Jump to content

So Ridley Scott is directing an Alien prequel... (The official Prometheus Thread)


crocodile

Recommended Posts

I don't care about its box office take or its rotten tomatoes score. I just think it was a hugely disappointing movie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't care about its box office take or its rotten tomatoes score. I just think it was a hugely disappointing movie

You don't care about how a film is being generally perceived by the public? I think it's interesting, not for my personal enjoyment, but for film as a medium itself. It tells me where film in general stands and where it is going.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's remarkable a film like this is as popular as it is. It has barely any action, it spends a lot of time 'philosophising' and doesn't have much Alieny stuff.

For all its lapses in logic, I still like it. But I hate Holloway, I cheered when David spiked his grog.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alex, not everyone hated the film (as much as I did), that's true. But most positive opinions of it that I came across could be summed up more or less like this: "Could have been worse". The movie hasn't even made its money back in North America. Hardly a triumph.

Karol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not here, this one reeked of sterile try-hard, I thought.

The amount of flak Lindelof gets for this film disturbs me. In this day of age, with unlimited information at our fingertips, you'd think one would be smart enough to realize he was brought in to rewrite a script.

? Really? Sometimes the things that come out of your mouth disturb me. Lindelof gets the blame like Koepp gets blamed for "Wubbleyou" and "I like Ike". What's so perplexing here, Koray? Why are you always so quick to defend mediocrity?

Lindelof is one among an entire production crew, why his he the sole person to blame for your hatred of Prometheus? Can't be the original writer, can't be Pietro Scallia, can't be Ridley Scott, NO NO NO NO!!!!

The amount of flak Lindelof gets for this film disturbs me. In this day of age, with unlimited information at our fingertips, you'd think one would be smart enough to realize he was brought in to rewrite a script.

That's a good point, actually. But then again, he's been so present in media, you can't help but blame him. ;)

Karol

Yeah, he's steeping up and taking all the heat. Should have seen his Twitter feed after the film was released.

Anyway, I plunged and got the 3D set of the film. I was told the making-of doc is the best ever made.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm thinking about picking up the set myself. I noticed that the 3D tv's will soon be available that do not required glasses. This is the next to last step to legitimize the process. Glassless 3D movies is the final step. That mountain will be conquered too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alex, not everyone hated the film (as much as I did), that's true. But most positive opinions of it that I came across could be summed up more or less like this: "Could have been worse". The movie hasn't even made its money back in North America. Hardly a triumph.

Karol

1) Shawshank Redemption is a public's favorite (understatement) and yet it failed at the box-office. 2) If Prometheus was a PG-13 movie, it would've made a lot more money. 3) Heck, even Joey is thinking of getting the DVD.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alex, not everyone hated the film (as much as I did), that's true. But most positive opinions of it that I came across could be summed up more or less like this: "Could have been worse". The movie hasn't even made its money back in North America. Hardly a triumph.

Karol

1) Shawshank Redemption is a public's favorite (understatement) and yet it failed at the box-office. 2) If Prometheus was a PG-13 movie, it would've made a lot more money. 3) Heck, even Joey is thinking of getting the DVD.

the blu, not the dvd. And I will get it cheap, for the extras, like Koray that's the lure for me. I'm a big fan of well made extra's.

Shawshank failed because of poor marketing, It was always a superb film, unlike Prometheus, which would have performed better had word of mouth not been so poor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Koray, the resounding artistic failure of this movie lies with Scott, the director and man in charge. The assumption should also be that he was incapable of discerning the disastrous incompetence of Lindelof's final treatment of the script, otherwise he would have rejected it.

I'm not sure what's so difficult to grasp about that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Speaking of responsibility, here is a funny quote from Lindelof: “Because at the end of the day, this movie isn’t about what John Spaits wanted it to be, or what I wanted it to be, it’s about what Ridley wanted it to be.”

Karol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Koray, the resounding artistic failure of this movie lies with Scott, the director and man in charge. The assumption should also be that he was incapable of discerning the disastrous incompetence of Lindelof's final treatment of the script, otherwise he would have rejected it.

I'm not sure what's so difficult to grasp about that.

That's fine as long as the blame is diffused among the appropriate people. From what I understand most of the script is the same as its original draft. Reading about the film on other sites, they all point to Lindelof and no one else. That's all I'm trying to say.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do they honestly blame him over Scott? Sounds like apologists. It should be obvious, I'd have thought.

Still not sure why you're so keen on defending Lindelof though, seeing as he did turn in the script equivalent of bog roll.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Koray, the resounding artistic failure of this movie lies with Scott, the director and man in charge. The assumption should also be that he was incapable of discerning the disastrous incompetence of Lindelof's final treatment of the script, otherwise he would have rejected it.

I'm not sure what's so difficult to grasp about that.

That's fine as long as the blame is diffused among the appropriate people. From what I understand most of the script is the same as its original draft. Reading about the film on other sites, they all point to Lindelof and no one else. That's all I'm trying to say.

Still, Lindelof as assumed the characteristics of the final script as his own.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I still haven't talked to a single person who actually liked the film.

Same here

Everyone I talked to disliked the film as well. And even though it isn't universally hated, I think its largely considered a disappointment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Everyone I talked to disliked the film as well. And even though it isn't universally hated, I think its largely considered a disappointment.

You talked to everyone in the universe?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Never said anything of the sort. But the impression I'm getting is that most people considered this a disappointment or mildly liked it at best. But I don't think there were many that actually fell in love with the film.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Spaihts' original script is out. I'll be reading it later when it's not past 1am but people have said that it's more or less the same though the characters are written better with more sensible motivations.

Click to read.

Well I ended up reading the first 60 pages. First thoughts and differences...

