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Prometheus discussion (Spoilers)
Marathon
Posts: 308
I thought it was a very good film. I decided to make it only my second 3D experience (Avatar first) but I didn't think it added much, so I think I'm done with over-paying for 3D now, if even Ridley Scott can't do much with it. There were some excellent sequences, eg. the computer assisted surgery was 'watch through the fingers' uncomfortable.
One question though:
The opening scene showed an 'engineer' willingly drinking the bio-weapon and then dying. I guess he was some kind of 'suicide bomber' who was willing to die to infect that planet through its water? Or was he creating life on that planet using his dna interacting with the bio-engineered weapon?
Overall an excellent film I'll be watching again on Blu-Ray.
One question though:
The opening scene showed an 'engineer' willingly drinking the bio-weapon and then dying. I guess he was some kind of 'suicide bomber' who was willing to die to infect that planet through its water? Or was he creating life on that planet using his dna interacting with the bio-engineered weapon?
Overall an excellent film I'll be watching again on Blu-Ray.
Comments
Yes I believe he was "testing" the bio-weapon was very interesting opening I must say. At first I thought it was the creation of life on earth I'd like to see that scene again.
Few things come to mind for me:
Why did David infect the male scientist was it a case of just wanting to see what would happen? Seemed odd when his primary purpose seemed to be finding a living engineer for his creator to communicate with.
I like how they end she was going to go ask the engineers why they decided they wanted humanity dead and the head was 2000 years old so did they decide they wanted humans dead around the birth of Christ? Maybe they were annoyed with humanity no longer crediting them with their creation and the rise of religion? Or maybe I'm totally over thinking that one :)
With that said, one excellent 3D movie was Hugo. One of the few where the 3D was worth the extra money. I could swear that the backs of the heads of the people in the section in front of me were BEHIND the action on the screen. I haven't had that experience at any other 3D movie including Avatar (however, Avatar was excellent 3D in other ways - one of which being that it was the only thing that made the movie worth watching).
(No comment on Prometheus though because I haven't seen it. I only decided to skim through this thread to get a general idea of if people liked it or not. I work over the weekend, unfortunately, but Monday IMAX, I'm there.)
While I think Avengers was the more entertaining film, this was certainly the more interesting.
Oh HELL yeah.
I think (can only guess, because I have probably seen the original Alien more than a dozen times) that even without the original Alien movie as a pre-text, that this absolutely still works as Lovecraftian horror. And even if the original Alien (especially to the audience who didn't know what was coming) was more surprising, I think this one succeeds at being more horrifying (in a good way), and also succeeds in feeling more thematic. This is not just a fate that befalls bystanders. This is what happens when you go looking in places you shouldn't look. To me, that makes it more Lovecraft, and more about something. It makes it about cosmic, existential dread (like the best Lovecraft) and not just monster-in-the-house.
Also, on my way out after the credits, I saw a pregnant woman and her man (I am guessing the father) on their way in to see the next show.
I think they will regret they didn't just go see Avengers again. Or a nice, tame showing of Men in Black 3 or something.
It will be interesting to see whether a movie like this will be able to succeed at a time when most SF is about kicking ass, as this was not that. And is definitely a slower, creepier story than what tends to succeed these days (e.g. Avengers). But I hope it makes money so we can get another one. And so the money people can continue to be shown that a film with a female lead can make money.
PS- I opted for 2D. Even Avatar, supposedly the pinnacle of 3D cinema, made me with I was watching 2D. So they can keep it.
They asked so many questions in this movie and as much of a rush as the movie was (I was jacked coming right out of the theater), it fell apart when I was talking with my friends about the tons of gaping plot holes that existed on all levels. Bigger questions would be like 'Why did the Engineers decide to kill Earth', down to smaller ones like 'Why was Janek so coy about his reasons for going' and 'How did a drugged woman who had just had an alien ripped from her stomach wander off to stumble upon Weyland who had been hiding on the ship? And why was he even there?' Weyland being on the ship answered no questions, served no purpose and muddled an already vague plot even more.
That being said, I saw the film in regular 2D, but was blown away by the visuals and the scope. I had to cover my eyes in horror a few times, which I count as a good thing for a movie, and the creatures were so new and different that real fear came from what the hell were they going to think up next. It did ask a lot of great questions about our existence and, while the plot wandered to a fairly inconclusive and unsatisfying end, it brought up a lot of philosophical questions that most sci-fi tends to bring up. It wasn't perfect, but was the best Ridley Scott movie in a while to say the least and satisfied the Alien fanboy in me a great deal.
7/10
P.S. How great would a happy go lucky musical sequel of Elisabeth and David's head just roaming around the galaxy be?
Prometheus: what was that about? Ten key questions
And I thought Weyland's presence on the ship was unnecessary as well, unless he really wanted to be there with David for first contact? It seemed impractical, especially considering the toll that being in stasis takes on even the younger, healthier members of the crew. It also distracted from the more engaging sequences with Rapace.
