Ridley Scott's "Prometheus"

Page 16 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,235
136
Man these spoiler tags are a pain in the ass!

E
s
p
e
c
i
a
l
l
y
t
h
i
s
o
n
e
.
 

Gibsons

Lifer
Aug 14, 2001
12,530
35
91
E
s
p
e
c
i
a
l
l
y
t
h
i
s
o
n
e
.

The alien black goo has infected the thread.
 

ImpulsE69

Lifer
Jan 8, 2010
14,946
1,077
126
what?

Can't please everyone. If they weren't here, people would be bitching that they weren't used. I know you people read these forums and should know this already.
 

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,235
136
Ichinisan - As the OP, would you mind putting a spoilers warning in the title - and maybe we can just stop using the tag for the rest of the thread? Huge swaths of black text is kinda cool, but a little annoying too. :\

Done.
 

BladeVenom

Lifer
Jun 2, 2005
13,365
16
0
Yeah especially when it's about a movie that really can't be spoiled because the only good part is the visuals.

The movie is too stupid to spoil. I'm done using spoiler tags for Prometheus. Most of what was coming was obvious before it happened, and not even the scriptwriter had the answers to the questions that were left unanswered.
 

Dr. Zaus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2008
11,764
347
126
That was one of the worst, least funny videos I've seen in awhile.

Plagiarized existence exist
Among the writers of the word
Shake your spear at Shakespeare
Shake your spear at Shakespeare

Loud and noisy
Strong refrigerators
Gaining independence
Gaining independence

Stupid people do stupid things
Smart people outsmart each other
Then themselves, then themselves
Then themselves, then themselves

Take me down there
Photographic relapse
People feeding frenzy
The devil is so lovely

My blue moon rivets in exits
Forewarned customary spirits
By myself, by myself
By myself, by myself
 

Dr. Zaus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2008
11,764
347
126
What? Sorry if I offended you, but I wanted to spare others from having to watch that "review."
You didn't! I was agreeing! Sarcasm doesn't work on the internet so i guess my saying the review was great was lost; and then my posting of the entirety of the system lyrics obfuscated my point, which was "Stupid people do stupid things
Smart people outsmart each other"
 

Magusigne

Golden Member
Nov 21, 2007
1,550
0
76
Whatever this might mean...

Alien>>>Aliens>>>>>>>>>>Prometheus>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Everything else garbage (AvP, Aliens 3, Ressurection etc etc.
 

SP33Demon

Lifer
Jun 22, 2001
27,928
143
106
Maybe the dots represent stars, or maybe they represent multiple planets in a system. If the Engineer homeworld is in that system, maybe they expected to meet their visitors...but they met their own demise first. Instead of finding their homeworld when we visited the system, we found LV-223. I still don't like this. It means that Weyland wasted resources to terraform LV-426 when there were far more-habitable places in the same system, including some where alien structures can be found with little-to-no effort.

Like someone else posted before:
http://www.projectprometheus.com/newworlds/

Weyland terraformed a shitload of planets, some even 200+ light years away. I doubt they're worried about "resources".
 

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,235
136
I think he meant the thread title of this topic, not the OP which indeed shows the warning. :\

I actually did both. I have no idea how the topic title reverted again.

[edit]
Strange. The OP title is updated, but the title of the thread hasn't changed.
 

Chiropteran

Diamond Member
Nov 14, 2003
9,811
110
106
What bothers me way more is seeing "Lost"-style episodic writing enter the big-screen arena and generally be well receieved by a disturbing amount of veiwers and reviewers.

As infuriating as the ending of "Lost" was, I still think that style was ok for a sci-fi drama TV series whose goal was next-day water cooler banter. I do not think it's acceptable for a movie that should be self-contained within it's running time.

Not all movies are neatly tied up at the end. This isn't some new thing taken from "Lost", it's been around for decades. Many leave unanswered questions, sometimes to allow for sequels and sometimes because the writer or director preferred it that way.

