Prometheus Review Thread (Spoilers)

[raygendreau]

Originally Posted by greg_achen

I definitely understand all the points you've made. My theory assumes that Aliens remains in the continuity of this film and Scott and Lindelof took Aliens into consideration when creating the Prometheus plot. I think the film definitely implies that the Deacon at the end of the film is the ancestor of what will eventually evolve into the classic xenomorph complete with facehugger lifecycle. Just as our ancestors didn't look exactly like modern man, neither does the Deacon. As far as Shaw's DNA being in the Trilobite I think it's a definite possibility if it was conceived the old fashioned s-p-e-r-m fertilizes egg way. Theoretically, the Trilobite would have 23 chromosomes from Shaw and 23 from Holloway. The Trilobite also did have an umbilical cord and an amniotic sac when it was removed, so her body obviously recognized it as a pregnancy and not as a parasite or something foreign.

Obviously we are both speculating here. The reason I don't think it was a 'normal' human pregnancy involving the fertilization of an egg is that she could not conceive prior to this. And, she had to manually program the med pod and after programming it it did not recognize that she had a 'normal' pregnancy. (This is complicated by the med pod being set up to accomodate males) And, if the pregnancy had been 'normal' I think the resulting foetus (trilobite) would have had some 'human' features as the alien in the '79 film did.

Edit: The Prometheus Glossary in the discussion about the Deacon indicates elements of Shaw, the Engineer and the Trilobite were included in the design. I don't see any elements of Shaw in the Deacon, but I'll take their word for it.

[ariakon]

Got any of Noomi Rapace, Besi? I went on google but couldn't find much. I liked that, just like in Mass Effect, space clothing is made of the tightest materials in existence. Some of Charlize's suits almost looked painful.

[Aragorn the Elfstone]

Originally Posted by besi

screen shots.
poor David.

[Show spoiler]

[Taipan]

Originally Posted by ariakon

Walked out of the movie in love, went online and was summarily called an 'idiot' by lots and lots of fan commentators. Go see more science-fiction, they tell me. B-bu-but I love science-fiction, I tell them, Cordwainer Smith and Ray Bradbury and Gregory Benford are some of my favorite authors. You're an idiot, they tell me.

It's amazing how I've graduated High School and college (in English Literature, no less!) And yet people can still bully me into feeling bad for having different tastes in things. I don't know, am I a half-wit for loving Prometheus? I thought it was quite good, and at the very least, tried to be something meaningful.

The movie is not perfect, but it's well worth your time and energy. I enjoyed the movie quite a lot. Don't ever let someone tell YOU what is worth your time. Only you can do that.

I just got done watching Ghost Rider 2 (my son loved the first), and the only acting that made the film worth watching was Idris Elba's scenes. The film is a complete and utter mess other than that. However, if someone loves the film, then it's not my place to criticize and demean them for having an opinion other than mine.

[raygendreau]

Prometheus glossary: http://www.movies.com/movie-news/pro...-glossary/8313

[willbfree]

Originally Posted by dallywhitty

Agreed. I'm surprised by all the comments suggesting that the 3D was practically non-existent. My girlfriend and I both agreed that the 3D looked fantastic, and 3D usually gives her a headache.

Maybe some think of 3D as things coming out of the screen, whereas Prometheus was the kind of 3D that goes deep into the screen.

Watching it from a seat a bit higher up in the theater than I usually sit, when the opening scenes started I felt like I was looking down at an actual stage play, the 3D was so incredibly real. Like there was a stage there before me instead of a screen.

[vegeta88]

Originally Posted by willbfree

Maybe some think of 3D as things coming out of the screen, whereas Prometheus was the kind of 3D that goes deep into the screen.

Watching it from a seat a bit higher up in the theater than I usually sit, when the opening scenes started I felt like I was looking down at an actual stage play, the 3D was so incredibly real. Like there was a stage there before me instead of a screen.

The key word I would use is "subtle". They didn't have things coming at the audience or popping out really at all. Some of my favorite shots were of the relatively tiny ship in a vastly wide shot, properly depicting size. I could see the depth of space/atmosphere. I honestly am just as happy with the pop outs so long as they make sense. Imagine Alien in 3D, when the chest burster comes out, it would pop out at the audience, but it would not be a shot built FOR 3D. In any case, I am definitely getting the 3D version.