Other than that, Prometheus was everything I wanted!
Fassbender was incredible, the visuals were appropriately stunning, and the story itself obviously has us thinking and wanting more. It was more cerebral than I expected it to be, but that ultimately did not mean less action. We got plenty of badass "Alien" moments, and (perhaps best of all) we should get more of this franchise in the future.
As for the movie itself. I enjoyed it. I did find the pacing a bit disjointed at times. Did anyone else get a Venom symbiont vibe from that black goo? And I'm still wondering why David would spike Charlie Holloway's drink. I get that David's a robot and doesn't possess a conscience, but it just seemed such a bizarre thing to do. Of all the ways to inoculate someone, dropping a mysterious creature into an alcoholic beverage then having the guy ingest it, didn't seem like a very scientific approach, let alone a pragmatic one. Another issue I had was Guy Pierce as the older Peter Weyland. Yeah, I get the whole TED 2037 thing, but Peter looked too much like a young guy (no double entendre intended) trying to look old, as opposed to an old guy clinging on to life. Just to reiterate, I DID ENJOY THIS MOVIE! It's just that I would have appreciated it a whole lot more if some of the issues I had with it had been addressed. At the very end when the alien emerges, it's practically full-grown compared to the Alien in the first alien movie. I would have preferred a little consistency between the Alien movies, instead of having the audience make the leap of faith that this was a different type of Alien (a different species perhaps).
I really need to re-watch Lawrence of Arabia.
BUT... story just wasn't there. It didn't hold together - there's much too much unexplained that shouldn't be unexplained. I thought the opening scene was the creation of life on Earth, too. Was it a bio-weapon test? Perhaps. Why should that be ambiguous?
Why would the Engineers want to wipe out Earth? Just as a teaser for a sequel? That's a pretty big plot point here - b/c the Engineer is going to try to wipe out Earth - and we have no clue as to why? Really? By making the Engineers basically ciphers, they're a lot less interesting here. It's like we just got a taste of this storyline, and nothing more.
And why did David infect Hollloway? Really not clear. As was mentioned, his primary goal was to make contact with the Engineer to try to save Weyand. Why not test out the black goo another time under controlled circumstances?
And the whole room of containers - we hear speculation that they were biological weapons being tested. Were they? No confirmation - just a lucky guess here? I assume that this is why the Alien-like being was a bit different from the other aliens we've seen? Because it was a different iteration of the weapons development program?
The whole movie just didn't hang together for me. Seemed there COULD have been a good movie in there - but we just didn't get it. Bummer!!
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(according to Ridley Scott's various interviews)
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You said it seems impractical because of the toll that it would take on him. That illustrates how important it was to him, and how desperate he was to meet the "engineers." He put up all of that money. He risked the time spent in stasis. And when told that going out there would kill him, he said that he didn't care. Meeting the "engineers" meant everything to him. And he was willing to risk everything.
I can't wait for it to come out on dvd. I hope that there is a good commentary track on it.
All speculation of course, and not based on anything official, but I think a lot of what this guy is saying makes sense and fits the movie and answers some of the questions people have about the movie.
I'm wondering if the black ooze is the actual xenomorph? Probably. The maggot things became the creatures that look like dianogas and make the first attack.
Also David infected the guy because he is always challenging humans about their humanity. He asked what would you do and the guy answered anything and everything. It wasn't until he said this that David put the alien in the drink. The guy had an out. He was being tested.
Synthzoids being a bit twitchy seems to go back further than we knew.
I loved the movie. I'm not seeing as many plotholes as some of you.
It made perfect sense that weyland was there to meet his maker.
And yes it left us with questions. That's what good movies do. They don't need to answer everything.
Sure the captain is only speculating. No one knows exactly what the engineers are up to. That's kind of the point.
I like to think that the engineer at the prologue was populating the earth.
Again, I loved the movie, and will try to see it again in 2D before it leaves theaters.
And yes, the logo in Firefly actually reads, 'WEYLAND-YUTANI CORP".
I mean - I get the Joss connection with Alien Resurrection and all, but how cool is it that he slipped it into Firefly, and then have it resurface years later with Ridley Scott's return to the Alien franchise? Note the logo shown here is the one from the original Alien movie, the logo used in Prometheus is meant to be an earlier variant of this logo, and one that doesn't make mention of the Yutani partnership.
The lower screen-shot is from Firefly episode 1 (the real episode 1). Early in the episode Mal can be shooting an anti-aircraft gun. The log appears in the gun's HUD.
As for getting your mind blown
First episode of Firefly has a Lambda class shuttle (Star Wars) in it.
Battlestar Galactica Mini-Series has Serenity (Firefly/Serenity) in it.
So that means Aliens, Predator, Star Wars, Firefly/Serenity and Battlestar Galactica are all connected.
Beware Sith Pred-aliens.