Some examples from movies which are personal favorites of mine and generally considered great movies:

Memento
Inception
Moon
Total Recall
Mulholland Dr
Cube
The Matrix (As it stands alone, pre-sequels)
American Psycho
Zodiac

Many don't have sequels, yet leave the ending open-ended and with some questions unanswered. It's intended, and many people apparently enjoy these sorts of movies.
 

ImpulsE69

Lifer
Jan 8, 2010
14,946
1,077
126
I think there is a split on how people approach this movie.

1) There are the Alien franchise fans who went in expecting to learn more about the space jockies and their role.

2) There are people who still expected this to be a direct prequel to Alien and did not like the fact that it didn't line up (which added to the confusion when trying to make those lines that didn't really exist).

3) There are those that went into it simply as a science fiction movie.

Depending on where you fell, would skew your expectations and possibly your view of it.

I would say I fell in the first catagory and roughly the second. Once I thought about it more I realized that no, this was not a prequel, it just took place prior to Alien and told one story that we did not know. The let down being, I wanted to know more about the space jockies. We did learn more, but ended up with more questions than answers. Some of those answers can be theorized, but then, that's what we've had for 30 years is theories.

One review I watched pointed out the dumb things that the characters did in Alien were pretty much echoed in Prometheus and when I thought about it, they were right. The crew in Alien did a bunch of stupid things when dealing with the creature.

This movie ultimately follows todays movie standards pretty closely, which is probably the biggest downside.
 
Last edited:

SP33Demon

Lifer
Jun 22, 2001
27,928
143
106
One review I watched pointed out the dumb things that the characters did in Alien were pretty much echoed in Prometheus and when I thought about it, they were right. The crew in Alien did a bunch of stupid things when dealing with the creature.

This movie ultimately follows todays movie standards pretty closely, which is probably the biggest downside.

There are definitely parallels between the two, especially the crew not being cohesive and having that "mercenary" mentality. I would rank Alien and Prometheus close to one another, mainly because Alien's suspense was great after the Chestburster, but Fassbender/Rapace's performances + way better visuals cancel it out.
 

Via

Diamond Member
Jan 14, 2009
4,670
4
0
Not all movies are neatly tied up at the end. This isn't some new thing taken from "Lost", it's been around for decades. Many leave unanswered questions, sometimes to allow for sequels and sometimes because the writer or director preferred it that way.

Some examples from movies which are personal favorites of mine and generally considered great movies:

Memento
Inception
Moon
Total Recall
Mulholland Dr
Cube
The Matrix (As it stands alone, pre-sequels)
American Psycho
Zodiac

Many don't have sequels, yet leave the ending open-ended and with some questions unanswered. It's intended, and many people apparently enjoy these sorts of movies.


You're comparing Total Recall to Prometheus? (I could pick several of the ones you mentioned but I'll pick TR because it was made to be a Summer popcorn flick)

What scenes or segments of Total Recall aren't connnected by that movies' strong narrative thrust? When does it venture out into left field?

What important sequences of TR are featured and then simply forgotten about the second after they're done?

I haven't seen TR in a few years so I could be not remembering it properly.
 

ImpulsE69

Lifer
Jan 8, 2010
14,946
1,077
126
atured and then simply forgotten about the second after they're done?

I haven't seen TR in a few years so I could be not remembering it properly.

So you're saying you might not be Totally Recalling?:hmm:
 

PottedMeat

Lifer
Apr 17, 2002
12,363
475
126
Memento
Inception
Moon
Total Recall
The Matrix (As it stands alone, pre-sequels)
American Psycho

these are all solid movies that leave just 1 or 2 questions for the viewer, prometheus leaves you with too many unintended questions / screwups in addition to the one they left in at the end.
 

oddyager

Diamond Member
May 21, 2005
3,398
0
76
I still don't like this. It means that Weyland wasted resources to terraform LV-426 when there were far more-habitable places in the same system, including some where alien structures can be found with little-to-no effort.

That's assuming Scott considers Cameron's Aliens as part of his Alien-Prometheus universe. I thought he was quoted in saying he didn't consider any of the sequels as part of his story. I could be totally wrong.