This was such a bloody frustrating film. Much discussion amongst journalists afterwards could be easily summed up as follows:
Person A: Sooooo, what did you think?
Person B: *sigh*
I spent an hour or so with three other writers dissecting what we had seen and what we thought problematic, but instead of things getting clearer, we only found more and more holes and inconsistencies.
Such a frustrating movie. Usually I feel better after writing my reviews for these kind of disappointments, but no such luck yet. Damn it, Ridley.
Funny Patton was screaming how he couldn't see it yesterday on twitter. It had some interesting ideas and characters. Idris was the fucking man. Yet, I am left with more questions than answers.
The Wee Baby Sheamus.Twitter: @realjoecarfley its a bit more toned down there. A bit.
I thought it was fantastic. That opening scene was the best use of 3D I have ever seen. Spectacular!
What 'questions' are you people talking about? I thought it was all pretty explanatory and the story was easy enough to follow. What did you not understand?
I do have one 'little' complaint, but there's nothing you can really do about it. When Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986) and the other films in this series came out, the technology used was rather primitive and what was used in those films was what the filmmakers imagined would be functional in the future. Well, sadly, in the past 33 years since the first film, we've jumped beyond what was used in that film. So for a movie that takes place before Alien... well, they could have downgraded the technology used in the film. THAT kinda bothered me.
Perhaps by the time Alien roles around they'd hit a recession? Perhaps Weyland gets nearly bankrupted by the Prometheus expedition, so they have to merge with Yutani (or forcefully taken over). Yutani brings with them a new thriftiness that shuts down all the holo-emitters for a cheaper alternative, as seen in the original films?
/end fantasy booking
"Tattoos are the mullets of the aughts." - Mike Naimark
The argument you can make for the tech looking better is this was an expedition with the owner of the company sponsoring it while in Alien, it was a bunch of miners who were complaining about pay, the mission and the overall condition of the ship. Even in Aliens, we really don't see much of the Marines' ship other than the cargo bay, cafe and cryo. It had a shit ton of guns that sadly never got used.
(edited by lotjx on 9.6.12 1722) The Wee Baby Sheamus.Twitter: @realjoecarfley its a bit more toned down there. A bit.
I thought Prometheus overall was pretty good but it felt like Damon Lindelof trying to explain the Space Jockey the way he tried to explain the 2 skeletons in the cave on LOST. It didn't really work out.
I loved it at first and then slowly started to fall out of love with it. By the time it was over, I was conflicted. Here's overall what I thought. (backofthehead.com) Spoilers, big ones.
Prometheus: As fantastic as Battleship or more fantastic than Battleship?
(It is way, way, way better than Battleship.)
@CMPunk
“@ZackRyder: @CMPunk She played me bro” I got your back.
John, you forgot to mention that other female (besides Charlize and Noomi) is the creepy lady from Game of Thrones that was still breast feeding her older (7 year old?) son. She will forever be known as Lysa Arryn no matter what movie she stars in!
Originally posted by John OrquiolaI loved it at first and then slowly started to fall out of love with it. By the time it was over, I was conflicted. Here's overall what I thought. (backofthehead.com) Spoilers, big ones.
Prometheus: As fantastic as Battleship or more fantastic than Battleship?
Originally posted by oudomJohn, you forgot to mention that other female (besides Charlize and Noomi) is the creepy lady from Game of Thrones that was still breast feeding her older (7 year old?) son. She will forever be known as Lysa Arryn no matter what movie she stars in!
Thank you! It was nagging at me who Hatchet-Face was in Prometheus but I couldn't place her. It's Lysa Arryn. I just didn't recognize her without a ten year old sucking on her boob.
@CMPunk
“@ZackRyder: @CMPunk She played me bro” I got your back.
For all the shit Promethus is getting, I still think its a hundred times better than Aliens 3, Resurrection or even the AVP films. So, while we are giving it a bit of a beating, please remember there are a few films after Alien and Aliens that were so much worse than this film. As for why the Engineers wanted to destroy humanity? It could be they view the Alien as a step forward or maybe they knew the aliens could only be formed from human DNA? It may get answered, but it could be a simple as God flooding the world in Noah's Ark, he did, because humanity had it coming for being a-holes.
The Wee Baby Sheamus.Twitter: @realjoecarfley its a bit more toned down there. A bit.
I do really like how much discussion Prometheus is provoking. That's what a good sci-fi film is supposed to spark.
I don't know if Ancient Aliens is a big idea since well...Crystal Skull. I viewed it as a Proto-Alien. Everything is in its most gooey sponge form before it learns to walk. Shaw as a proto-Ripley, David was Proto-Ash, the crew was proto-miners, Vickers was proto-Burke, Ildris' character was proto-Hicks and even the aliens seem to be in early forms especially the face huggers. We are basically seeing the building blocks of the Alien series.
SPOILERS!!
I know a point of contention has been why did the Engineer go all Hulk Smash on the crew. I think its because David told him that the humans knew about their plan and were there to kill him. Shaw goes through about ten questions that the Engineer seems to somewhat understand and then it looks like David gets the idea to give the complete opposite question. Even the pat on the head the Engineer he gives David is more of thanks buddy. A few scenes earlier Vickers is commenting on how every parent wants to kill their father. Weyland calls David, his son numerous times through out the film. So, the question becomes did David evolve into another being in that scene or was he slowly evolving through the adventure considering his actions with Shaw's boyfriend. At the end, he says he knows fear. Could the other reason for the attack be the Engineer realized David was a new form of life engineered by humans and this was their great fear and they had to be put down? (May need a mod edit)
And I am with Johnny, any sci-fi movie that gets debated about some of its substance even if does come up short, is still very good. To me, I don't think the film came up short on asking the questions, I just think the question is rather dodgy to begin with. Still, asking the how, whys and whats of the universe and getting an answer seems somewhat silly since there is a large group of us who would just reject the answer anyway. You might as well have the debate.
(edited by lotjx on 11.6.12 1549) The Wee Baby Sheamus.Twitter: @realjoecarfley its a bit more toned down there. A bit.
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