Okay, so we got The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises and even The Amazing Spider-Man as highly anticipated summer blockbusters of this year. If we’re making a list, next up would be Prometheus. The highly debated film as to whether it’s a prequel to Alien or not. One thing’s for sure, it’s set in the same universe but if you look at 1:37, you’ll see a Xenomorph on the wall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= 5UEv03g51kU
Discuss?
Damn. Looks like the video was either taken off or was incorrect. I saw the new trailer recently too, and I missed that detail if it was there.
I wish Ridley Scott wasn’t so coy about this being an Alien prequel. Obviously it is, seeing as how it’s set in the same universe. I can only guess what he really means about this being its own universe is that this won’t focus exclusively on the xenomorphs, instead focusing on the Space Jockeys and their relationship with humanity and going from there.
Incidentally, there’s been some speculation from fans from what we’ve seen that the xenomorphs may actually be mutated humans. Not sure if I buy into that. It’s more likely that the containers in the ship somehow became cross-bred with human DNA. None of this can be confirmed however until the movie comes out. It could be carrying a different species entirely, the xenomorphs having been only one of many.
I’m also concerned about whether this might invalidate the later Alien sequels, particularly Aliens. I’ve heard somewhere that Scott never really liked the concept of the Queen. Although I recently saw an interview on X-Play with Randy Pitchford of Gearbox Software who are working on the upcoming game, Aliens: Colonial Marines. And he said they and Scott communicated extensively, and that there are things in the game that in fact will tie-in directly to Prometheus. So maybe Scott actually doesn’t mind the Queen, and that this will hopefully all make sense once the movie’s out.
I’ve noticed also that there are certain aspects of Prometheus that are reminiscent of some early concepts that would have been used in Alien. I remember seeing a making-of book that showed some pre-production artwork by Ron Cobb, and at one point it was suggested that the Nostromo crew would find the eggs in a pyramid along with alien hieroglyphics depicting the xenomorph lifecycle. Looking at the trailer, it looked very similar to those pre-production drawings.
One final thing, and this is just me nitpicking, but the spacesuits the Prometheus crew are wearing look more advanced than those the Nostromo crew wore. The Prometheus suits are sleek and form-fitting, while the Nostromo’s are considerably bulkier. But I’m guessing that the Prometheus is a scientific expedition, while the Nosotromo’s suits might have been designed more for heavy duty maintenance in deep space.
You’re telling me, I’m trying to figure out if it’s a prequel or just a film simply set in the same universe. But at least we’ll see what the hell is the Space Jockey which no doubt people have been asking since 1979. As for Xenomorphs simply being mutated humans, I never saw it that way but I’m open to that possibility.
And I think I can explain the suits. No doubt the suits in Prometheus are for exploration purposes while the suits in Alien are for like the heavy duty stuff. I think either Dan O’Bannon or Ronald Shusett said the crew of the Nostromo were like space truckers so I guess the suits depend on the occupation for outer space.
Sorry for the double post but the film is out, any thoughts?
We plan on seeing it later this week. I’ve heard mixed things about it, but this is one of those movies I am intending to go see regardless of what anyone says.
It seems that the loudest complaints are coming from those that hoped that this would somehow be a direct continuation of Alien. And they’ve been disappointed that it doesn’t play up those links to it as much as they would have liked, despite the fact that Ridley Scott has pretty much said from the get-go that while it’s set in the same universe as Alien, at the same time it is it’s own story and would not be the same type of movie that Alien was. This seems to be borne out in just about everything I’ve heard about it.
Me, I’ve been trying to avoid as much details about the plot or following the production as much as I can. Which in this age of the internet and sites like Ain’t it Cool News is a difficult thing to do. As reading up on such things is a tempting mouse click away.
I’ve also resisted going back and watching Alien. Because I feel if I do, I’m going to get hung up on comparing and contrasting while I’m watching Prometheus, and that’s going to get in the way of me enjoying the film. I get the feeling that the less you have about Alien in the back of your mind, the better off you’re going to be.
I’ll give my full thoughts on it once I see it on Wednesday.
I am actually kind of excited to see this movie. I’m not a huge movie person but this one looks particularly good. I haven’t read any reviews yet but from what I’ve heard from friends who have seen the movie it sounds decent. I’ll have to check it out for myself next weekend.
Well, as I promised, Ocelli and I went and saw Prometheus today, and we just got back from seeing it. What did I think? Read below…
There’s a reason I love Ridley Scott’s movies. Especially his Science Fiction movies. He creates worlds that feel real and lived-in. More than that, they just drip with atmosphere. They’re both seductive and dangerous at the same time, but regardless, you want to know more and see more and get lost in them. That’s how I felt with Alien, with Blade Runner, even with Gladiator. And with Prometheus…he does it again.
