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Banned
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Incredible review from Prometheusforum.net 
http://www.prometheusforum.net/discussion/3999/what-genre-of-film-is-prometheus/p1#Item_10
Quote:
To elaborate on what carrot said and to destroy all of your minds, here is my detailed analysis, prometheus exploration genre golden age sci-fi or TRUE SCI-FI and it's similarities to 2001 and other films and programmes of the genre and what makes it apart of the afforementioned golden age of sci-fi genre post.
Now for me straight from the opening shot of the light emerging and highlighting the edge of earth at the beginning of the film (which reminds me of the opening from 2001 a space odyssey where the light outlines the shape of the planet that centers the opening frames of that movie, and that's not the only reference to that film here) you can see that this film is made to be in the vein of golden aged sci-fi, the opening music sounds vaguely reminiscent of star trek (another classic of science fiction and an ingrained part of modern sci-fi culture (personally not a big fan but there you go), which helps to give that feeling of wonder and exploration that formed the basis of that show and will be the backbone of Prometheus) it was also a jerry goldsmith penned theme if i'm not mistaken, (goldsmith also coincidently was the composer on alien and key parts of his score can also be heard integrated here in this film) and is referenced in the opening few bars crisscrossing different sci-fi landmarks from Alien to star trek backed up with some visual nostalgia from 2001 providing a nice tip of the hat to these well established landmarks.
2001’s influence for me can also be found in the scene where the crew of the Prometheus discover the ruins on the planet they land on, which reminds me of when the astronauts find the monolith on the moon in 2001 and that whole unearthly tension that Kubrick evoked so masterfully, then there is the whole story of evolution with the apes at the beginning of the film finding the monolith on earth and as they touch it they evolve intellectually and then you see the first use of tools and technology which leads to the cut to the space ship showing how through science and the evolution of technology man is getting closer to finding out how the whole universe came to be, (finding god in other words or whatever that maybe) only to be faced with more questions and see the vast infinity of the universe. Basically saying you may think you’re close to the answers but as soon as you get closer in approaching them you see your still millions of miles away from your answers and the horizon ahead of you actually runs for infinity, who put this monolith on earth? Some speculate aliens, setting up a loose pre visitation theme.
In Prometheus as a comparison you have the scene at the beginning of the movie which shows an alien creature who disintegrates and breaks down his own d.n.a and than that evolves into something else (possibly us) which then cuts to the scientist’s finding the star map in Scotland which is reminiscent of finding the monolith on the moon in 2001, basically saying someone’s been here before and left us this clue, again playing into the pre visitation theme, this ideology of science leading to discovery is a thread that I feel is firmly rooted into the construction of Prometheus themes, (2001 was made in 1968 by the way and was kind of a build up to the attempts of nasa (who Kubrick and Arthur c. Clarke worked close with to ensure the authenticity of the film) to actually put man on the moon which took place a year later in 1969, the film kind of says what if you get there and this is what you find?) basically as we evolve and technology gets more advanced it furthers our own possibility of finding the answers of 'who created us and where did we come from’ all lines from the film Prometheus.
These are Themes and questions that make up in my mind what I would call true sci-fi, when 2001 was made we were standing on the threshold, nobody knew how far things would go and people speculated that in the future we might travel further into space and explore other planets, unfortunately the space race pretty much screamed to a halt and since then has largely been abandoned, but these ideas bled into the science fiction culture at the time and into science fiction writing, the 1970’s sci-fi classic the forever war is set in a world where human beings have started colonizing other planets by 1997, in other words ‘what if? style sci-fi’ which worked on speculation formulated from the times and a broad imagination which in Hollywood has unfortunately been abandoned in place of matrix style slow motion kung fu and machine guns, the possibilities it would appear when 2001 was made seemed endless which stimulated the imagination of many great science fiction writers and formulated the basis for Kubrick’s masterpiece, technology being the key to answering those existential questions through science, who knows where we would be now if the investment in space exploration had continued, it’s as if with the moon landings that was our zenith then we called it a day, at the very least we may have had some better films.
In Prometheus as a comparison they use this new technology (in 2093 its faster than light travel) to go further into space then before, and then make contact with what appears to be our makers only to be faced with the question where do they come from, why did they make us and who made them, so far so very 2001, it's basically the turtle analogy, the universe stands on the back of a giant turtle then you have the question what does that stand on then you get the answer another bigger turtle then what does that stand on to which you get the answer it's turtles all the way down, basically the answers are infinitely out of reach and no matter how close you get you only find the distance is even greater than you anticipated and we can only speculate and never fully understand, like Shaw retorts to Holloway after he say’s ‘they made us’ and she says ‘and who made them?’, that is something that I think is great in this film, it avoided the typical Hollywood blue print of we have to answer these questions because this is nothing more than a piece of disposable entertainment to be enjoyed when first viewed but ultimately forgotten, instead what you get is something that opens up debate from those who truly enjoyed the movie and can look into its themes, 2001 got there forty years before Prometheus but I don't feel there has been any main stream sci-fi since then that has evoked these kind of questions.
Good sci-fi literature has always been works that open up debates and theories on how technology can effect humanity, Phillip K dicks writing about what it is to be human was explored in blade runner for instance, is it just your memories that make you who you are and effect the decisions you make and ultimately put you on a fate driven path and no matter how hard you try your not really in control of your own destiny, this is what I call hard sci-fi something mainstream Hollywood seems to have turned its back on, star wars for instance although a great film does not ask questions like this and I would argue was more soft science fiction which ultimately makes it more accessible, a story of two knights that go to save a princess from a guarded fortress with light sabers instead of swords, it could have been set at any point in history the basic plot making the film as stated more accessible through its conventional simplicity but using sci-fi as a backdrop like tinsel on a Christmas tree (all decoration, be it jaw dropping decoration for its time) no doubt inspired by the technological achievements in special effects film making displayed in 2001 but using none of its polarizing themes, instead adopting 2001’s wow factor, though star wars impact cannot be taken for granted, But essentially it is still special effects set to the Levi Strauss formula that has become respected as the norm in films these days and one that the public loves and will pay to see again and again becoming a part of sci-fi film convention (and also an offshoot into alien i might add), good guy’s rescue pretty girls from bad guys in other words pushing questions of creation and morality raised in films like 2001 and books like 1984 to the sidelines.
I think because of the success of aforementioned sci-fi films like star wars harder sci-fi movies like 2001 and blade runner have been pushed to the fringes and largely marginalized, they are divisive films that not everybody can get on board with. I feel that Prometheus was made in this vain while still trying to incorporate a mainstream feel, both to its credit and to its detriment. Basically one foot in one foot out, it’s made to ask questions but also to entertain which is a part of its problem but in this case one I’m willing to overlook, it’s a philosophical sci-fi film in other words (although it must be said somewhat of a hybrid with alien it certainly uses that as its jumping off point, and is ultimately one of it's problems). How effective the more main stream strand borrowed from alien is in Prometheus I could not say I would have to survey those ordinary movie going populace and ask for their opinions but I would say that it is something that is put there to keep the ordinary non science fiction aficionados on side and the film more accessible and seeing as this was birthed from alien it is as to be expected going to contain some of those similarities (these similarities being a part of what I call the more accessible ‘star wars factor’) which this does but at the same time to its credit also tries to move away from and to evolve into a bigger philosophical picture and therefore wins my vote.
That said it would appear that this deviation to the crowd that just go to see a film that they will probably only intend on seeing once as part of a night out at the pictures is its staggering point, for those who cannot see into the layers that the film has contained within it, they are only going to ask on face value, did it entertain me?, it would seem the feelings are mixed, there are also those alien fans who were expecting to see something more in line with that movie, but when broken down alien is essentially a haunted house in space movie and can be placed into the bracket of being a horror movie as much as it can a sci-fi movie, basically it was 50 50, whereas promethes is more on the sci-fi to horror ratio 80% to 20%, which is probably why some alien fans including Jen_dun were left either feeling let down or pissed off.
Now as a massive sci-fi fan of both literature and film I can probably see things that Joe public may not pick up on hence the divisive nature of this movie and why some people may treat it with derision, nobody on the board included by the way, (some sci-fi fans may also disagree with me and say that the homage’s to other great sci-fi displayed in this movie was quite poor or maybe were not even there to begin with, that I guess is subjective and this is just my opinion if you don’t like it I apologize).
I am just grateful that they tried to make something that I would consider more of a harder edged movie and more of a homage to classic science fiction film making which is why I really enjoyed the film, that being said I think the problem arises for me with the more mainstream element as stated above that it tries to straddle, although it’s not a huge problem and as I also stated I can understand why it’s in there, but I would say I have always been more of a 2001 and blade runner fan then alien or aliens which I still very much enjoy but 2001 and blade runner are more preferential to me.
Prometheus I would say feels like alien evolving into blade runner, enjoyable but somewhat risky and chaotic, as stated it has been said before on other forums or publications this is 2001 meets alien or essentially existentialist meets mainstream cinema (backing up my point here), again this is where the film divides people and as I have said where it loses me slightly, there are those that like the non mainstream debate opening questions but hate the more mainstream splatter elements of the film and feel that it lets the film down and would like something as hard edged as 2001 a film that does not compromise for its audience, whereas some people hate the fact that the film asks questions but does not give them answers, but enjoy the tension that is slowly built up and the spectacular set pieces in the film, an example would be the juggernaut crashing or Shaw’s self surgery cesarean scene.
Some people like both elements and some people hate both elements, is it to mainstream to be considered a future classic?, or is it too confusing and polarizing to be loved enough to one day be considered a fantastic sci-fi adventure stroke horror film up there with the likes of the movie which this one is a prequel or said prequel too, I have heard it said that it might go down as the most expensive cult movie ever made, Whatever happens I think the fact that it tries to do something different but presents it in a familiar more accessible way while paying homage to past sci-fi but still on some level being uncompromising in the themes it addresses is what makes the movie stand out against the backdrop of modern day Hollywood and is not to be sniffed at and that's what I liked about the film at least.
To get more analytical there are two sides to this film that I enjoy there is the purely visual what you see on screen basically the hand in front of your face and then there are the subtleties the blink and you will miss them that form hidden layers that take the film off into different tangents, first the visuals and more formulaic side of the film, firstly there are the leanings towards the movie that effectively birthed this one that film being alien, scene’s or shots that bring back a type of subconscious nostalgia but never feeling like déjà vu, The scene for instance of the ship landing spectacularly re-imagined and very reminiscent of when the Nostromo touches down on L V 426 and when the scientists gear up and get ready to go out and explore the planet (the only piece of explorative sci-fi alien touched I might add), there is the scene at the end where Shaw enters the life boat and this could be seen in reference to alien where at the end of the film she has to tackle the alien in the escape pod, one more scene of terror for the audience to push the audience and film into over drive creating one last piece of tension, then there is the Ripley style message that Shaw’s character leaves at the end of the film, there are also other themes of body horror and infection used throughout the movie, all nice little nudges and winks for the audience.
This modern day version though is faster in pace and broader in scope to the original which may divide fans who come from an older generation and time of different style storytelling used in the first film which was more slow paced and suspenseful, a beaming example of a perfect jaws in space or space slasher movie and uses all of the tools of those films that came before it to craft a near perfect movie, Prometheus on the other hand as said is broader in scope tackling many themes (this 2001 and alien mash up for some as stated just doesn’t work), These are the subtleties and the things I enjoyed and why I feel genre wise it would fit under the more classic explorative 1950’s sci-fi that carrot included in his post.
Examples, for instance there are many scenes in the movie that sci-fi fans will appreciate and add to this scope, there is the b movie planet of the vampires feel to the costumes a film that alien also paid homage to, in that film there is also a green crystal found in the ruins along with the dead alien remains, these remains being possible inspiration for the space jockey in the original alien.
There is also the huge head statue in Prometheus which could be viewed as being like the monolith the astronauts find in 2001 while their exploring the moon, these are things that someone who is not a real big sci-fi fan would not pick up on and might wonder why it’s there like with the green crystal for example, is it important in the movie no it’s irrelevant it’s just there for the eagle eyed viewer to say, oh I see that tip of the hat.
another example would be the space jockey playing the flute, music of the sphere’s if you like which goes back to ancient Greece and mathematical theory which ties into music and forms the basis of string theory, when this music of the spheres is played the orrery opens up and David is surround by planets that make up an ancient alien star map, which comes back to the technological evolution in the film, these aliens supposedly left us primitive cave paintings but as we evolved over thousands of years this technology has expanded from pictures on a cave wall to the presentation that Holloway and Shaw give where they use the human equivalent of their own star map.
Some people have also speculated that there are also homage’s to doctor who, in which in an earlier episode from the sixties a man from the stars who came to earth and advanced mans technology is awoken from hibernation and uses a flute in order to control his technology, it could be assumed also that the character Elizabeth Shaw is named after a character that appeared in the 1960's version of doctor who, that character being Dr Liz Shaw, a recurring character who would go on to set up the organization U.N.I.T and would also appear in that aforementioned episode, I have heard that Ridley Scott also worked as a production designer on Doctor Who back in the sixties so this could also be another tip of the hat.
Then there are all the religious themes used in the movie, there are allusions to paradise lost with the fallen angels plotting mans down fall from an outpost in space, there is the fact that it is set near Christmas, immaculate conception, the theory that the name of the planet L V 223 alludes to the bible passage Leviticus 223 that warns man not to quest to meet there maker, there is the xenomorph mural which displays a character spread out in a crucifix position and another mural that shows a man being sacrificed and evolving or being consumed by something else that leads back to the opening of the film where the engineer creates new life through self sacrifice, which also ties to Mayan cultures and the pre visitation theme where a man would live like a prince for a year and be offered up as a sacrifice for the gods, there are the Inca lines that chariots of the gods speculate were like airfields created so that visiting alien’s could land there ships and that these aliens helped advance mans technology (which goes back to the monolith in 2001) and the speculation by film fans that alien’s put them on earth.