Much more serious. The light-heartedness present in Prometheus is absent, which I'm not sure is good or bad. Without it it ceases to be fun, with it we got some stupid stuff.

The ship is called Magellan, the film Alien: Engineers.

The opening is pretty much the same, although human life is already established on Earth when the Engineers arrive. I assume the DNA match will be answered later on.

Holloway and Watts find the star map underwater, not in a cave.

Holloway is the religious one that has hope that they'll find answers, while Watts is the skeptical one.

There is no "hidden agenda." What Weyland wants is learned from the very beginning - terraforming technology; not eternal life.

Fifield and Milburn are recognized as stupid, and die in similar albeit better fashion. No, "Look at you, gorgeous!" crap. No ridiculous weed smoking. No ridiculous taking off of helmets even though breathable air is found. They aren't introduced as experts in their field, they are treasure hunters looking for money. At first sight of the running holographic they bail.

That's all I can think of right now. Looking forward to finishing it tomorrow; and Chaac's thoughts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But I don't think there were many that actually fell in love with the film.

I'm sure it's more than you think, K.K.. In a world of Battlefield Earths and Michael Bay-ish ADHD kids stuff, Prometheus is considered a class act.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did Prometheus really have any light-heartedness? There was serious stuff and then seriously dumb stuff.

Janek's character; moments between David and Holloway seeped with unknown tension. Right now for me the biggest (or rather smallest) detail that I missed was it being Christmas. Just for the line, "Oh no, it's Christmas, and I want to open my presents" and how it leads into the awesome Streitenfeld cue. In this version it's more boringly like, "We came all this way and you want to wait until morning?"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 years later...

Now that Alien Covenant firmly establishes a link between Prometheus and the original Alien, how long before they rebrand the Alien Quadrilogy as the Prometheus Hexalogy? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The subtitle for the Alien saga was always supposed to be A Tragedy of David the Artificial Person.

 

His love is real. But he is not.


Karol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

Okay, he's late to the party and drunk as hell, but he speaketh the truth, and that's what matters.

 

Thor is best to avoid this. Everyone else, enjoy!

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am not a fan of Prometheus. In fact, together with The Last Jedi, it’s probably one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen (nah, not really, but considering the resources that went into these two, then yeah).

 

But I did like the premise of Prometheus.

 

So I checked out a fan edit of the movie: Giftbearer. Much better than the official cut.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He actually agrees with the haters. Now let's hear why he still thinks it's great ....

 

So he says he's able to discard the surface to see what's underneath it. So it's very different from what you expect. Well, I would hesitate to call it vastly different to what came before. Spaceship, crew, female lead, android, landing on unknown planet, touching eggs, dead and destruction. 

Okay, so he loves the theme of 'Who gave birth to us?', and I agree that this new theme for the Alien universe. However, I don't understand how one could call it "deeply satisfying", if all other elements that lie on top of this theme make it difficult for me to give the movie some serious thought. Before I delve deeper, I need to be intrigued, and not feel the urge to throw bricks at the screen. I've watched the movie again to see if I overcome the problems I had encountered during the first watch but it wasn't the case. There are too many decisions taken in this movie that I just didn't like.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, I wouldn't say I necessarily agree with Chris on this one. I should also add that while the title of the video seems to suggest that he absolutely adores Prometheus, I do know he doesn't actually rank it particularly high. Sometimes, being apologetic about a movie makes you sound like you like it more than you really do.

 

But there is merit to Prometheus. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wait, Prometheus is still a controversial movie? I suppose that's internet media and forums for you: they'll prolong the misery of what it is to debate bad movies probably for as long as someone uses the web as a platform to find another way of looking at them.

 

Imagine if Pacino's Revolution or Ishtar had come out in the modern era. There'd still be active threads debating them now no doubt. I think it was better when people used to cast final judgement on patently bad movies there and then and be done with it. Awful was awful, there was no other angle to approach shit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You're a man after my taste, Chen! Thanks for posting the "counter-video"; there are thankfully many videos and articles out there that recognize its many virtues. I still think PROMETHEUS is the best movie that came out that year. And I'm confident it will continue to be re-appreciated over the years, much like A.I. has.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really like the aesthetic of Prometheus. The art direction, cinematography, sound design and score. It’s the main foundation of the script that bogs it down. It had a lot of potential that wasn’t realized. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

While I didn’t like the movie, my advice for all the haters - or if your opinion is somewhere in the middle - track down Giftbearer.

 

Hell, even if you like the movie...

 

It’s a vast improvement!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, rough cut said:

While I didn’t like the movie, my advice for all the haters - or if your opinion is somewhere in the middle - track down Giftbearer.

 

Hell, even if you like the movie...

 

It’s a vast improvement!

 

Yeah but I prefer the movie set in the Alien universe...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Quintus said:

Wait, Prometheus is still a controversial movie? I suppose that's internet media and forums for you: they'll prolong the misery of what it is to debate bad movies probably for as long as someone uses the web as a platform to find another way of looking at them.

 

Imagine if Pacino's Revolution or Ishtar had come out in the modern era. There'd still be active threads debating them now no doubt. I think it was better when people used to cast final judgement on patently bad movies there and then and be done with it. Awful was awful, there was no other angle to approach shit.

So...what does that make us?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

I really like the aesthetic of Prometheus. The art direction, cinematography, sound design

 

That's Sir Ridley Scott for ya.

 

As far as the narrative, themes and characters, he's always at the mercy of the script.

 

But in terms of direction and production value? Always top notch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ridley Scott doesn't write. If the script's good - his movie's good. If its not - it'll be palatable to middling.

 

But a Ridley Scott film always looks and sounds great.

 

Always.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines.