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Prometheus review

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slowguy

Jun 8, 12 15:42

Post #1 of 40 (2417 views)

Prometheus review	Quote \| Reply

If you're planning to see Prometheus with the intention of seeing another Alien movie, you might be disappointed. Although there are several nods to the Alien movies, the standard creature doesn't really play a big role in this film. There are some creatures and bad guys and some of the normal Alien host type of stuff, but this is really its own movie.

Ridley Scott does a great job with scenery and enormity, and as expected the special effects are great (with a few small exceptions). However, the characters aren't spectacular, nd the story has a lot of gaping holes.

Overall, this was a good scifi horror movie. However, it didn't really have the tension or suspenseful feeling of some of the Alien movies. I was really looking forward to this one, and maybe because of the hype, it was just slightly disappointing.

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

BarryP

Jun 8, 12 15:51

Post #2 of 40 (2409 views)

Re: Prometheus review [slowguy] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

thanks.
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Externality

Jun 8, 12 16:27

Post #3 of 40 (2386 views)

Re: Prometheus review [slowguy] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

I'm still gonna see it; it's sci fi, AND, Ridley Scott after all.

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VO2Matt

Jun 8, 12 16:34

Post #4 of 40 (2380 views)

Re: Prometheus review [Externality] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Externality wrote:

I'm still gonna see it; it's sci fi, AND, Ridley Scott after all.

me too.

I heard that the original story line was supposed to be a prequel to Alien, but in the end Scott decided to keep it in the Alien "universe" but make it its own story line.

sometimes you just have to eat the cake

vitus979

Jun 8, 12 16:35

Post #5 of 40 (2379 views)

Re: Prometheus review [slowguy] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

I just got back. I give it a higher rating than you did- you're right that it's not just another Alien movie, but I think it does a lot more than just nod to the original. It explains the original, and examines much larger questions than Alien did. So you're right- not as suspenseful, but much more intriguing.

"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

Desiderata

Jun 8, 12 16:47

Post #6 of 40 (2370 views)

Re: Prometheus review [VO2Matt] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

I think it's a "prequel" in the sense that it helps explain what all those people were doing out there in deep space in Alien and Aliens: http://blog.ted.com/ted2023/

Here are some good insights into the story and its history: http://www.grantland.com/...ster-alien-franchise

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(This post was edited by Desiderata on Jun 8, 12 16:51)

VO2Matt

Jun 8, 12 17:21

Post #7 of 40 (2347 views)

Re: Prometheus review [Desiderata] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

have you ever watched the directors cut of Aliens? There is a ton that they cut from the beginning of the movie that I felt was important to the larger story line....not so much into the origins of the weyland yutani corporation, but a lot into the LV-426 colony

sometimes you just have to eat the cake

Desiderata

Jun 8, 12 17:35

Post #8 of 40 (2341 views)

Re: Prometheus review [VO2Matt] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

No, I had no idea that a director's cut existed. Thanks, I'll check it out.

Here's a bit more: http://www.mtv.com/...requel-details.jhtml

__________________________________________________
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." -- Bertrand Russell

BarryP

Jun 8, 12 19:39

Post #9 of 40 (2295 views)

Re: Prometheus review [Desiderata] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Since we are talking about alien I thought I'd throw in my alien story. Alien is on of my all time favorite movies. My mom took me to see it in theater when it first opened. I'm 39.....do the math.
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TBinMT

Jun 9, 12 20:56

Post #10 of 40 (2203 views)

Re: Prometheus review [BarryP] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

I did the math and that's f-d up ;-) That said, Jaws came out when I was in kindergartern and Alien when I was in 4th grade. I wanted to see those two movies more than anything but was not allowed. Finally saw Jaws on TV when I was 8 and Alien when I was 12 or so ...

Promethus was pretty cool but there are just too many silly holes in the story line. Awesome filming in Iceland though and some cool characters (and some forgettable ones too) and some very cool ideas. They still don't give the humanoid aliens ANY depth though. Not saying they even have to be sympathetic or even emotional, they just don't give you much to go on ... Super buff hairless ivory skin bad teeth very advanced & that's it.

BarryP

Jun 10, 12 7:01

Post #11 of 40 (2138 views)

Re: Prometheus review [TBinMT] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

I have to remind people that I was in rural Alabama in 1979. There was no cable tv or internet, and being far from a major city, we only really got one or two decent channels on our little black & white TV that wasn't watched very much.

So my mom didn't really know what the movie was about when she took me. She honestly thought it was going to be another Star Wars.
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mopdahl

Jun 10, 12 7:53

Post #12 of 40 (2120 views)

Re: Prometheus review [slowguy] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

I saw it in 3D IMAX and it was pretty awesome. It didn't have the depth of character that I would have like, and none of the suspense of the first as you mentioned. I was hoping for a spectacle on the level of Avatar and from that standpoint was disappointed, but it was still well worth seeing. I did like that when things went bad, they went bad in a hurry.
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Runguy

Jun 10, 12 13:22

Post #13 of 40 (2071 views)

Re: Prometheus review [mopdahl] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Yea, this one was certainly setting up a sequel (I believe might be titled Paradise).

So, at the very beginning the scene where the human like alien falls into the water. I took that to be earth and that was the "seed" to start human like here.

........

Jun 10, 12 16:23

Post #14 of 40 (2024 views)

Re: Prometheus review [mopdahl] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

I came out of it thinking, I wonder where it was filmed. I thought some parts in Iceland for sure. And thought, I want to visit Iceland now!

oldtriguy

Jun 18, 12 9:48

Post #15 of 40 (1799 views)

Re: Prometheus review [mopdahl] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

I thought it was fun, but why was the big dude so pissed!

(This post was edited by oldtriguy on Jun 18, 12 9:49)

jkca1

Jun 18, 12 10:02

Post #16 of 40 (1782 views)

Re: Prometheus review [slowguy] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

SPOILERS

It was a huge disappointment. The plot was so transparent. You knew the robot was going to screw up again. The whole thing just followed the same old tired formula.

"They are all crooks, both sides of the aisle."

xraycharlie

Jun 18, 12 11:48

Post #17 of 40 (1728 views)

Re: Prometheus review [slowguy] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

REALLY disappointed in this movie. Now I think I understand why the Star Wars fans got so upset about Lucas's prequels. Alien and Aliens were much bigger to me than the Star Wars movies, and I think that this movie was not only bad, but detracted from the originals.

First off, the characters: in Alien, they were a completely believable tugboat crew. (This based on my years of working on tugboats.) First sign of an intelligent alien civilization? The only thing that concerns them at first is their contracts, and how much they'll get paid. Pretty realistic.

(True story: I was on a tug in New York on September 11th, and one of the deckhands never even stopped painting. When we were evacuating people from lower Manhattan, he was just pissed that they were stepping on his paint.)

But Prometheus? This is an expedition in which "a trillion dollars" we're spent for the express purpose of investigating a likely alien civilization. You'd think that a) they could find twenty or so people who weren't petty sociopaths and were actually interested in the mission, and b) they might consider introducing them all to each other before freezing them and launching them.

[A few minor spoilers follow.]

So when there are two crew members trapped on the surface overnight, with signs of a violent end to the previous inhabitants, and possible life form headings nearby, you'd think that somebody could actually be troubled to stand a radio watch with them. Nope. Apparently everybody was in the galley watching a DVD or something. (Which would be plausible for a tugboat crew.)

You'd also think that these guys would some interest in/understanding of exobiology, and when they first saw a life form, wouldn't behave like a couple of stupid goddam tourists trying to feed the bears.

And here's my biggest gripe with the movie: my favorite thing about the original Alien was the mystery. I LOVED the huge humanoid skeleton in the chair on the bridge. Couldn't even imagine what a creature with a rodent-like skull like that would look like.

Oh, but actually, they're just bigger versions of us, wearing helmets that they decided would be cool to make like they looked like rat skulls.

Even despite all this, I got just a little thrill when I saw the humanoid alien take up a position in the chair on the bridge of his spaceship, looking just like how he would look decades later, when the crew in Alien found him.

Except whoops - he moved from that spot by the end of the movie, and died somewhere else.

In the end, what I loved about the original movie was the sense of vastness and mystery - that we'd simply stumbled across a terrible and adaptable parasitoid scourge, capable of slaughtering beings larger and more technologically advanced than us. But in the reboot, it turns out that it's all about us (humans) after all.

Okay, end of rant. I'm going to go find a few of the Star Wars fans I made fun of, and apologize.
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Mendeldave

Jun 19, 12 7:37

Post #18 of 40 (1661 views)

Re: Prometheus review [slowguy] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

"Gaping holes" is an understatement.

I liked it, but it was weak. I didn't really connect to any characters (like I did in Alien or Aliens) --the movie left me wanting more than it delivered. I think that's because the director or writer or whatever from Lost had is hand in it.

Maaaybe the sequel will clear things up. For now, I like it more as it settles into my brain; I dislike it less as it settles into my brain.

And I agree with what you said, Xraycharlie.

If I saw some weird snake thing on another planet, I would not stick my fingers at it, thinking, awe cute. First, it was NOT cute, second, it's on a fucking alien planet, where you ALREADY found dead aliens.

Also, I felt they jump to a lot of conclusions. Like, they just assume the "Engineers" want to kill off Earth. Couldn't they have been going anywhere? Sure, the Earth "globe" landed in the android's hands, but he DID pluck it out of the air. Maybe he just broke it hahaha.

Also, I guess the other similar ship the find in Alien was just another similar ship. Different planet, "engineer" in chair, not dead in escape pod.

But I kinda wish I had seen the 3D version. I bet that was cool.
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(This post was edited by Mendeldave on Jun 19, 12 8:14)

Sanya

Jun 24, 12 21:38

Post #19 of 40 (1544 views)

Re: Prometheus review [Externality] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

I'm a huge fan of sci-fi flicks. So this movie is a must watch for me!!! And now that I know about this Mumbai connection in the movie. I'm surely gonna watch it. First day, first show at Wave Cinema!!! There the 3D effects are so profound. I'm totally sure Ridley has put his magic as he did in the Gladiator.

Trieatalot

Jun 25, 12 10:41

Post #20 of 40 (1473 views)

Re: Prometheus review [Mendeldave] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

I saw a few holes in the plot, but it didn't detract too much from enjoying the film. I was a bit underwhelmed by it, I suppose I am just getting a bit jaded in my old age. There just doesn't seem to be much new these days. Everything is a rehash or sequel or re-telling of some earlier work.

One plot hole that does bother me is how David knew what the black goo was and why he infected the Dr. with it. Did Weyland send the ship to the planet for the dual purpose of 1) finding a way to extend his life and 2) look for bioweapons? If so, how did he know there would be bioweapons on the planet? The Captain figured out the installation was a weapons manufacturing facility later in the film, but it seems David already had this knowledge. Maybe there was something in the symbols he studied in the journey out to the planet while trying to learn the Engineers language that tipped him off.

Mendeldave

Jun 25, 12 10:52

Post #21 of 40 (1468 views)

Re: Prometheus review [Trieatalot] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

I think you're right, the problem is largely that everything is a rehash of old ideas, and is rather meh.

As for David and the black gu (chocolate Roctane?), my take was that he just did not know what it was, and decided, what the hell, let's test it by putting it into this human and seeing what happens. I suspect Weyland just instructed David to do whatever to figure out what that shit was (turns out, it was not Roctane).

As for the reason for being there, I think Weyland was just thinking, I have more money than god, we think we FOUND "god", let me use my money to see if I can get these possible alien creators to let me live longer. And if it's all a bust, whatever, I'm doomed to die soon anyway and I can't take it with me.

Could be the symbols tipped David off (I recall one point when they asked him if he could read some stuff, and he didn't really respond). But I really just don't see why everyone assumes it was a bio weapon creation plant. Maybe it was just a science lab and the experiment went wrong? Something killed all those other Aliens, I assume they were just meddling around with more DNA stuff and created a monster that turned on them. I personally don't see how any of it had to do with Earth or a decision to kill Humans.

On a very semi-related note... I watched Chronicle the other night. It was actually ok. I'm not sure why I liked it, I guess it was just mindlessly fun and had that element of "hmm, I guess that's probably what would happen if I was in that situation and was a dumb high school kid."
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(This post was edited by Mendeldave on Jun 25, 12 10:54)

bluemonkeytri

Jun 25, 12 11:32

Post #22 of 40 (1442 views)

Re: Prometheus review [Mendeldave] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Do a search though for what Scott and Linelof have said post-release. It was a bio-weapons engineering plant, and it was to be used on Earth. They started 2,000 years ago, after we crucified their emmissary to Earth. They had a accident though and the stuff was released at this facility killing everyone except the Engineer in stasis. When he awoke, he was going to still carry out his mission, flying to Earth to release the goo.

Mendeldave

Jun 25, 12 11:54

Post #23 of 40 (1437 views)

Re: Prometheus review [bluemonkeytri] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

bluemonkeytri wrote:

Actually, I read that too; Scott said they discussed that but it was "a little too on the nose."
To me, that's a very disappointing explanation that has absolutely NOTHING to do with what was given to us in the movie. What does any of it have to do with a crucifixion again? Did anyone else notice the engineers are like 2x as big as us? And humans 2000 years ago just decided to kill one... and were ABLE to? And the engineers freak out because of that, then sit around and design a new biological weapon that would have to be re-introduced to earth to spread through the planet, creating monsters that eventually kill us... like, they couldn't just shoot us? They have spaceships, we had spears and swords and robes, seems very inefficient. Or rather, silly.

And what about the other facilities on the planet? What were they for? Other planets with other crucified folks? Or what about the other Alien that crashed (in the first movie) that they find in the same kind of ship, different planet, alien chest explosion, with a distress beacon.

Seriously, I love sci-fi, but none of that makes sense.

Plus, everyone knows Jesus was a skinny white guy with long wavy brown hair and a nicely trimmed beard.
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Endo

Jun 25, 12 12:40

Post #24 of 40 (1417 views)

Re: Prometheus review [Mendeldave] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

So, without looking up the full context of the Ridley comments or having seen the movie, the first thing that comes to mind with that comment is that they are trying to draw a relationship b/w the emmissary and Jesus Christ.

2,000 years ago and crucified? Maybe i've got my timetables mixed up and have not context b/c haven't seen the movie.

.

jackmott

Jun 25, 12 12:42

Post #25 of 40 (1416 views)

Re: Prometheus review [Mendeldave] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

its kind of like a dozen 12 year old threw some of thew latest neat sci fi ideas at the wall and they used all of them, and it made no sense.

I will continue to pretend that Alien and Aliens are the only 2 movies in this universe.

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