I seriously can’t believe people didn’t like this movie. Blows my mind.
Fucking LOVE this film. Amazing to look at and so stimulating. Potentially iconic images. Not perfect, but I’m really not sure what people were expecting. God, I’m so hype for the implications of the universe expanding in this direction.
I enjoyed the movie, although I could clearly notice that much of the story was sliced and diced for theatres, which was a mondo disappointment.
Since there’s been spoilers strewn about everywhere I’m not going to maintain the charade.
First off I disagree with the idea of Space Jockey panspermia.
The Space Jockey in the beginning seemed like it was actually being punished more than anything; performing a ritual suicide for some unmentioned sin. After downing his extraterrestrial hemlock, he was breaking down on genetic level, and if you looked closely, most of his DNA was disintegrating, it was just mere luck that a portion of his DNA strand survived to replicate. This means that life was more of an accident than anything.
Also keep in mind the ship that left him didn’t look like the ringlet ship that the SJ attempted to flee in at the end of the film, which either implies that it was merely a different kind of ship or something else entirely was punishing him.
Personally, I loved the whole philosophy that the film is trying to represent. The space jockeys were just a more advanced version of us, driven by the same “primitive” perspectives that we are, and perhaps asking the same questions.
The need to eliminate mankind probably stems from the fear that we might be their adversaries one day, which makes perfect sense since we are essentially of the same cloth. The SJ probably advanced the same way we did, through colonialism and warfare.
GUNS, GERMS, & STEEL
That said, I’d rather earn respect amongst the Yautjas than try to fraternize with those Space Jockey douchebags any day. Space Jockeys can EAT A DICK!
This is actually 100% possible thanks to epigenetics- wherein the same genes can be expressed in different way (e.g. both skin and brain cells share the exact same DNA but turn into completely different organs depending on stimuli). It is the principle reason why sexual dimorphism or sequential hermaphroditism (when certain animals change sex in order to fit to a specific breeding group [i.e. clownfish]) is possible. Also atavistic transformations like a domestic hog turning into a feral boar state once in the wild.
Humans undergo similar morphological changes even though 99.9999% of our DNA is roughly the same, which is why there are “races” with specific endemic traits within our own species.
Simply put, put us on a planet rich in oxygen, with an inherent absence of myostatin inhibitors, slightly less gravity and a really strong ionosphere and we could easily turn into Giant Albino Bodybuilders in a quarter million years or so without turning into a completely new species.
You know i wanted to bring that up bruv, but i was afraid id get lost in a tangent. I would figure that SJ homeworld is a huge oxygen rich planet but devoid of most “sunlight” with i higher gravity. I only infer this due to people with higher exposure to sunlight tend to have darker skin, and if their pupils are basically their whole eyes (going a limb here, ala “the greys”) i would say the might even live underground, also negating the need for hair since there would be no risk of “sunlight” damage to the skull/brain. Whats interesting to me was the nose of all things. That big of a hook nose reminded me of the caucasian people. that is people from the caucus mountains of russia (i think). I wonder if by living in mountainous/subterranean habitat it would cause a hooked nose.
I said the same thing, a few pages back.
I knew there were good reasons why I liked you. :tup: :tup:
Also, it has not been brought up yet…
…but who is to say that the “giants/gods” in the caves paintings WERE ACTUALLY SPACE JOCKEYS.
What if they weren’t?
What if they were another alien race, acting in direct oppostion to the Space Jockeys?
What i dont get is the black oil bruvs. To the SJ and the humans of course, it acted like poison, but to the works, it was a catalyst. Or maybe the “oil” was really a life form/symbiotic organism of sorts but only worked in lower lifeforms.
Really not buying into the Space Jesus theory. I applaud the analysis, but it’s too silly. A black substance conforming to sentient whims and Jesus Christ becoming canonized in the fiction completely clashes with Scott’s gritty science-fiction aesthetics. Just… no.
A Blade Runner movie about Aliens.
Not an Lost movie with Aliens and a lack of the day after pill.
#JustSayin.
I seriously doubt the Captain’s explanation is complete. The most interesting ‘why’ is why do the engineers want us dead. How they managed to screw up and get killed by their own creation is another question, but they were just coming to the first one that made sense.
I’m high enough on the evolutionary scale not to mix cartoons with long winded gripe sessions (as in the link).
