Prometheus (Ridley Scott's Alien "Prequel" )

[colabear]

Going to see it this Sunday, I'm excited

 

[GoldenTribe]

Prometheus is nice to look at, but good christ is it stupid.

Nothing makes any sense. None of the characters ever seem to talk to one another or make obvious decisions/deductions or have the faintest clue what is going on with anything or anyone but themselves. The alien / body horror is pretty effective, but then it goes weird places very unnecessarily. The very end was a misfire for me when it is supposed to be a moment of triumphant satisfaction.

If you've seen the trailers, you've learned 95% of what you are going to. Thank Damien Lindelof. It's a movie where nobody ever shuts up about finding "the answers" and certainly never gets around to finding any.

 

[colabear]

Tbh, I'm only seeing it coz of MF cb

 

[furo]

Okay I saw the movie just now and:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

What I can't figure out is the opening scene. What was that engineer dude doing? Killing himself to save the misery of being destroyed by their own evil "death" creation? Was he throwing his DNA into the water supply to shed it off into some ship headed to Earth? Or is the ship already at Earth and he's spreading his DNA into the water to begin life on Earth? What exactly was going on there??

 

[Saturdays]



Okay I saw the movie just now and:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

What I can't figure out is the opening scene. What was that engineer dude doing? Killing himself to save the misery of being destroyed by their own evil "death" creation? Was he throwing his DNA into the water supply to shed it off into some ship headed to Earth? Or is the ship already at Earth and he's spreading his DNA into the water to begin life on Earth? What exactly was going on there??

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

I'm either vouching for:

1. He was creating life with the mutagen goo. basically causing his dna to break down and then reform like we had seen.

2. He could have been a prisoner of some sort and was used as a test subject to see what the mutagen would do.

I have a feeling it goes like:

They have mutagen, want to do something with it - but test it on a planet like earth first since it seems it represents their living conditions. He begins to breakdown and once in the water his dna mutates and replicates and eventually human life/evolution begins. Timeline wise this could be over 35k years ago.

As to their intentions, there is nearly nothing in the movie that can elude to it. We know that people wanted to weaponize this sort of science in the future, from the Aliens movies, and we know that other aliens exist in this universe (Predators). We also don't know if the predators are Canon and if the Aliens existed before all of this began because of the other movies and what not. Also why did the Engineers use the 5 stars as a guide for humans, did they want the humans to find them?

Best way to say it is like earlier - take it as a space exploration movie, looking for the answers and the disappointing journey that answers lead to more questions.

Without input from the writers, directors and producers - its hard to say what everything means

 

[Reggs]

I'm not a big fan of 3D, but it was very well done in this movie. Everyone should see it that way.

I really enjoyed it.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

David was by far my favorite character. I loved the scene of him watching Lawrence of Arabia, then combing his hair like Lawrence's. Any idea why he might have to color his hair? There's something innocent about him. He seemed to have this child like wonderment when he was in the control/map/stasis room.

I did not like Charlie at all. I really hate looking at his face. He also doesn't act like a brilliant archaeologist . He acts more like some high school drop out. He never seemed to care about anything, and had no poise or composure. His lines were the worst in the whole movie "It's Christmas...and I want to open my present's early!" The geologist with the red hair and tattoos was also unlikable. How do we show that someone is a rogue, edgy, and doesn't play by the rules? I know, lets cover him in tattoos, have him grimace all the time, and introduce him by responding to a friendly introduction by declaring that he doesn't care about making any friends. Near the end when Elizabeth and Meredith were running to escape the falling ship, I think everyone in the theater realized how stupid it was that they were running ahead of where the ship would fall, not out to the sides. Once Meredith got crushed people started making comments about how stupid it was.

I thought the visuals were great. The storm that came about soon after they landed looked believable. The design on the Prometheus, vehicles, rooms, props, blue muzzle flash, and space suits all looked fantastic. The Aliens looked scary too. That octopus creature and the space cobra's were creepy, and the scenes they were in were very tense. When the space cobra attached the guy with glasses, it got pretty uncomfortable to watch once it broke his arm. The medi pod removal of the octopus was hard to watch once they opened her up.