[remake]

Just got back from watching this. For such a long movie, it had a disappointing ending. Can someone explain the beginning to me, please?

I enjoyed it though. I just felt like there could've been more action. Every good scene was in the trailer, sadly.

[Aragorn the Elfstone]

Originally Posted by raygendreau

Prometheus glossary: http://www.movies.com/movie-news/pro...-glossary/8313

I ordered that book from Amazon. It's arriving on Thursday - can't wait.

[besi]

Visual Effects Supervisor on "Moon"

http://www.gavinrothery.com/my-blog/...rometheus.html

" the Alien ship start-up sequence was ****ing RIDICULOUS. You play a little flute and push some hard boiled eggs. Bingo bongo, where in the universe would you like to go today? I'd love to hear what Giger thought when he saw that in there, bet he was pissing himself."

his view on Alien

http://www.gavinrothery.com/my-blog/...t-so-good.html

[ariakon]

Originally Posted by victim

Just got back from watching this. For such a long movie, it had a disappointing ending. Can someone explain the beginning to me, please?

I enjoyed it though. I just felt like there could've been more action. Every good scene was in the trailer, sadly.

The very first scene, with the alien standing on the waterfall? It appeared that he was testing the weapon they had devised, in a form of ritualistic suicide. He was partaking of something beyond him, trying to tame it and failing. Just as the gods punished the Titan Prometheus for giving humans a force they cannot control in fire, the Engineers, in this case, are both our gods and mortals, who have grasped a force they cannot possibly hope to control. The Engineers are both Prometheus and the gods that must punish him, extraordinarily powerful but, in the end, flawed, and able to die. The Engineer in that scene is much like Weyland, who wishes to defy death but only brings it crashing down upon him.

[Col. Zombie]

OK, just got back from my first 3D viewing of this movie (and my first 3D viewing of any movie in a long time).

meh.... ... It did absolutely nothing to enhance the previous 2D viewing expereince I had the first time.

I'll stick with 2D whenever the option is available.

[groove93]

Originally Posted by besi

Visual Effects Supervisor on "Moon"

http://www.gavinrothery.com/my-blog/...rometheus.html

" the Alien ship start-up sequence was ****ing RIDICULOUS. You play a little flute and push some hard boiled eggs. Bingo bongo, where in the universe would you like to go today? I'd love to hear what Giger thought when he saw that in there, bet he was pissing himself."

his view on Alien

http://www.gavinrothery.com/my-blog/...t-so-good.html

I can imagine what his view on blue and white robots that go beep beep beep, or eight foot tall furry men yelling "arrrrrgggghghghghghgh", or that asthmatic dude in the Black Suit, gosh was he sooooooo annoying.

Ill think I'll watch a few episodes of Frasier before I go to bed.

[khan1670]

Eh?? Well I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure that

[Show spoiler] the scene is suppose to be Earth far in the past and the Engineer knows exactly what he's doing. The goo he ingests basically breaks down his body and he falls into the water. Basically it's supposed to infer that the breakdown of his genetic material eventually leads to us popping up on Earth. This is why the Engineers and humans both have the same DNA structure.

Originally Posted by ariakon

The very first scene, with the alien standing on the waterfall? It appeared that he was testing the weapon they had devised, in a form of ritualistic suicide. He was partaking of something beyond him, trying to tame it and failing. Just as the gods punished the Titan Prometheus for giving humans a force they cannot control in fire, the Engineers, in this case, are both our gods and mortals, who have grasped a force they cannot possibly hope to control. The Engineers are both Prometheus and the gods that must punish him, extraordinarily powerful but, in the end, flawed, and able to die. The Engineer in that scene is much like Weyland, who wishes to defy death but only brings it crashing down upon him.

