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

[rough cut 1,714]

1 hour ago, Thekthithm said:

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

 

I never caught up with the 40th anniversary shorts, but I’ve been meaning to. Any good?

[Thor 7,494]

2 hours ago, rough cut said:

 

I never caught up with the 40th anniversary shorts, but I’ve been meaning to. Any good?

 

A couple of them, yes. But also some duds. You'll find our comments after each episode posted in the thread about them.

[A24 4,331]

11 hours ago, Chen G. said:

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.

 

Yes, he's not a writer, but it is clear by now he has no nose for good writing either. And these day, I'm rarely impressed with his visual language (the words of the moviemaker) either.

 

Regarding his visual aesthetics, it's all pretty standard Hollywood, if you ask me. He's not exploring new artistic grounds, nor does he experiment with new artists (always the same in-house crew, whether it's a wine movie set in France or a horror movie set in space). The result is safe and very commercial, almost factory conveyor belt like. Scott is a big shot producer (Scott Free Productions) and it's that side of him that is in control. Scott is the first one to say that making movies is a business and not an art form. And that's what I feel when watching a Scott movie. He wanted the new Alien films to be as big as Star Wars. I think he's a bit jealous of Disney. 

 

 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

3 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

 

Yes, he's not a writer, but it is clear by now he has no nose for good writing either. 

 

Regarding his visual aesthetics, it's all pretty standard Hollywood, if you ask me. He's not exploring new artistic grounds, nor does he experiment with new artists (always the same in-house crew, whether it's a wine movie set in France or a horror movie set in space). The result is safe and very commercial, almost factory conveyor belt like. Scott is a big shot producer (Scott Free Productions) and it's that side of him that is in control. Scott is the first one to say that making movies is a business and not an art form. He wanted the new Alien films to be as big as Star Wars. I think he's a bit jealous of Disney. 

 

 

[A24 4,331]

Thanks for the Dutch subtitles! Yes, Star Wars (1977) is the reason why he made Alien and Blade Runner. He wanted to build worlds, something he thought Star Wars did very well, especially considering the 'small' budget it had. So from that moment on he looked at Sci-Fi as the ultimate genre for creating worlds. But then Blade Runner flopped at the BO in 1982 and the dream was over.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

He had another crack at world building in Legend.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

It's safe to say that all his best work was in the late 70s and 80s. Even Legend despite being a basically bad movie looks pretty stellar. Blade Runner is Blade Runner for better or worse (Everybody loves it now except me, but it's undeniably cool-looking) and Alien is also one of the definitive sci-fi flicks.

 

I know everyone jacks off to Gladiator, but compared to those, it looks like a really standard flick. It's not special.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

People love Gladiator mostly for Commodus quotes.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,515]

9 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

Thanks for the Dutch subtitles! Yes, Star Wars (1977) is the reason why he made Alien and Blade Runner. He wanted to build worlds, something he thought Star Wars did very well, especially considering the 'small' budget it had. So from that moment on he looked at Sci-Fi as the ultimate genre for creating worlds. But then Blade Runner flopped at the BO in 1982 and the dream was over.

Scott's brother was the real reason that Scott made BLADE RUNNER.

[A24 4,331]

2 minutes ago, Thekthithm said:

He had another crack at world building in Legend.

 

True! In Alien and Legend every inch of every frame is designed and build from scratch. 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,515]

6 minutes ago, Gruesome Son of a Bitch said:

I know everyone jacks off to Gladiator...

I've never "jacked-off", to GLADIATOR, and I never shall. My opinion of the film has not changed, since 2000: cinematic prostitution, the beginning of the end.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

3 minutes ago, Thekthithm said:

People love Gladiator mostly for Commodus quotes.

 

It seems to have kick-started or predicted the weird obsession with gladiator style entertainment with uber-masculine scantily clad men. 300, Game of Thrones etc.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I just like Game of Thrones to see Emilia Clarke nuke cities with her monsters.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,515]

I've not seen a single millisecond of GOT, so, Jerry...please tell me that that's not a euphemism.

[A24 4,331]

38 minutes ago, Gruesome Son of a Bitch said:

It's safe to say that all his best work was in the late 70s and 80s. Even Legend despite being a basically bad movie looks pretty stellar.

 

So he had a nose for good writing but only at/in the beginning of his career? That's right, I'm saying The Duellists is a beautiful script. Or maybe the good scripts were just a coincidence? Anyway, Scott got lucky again with Alien. I never read Hampton Fancher's original script of Blade Runner (I know many in the industry were quite impressed by it) but personally I have a strong feeling that it's David Peoples who shaped the script into the Blade Runner we all know and love. 

 

32 minutes ago, Richard said:

Scott's brother was the real reason that Scott made BLADE RUNNER.

 

What are you trying to say, Richard? Speak up!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I like the Blade Runner with Ford's corny narration.

[A24 4,331]

And I know why. Columbo is one of your favorite classic TV shows, is it not?

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Designated Survivor is my new favourite.

