Can't find the Prometheus thread

[gt3]

Can't find the Prometheus thread

Saw this at the weekend. Was as good as I hoped it would be on the basis of the trailer.
A really clever take on the whole concept of a prequel. Recommended.

******spoilers******
Rogin, thanks for clearing up my confusion - I missed the difference in planet number
Via Vicaria - I have to say that's the coolest hide of spoilers!
******************
Then completely knee-capped any effect it may have had on me by going on the following day going to see MIB3.

[De Geas Clean Linen]

Can't find the Prometheus thread

Ridley Scott has said that there was a lot of stuff he wanted in Prometheus that had to be cut in order to keep it within the two hour bracket.

I'm hoping we see this extra material in the Blu-Ray/DVD release. I seem to remember him doing something similar with Kingdom of Heaven.

[Moonlight Shadow]

Can't find the Prometheus thread

Quick question, worth watching the 3D version or shall I stick to the non-headache induced 2D one....?

[gt3]

Can't find the Prometheus thread

Not so quick answer MS - yes. At one point I actually thought someone was standing in my way and then realised it was someone in the film...Here's a tip though, if you can book your seat try and be as close to the middle of the row and about 2/3 back from the screen

[meregreen]

Can't find the Prometheus thread

I was disappointed. I'm not a big sci fi fan, but loved Alien and Blade Runner and hoped Ridley Scott might bring something fresh to the party. What a let down.

No tension, no finesse, no drama, just two hours being assailed by a very, very loud soundtrack, intercut with cod philosophising about the meaning of life. Plus the obligatory pyrotechnics and gory deaths.

You know from the outset that most of the crew are doomed (not a spoiler, I hope) and by the end you really don't care about their fate. That the most rounded individual in the whole film is a robot, should tell you all you need to know about the character development of the rest of the cast.

It reminded me of Ghosts of Mars, only nowhere near as scary or funny.

[ian.64]

Can't find the Prometheus thread

Ridley Scott has said that there was a lot of stuff he wanted in Prometheus that had to be cut in order to keep it within the two hour bracket.

I think that's what spoils Prometheus for me, in that it's a muddled affair which packs too much of everything into its two-or-more hours. In the first Alien film, the visual conception and uniqueness of it all was allied to a slender, yet taut piece of storytelling, and whatever discussions and themes came out of it in terms of body horror and its sexual metaphors sprung a few years after its release, in the same way Blade Runner's themes of humanity and robotics were widely discussed long after the film came out.

But Prometheus wants to answer the Big Questions in a hugely mainstream and beautifully-made blancmange of a film which in its final half-hour just turns into a generic noise machine with monsters to match. I know that there's been exhortations that this is not just an Alien prequel, but a stand-alone film that gets by on its own terms, but it's Alien nontheless and strays from that film's effective cinematic economy and mood to become another Hollywood product.

Is it entertaining? God, yes. It's a perfect, bona-fide, sleekly-made and professionally-produced Saturday night movie, that'll go into my meagre collection once I either get the DVD or stump up to get a Blu-Ray player.

But it's annoying that it's all that it remains when you consider its more unique filmic forebear.

[evilC]

Can't find the Prometheus thread

[RobW]

Can't find the Prometheus thread

****May contain spoilers****

Just seen it, and i'm not a massive fan of the Alien franchise. Love the first, can watch the second but anything else I can give or take really. Immediate thoughts coming out of the screening was that it was good, without being mindblowing. Of course, Fassbender is the real star performer here. I loved David's fascination with watching Lawrence of Arabia and modelling himself on Peter o' Toole. It looks spectacular too, i'm not sure the 3D really added to anything (I had intended to see it in 2D as usual).
I've read complaints that the music and sound is too imposing but I didn't really feel that.

Couple of gripes. Casting of Guy Pearce is a bit weird. He's in it for 5 minutes and caked under all that prosthetic make up. Couldn't they have just used some elder actor and saved some money on cosmetics?
Charlize Theron is there purely to be a right bitch it seems. She doesn't do a great deal besides be snotty towards the scientists. Would have been nice to get more out of her.

Other unanswered questions. What happens to the two snake like things that kill Milburn and Filfield? How come no one noticed a fucking Alien growing on the ship?

[meregreen]

Can't find the Prometheus thread

****SPOILER ALERT****

The alien in the ship was the one she had given birth to/aborted. It had been contained in the medical pod and grown rapidly while the others were off the ship trying to make contact with the Engineer.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Can't find the Prometheus thread

Not really a spoiler alert

Guy Pearce was in it as an old man because the viral marketing for this film featured him as a 40-year-old Weyland, promising to build better worlds etc.

I actually quite liked that.

[De Geas Clean Linen]

Can't find the Prometheus thread

One gripe I had was that David seemed a lot more advanced than Ash (from Alien), even though the movie was set 30 years prior.

Then I remembered the bit in Aliens where Burke tells Bishop that Ash was built by a third party robotics manufacturer, not Weyland Industries. Then theres the whole father-son relationship between Weyland and David which would explain Vickers jealousy towards him. Weyland clearly intended the David series to be a substitute son. I'm assuming that Fassbender plays the first David-8 model off the production line...

I saw it in IMAX 3D. Loved it. There are a few holes here and there but it didn't spoil my enjoyment of the movie. I'm assuming the extended edition (along with Scotts commentary) will fill some of those holes in the way that the Kingdom of Heaven directors cut did. Theres also some 20-30 minutes worth of deleted scenes that will be slapped onto the bonus features disc when the movie hits the shelves in October.

[Ray de Galles]

Can't find the Prometheus thread

*Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers**Spoilers*

Finally saw this last night (in 2D on a couple of recommendations which I'm glad I followed. I imagine all the dark scenes in the "pyramid" and ship would suffer from the light loss in 3D as well as just the distractions of the format) and really enjoyed it.