I could have sworn that I read Scott saying he wouldn't show a xenomorph. And considering the explanation for how it came about, I guess every alien, save the engineers, were xenomorphs? It all originates from that black oil. The oil transforms the maggots into space cobras. When David gave the black oil to Charlie in the glass, he impregnated Elizabeth, so it changed his sperm into the octopus. The octopus used the engineer to make the first humanoid xenomorph. How did that engineer return to the ship and die in the chair? He's the one we saw in Alien, right?

 

[Reggs]

http://www.movies.com/movie-news/ridley-scott-prometheus-interview/8232

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Movies.com: That is our planet, right?

RS: No, it doesn’t have to be. That could be anywhere. That could be a planet anywhere. All he’s doing is acting as a gardener in space. And the plant life, in fact, is the disintegration of himself.

If you parallel that idea with other sacrificial elements in history – which are clearly illustrated with the Mayans and the Incas – he would live for one year as a prince, and at the end of that year, he would be taken and donated to the gods in hopes of improving what might happen next year, be it with crops or weather, etcetera.

Movies.com: You throw religion and spirituality into the equation for Prometheus, though, and it almost acts as a hand grenade. We had heard it was scripted that the Engineers were targeting our planet for destruction because we had crucified one of their representatives, and that Jesus Christ might have been an alien. Was that ever considered?

RS: We definitely did, and then we thought it was a little too on the nose. But if you look at it as an “our children are misbehaving down there” scenario, there are moments where it looks like we’ve gone out of control, running around with armor and skirts, which of course would be the Roman Empire. And they were given a long run. A thousand years before their disintegration actually started to happen. And you can say, “Lets’ send down one more of our emissaries to see if he can stop it. Guess what? They crucified him.

 

[CaesarSTL]



I'm not a big fan of 3D, but it was very well done in this movie. Everyone should see it that way.
I really enjoyed it.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

David was by far my favorite character. I loved the scene of him watching Lawrence of Arabia, then combing his hair like Lawrence's. Any idea why he might have to color his hair? There's something innocent about him. He seemed to have this child like wonderment when he was in the control/map/stasis room.
I did not like Charlie at all. I really hate looking at his face. He also doesn't act like a brilliant archaeologist . He acts more like some high school drop out. He never seemed to care about anything, and had no poise or composure. His lines were the worst in the whole movie "It's Christmas...and I want to open my present's early!" The geologist with the red hair and tattoos was also unlikable. How do we show that someone is a rogue, edgy, and doesn't play by the rules? I know, lets cover him in tattoos, have him grimace all the time, and introduce him by responding to a friendly introduction by declaring that he doesn't care about making any friends. Near the end when Elizabeth and Meredith were running to escape the falling ship, I think everyone in the theater realized how stupid it was that they were running ahead of where the ship would fall, not out to the sides. Once Meredith got crushed people started making comments about how stupid it was.
I thought the visuals were great. The storm that came about soon after they landed looked believable. The design on the Prometheus, vehicles, rooms, props, blue muzzle flash, and space suits all looked fantastic. The Aliens looked scary too. That octopus creature and the space cobra's were creepy, and the scenes they were in were very tense. When the space cobra attached the guy with glasses, it got pretty uncomfortable to watch once it broke his arm. The medi pod removal of the octopus was hard to watch once they opened her up.
I could have sworn that I read Scott saying he wouldn't show a xenomorph. And considering the explanation for how it came about, I guess every alien, save the engineers, were xenomorphs? It all originates from that black oil. The oil transforms the maggots into space cobras. When David gave the black oil to Charlie in the glass, he impregnated Elizabeth, so it changed his sperm into the octopus. The octopus used the engineer to make the first humanoid xenomorph. How did that engineer return to the ship and die in the chair? He's the one we saw in Alien, right?

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

As for your question about the engineer at the end, he is not the one we see in Alien. This film takes place on a different planet even.

