Prometheus Review Thread (Spoilers)

[Kaiju]

Alien 3 (The Assembly Cut) is the bees knees.

[groove93]

Originally Posted by TheMan

Alien 3 (The Assembly Cut) is the bees knees.

You got that right!!

[Taipan]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

Just got back from seeing this. I enjoyed the film immensely, and I think it does serve as both a prequel to the Alien series and also a first film in a possible series of its own. Spoilers abound for Prometheus and other Alien franchise films where noted.

Some points to make (mild spoilers for Alien):

People are complaining about the lack of characterization, especially compared to Alien, putting aside the fact that there were far fewer actors in the 1970s (hence the ones we had were better), I'd like to point something out:

[Show spoiler]There wasn't a hell of a lot of characterization in Alien. Yes there was more, specifically, the post-statis scene in the galley, but aside from that, there was very little screen time devoted to fleshing out the characters beyond the same brief character sketches we get in Prometheus. Think carefully now, what do you remember about Parker (Yaphet Kotto) beyond that he was a wisecraker and was buddies with Brett (Harry Dean Stanton)? Or who Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) was beyond a whiny crybaby? And do we really learn anything significant about Dallas (Tom Skerritt), or is he really just there to captain a vessel (Director's Cut notwithstanding)? We spend time with three people in Alien the most: Ripley, Ash and Kane. Instead, the other characters in Alien are more defined by their actions and how they move the plot along than anything else.

The latter film's failing is that the crew is about five members too large; cut those guys out (especially the two co-pilots) and/or replace them with automation, and then give the larger parts a bit more to do in the film. Janek could have piloted the ship alone in the end, for example, and Vickers could have been the Company rep on the ship (i.e. the one who sees financial opportunity in the Aliens and wants to bring them back), while David could have simply been Weyland's agent (for his personal goals), eliminating his presence from the ship. The one characterization I truly felt was lacking in Prometheus was Holloway, who felt like he was only there to inseminate Shaw. He did need a bit more screen time.

But just like in Alien, we again spend most of out time with three people: Shaw, David and Vickers. It's simply that these people have less to do because they're on a bigger ship with more people. To have less people in Prometheus would have made it stronger, but I still feel the plot is as inventive as Alien.

Which brings me to the second point I wanted to make (mild spoilers for Aliens, Alien³ and Alien: Resurrection):

[Show spoiler]People are saying the plot of Prometheus "has too may holes" when really, this is a film full of questions, and (to the disappointment of some, it seems) it doesn't necessarily have the answers to them. Fine, I say. Why do you need answers?

Is it really the point of a single film to make a journey like the one in Prometheus, and at the end of two hours, we should know Who exactly the Engineers are and why they wanted us dead? That after being told repeatedly that the film is not a direct prequel to Alien, we should see a Xenomorph? That we should be shown exactly why David feels he can destroy human lives in the name of his mission?

I think it's unfair to expect a single, two hour film to raise and answer all of these questions. Look at what you already can infer from the Alien franchise:

-Xenomorphs can take different forms based on the host creature. The classic Xenomorph is from a human, but many different varieties could exist (e.g. the Xenomorph of Alien³ or the creature at the end of Alien: Resurrection, which I'm not sure is technically a Xenomorph). Also, from what we can infer from the previous films, "classic" Xenomorphs did not exist until the one from Kane in Alien, because that one came from an egg laid by a Queen on LV-426. The question that Alien did not answer (and which Prometheus may have answered), is what host that Queen had come from.

-Androids are not to be trusted and may have ulterior motives.

I will grant you that the point about Engineers is new material that Prometheus brings to the table, but that very point is what Scott used to set up a sequel to the film, and to be honest, how do you really answer that question? Whatever answer is ultimately provided would arguably be a let down, because it would be like finding out that our creators truly want to wipe us out and here is why. I find it much more appealing to simply contemplate the idea instead of having the final answer, especially when the revelation of the Engineers themselves (including seeing one alive) and subsequent exposure to the creatures that pre-figured the Xenomorph from Alien (like the Queen that came from the Engineer at the end) is already a lot to see in a single two hour film. Much better to let the question weigh on our minds as a possible sequel comes along which could provide more answers and ask different questions.

To my mind, the only other weak point of Prometheus is the idea that this is a different planet than LV-426, when the Space Jockey and ship position have been conveniently set up on this planet (I think it was LV-223?). On the one hand, if we set aside the convenient ship position, and believe, as Scott says, that we are not setting up the events of Alien, we could then say that somehow the Queen from the Engineer (or her progeny) moved planets, and that there were more Engineer ships on other planets, but on the other hand, given the distress signal and the Space Jockey, it feels more accurate to say that this is the same planet from Alien, and the Queen from the Engineer is the missing link between the creatures in Prometheus and the egg that implanted Kane in Alien. As far as I can remember, though, the only time the planet was labeled in Prometheus was on a ship monitor screen, and if I recall, the label of the planet wasn't given in Alien and only first appeared in Aliens (but I could be wrong), so maybe this is just some sort of small but important error.

So, Prometheus, while not technically perfect as a narrative film, is such a thought-provoking and visually enthralling one that I found it to be excellent nonetheless. It's right up there with Alien and Blade Runner for me.

Great post! Well thought out conclusions to many of the movies' questions. This movie strikes me as more layered than Blade Runner, which was not immediately embraced. The more this film exists and the more time we think upon the many thoughts given to the viewer in Prometheus, I feel it will gain a more positive response from the general public.

Phenomenal film.

[Spider]

Originally Posted by Taipan

Great post! Well thought out conclusions to many of the movies' questions. This movie strikes me as more layered than Blade Runner, which was not immediately embraced. The more this film exists and the more time we think upon the many thoughts given to the viewer in Prometheus, I feel it will gain a more positive response from the general public.

Phenomenal film.

Thats true: this film will grow in time. A sequel will hopefully help also.

I should go and see it again.

[Grumpz]

Originally Posted by Jonno2009

I thank whoever posted the livejournal article about some dude's theory which i found to be EXTREMELY interesting

http://cavalorn.livejournal.com/584135.html

Saw the movie last night and loved it. even before reading his theory i still loved the movie and was never bored one second. i loved all the sci fi aspects and visually it was really awesome! Great cast too.

But reading more into the mythology of it from that article made me appreciate the movie even MORE!

The only thing i don't quite understand and he doesn't really go in to is :

[Show spoiler]How did the Engineers all die? We saw from the first hologram they were running away from something, what was it? i know they were building this black goo to kill the humans, but how did it turn on them in the first place?

[Show spoiler]I don't think the black dye was a weapon and Shaw got that wrong. My take was the engineers used it to seed Earth, so they knew what it was and how to use it. It just so happened that when mixed with non - engineer dna, the results became unstable.

If one mouth full of the dye led to creation on Earth or some other planet, than they wouldn't need tens of thousands of canisters of it to do anything. One drop infected Halloway and would of killed him, and it also allowed him to pass on the effect of the material to Shaw's embryo. Damn potent stuff!

That's my take anyway, the dye/goo was not a weapon nor was the Engineer on his way to Earth. Nothing would of stopped him in the first place, so why go into cryo.

[Kryptonic]

Originally Posted by Grumpz

[Show spoiler]I don't think the black dye was a weapon and Shaw got that wrong. My take was the engineers used it to seed Earth, so they knew what it was and how to use it. It just so happened that when mixed with non - engineer dna, the results became unstable.

If one mouth full of the dye led to creation on Earth or some other planet, than they wouldn't need tens of thousands of canisters of it to do anything. One drop infected Halloway and would of killed him, and it also allowed him to pass on the effect of the material to Shaw's embryo.

That's my take anyway, the dye/goo was not a weapon nor was the Engineer on his way to Earth. Nothing would of stopped him in the first place, so why go into cryo.

The black water was a weapon. The "seed" they used on Earth was shown in the opening and involves some sort of sacrifice on the part of an engineer to get the ball rolling on evolution.

[Grumpz]

Originally Posted by Kryptonic

The black water was a weapon. The "seed" they used on Earth was shown in the opening and involves some sort of sacrifice on the part of an engineer to get the ball rolling on evolution.

[Show spoiler]Didn't the Engineer drink the black water out of a dish, in the opening of the film?

[TriuneImpurityRites]

Originally Posted by Grumpz

[Show spoiler]I don't think the black dye was a weapon and Shaw got that wrong. My take was the engineers used it to seed Earth, so they knew what it was and how to use it. It just so happened that when mixed with non - engineer dna, the results became unstable.

If one mouth full of the dye led to creation on Earth or some other planet, than they wouldn't need tens of thousands of canisters of it to do anything. One drop infected Halloway and would of killed him, and it also allowed him to pass on the effect of the material to Shaw's embryo. Damn potent stuff!

That's my take anyway, the dye/goo was not a weapon nor was the Engineer on his way to Earth. Nothing would of stopped him in the first place, so why go into cryo.

uhhh wow...

[dallywhitty]

Originally Posted by Spider

That's an opinion you should respect.

I prefer ALIEN3 over Alien and Aliens. How many roll your eyes smilies you wanna use on that?

Originally Posted by TheMan

Alien 3 (The Assembly Cut) is the bees knees.

I love the third film and couldn't imagine a better conclusion to the trilogy. I like Resurrection, but I prefer to think of it as some sort of epilogue or 'what if?' scenario.

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

I so wanted to see this this weekend but i was not able to. I really hope i can find the time to go soon.

[Kryptonic]

Originally Posted by Grumpz

[Show spoiler]Didn't the Engineer drink the black water out of a dish, in the opening of the film?

When the engineer drinks the dye, what happens? He disintegrates. Whether they're the same or not, I'm not sure, but both of them are certainly not anything positive for those who come into contact with it.

[tama]

I enjoyed this film and very much. 4.5

[Grumpz]

Originally Posted by Kryptonic

When the engineer drinks the dye, what happens? He disintegrates. Whether they're the same or not, I'm not sure, but both of them are certainly not anything positive for those who come into contact with it.

[Show spoiler]As I said, if one mouth full leads to all life on a planet, why would you need tens of thousands of canisters? Why did the Engineer take a 2000 yr long nap, if all he was going to do, was head to Earth to kill it? He could of just done it.

[Kryptonic]

Originally Posted by Grumpz

[Show spoiler]As I said, if one mouth full leads to all life on a planet, why would you need tens of thousands of canisters? Why did the Engineer take a 2000 yr long nap, if all he was going to do, was head to Earth to kill it? He could of just done it.

Because, as David says in the film, they were trying to create perfection and failed, so they had to destroy us to start over. Earth is basically a petri dish to them.

[Grumpz]

Originally Posted by Kryptonic

Because, as David says in the film, they were trying to create perfection and failed, so they had to destroy us to start over. Earth is basically a petri dish to them.

[Show spoiler]I dunno...that was a lot, and I mean A LOT of black dye, and I'm only talking about what was on LV-223. The derelict ship appeared to have even more.

[avecha]

Originally Posted by raygendreau

[Show spoiler]The Sacrifice Engineer appears at the beginning of the movie. He infuses the water with the DNA from his disintigrating body thereby starting evolution on Earth. So, in essence, the Engineers create humanity. The question is, was that his intent. Or was the planned evolution incomplete or the result flawed when Prometheus seeks out mankind's creators.

Yes. But keep in mind,

[Show spoiler]there were two agendas. The Mission to find the Engineers of humanity and Weyland's hidden agenda to wrest the secret of immortality from the 'gods'. David and Vicker's to a lesser extent, were tasked with finding that secret of immortality for Weyland. In the beginning, Weyland was kept in stasis inside the luxury escape module that was also Vicker's quarters. When the 2000 year old bodies of the Engineer's were found, David thought they had all died, so in an attempt to find a solution he infected Holloway which led to the 'impregnation' of Shaw. The plan was to bring the creature back to Earth ,thinking that they might answer the immortality question by investigating the creature.

After Weyland told David to "try harder", David discovered the hidden entrance to the pilot's compartment on the juggernaut where he found the last remaining Engineer in stasis. He returned to revive Weyland to bring him to the Engineer. Shaw and the creature were no longer important to the mission of discovering immortality at that point. That's why they ignored her.

Weyland had been kept in stasis as long as possible, given that he was near death. He would have been kept in stasis if David had not found the last Engineer.

Thats what i was trying to say.
Difficult getting things across through text.

[willbfree]

I just want to acknowledge the Blade Runner nod early in the film, when the blond Android says - with quite an odd inflection - "you people". It was an odd moment because up until then the blond Android had been trying to minimize the divide between androids and humans. But when he chose to highlight that divide, he used Roy Batty's words:

Roy said "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe."


And of course the old guy was pretty much same concept as Tyrell, but, that's just because that's a theme Ridley likes, it wasn't a nod to Blade Runner per se.

[avecha]

Originally Posted by Serendipity

I gave this 3/5.

I'm a Ridley Scott fan but this film just left way too much on the table and was really low on action. I'm not saying it needed to be a 2 hour gore fest but I did expect more than a few horrorish moments. Really, Michael Fassbender as David was more creepy than anything in this picture to be quite honest. I wasn't involved with any of the characters so when they were hurt or killed it just didn't do anything for me. Maybe seeing a second film would make me change my opinion as this one just felt like a big lead up to an epic conclusion that never happens.

Last i checked it wasn't an action film.

[willbfree]

Originally Posted by Grumpz

Anyone question

[Show spoiler]how David could hack all the locked doors, the Space Jockey/Enigneer cockpit console, and speak an Alien language, yet?

I'm more curious about where the ladder came from.

(I suppose he assembled it from a backpack of supplies).

[tommyboy81]

Originally Posted by willbfree

I'm more curious about where the ladder came from.

(I suppose he assembled it from a backpack of supplies).

I was going to say it was already there but the Engineers were tall enough to reach it.