Prometheus (2012)

[Dead By Shaun]

Originally Posted by s2mikey

Well, I watched this last night and its time for my take on it. Read if ya like:

First off - production values, set design, technical coolness and all that stuff were top notch. I loved a lot of the technology and the sci-fi nerd in me was really happy with all of that. Ridley usually nails this kind of stuff and this film was no exception. No problems there. Great video, audio & presentation.

Now, lets talk about the film. (POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD)

Overall this film is somewhat furstrating. Its got a lot "there" but seems fragmented, unsure of itself, incoherent at times. The film starts with a mystical, wondrous tone and then devolves somewhat into a creature-feature and I dont know if it works or not. It loses its grip about halfway through and gets mucked up a bit. There are several logical problems too which other have mentioned but I will too:

1) Apparently in the future the people who plan these trips go out of their way to bring malcontents and misfits on the voyages. Finfield wouldnt pass a test to work at Taco Bell let alone end up on an exploration ship to investigate mankinds origins. Noone follows any safety procedures whatsoever which becomes comical. During the "lets add some electricity and trick it into being alive" scene, I rolled my eyes. No precautions and total disregard for anything even remotely smart about this stuff. That ruined what was a great moment in the film too. Pissed me off. And the fact that people are coming and going as they please with parasitical things on them or whatever else was wrong. Oh and the best was the guy who immediately befriended a slithery, alien creature like it was a baby poodle. No freegin way. This is security 101 folks.

2) What was Davids deal? Good? Bad? Both? Did it depend on what way the wind blew? And, Shaw was being awfully nice to him after everything went down. Did she not know or forget? Also, David took a huge chance by doing what he did to that one guy. It could have easily backfired and caused problems for the old guy who was paying the bills due to out of control contamination of the entire ship.

3) Vickers had little value other than to be a corporate nuisance. Theoren seemed bored most of the time. There was also little purpose to her relationship with a certain other character. No benefit to that at all.

4) Finfield making a brief comeback - for what? Dumb scene.

5) Extreme convenience of the surgical machine(that only works on men?). The results of that were absurd too - Shaw would be in very rough shape after such a thing. It also seemed that noone else questioned any of this and her condition when she was running around later in the film. Its like "Hi, I see you are bloody and stapled up.... hows your day going otherwise?"

6) The ship-crashing scene at the end seemed out of place. Those three guys just did that on a whim? Hard to believe. Very hard to believe.

7) Noone seemed particularly excited either about possibly finding our creators. It was like "Oh cool, heres the guys that created humanity. In other news, the Yankees beat the Orioles in 5 games to advance to the...." Its like, isnt anyone a little pumped up for this? They just were like, Oh, OK.

That all sounds like a lot, and it is. But, there is still some great stuff about this film. I just wish they had thought it out better and had stayed with the tone of the first hour. Its almost as if the plot was secondary to showing cool stuff. And my gosh there was some cool stuff. The Alien tie-ins were awesome. Some of the concepts were great. The sense of adventure was right there. There were tons of unanswered questions too which I suppose was to be expected. But, movies do need to stand on their own and this one really doesnt. Far too open-ended. Its also not hard to "get" so lets not play the "you didnt get it" card - this isnt some deep, 2001-ish film so there is no need to go there.

Fassbender was great. I did get a quick underwear-ass shot of Theoren after her pushups which made my day. Rapace was pretty good in it. The pacing was decent too - not too long or too short.

So, not too bad but I feel this film missed greatness by quite a large margin. Its watchable, well made and has its moments. Not gonna go down as a great one though.... its just not great.

Okay, I guess I'll take a crack at this too. (Spoilers abound!):

1) The real mission of Prometheus was to find immortality for Peter Weyland. Only David and Vickers were aware of this. Everyone else, with the exception of Shaw, was just window dressing to use as cover for a "scientific expedition" based on Dr. Shaw and Dr. Holloway's findings. Shaw was included on the mission because as stated early on in the film, Weyland was a superstitious old man who wanted a true believer on board. As far as people coming and going with parasitical things on them, the only one who was infected was Holloway and that was because he was poisoned inside the ship by David. More about this in response #2. Lastly, Milburn was "playing" with the Hammerpede because he was a biologist and had just discovered a new alien life form. Was it reckless? Sure, but not so uncommon. Professional wild life expert Steve Erwin was killed by a piercing through the heart by a stingray barb.

2) David was neither good, nor bad. He was following his programming by Weyland and the true nature of the mission, which was to find Weyland immortality. When the initial search of the pyramid turned up no living Engineers, David was instructed by Weyland to "try harder." Having brought back the vile with the black goo, David decided to test it on Dr. Holloway. Before dipping his finger in the glass, David asks Holloway how far he would go to find his answers. Holloway responds by saying he would do anything and everything, thereby unknowingly giving David permission to test the goo. With regards to Shaw, she needed David, as he was the only one who knew how to fly the alien spacecraft. She doesn't trust him, but she needs him in order to survive and to find the Engineer's home planet.

3) Yes indeed, Vickers was a corporate nuisance. That's because she didn't believe in the mission. She didn't believe in Dr. Shaw and Holloway's findings or that they would actually find proof of the Engineer's existence, much less a living Engineer. She thought the mission was a tremendous waste of money and company resources. She was only on board to look after her father who she thought was crazy for financing a mission to chase a fantasy of finding some alien fountain of youth.

4) Fifield makes a brief comeback...hmm, yeah, I agree with you. This sequence exists for the sole purpose of ramping up the action and giving the audience a horror/monster attack moment.

5) The Prometheus was Weyland's personal spacecraft, and as such, had a Medpod on board for the sole purpose of providing Weyland with emergency medical care, which is why it was specified for male patients only. It wasn't meant for the crew. As for Shaw, sure her running around requires a suspension of disbelief, but she did keep injecting pain killers and swallowed pills. To her credit, she coiled over in pain from time to time. Plus, you could just chalk it up to good old adrenaline, as she was running for her life.

6) With regards to the ship crashing, before Shaw leaves to join Weyland in meeting the Engineer, Captain Janek does have a conversation with her in which he states that he'll do whatever's necessary to make sure that the black goo doesn't find it's way back to Earth. Being that he's military, Janek recognizes the goo for what it is, a biological weapon. He sacrifices himself to save Earth. As for the other two shipmates who join him...yeah, probably unnecessary, but I guess it was meant to show us a moment of loyalty and sacrificial team spirit.

7) Whad'ya mean no one was excited? Milburn seemed pretty pumped about discovering that Hammerpede!

[s2mikey]

Originally Posted by returnofthemack

spoilers


a few things about your compliants can be explained somewhat.

1) yes the crew did seem like none of them are at the top of their fields. this can be explained a few ways. its pretty clear that in the alien/prometheus universe that space travel isnt a super special train for several years and you have to be the very best at what you do to be allowed for space travel. in alien the crew is described as space truckers. so maybe you say why wouldnt weyland who is incredible wealthy want to bring along the very best of the best? surely he can afford to hire anyone he wants. well there are a few reasons. for one most of the crew is a cover for the real mission, which is weyland discovering the secret behind extending his life or living forever. a guy like that isnt going to share this knowledge if he is successfull. which is why he wouldnt want the crew to be the very best. but weyland is old and he cant do everything the mission demands. so he has david. there is nothing that any of the other crew can do that david cant. so the crew which is inept is a cover.

2) david is a robot who was just following orders. orders which it could not break. even if david felt confilicted about his actions he had no choice in the matter. as for david and shaw at the end maybe shaw realized that david was now free from weyland and that with weyland no longer around things would be differant. also the will to live can be incredibly strong. as ridley scott said in the commentary shaw knows that she needs david (and viceversa). if shaw is going to get the answers that put her on the mission in the first place then she needs david. sure she still doesnt trust him but if she wanted to live or better yet make it to the engineers home planet then she needs him.