[greg_achen]

Originally Posted by raygendreau

Obviously we are both speculating here. The reason I don't think it was a 'normal' human pregnancy involving the fertilization of an egg is that she could not conceive prior to this. And, she had to manually program the med pod and after programming it it did not recognize that she had a 'normal' pregnancy. (This is complicated by the med pod being set up to accomodate males) And, if the pregnancy had been 'normal' I think the resulting foetus (trilobite) would have had some 'human' features as the alien in the '79 film did.

Edit: The Prometheus Glossary in the discussion about the Deacon indicates elements of Shaw, the Engineer and the Trilobite were included in the design. I don't see any elements of Shaw in the Deacon, but I'll take their word for it.

Interesting. So while not exactly an official confirmation that the Trilobite was genetically her "child," it seems that might be Scott's intent after all. So either the creature at the end is the ancestor of the xenomorph as a self sustaining species like we see in Alien and Aliens as a result of Shaw being impregnated by Holloway's mutant s-p-e-r-m OR it's a completely unique creature that's related yet independent of the classic xenomorphs. Until I am told otherwise, I prefer to think it's the former. It makes that last shot that much more cool thinking we are seeing the origin of one the best movie monsters of all time.

SIDE NOTE: I can't believe Blu-ray.com is censoring the word s-p-e-r-m.

[Pondosinatra]

Originally Posted by Col. Zombie

OK, just got back from my first 3D viewing of this movie (and my first 3D viewing of any movie in a long time).

meh.... ... It did absolutely nothing to enhance the previous 2D viewing expereince I had the first time.

I'll stick with 2D whenever the option is available.

There's obviously a large difference in the quality of the theatres of the various posters when the comments range from 'it was the best 3D I've ever seen' to 'it's better in 2D'...

[Chaotic]

Originally Posted by victim

Just got back from watching this. For such a long movie, it had a disappointing ending. Can someone explain the beginning to me, please?

I enjoyed it though. I just felt like there could've been more action. Every good scene was in the trailer, sadly.

it was only 2 hours

And Ridley Scott's Alien movies are more thriller than action

[khan1670]

Well yes, perhaps it isn't 100% clear and yes there is the possibility there are varying Engineer factions, but it was my impression the

[Show spoiler] Engineer was purposely left there by the ship in order to create life on the planet by breaking down his body down to it's basic genetic material. The question now is why do they want to destroy us?

Originally Posted by ariakon

Interesting, but I'd have to watch it again to see if you're right. That would kind of make sense, with the DNA bonding sequences, but I need to see it again. Thematically, it would still make that particular Engineer Prometheus, and the others would be out to correct his mistake (the creation of mankind). Perhaps the Engineers are divided between a more peaceful variant and the warrior kind we see later?

[vegeta88]

I have been trying to keep up with theories and such from a couple of different sources. So far, I have not seen this as an answer to a question:

[Show spoiler]One thing people are questioning is the motive for David to put the goo in Holloway's drink (whether it was a directive from Weyland or whatever). Mr. Weyland was looking for a "fountain of youth" type deal, right? Could he have wanted to test this goo to see what it does to a person, rather than having a specifically malicious intent?

While I like delving into theories of movies, I think it is a little ridiculous how much is not answered in this film. I enjoyed the movie, but I think there should be more definitive evidence and answers.

[ariakon]

Originally Posted by khan1670

Eh?? Well I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure that

[Show spoiler] the scene is suppose to be Earth far in the past and the Engineer knows exactly what he's doing. The goo he ingests basically breaks down his body and he falls into the water. Basically it's supposed to infer that the breakdown of his genetic material eventually leads to us popping up on Earth. This is why the Engineers and humans both have the same DNA structure.

Just watched the opener again and yeah, you're exactly right. I sometimes drone through the first few minutes of a movie because people are still streaming into the aisles and I'm offering silent prayers to any entity that will listen that the obese athsmatic with a horrendous cold and a full plate of nachos isn't going to sit next to me. It seems that the first Engineer is Prometheus, granting earth with a gift that some of the other Engineers (serving as the greek gods) clearly feel is a divine mistake. Is that first Engineer representative of Jesus? He kills himself so that We may live (nudge nudge), but that raises further questions, are the Engineers divided? Have they lost out to their own versions of warhawks?