Wasn't the xenomorph dna being used by the engineers as a form of biological weapon? Perhaps they didn't worship them as gods but saw them as a tool to make them gods, the aliens were the fire Prometheus stole from the Gods of Olympus. I dunno. There really are too many damn questions.
I'm willing to admit that I'm not even close to understanding the giant can of worms opened by this movie. The creatures, how the infection/different breeds work, the goo, how the xenomorph could happen,... It's vague as hell. I for one am really looking forward to articles about this movie, because there's so much to explain and speculate on.
I still remember Ridley speculating about the ship in one of this two Alien commentaries, that he thought it'd be interesting if the space jockey ship was one big bio weapon bomber to exterminate an entire species hard and fast. Looks like he went with this idea...
were the aliens/xenos/facehuggers bio-organic weapons themselves, or was the black goo the catalyst? I assume the worms in the black goo turned into the eel things that killed Millburn, and obviously the black goo turned Fifield. But if the goo was the thing that infected Holloway, is that a natural weapon or something the Engineers... engineered?
It might be that they want to destroy Earth by using them as vessels or incubators for their weapons, changing them into Xenos. But for what reason? Lots and lots of questions; I don't know how many are intentional haha
It's simple. The black goo is a virus that disintegrates your DNA. It also spawns snake-like creatures. It also turns you into a raving madman lunatic with superhuman strength and agility. It also kills you. It also turns your sperm into supersperm, which spawns giant facehuggers. Which, in their turn, spawn xenomorph queens.
Simple really. The black goo is Prometheus' equivalent to MGS4's nanomachines.
Oh, I was entertained alright. I'm just trying to piece everything together. If you'll excuse me, I'll repost my questions from the bottom of the last page:
Couldn't it be that the Engineer in the prologue was acting on his own when he created life on earth and the rest of them wanted to clean it up again or test the goo on a complete eco-system.
It's simple. The black goo is a virus that disintegrates your DNA. It also spawns snake-like creatures. It also turns you into a raving madman lunatic with superhuman strength and agility. It also kills you. It also turns your sperm into supersperm, which spawns giant facehuggers. Which, in their turn, spawn xenomorph queens.
Simple really. The black goo is Prometheus' equivalent to MGS4's nanomachines.
Just saw it, great movie, visuals are nothing short of amazing, but completely falls apart storywise in the second half. Some parts just didn't make any sense.
The whole Shaw getting "pregnant" thing what the fuck? Why did David infect Holloway? Why does nobody give a shit that she gave birth to that thing? It's like no one cares. What purpose did this whole thing have other than the deus ex machina squid thing at the end?
I don't like that the "black goo" seems to do whatever the writers wanted it to do. Guy falls into it? Melts his helmet and becomes some weird monster with superhuman powers that still looks human(by the way, what happened to the other guy? Just dead?). Worms get in contact with it? Facehugger thingies. Holloway gets infected? Gets sick and impregnates people with squid things.
It's simple. The black goo is a virus that disintegrates your DNA. It also spawns snake-like creatures. It also turns you into a raving madman lunatic with superhuman strength and agility. It also kills you. It also turns your sperm into supersperm, which spawns giant facehuggers. Which, in their turn, spawn xenomorph queens.
Simple really. The black goo is Prometheus' equivalent to MGS4's nanomachines.
What was going on when the saw the two geologists getting in trouble on his monitor and he didn't notify anyone. It was almost like he was sabotaging the expedition, just like the robot. What was his reasoning?
I got spoiled by rottentomatoes, sometimes I hate the internet.
I don't get why some critics spoil movies, you can perfectly write a review without spoiling the goddamn movie. seems like the most assholish thing to do. fucking wankers.
Came home now and WOW, the movie is fantastic! It's a lot better than the 3 alien movies (alien is still the best)
But I have a question:
there was a painting of that new Xenomorph David was looking at. But we all know that Xenomorph gets their looks by combining their DNA with their host. So why did the Xenomorph in the end get that look when Shaws baby has human DNA combined with the black Goo and then combined again with the engineers DNA.
Another thing is why the engineer didn't kill all of the humans when he woke up. Did David insult him or something?