I loved this movie! Like the aforementioned films, it’s everything that Scott is known for. And as he revisits the universe he introduced us to in Alien, he explores some of those nagging questions left by that movie while, at the same time, leaving us eager to know more. It’s also everything befitting the legacy of this franchise: it’s moody, atmospheric, creepy, suspenseful, and of course a few genuine scares here and there. And while there’s nary a Xenomorph in sight, it still somehow manages to evoke those same feelings of dread and unease that audiences felt when the first saw Alien more than 30 years ago.
In some ways, not only is it a worthy successor to Alien, but it also continues in the grand tradition of older classic Sci-Fi movies like Planet of the Vampires and Queen of Blood (the type of movies that, incidentally, Alien helped to re-popularize). Somewhere, Ib Melchior I think would be pleased.
The cast of course is great: Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Idris Elba, I all liked them. They all had great performances and were all equally good.
One thing I’m surprised no one has commented on was how closely they hewed to H.R. Giger’s designs from the first movie. Even though Giger himself wasn’t involved, they recreated the style of his work here so well that I got that same slightly creepy feeling of unease I get whenever I look at them. Hats off to the production team for that!
I don’t get why some of the reaction to this movie, then, has been negative. Some have complained the characters acted stupid. I didn’t see that. Others complained it didn’t answer all their questions. But I really didn’t expect this movie to, and in fact was glad that it didn’t. I’d prefer a movie like this to not have everything spelled-out for me, and let me be free to draw my own conclusions and speculate. That’s what a good movie should do. As I left the theater, my mind raced with the possibilities of who the Engineers were and what their ultimate agenda was. And if Scott does indeed promise to return to this universe soon, I’m willing to sign-on again.
I can only guess that the people who are mad and are complaining about this movie are the same ones who want everything in a movie explained to them and wrapped-up in a neat little bow. It’s the same problem I’ve seen them have with movies like Sucker Punch and even games like Mass Effect 3. They don’t want to be made to think. They don’t want to have something left open to interpretation. Because when it does, and by extension ends up not being what they expect, they get angry. And they rationalize it by saying, “Man, that movie was DUMB!!!” Sort of the same thing the movie Cabin in the Woods addressed, in that when the audience isn’t given what they expect, they get angry. And yet, these same people who complain about how much they hate guys like Michael Bay, still keep paying to see his movies, which end up making millions. They’ve got no one to blame but themselves.
No doubt about it. If you loved Alien, Prometheus is worthy of standing up alongside that movie as well as even Aliens. Between these three movies, I’d say that’s all that’s needed. Go and enjoy it!
One scene that comes to mind considering what I’ve been told of is one of the scientists approaching what looks like a dangerous creature and wouldn’t you know, attacks the guy.
Yeah, there is that. And that’s really the only possible concession I can make. If I came up against an unknown lifeform, no matter benign it looked, I’d still approach it with a healthy amount of caution. Still this particular character didn’t exactly demonstrate himself to be very intuitive, despite being a scientist (I think he was a computer specialist, actually). So I chalk that up to being a character flaw.
Ridley Scott has said there will be an extended cut when it comes to Blu-Ray. So hopefully that will address some of the problems people have had with it.
I read about the extended cut. I know Linkara thought it was okay but he feels mixed about it.
Spoony and his brother didn’t like it. Doug seemed to think it was just okay. Bob Chipman thought it was good but not great, and that perhaps his being a film critic and thus following the hype and production history got in the way of his enjoying the film (which could be understandable). Me, I went in nearly spoiler-free with next to no knowledge of what would happen in the movie and I had a great time. So I think the degree to which you’ve followed this movie, how big of nerd you are and how obsessed you are with the Alien franchise may effect the degree to which you like it or hate it.
As I said, I’m baffled as how sharply divided people are on this movie. It’s like the ones who love it and the ones who hate it saw two completely different films. That’s okay with me, though, because I see controversy arising from a movie like this as a good thing. Makes things much more interesting. But I think a lot of otherwise smart people just didn’t “get it.”
From what I’ve seen on internet comments, they’re nitpicking this thing within an inch of its life in some cases. It’s just a movie, for crying out loud. And a particularly well-done and enjoyable one at that, IMHO. They’re getting so hung-up on the little details, though, that they’re missing the bigger picture. But I guess we geeks have a higher incidence of OCD perhaps than we’d like to admit. 
I was so excited to see this movie when it came out. 
Then I watched it with some friends…in the end I felt I wasted my time and money. It was predictable to much so that we started to tell each other what was going to happen next and then it did.
The only thing it had going was the scenery, and grand scale production team that promoted it to be more than what it was.
In the end the movie was boring and the popcorn was stale. It also made me sad.
Found this on the Prometheus fan site in case anyone’s interested. Considering that the biggest complaint everyone seems to have about the movie are the actions of the characters of Millburn and Fifield (the two guys who get lost in the temple, one of whom gets killed by getting too friendly with the Hammerpede), I think this offers as good an explanation as any that I’ve come across.
Prometheus-Movie.com: Behavioral Considerations in Broad Strokes