a bit more after Shaw walks in all stitched up after having the cesarean. I mean, not even a "whoah, are you alright, love?" from anybody.

well...I think it was obvious that shaw didn't present any interest for them anymore.actually my thought is that except the captain and the pilots they were all expandable or tests subjects like david proved us.why the fuck should they care about her health?
oh and except vickers and david of course.