 

[CaesarSTL]



Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

I'm either vouching for:
1. He was creating life with the mutagen goo. basically causing his dna to break down and then reform like we had seen.
2. He could have been a prisoner of some sort and was used as a test subject to see what the mutagen would do.
I have a feeling it goes like:
They have mutagen, want to do something with it - but test it on a planet like earth first since it seems it represents their living conditions. He begins to breakdown and once in the water his dna mutates and replicates and eventually human life/evolution begins. Timeline wise this could be over 35k years ago.
As to their intentions, there is nearly nothing in the movie that can elude to it. We know that people wanted to weaponize this sort of science in the future, from the Aliens movies, and we know that other aliens exist in this universe (Predators). We also don't know if the predators are Canon and if the Aliens existed before all of this began because of the other movies and what not. Also why did the Engineers use the 5 stars as a guide for humans, did they want the humans to find them?
Best way to say it is like earlier - take it as a space exploration movie, looking for the answers and the disappointing journey that answers lead to more questions.
Without input from the writers, directors and producers - its hard to say what everything means

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

He could have also been a rogue, doing it without the approval/knowledge of the other engineers.

 

[CaesarSTL]



So watched the movie...

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

It was a great space exploratory film. Amazing visuals. Fassbender was pretty well done. I think they could've made it a longer and more in-depth movie. They certainly had everything in place to make a story that really captivated audiences. It seems it was more about enlightenment and human need to explore and research as deep as possible - rather than about aliens and new planets, etc...
I'm sure the ending scene will cause people to want to think about the movie. I wish they never put it - because people then get the idea that the movie is all a set up for the birth of the first xenomoprh

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

The original cut was said to be almost 30 mins longer... like 2:27, and rumor has it Fox said no... (they loose at least a showing a day, already an R-rated scifi film, etc.) I think they said (in several interviews) that this was the original length. What was cut? So far we know there was a scene with Vickers and the Captain where she is upset after cooking you know who (her character needed more development too...), some Guy Pearce stuff, the hanger fight was edited to hell and is apparently not in its original order, and other intense scenes like the space cobra and Shaw's operation were edited to get lower ratings (in certain markets). I am anxiously awaiting the substantially longer Director's Cut blue-ray that RS is almost certain to do.

 

[VaderDave]

I went and saw it last night. I echo a lot of the comments already said here. Visually it was amazing. The story line had a bunch of head-scratching moments.

 

[TheDarkKnight]



Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

I'm either vouching for:
1. He was creating life with the mutagen goo. basically causing his dna to break down and then reform like we had seen.
2. He could have been a prisoner of some sort and was used as a test subject to see what the mutagen would do.
I have a feeling it goes like:
They have mutagen, want to do something with it - but test it on a planet like earth first since it seems it represents their living conditions. He begins to breakdown and once in the water his dna mutates and replicates and eventually human life/evolution begins. Timeline wise this could be over 35k years ago.
As to their intentions, there is nearly nothing in the movie that can elude to it. We know that people wanted to weaponize this sort of science in the future, from the Aliens movies, and we know that other aliens exist in this universe (Predators). We also don't know if the predators are Canon and if the Aliens existed before all of this began because of the other movies and what not. Also why did the Engineers use the 5 stars as a guide for humans, did they want the humans to find them?
Best way to say it is like earlier - take it as a space exploration movie, looking for the answers and the disappointing journey that answers lead to more questions.
Without input from the writers, directors and producers - its hard to say what everything means

I'm not a big fan of 3D, but it was very well done in this movie. Everyone should see it that way.
I really enjoyed it.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