One point I am trying to confirm, it is probably very basic, is the evolution of the chestburster we see at the end but I just want to ensure my take is right;

- The black liquid/gel was created by the engineers to kill mankind.

- However before it could do so it morphed in to the reptilian beings (this being deliberate and the method by which it would kill humans or an unintended reaction, I'm not sure) which turned on the Engineers and killed them.

- These reptilian beings either stayed alive in the "pyramid" in some form (the larvae we saw under someone's boot earlier on) and/or were released/activated by David tampering with one of the "vases" causing the black liquid/gel to be released.

- Holloway drinks some of the liquid/gel which starts to contaminate him or cause him to start becoming a hybrid human/reptile.

- Holloway impregnates Shaw with what is presumably some kind of human/reptile hybrid (though it looks mostly reptilian).

- that hybrid attacks, kills and "seeds" itself in the engineer to create what I presume to be a human/reptile/engineer hybrid and the first of what we have previously seen in 'Alien' itself.

Does that seem like a sensible reading of it all or have I got confused or made an incorrect assumption?

One more thing, is the black liquid in the vases exactly the same as that which the engineer on earth drinks at the start of the movie which breaks him down to implant their DNA on Earth?

[De Geas Clean Linen]

Can't find the Prometheus thread

SPOILERS etc.

The goo is designed to manipulate and break down DNA. Holloway began to disintegrate while Fifield turned into mutated lunatic with superhuman strength. I'm guessing it affects people in different ways.

The 'Aliens' are clearly bio-weapons created by the engineers via some genetic tinkering. Its not clear what they were running away from in the recording David saw but many have postulated that it could have been an 'Alien' or 'Aliens' that got out of control and slaughtered them.

I have this theory where the goo produces a different creature/hybrid based on how the infection takes place. Like mixing two harmless chemicals together to produce something toxic. ON their own, both chemicals are inert but mix them together and you get something new.

Holloway is infected with the goo, has sex with Shaw before he starts to disintegrate. Shaw (who is infertile) gives birth to the proto-facehugger which impregnates the engineer to produce an 'Alien'.

Holloways infected DNA + Shaws DNA = Proto-Facehugger + Engineer = Alien

I'm also assuming that the alien in Prometheus is a more advanced version of the alien we know and love due to the fact that the derelict in the first movie had been sitting on LV 426 for thousands of years...

I may be wrong, however...

END SPOILER etc.

[Stumpy Pepys]

Can't find the Prometheus thread

Okay, I'm late to the party here. However, I had to watch the film three times until I could really form a proper opinion on it (and that's a mark of a good film).

I enjoyed Prometheus a lot. I'd avoided a lot of the pre-release hype and came into it with an open mind (some sort of Alien prequel). It's important to remember that Alien received very mixed reviews upon release and it was only the passage of time that gave it its mythical status (although it scared me senseless as a 12-year-old on VHS).

But, despite its faults, I enjoyed Prometheus a lot. Like Moon, Inception and Source Code, it was the kind intelligent sci-fi, that's unashamed to tackle big ideas, that you just don't see enough of any more. A film that tackled the beginnings of life and what it means to be human (obvious shades of Bladerunner). I'm particularly looking forward to the DVD, as I suspect a longer version might clear up some of the ambiguities in the film.

Fassbender is terrific and Noomi Rapace is very good indeed. Whether he'll get an Oscar nomination, I've no idea, but he should.

==SPOILERS==
The ambiguity around whether Vickers was human or an android still vexes me. There are good arguments to be had either way.

[anton pulisov]

Can't find the Prometheus thread

I watched about 2/3s of it. Characters were rubbish, I thought, acting not great. And who sends a bunch of mentally unstable idiots on an interplanetary mission? Ooh, the air is breathable, let's all take off our helmets! Our immune systems aren't evolved for this planet but who cares! Alien flu be damned!

I watched it because the trailer led me to believe it was some kind of Blade Runner type film. I didn't realise it was an Alien prequel. I never really liked Alien. Too stressful for me. Too much blood and guts. Shouldn't have watched it before bedtime, either.

[garcia]

Can't find the Prometheus thread

it's a long time since i saw prometheus - i remember it being kind of silly but still somehow cool.

guess i've added a lot to the thread with that comment.

[RobW]

Can't find the Prometheus thread

I will add even less to the thread by saying I was thinking about the film yesterday and that i'd like to watch it again soon.

[Come along, Min]

Can't find the Prometheus thread

I will add the leastest to the thread by saying I saw it twice and was well disappointed compared to the first time.

[ian.64]

Can't find the Prometheus thread

I do watch it again from time to time, but, while watching it, the overriding emotion is a yearning for the bloody film to be a really great one, the desire to discover the potential masterpiece/darn good time that's hidden beneath all that well-designed overindulgent flabbiness.

Same with the Thing prequel - it's shouting 'there's a really good film in here somewhere!' yet it never materialises.

[Sundeporino]

Can't find the Prometheus thread

Watched it on DVD last night. Very dissapointed.

It seemed disjointed as if theyve cut ten secs off here and three off there and fifteen off this bit etc. Hopefully when the directors cut comes out these will be replaced allowing whats already available to "flow" a tad more. THEN they can start adding the bits that actually explain and illustrate what the fuck is going on.

The crew were basically idiots who would surely not be allowed to tie their own shoelaces in the real future never mind fly a zillion dollar spaceship across the universe? If they were they wouldve had a smaller ship to land on the planet while the biggun stayed orbiting surely?

There was a million crew decisions, plot holes and plot devices that would never happen in real life. Lazy writing and the fact it was given the green light illustrates a sad sad state of affairs in the movie industry.

Could and should have done better.