Then there are the dome type facilities in Prometheus which were originally going to be pyramids (humans mirroring this alien species) but instead became domes which in early science fiction writers thought would be used in order to replicate the breathable and livable conditions found on earth, a kind of bio dome or form of terra forming.
The notion of self sacrifice seems to be something that is very prevalent to this alien culture as David says ‘in order to create first you must destroy’, then you go back to genesis where it is said god made man in his own image, man in this movie seems to be an exact replica of the engineers in the film through the advancement in their own technology from there star maps and space ships that can go further into space, there cryos tasis tubes and their ability to create life, in the engineers case us in our case David, the unwanted destruction that seems to inhabit man is also another streak that the characters seem to have inherited from the engineers, the black goo in the movie a kind of biological war fare made on an outpost which Ridley Scott has said mimics the laboratories in which anthrax was created and cultivated in,
These are all ideas expressed subliminaly into a thinking man's sci- fi movie and another reason why it breaks away from alien a little to uncomfortably and instead starts to go into blade runner territory.
Which leads to the character of David. Now david in the film seems to be a vehicle that is used in order to try and better understand humanity and its motivations, this is a film about people going to meet there makers after all, yet David has of course already met his, and how do they treat him, with arrogance and contempt the same kind of contempt that the engineers in the movie would seem to appear to have towards us, we are just an experiment, and so is David and to go back to an old quote from blade runner, ‘Rachel is an experiment nothing more’, David basically is a blackboard with every other characters rationales and behaviors being cataloged on its surface, a type of robotic sponge who soaks up the behaviors of those around him.
David also has no real will of his own and follows orders blindly because that is what he is programmed to do but his inquisitive studies in to human nature seems to act as a type of mirror in the movie that is held up to show all mans pros and cons, he’s fascinated with Shaw’s character, a character who seems to share in some of his inquisitive nature, she’s soft and selfless and relies on her faith in order to better judge situations or try to answer more difficult questions, she is a person the audience have a deeper sympathy for and understanding with. Weylands character on the other hand is a more selfish character willing to sacrifice members of his own crew by David’s hand, his megalomaniacal nature summed up by his quest to become immortal. Then there is his offspring Vickers, a person with her own agenda who is seeking to take power of the Weyland Company that she will inherit in the case of her father’s demise, maybe she sabotaged the mission in order so that he would be guaranteed to meet that end who knows.
But it would appear that this is a film about human nature, from the selfish to the stupid, to the arrogant, to the inquisitive all reflected through David’s behavior. Some may not like David for the things he did to Shaw effectively killing Holloway a man in which he saved along with her only earlier in the film when they were caught up in the sand storm only to poison him later under weylands orders.
Is he to blame for the things that we make him do?, I would say that David reflects perhaps the most rational character in the movie everything he does is in order to gain a greater understanding of the people who are responsible for his creation, and this can be scene towards the beginning of the film while he’s watching Lawrence of Arabia and basing his image on peter o’toole, he is eating he is drinking, soaking up all of these human habits in order to better indentify and understand his human counterparts.
He is the main anchor in the film, an empty cup that has the capacity to be filled by anything he encounters. I talked about how he watched Lawrence of Arabia at the beginning of the film in order to soak up human culture and two quotes that David reference in the film seem to be quite prevalent to its themes, two quotes both of them powerful ‘there is nothing in the desert and no man needs nothing’ is the first, the desert of existential soul searching which is the main narrative thrust and ‘the trick is not minding that it hurts’ the second, even more resonant about the quest for answers and meaning. This all seems to play into and around Blade runner territory again true sci-fi, Weyland confronting his character a kind of ying and yang scene to the one between batty and Tyrell and David’s own innocent inquisitive nature almost reflecting that of Sean young’s Rachel character.
So to sum up I think genre wise prometheus belongs in a category that died long ago, basically true science fiction, before it was just used as dressing to cover up what was essentially a horror movie in space (alien), or a medievil knights tale in space (star wars). I think once ridley makes the sequel and his new blade runner film and perhaps the forever war then people will actually see what he is trying to do, infuse science fiction with ideas again and make people think, so put that in your pipe and smoke it, and one more thing ridley scotts last sci-fi film which was a true sci-fi film was blade runner, after seeing this i did not expect prometheus to be avatar 2 or just another monsters in space movie, and when you think about it that kind of makes sense.
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Last edited by LobsterPot; 12-07-2012 at 12:47 AM.
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