5) convience? im not so sure. the surgical machine was there for weyland. if only 20 (i could be wrong about the number) were made and it is a very expensive and useful machine that it would stand to reason that one of the richest men alive would want one. who said shaw wasnt in rough shape? he was injecting herself with whatever it was and poping pills. as for the rest of the crew not saying anything about it well the yhit was hitting the fan as they say. finfield (fifield?) was attacking at that point and most of the crew was trying to deal with the aftermath of that and halloways death. as far as everyone was concerned the mission was a disaster and weyland didnt give a crap. he thought his goal was in reach. he was concerned with his own mortality and agenda.

6) the captain and his crew who crashed the ship all seemed military to me. the captain had made the decision not to let the black goo get back to earth and nothing was going to stop him. as for his crew we dont know how long they had served together and im sure loyality had alot to do with it.

7) to say that they werent excited is a understatement. i think they were exicted but also scared shitless. also they wanted answers. just knowing that the engineers were thier at one point wasnt enough.

Reasonable explanations. It still doesnt all work for me but we all will see it as we see it. Its not a bad mvie by any means. I just felt a little underwhelmed by the end.

What were your thoughts on the tone changing about halfway through? Did you feel that way too? From mysticism to creature-flick?

[Parasite68]

Ok. I'm just about finished watching the epic documentary of this very cool film. I've been reading everyone's comments, debates, and disagreements since Tuesday. I feel compelled to throw my hat into the ring and see what you guys think...

First off, I, like many Alien fans were a little disappointed with the film initially. Without going into great detail and rehashing what's been already written on here, I must say that as an ALIEN fan, I enjoy this film just as much as I am frustrated with it. My main beef, especially after seeing concept art, is that they missed so many opportunities early on during the entire film to make it feel more Alienesque. The creature Fifield turns into would have satisfied a lot of movie-goers including myself, had they made him represent the more traditional alien looking xenomorph (baby face). That's just one example, but y'all get what I'm saying.
I also, as a fan of Alien, am thrilled to learn about the upcoming sequel. I'm hoping this turns out to be a trilogy. As far as the murals in the ampule chamber, I think this will ultimately be what the engineers realize what the goo's full potential will be when finally mixed with pure human DNA.
This first film to me is fascinating and does answer questions. It's not all the answers we all wanted, but we must be patient. The main thing answered here is the genesis of the bio weapon gradually mutating into the Alien creature we all know and love.
Here is the life cycle of the xenomorph so far by what we see in Prometheus:
1. It starts as the "black goo" that takes on traits and mutates whatever life form it touches.
2. David infects Holloway, holloway passes it to Shaw through intercourse.
3. Shaw gives birth to the Trilobyte.
4. The Trilobyte infects the engineer.
5. Engineer gives birth to the Deacon. The deacon has the beginning looks of our beloved xenomorph since he now has engineer DNA and will have the appearance of the engineers pressure suit.

In my opinion, they will now have to get the deacon to somehow evolve into the egg laying capable xenomorph of the original films. I would like to see in the second movie a biomechanical being get infected with the goo and then infecting the Deacon. Let the deacon then give birth to a Queen that can produce the eggs that have to somehow wind up on the juggernaut that lands on LV-426.

I am so glad they decided to have Prometheus take place on LV-223, because now they have a great opportunity to really flesh out the evolution of the alien species and entertain the engineer story as well.

I'm respecting everyone who does not care for this movie, I understand why they hate it. I respect everyone who loves this movie too.
I was one who was in the middle at first, but after multiple viewings and watching the epic documentary, I now love this film even more and admit that there are flaws(many), but they've opened doors of opportunity for really connecting the two franchises in a brilliant way! Only time will tell!

[Member-222782]

Just watched Prometheus again last night - enjoyed it a bit more this time around. A few things still bother me: the whole purpose of the expedition turns out to be

[Show spoiler]about just another zany filthy rich guy wanting to live forever

and I still think the writers sacrificed story for visual eye candy and cool gadgets and Ridley just went along with it. I think a few more viewings and I'll be fully immersed

Now, for deeper meaning and fulfillment I think I'll pop in my new ENEMY MINE blu. Lots of eye candy on there too, even though some of it is fake-looking

[Ray O. Blu]

Watched this in 3D with the wife last night.
Excellent use of 3D and bombastic, awe-inducing AQ all-around.
Reference demo material, for sure.
There needs to be more great sci-fi like this, unfortunately very few people alive today can pull it off this well.