What was going on when the saw the two geologists getting in trouble on his monitor and he didn't notify anyone. It was almost like he was sabotaging the expedition, just like the robot. What was his reasoning?
Which part do you mean, when he was there they weren't getting in trouble just lost and poking things, though he did seem odd about them finding all the bodies, but he wasn't there when they were both being attacked.
Which part do you mean, when he was there they weren't getting in trouble just lost and poking things, though he did seem odd about them finding all the bodies, but he wasn't there when they were both being attacked.
with those bodies. I remember him saying they didn't have any visuals, although he was looking right at them on the monitor. That was rather odd. He was also very lackadaisical about an alien lifeform close to them.
What was going on when the saw the two geologists getting in trouble on his monitor and he didn't notify anyone. It was almost like he was sabotaging the expedition, just like the robot. What was his reasoning?
Came home now and WOW, the movie is fantastic! It's a lot better than the 3 alien movies (alien is still the best)
But I have a question:
there was a painting of that new Xenomorph David was looking at. But we all know that Xenomorph gets their looks by combining their DNA with their host. So why did the Xenomorph in the end get that look when Shaws baby has human DNA combined with the black Goo and then combined again with the engineers DNA.
Another thing is why the engineer didn't kill all of the humans when he woke up. Did David insult him or something?
I am not entirely sure, but wasn't the idea that the Xenomorph takes on attributes of its host introduced after Alien? I'm pretty sure Scott just ignores the lifecycle lore introduced after his film.
Is it just me imagining things or did one of the characters refer to the
Xenomorph black goo as "just another tool". I doubt the ending was the first time they've been seen as it seems like they designed them specifically to destroy life (which fits in with what Ridley Scott has said), but the way that one came about was a bit unorthodox.
Both Alien and Aliens are seminal works that have inspired countless works of fiction that have come in their wake. They also both tell effective stories with memorable dialogue and characters. Prometheus does none of these things.
Both Alien and Aliens are seminal works that have inspired countless works of fiction that have come in their wake. They also both tell effective stories with memorable dialogue and characters. Prometheus does none of these things.
Well you haven't given Prometheus the chance to inspire any work to be fair...
I love Alien. I think it's magnificent and one of the best films of all time. I take issue with Aliens having memorable dialogue and characters outside being cliched; Hudson and Vasquez come out with some loathsome shite and are irritating characters in general, as well as the criticism of many characters being thrown at Prometheus also applying to Aliens. I don't think Biehn is the strongest actor either, despite having a charisma and Hendricksen isn't a patch on Holm or Fassbender. It's strengths lie in something other than its scriptwork, same as Prometheus.
I enjoyed Prometheus's first half more than I did Aliens, and Aliens second half more than I did Prometheus's. But overall, I liked Prometheus more. I wouldn't argue with someone who disagreed because I generally don't give a shit.
Both Alien and Aliens are seminal works that have inspired countless works of fiction that have come in their wake. They also both tell effective stories with memorable dialogue and characters. Prometheus does none of these things.
Yep yep yep, thanks. Aliens is the better crafted film, tighter, leaner and more aggressive. However it has elements that Alien and Prometheus didn't have which mean I like it less.
There are now officially three alien movies. Amazing movie, best sci-fi since anything, made avatar look like a kids show. Mature, brutal, masterfully directed, great cast and mindblowing effects completely lacking that homogenized cgi motion capture look of modern cgi.
There are now officially three alien movies. Amazing movie, best sci-fi since anything, made avatar look like a kids show. Mature, brutal, masterfully directed, great cast and mindblowing effects completely lacking that homogenized cgi motion capture look of modern cgi.
In terms of sci-fi Moon is far better as recent films go. Prometheus is a stunning achievement visually but that's really about all I can give it. At least it didn't bore me senseless like Avatar, it made me think but mainly because the writing was such a confused mess of mythology and inexplicable motives.
In term of sci-fi Moon is far better as recent films go. Prometheus is a stunning achievement visually but that's really about all I can give it. At least it didn't bore me senseless like Avatar, it made me think but mainly because the writing was such a confused mess of mythology and inexplicable motives.
I have no idea what you are talking about. We've now spent one hour talking about the movie and its themes with my friends nonstop. Can't remember the last time that happened. The story was very well thought out.