David was by far my favorite character. I loved the scene of him watching Lawrence of Arabia, then combing his hair like Lawrence's. Any idea why he might have to color his hair? There's something innocent about him. He seemed to have this child like wonderment when he was in the control/map/stasis room.
I did not like Charlie at all. I really hate looking at his face. He also doesn't act like a brilliant archaeologist . He acts more like some high school drop out. He never seemed to care about anything, and had no poise or composure. His lines were the worst in the whole movie "It's Christmas...and I want to open my present's early!" The geologist with the red hair and tattoos was also unlikable. How do we show that someone is a rogue, edgy, and doesn't play by the rules? I know, lets cover him in tattoos, have him grimace all the time, and introduce him by responding to a friendly introduction by declaring that he doesn't care about making any friends. Near the end when Elizabeth and Meredith were running to escape the falling ship, I think everyone in the theater realized how stupid it was that they were running ahead of where the ship would fall, not out to the sides. Once Meredith got crushed people started making comments about how stupid it was.
I thought the visuals were great. The storm that came about soon after they landed looked believable. The design on the Prometheus, vehicles, rooms, props, blue muzzle flash, and space suits all looked fantastic. The Aliens looked scary too. That octopus creature and the space cobra's were creepy, and the scenes they were in were very tense. When the space cobra attached the guy with glasses, it got pretty uncomfortable to watch once it broke his arm. The medi pod removal of the octopus was hard to watch once they opened her up.
I could have sworn that I read Scott saying he wouldn't show a xenomorph. And considering the explanation for how it came about, I guess every alien, save the engineers, were xenomorphs? It all originates from that black oil. The oil transforms the maggots into space cobras. When David gave the black oil to Charlie in the glass, he impregnated Elizabeth, so it changed his sperm into the octopus. The octopus used the engineer to make the first humanoid xenomorph. How did that engineer return to the ship and die in the chair? He's the one we saw in Alien, right?

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

As for your question about the engineer at the end, he is not the one we see in Alien. This film takes place on a different planet even.

There's some brilliant discussion and ideas here!

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

I had not considered the Jesus idea, that is rather excellent and fits in very well with the time frame - Prometheus and her crew did say The Engineers they found on LV 223 were "about 2,000 years old" - which puts it at the right time. For some reason a council of Engineers decided to give us a reprieve and the Engineer soldies were put on orders to go into stasis to wait and see.

Although in the 2,000 years that followed we got a lot more violent.

Yes Prometheus was set on LV 223, Alien and Aliens was on LV 426. Perhaps LV 426 was a crash from LV 223 or another military installation as there is no evidence of military installations on 426. Either way the weapon has got out of control. In the interim - 2.000 + years if you go by the Prometheus timeline, the organism has developed into the Alien. It does seem that wouldn't take very long anyway as there is a large emblem of the alien in the weapon cargo in Prometheus

At the start of Prometheus the Engineer could be on Earth before the start of intelligent life, it could be another planet, but Earth fits in well with the purge of humanity decision they made millenia later. If you look at DNA and evolution, it fits that this dissemination of Engineer DNA started a very long time ago, before the first life left the oceans I think. You could say that event was the missing link scientists look for, but given fossil DNA shares a common thread, I think the Engineer scene was before life came from the seas.

 

[Mr Herbert]

so is james cameron going to direct the sequel?

 

[Mr Herbert]

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

What was davids motivation and/or inspiration for David to infect whathisname?

 

[GoldenTribe]

^ Do you remember him asking the douchey scientist "how far would you be willing to go to find the answers?" The guy replied "I'd do anything" or some variation thereof. So David granted his wish.

I did think David's motivations were unnecessarily opaque. We don't really know what he knows, and we certainly don't know what Weyland knows (or thinks he knows). So it's very hard to try and tease out why David does the various things he does, especially when you add into the mix his line about creations all wanting to kill their creators/parents and other ambiguities.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

One thing that bothered me was having him and Elizabeth left at the end, and she has a line like "I hate you, why would I help you do anything?" which expresses a nice oppositional duality between them, but she doesn't even know he killed Charley, does she!? Why couldn't there have been a way for her to find out? There was a moment in conversation with David/Weyland where it seemed like they had revealed it to her in a weirdly ambiguous way, but she didn't really react, and I can't remember the lines any more. There's also the line "your fetus isn't exactly conventional" (or something similar), but again I didn't buy her reaction and it didn't seem to me that the film was trying to convey any dawning of horrified understanding on Elizabeth's part.

I also keep reading about ambiguous links to Dr. Who, but I've never seen it and don't know what to make of that.