[V400]

Originally Posted by Dead By Shaun

4) Fifield makes a brief comeback...hmm, yeah, I agree with you. This sequence exists for the sole purpose of ramping up the action and giving the audience a horror/monster attack moment.

Maybe to show what Holloway would've become.

[Dead By Shaun]

Originally Posted by V400

Maybe to show what Holloway would've become.

Yes, after typing this it occurred to me that this sequence was to further illustrate the biological effects of the black goo...along with giving us the obligatory action/horror moment

[LobsterPot]

Originally Posted by Brahby

The Engineers are biomechanoid transhumans

[LobsterPot]

[LobsterPot]

Originally Posted by mrr1

Oh, I don't think so.

Oh it is.
Perhaps you think that one ad lib line makes up for the very simple story. Prometheus has that concept pushing even further.

[JaseT]

Originally Posted by Brahby

I respect your opinion but I have to disagree. The "gills" on his neck do not appear to be a part of any suit nor does it appear to be integrated with him or the suit. It is literally on his neck. Same as the wrists, there is no clear lines indicative of a suit ending and flesh beginning. I think this is a definite form of mutation. I do agree that a majority of what we see is an armor/suit though.

What is that Engineer picture of?

[TM2-Megatron]

Originally Posted by Justin83

Yikes! I thought she was kind of cute, and her look worked for the role. IMHO, of course.

Yeah, this seems pretty harsh.

I found it depended almost entirely on the facial expression she was making. There are a few unusual expressions she seems to have in her repertoire that do make her look a little unusual, but on the whole I found her a little cute more often than not.

I do think her hairstyle/length/colour as it is in Prometheus looks a heck of a lot better than the way she seems to usually have her hair in other photographs.

[LobsterPot]

to all those wanting "answers"

Prometheus: ANSWERS - YouTube

[LobsterPot]

Originally Posted by JaseT

What is that Engineer picture of?

The Engineer of course!
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.403920239646688.88409.304949236210456

[ScarredLungs]

Is this release the extended release that was talked about?

[JaseT]

Originally Posted by LobsterPot

The Engineer of course!
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.403920239646688.88409.304949236210456

Well...duh! I thought maybe it was a 1:6 scale figure or something.

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by cvm

Is this release the extended release that was talked about?

no, the studio asked Ridley to do an extended cut, but he refused because he said the Theatrical cut IS his directors cut

[LobsterPot]

Originally Posted by JaseT

Well...duh! I thought maybe it was a 1:6 scale figure or something.

Well they do have those

NECA Introduces The Prometheus Action Figures Line - Series 1 - YouTube

[Duffy12]

.

OK. I finally watched this for the second time last night on BD and enjoyed it quite a bit more. I can tell that this will grow on me though I do still have issues with the script as other posters here have pointed out.

A few things off the bat that I would like to mention-


*SPOILERS*


1) The final confrontation between Shaw and the Engineer was waaaay too short. Now I have come to hate long drawn out final movie ending fights, but you blink here and you miss it. Just a wee bit more would have been nice.

2) Millburn's actions towards the white snake. As another poster pointed out long ago, he was just trying to be buddies with Fifiled and wanted to be his friend due to his first disappointing meeting with him at breakfast. He was a biologist correct? So I can easily see him doing it to impress the scared Fifiled. Watching it now that part becomes much more clearer and I have no problem with it whatsoever.

3) My only real major gripe that I have with this movie is that some of the characters words can be very hard to understand at times. I wish that they could have fixed that in post production.


I will now give it 4 out of 5 stars.

.

[JaseT]

Originally Posted by LobsterPot

Well they do have those
NECA Introduces The Prometheus Action Figures Line - Series 1 - YouTube

Those are 7" scale I believe.