I have no idea what you are talking about. We've now spent one hour talking about the movie and its themes with my friends nonstop. Can't remember the last time that happened. The story was very well thought out.
In terms of sci-fi Moon is far better as recent films go. Prometheus is a stunning achievement visually but that's really about all I can give it. At least it didn't bore me senseless like Avatar, it made me think but mainly because the writing was such a confused mess of mythology and inexplicable motives.
I have no idea what you are talking about. We've now spent one hour talking about the movie and its themes with my friends nonstop. Can't remember the last time that happened. The story was very well thought out.
As much as I enjoyed it, it wasn't very well thought out. The plot was, but consequence and action was generally just thrown together. The ambition of it going full out and throwing 100 things at the wall and seeing what sticks is a flaw but there's enough there that it's still viable as a film thats visuals benefit it rather than stand as its only positive
Now that i've thought aboout it, prometheus is up there with the original alien. So much better than aliens. It had the crucial mystery and awe aspect that i personally crave in scifi media. I give it 11 out of 10
Now that i've thought aboout it, prometheus is up there with the original alien. So much better than aliens. It had the crucial mystery and awe aspect that i personally crave in scifi media. I give it 11 out of 10
I'd ask zoukka, do you rate Prometheus alongside Alien plotwise? As in, the questions Prometheus asks sates everything you wanted to know and expected?
The thrill of Alien is that this fucking abomination of a thing comes out of nowhere and just wreaks havoc. It isn't answered nor explained why it's doing what it's doing, but nor does it pose the question in the first place. Prometheus poses questions it doesn't necessarily answer for me, but I'd be interested in knowing how you stand plot wise past surface level
Wilbury, prometheus asks all the questions that we all want answered. And the answers are there but in a sense nothing is answered. All the characters have different questions and they get some answers. Just enough, not too preachy, not too biased, just the hard facts slapped in your face. I'm on my phone so I wont be bothered with spoiler tags ill give deeper analysis tomorrow. Now ill just enjoy my wheybeer and keep dwelling in thr visual and conceptual inspiration that stemmed from ther movie for me.
Ridley my man you showd the world how to create interesting scifi and fucking creepy stuff.... Bravo.
Couldn't it be that the Engineer in the prologue was acting on his own when he created life on earth and the rest of them wanted to clean it up again or test the goo on a complete eco-system.
I wasn't clear, it wasn't really fixed by the final draft. Read the Hill and Giler script, the guys who supposedly fixed the dialogue, it's pretty awkward.
I'm still not following you, sorry... The final movie was fine, in that regard, wasn't it? Isn't that what matters? Whereas Prometheus...
But besides that, there seems to be this praise for O'Bannon (who does deserve a lot for Alien) and how Prometheus would've been better if he worked on it. If you think Scott is out of touch with Prometheus, a film made because he wanted it, I don't know how O'Bannon could do any better when it's an idea he never expressed interest in (I could be wrong here).
To me, "there really is no measure" also sounds like an easy thing to say to defend a movie... It might not be an exact science (I'm not sure many things are when it comes to reviewing a movie), but when characters start sounding like they escaped from a soap opera, for example...
About the "there are other ships" and how it implies all engineers also died on the other ships... I didn't think that was a stretch. I assumed that -since they placed the biological WMD's on a planet not their own for their own safety-, the engineers also pretty much arrived on the planet to pick up their cargo, and then they were greeted by the aliens/virus/whatever. So they walked into a boobytrap, in every ship that's stationed there, and they didn't get to flee in time. Or some did flee in time but with lots of people being left behind, since the ship they came with (like, say, the one we see piercing the sky in the first 5 minutes of the movie) is nowhere to be found.
And then, they just gave up on their (unexplained) plans to wipe out mankind? I mean, it's been thousands of years, and we didn't even know our creators wanted to get rid of us until we went over there...
(and we located that place because they left us star maps... for some reason)
Why wasn't the film set on LV-426 so that the Engineer pilot/mysterious pilot from the first film tied in properly? Instead I'm left wondering how an Alien (Xenomorph, the first of which appears at the end of this film, on this planet) can burst from the stomach of an Engineer over on LV-426, as depicted in the first film.