People saying that there’s too much to understand? Really you don’t NEED to understand all of the whys. Its fun to speculate and the movie, much like the original Alien, is designed for fan speculation. Don’t want to partake? No problem, here watch this scene:
“He’s coming for you.” … "AIRLOCK BREACHED"
Seriously, that was a badass setup and scene. Probably the only time one of these movies actually got it across the right way since Aliens.
A directors cut would definitely be welcome. Hopefully, that will provide some much-needed answers… Or even more questions. O_O
wasn’t everything drawn in black?
I don’t if it’s a life form or the movement was a chemical reaction with oxygen. #morequestions
I did love the facehugger part though. Did anyone else feel that there was a strong emphasis on big snakelike things in peoples mouths?
Also, there were younger adults there who had no idea what alien was. They were just like wtf at the ending.
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Hasn’t it always been about rape. Particularly the last scene with the Engineer, how scary would it be to consider yourself invincible only to get completely pwned
I hope they are curious enough to check out the franchise.
This actually highlights one of prometheus’ problems. If the captain’s explanation is incorrect, the black goo is now relegated to a plot device, letting it do whatever the writers want it to do at any given time (because there is no consistency or internal logic in what it actually does). No amount of digging or speculation can help here - this is simply bad writing.
It actually makes more sense if the captain’s explanation is correct - that way you can reasonably conclude there are two types of the substance (even then, there are inconsistencies). But, in doing so this raises the question why would the engineers bother sign-posting a map to a weapons testing facility?
All of which can and should have been answered in this movie as it was raised in this very movie.
Everything he said was raised by the movie itself. Those are issues because the movie didn’t do its job of explaining them (and there’s simply not enough info for you to make any conclusions). Speculation and digging for info is fun, I understand (I do it myself). But there’s a fine line between that and doing the writer’s job. And if you had to do the latter, you have to aks yourself, what exactly did you just watch?
I had to rewatch Ip Man after watching this movie. A thousand of those white human aliens in the beginning would have been cool though.
I think your neglecting the other half of the movie when the psychedelic death of David Bowman and the birth of the star child occur. With no logical reasoning behind it but obvious ambiguity, no monolith explanation, no mention of their origin or purpose. The whole reason the characters have motivation to go into space in the first place was the monolith and even then their motivations are not clear. These things are even defined less in the sequel 2010. But I suppose there are some anwsers in Clarke’s books in 2061 and 3001.
For the record this is my favorite sci - fi film and I am cool with all of that.
Furthermore, Prometheus had plenty of motivation and plenty of “rhyme and reason” for their actions. Fictional characters will do what they will and their motivations will be clouded by the events going on within their enviroment. Things they cannot control end up being their demise and curiosity killed the cat(s). Jealousy, curiosity, greed, envy and many other feelings represent all these characters choices on a grand level and not just the main cast but the engineers as well and playing with fire on such a large scale results in many deaths and huge consequences.
At first I was upset like you on how it tied into the original Alien it felt like what was the purpose? Why make it in the first place if not to give answers about the Nostromo mission (however indirect). But the more I thought about the fans expectations the more I realized that our perception of the Alien universe is very limited. There are things in this film that mirror Alien. These events could surely lead up to Alien in a very important way but they don’t. If they did a prequel there would be glaring plot holes in the first Alien (which isn’t perfect either) and it would raise a lot of questions for the original film. Things like What happened to the remains of the ship prometheus? Why is the derelict Alien craft is in a large cavern and the Prometheus Alien craft not? Is the beacon the nostromo recieves Shaw’s beacon or did someone else send that beacon? If so who? etc.
I think the events of Prometheus are similar to Alien for a reason and they help expand the mythology of the Alien universe. Something that becomes clear at the end of the film that we know very little about. A tie in is subtle but people tend to think it should have been bigger and are upset. I understand why but there is a reason why Ridley intended on this not being Alien 5 and decided to go for a new kind of mythos. I guess if you think it’s cheap there is no convincing otherwise, but honestly it raised Alien series back to A movie status for me.
I havent seen any of the Alien movies but I loved Prometheus. Visually, it was breathtaking. The plot and character development left a bit to be desired but in the end I was more than satisfied.
Some of the acting was terrible, namely the Geologist (too over the top) and Charlie (poorly cast prettyboy).
The relationship between Vickers, David and Weyland could have been outlined a bit better in the beginning so we would know why she was so salty, it didnt really make it clear that she was his daughter.
A Sex scene with Vickers and the Cap would have been nice (just sayin)
I totally agree with a earlier gripe regarding her ability to jump around post surgery. Its science fiction and they totally could have thrown in “oh yeah the medipod does fast healing” and have her be sealed up some other way where we could believe that some substantial healing has occurred and she could move around. OR have some sort of brace put around her abdomen. That was just sloppy.
I gotta watch Alien and Aliens now.
In terms of the filmography, I guess I can see some of the criticisms - there are logical inconsistencies, such as Shaw’s escape to the Medpod scene, fodder characters, such Fifiel and Millburn and Vickers not moving a few feet to the right to avoid her demise - but I guess I was so enthralled by the movie that they didn’t bother me nearly as much as they would have in another, less engrossing film, despite being conscious of them. And I think that’s my point - it’s still a Hollywood film, with an aim to generate revenue as its core motivation. Inconsistencies happen in most, if not all Hollywood films.
To begrudge this film as a whole because of them leads me to believe A: One watches way too many Hollywood films, becoming cynical, B: One watches too few Hollywood films and is naive, or C: The film’s aesthetics just weren’t meant for you. You weren’t engaged enough by them to distract you from the mundane aspects of the film.
Yes, a Director’s Cut is definitely in order. When it comes to releasing a 100 million dollar science-fiction film not guided by a fail-safe vision, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. Sometimes, a character has to die in a ridiculous manner (Vickers) in the practical interest of moving the plot forward ad tying things up in a timely fashion. Her death could also be viewed as intentionally silly, but it seems most are too cynical to believe that. Sometimes you have to have flat characters (Millburn, FIfiel et al.) in order to give the necessary arc to the ones that are core to your vision (Shaw, David) and play up the elements that are supposed to sell your film to a mass audience (sci-fi horror).
shrug
About the script:
I thought I was going to be extremely bothered by Lindelof’s involvement, but in terms of the plot itself, I had zero problems with it. The ambiguity of its elements is the beauty of it. The ambiguity of Lost was its beauty until it became clear the writers were writing with no aim and met dead-ends. Prometheus as a franchise does not have to endure the same fate and has way more potential than stand alone ‘Alien’. It’s not hard to answer the pertinent questions if you know what you want the franchise to be/do.
We can have fucking Samus; planet-hopping with an antagonizing, disembodied, android head in a tote bag? Played by Michael Fassbender? Coinciding with events on LV-426?
GIVE IT TO ME PLEASE.
I’ve seen this criticism a lot and I disagree. Shaw’s character paid the surgery scar mind throughout the rest of the film, visually, in subtle and not-so-subtle ways, limping and grimacing every other scene. Unless you wanted the main character completely incapacitated (giving us a completely different movie) I’m not sure what else they could have done with her.
Yes there is some ambiguity but at least there was a logical sequence of events. I never felt like the characters were braindead idiots. I think it was pretty clear that monoliths were created by aliens to affect intelligence, but yeah I agree the ending is kind of a WTF if you haven’t read the book.
Prometheus on the other hand… Plenty of rhyme and reason? OK then explain to me why those two idiots get lost in temple when they have “pups” mapping out the fucking thing and they are constantly in contact with the ship! And why they suddenly grow a pair and want to touch creepy snakelike penis creature thats fucking hissing at them? And what the fuck is David doing poisoning crew members and making secret excursions without anyone saying a word? And why did Weyland pretend to be dead? And who cares if Vickers is his daughter? And why the fuck is the engineer so pissed off? Why doesn’t anyone care that Shaw just performed intense surgery on herself? Why doesn’t she mention the fact that theres a squid alien thing hanging out on the ship? Why do those dumb bitches run in a straight line when the engineer ship is falling down?
I mean cmon its pretty clear that either the script was garbage or Scott just didn’t give a fuck about the story.
You cant sit up with your abs cut in half. I didnt want her to be incapacitated as that would have ruined the movie but the have to believe that she was staped back together and can move around is a bit silly. They should have had made it clear that the medipod had some sort of fast heal mechanism or she could have had a brace that supported her abdomen. Ultimately I let it slide and still enjoyed the film but if there were one part that i thought was stupid it would be that.