I believe we see indications that several Engineers died in a similar manner on LV-223, so maybe that one guy was also infected, but actually did a bit better than his pals and managed to leave the planet (moon?) before crashing on LV-426?
But yeah, the movie makes a big deal of the alien birth in the end, as if that was it: the first alien birth, a result of that chain of freak occurrences we just witnessed... and yet, it seems those critters were already around long ago (there would be that mural, too)...
Muddy.
It's simple. The black goo is a virus that disintegrates your DNA. It also spawns snake-like creatures. It also turns you into a raving madman lunatic with superhuman strength and agility. It also kills you. It also turns your sperm into supersperm, which spawns giant facehuggers.
What was going on when the saw the two geologists getting in trouble on his monitor and he didn't notify anyone. It was almost like he was sabotaging the expedition, just like the robot. What was his reasoning?
... In an unknown extra-terrestrial installation. I don't quite get the nonchalance (not just there either).
(and I'm a bit impressed the movie introduced those cool laser-balls thingies... just to have the characters get lost right away anyway... c'mon, guys!)
Wilbury, prometheus asks all the questions that we all want answered. And the answers are there but in a sense nothing is answered. All the characters have different questions and they get some answers. Just enough, not too preachy, not too biased, just the hard facts slapped in your face. I'm on my phone so I wont be bothered with spoiler tags ill give deeper analysis tomorrow. Now ill just enjoy my wheybeer and keep dwelling in thr visual and conceptual inspiration that stemmed from ther movie for me.
Ridley my man you showd the world how to create interesting scifi and fucking creepy stuff.... Bravo.
I feel like a watched a different film to you, I don't like to be down on someone's enjoyment, but you must have seen a version that had more scenes in it or something because half the characters didn't get the screen time or lines in the film to ask questions in the first place, and the characters that did sure didn't get any answers.
I would be interested in seeing your break down of all the odd plot points and holes people have been talking about for the last few pages.
Good, fun film. Expect more Aliens than Alien. Music was excellent.
It's not Alien scary, it is rather, I would say a kind of mixture between a slighter suspense of Alien, the wonder of space so elegantly displayed in alien, and the explosiveness of Aliens.
The dialogue was not the same as in Alien. It also sacrifices spending time with characters, for scale. It does scale, immensely well though. There are no real moments where you feel anything for most of the characters that die as a result. Part of me believes that this is due to the fact that we've seen it all before. A crew encounters an alien, the crew die a horrible shocking deaths. I think it is also because you as well as the crew, know that they might encounter aliens when they land on the planet, whereas the Nostromo crew had no idea and knew just as much as you did. So really, in context, it all makes more sense.
Although, the developed characters have been done well enough for you to care for them.
They do explain some important things, and bring in new questions. I found this was done rather well actually. Although, I was not expecting any answers at all, and actually didn't want any answers as I was scared this would ruin, for me at least, the mysterious nature of the
xenomorph, however as far as origins go, the explanation here was not disappointing.
Lawrence of Arabia bit made me giddy as hell
To get the aesthetic, the clever jokes and easter eggs, watch:
Lawrence of Arabia
Space Odyssey
Alien
Aliens (2x)
Blade Runner
Vicker's grey suit is essentially another version of Rachel's.
Only thing I did not like, was the opening scene. Absolutely pointless and took away from the actual mystery for the rest of the film.
All in all, I would say that this is a worthwhile standalone/prequel to Alien and Aliens. I am not disappointed in the slightest bit. It was enjoyable, in its own way.
So essentially, expect to watch Aliens, with more scale and less classic action hero stuff. More realistic action I would say. Slightly more human characters, and with the exception of a few, not nearly as good as the Alien crew.
A lot of my criticisms come from the general way the story and characters are handled, but in terms of the highlights and lowlights I can remember right now:
Amazing bits:
The look of the movie. Just stunning. Like a 70's Sci Fi novel cover come to life.
Fassbender. God tier performance.
Set pieces
Medical pod was just fantastic. Ship crash. Sandstorm.
Terrible bits:
"FATHER" God that dialogue was terrible.
Running from the gigantic ship, running from the gigantic ship, trip, oh god the gigantic ship is going to crush me, roll three foot to the right, all nice and safe
Edit: Also, I hope there is a director's cut as it felt like large parts were removed in points.