[A24 4,331]

Sure, but, unlike Columbo, that has nothing to do with Blade Runner. 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Was Harrison Ford a guest killer of the week?

[A24 4,331]

Never mind! You don't really want to know so I'll carry the secret to my grave. 

[Chen G. 3,949]

1 hour ago, Gruesome Son of a Bitch said:

I know everyone jacks off to Gladiator, but compared to those, it looks like a really standard flick. It's not special.

 

It’s not necessarily Scott’s best directed or most impressively staged film, but the story’s more emotionally engaging, which is the whole point of narrative cinema.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

It worked best as a Bloodboalian JWFan fan film.

[Quintus 5,399]

I love Gladiator, although I agree with whatshisface that it's weak in the visual ID department, but I'm not really arsed in this instance as I'm there for the blood n guts and the swords n sandals. It's a terrific old fashioned revenge story. 

[Chen G. 3,949]

Oh, I think it’s very impressively mounted: felt like being in ancient Rome. But fabricating ancient Rome’s easy compared to the futuristic vistas of Blade Runner or the alien world of Alien:

[Thor 7,494]

GLADIATOR is an iconic, influential film. A masterpiece both in mise-en-scene and mythological storytelling. I don't know what you guys are smoking.

[Jurassic Shark 12,065]

Rome just looks too clean. It pulls me right out of the movie.

 

3 hours ago, Richard said:

I've never "jacked-off", to GLADIATOR, and I never shall. My opinion of the film has not changed, since 2000: cinematic prostitution, the beginning of the end.

 

Then you're gonna love Gladiator 2: Die Harder

[Chen G. 3,949]

2 hours ago, Thor said:

GLADIATOR is an iconic, influential film. A masterpiece both in mise-en-scene and mythological storytelling.

 

I sat down to take a look at it, for the first time since 2000. Nearly three hours later I realized I watched the entire movie and haven’t noticed.

 

That’s the power of cinema.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Ill have to check it out someday.

 

I'm sure it won't be as good as Braveheart.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,515]

I never liked that one, either.

 

 

 

 

6 hours ago, Alexcremers said:

What are you trying to say, Richard? Speak up!

Only that Scott was prepping DUNE, and then his brother, Frank, died, so he cancelled that, and then BLADE RUNNER dropped. For this reason, it might be Scott's most "personal" film.

Who knows why Scott was attracted to BLADE RUNNER? If his brother had not have died, he may have never have made it, and it would be "Joel Schumacher's BLADE RUNNER". 

just saying.

[A24 4,331]

1 hour ago, Richard said:

 

Who knows why Scott was attracted to BLADE RUNNER?

 

 

8 hours ago, Alexcremers said:

Star Wars (1977) is the reason why he made Alien and Blade Runner. He wanted to build worlds, something he thought Star Wars did very well, especially considering the 'small' budget it had. So from that moment on he looked at Sci-Fi as the ultimate genre for creating worlds. 

 

 

Star Wars made him interested in doing science fiction, whether it's Dune, Alien or Blade Runner. Before Star Wars, sci-fi didn't interest him that much. 

 

But, yeah, the dead of Frank Scott led him to making Blade Runner instead of Legend.

 

 

[Chen G. 3,949]

2 hours ago, Stefancos said:

Ill have to check it out someday.

 

I'm sure it won't be as good as Braveheart.

 

It’s not, but then, what is?

[A24 4,331]

You and Steef are it's only champions!

[Jurassic Shark 12,065]

3 hours ago, Chen G. said:

That’s the power of cinema sleep.

 

Fixed!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,515]

34 minutes ago, Alexcremers said:

Star Wars made him interested in doing science fiction, whether it's Dune, Alien or Blade Runner. Before Star Wars, sci-fi didn't interest him that much.

If STAR WARS was set on Earth, it would look something like BLADE RUNNER.

I'm absolutely certain that STAR WARS appealed to Scott, from a visual point of view, but to commit oneself to spending two years making a film, then it must have more that just an attraction to the eye.

As I said: his brother died, and who knows what was going on for Scott, in the aftermath of this event? Maybe the story resonated with him, on a personal level? A film project must have a deeper significance than how it looks, especially for its director.

 

[Thor 7,494]

3 hours ago, Chen G. said:

 

I sat down to take a look at it, for the first time since 2000. Nearly three hours later I realized I watched the entire movie and haven’t noticed.

 

That’s the power of cinema.

 

Indeed. Although I'd argue that the director's cut of KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is even superior to GLADIATOR.

[A24 4,331]

1 hour ago, Richard said:

 

... it must have more that just an attraction to the eye.

 

 

It was more than that ...

 

10 hours ago, Alexcremers said:

He wanted to build worlds, something he thought Star Wars did very well, especially considering the 'small' budget it had. So from that moment on he looked at Sci-Fi as the ultimate genre for creating worlds. 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Thor said:

 

Indeed. Although I'd argue that the director's cut of KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is even superior to GLADIATOR.

 

The more I watched it, the better it became. With Gladiator, it was the other way around. 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,515]

"small budget"? It cost only $3,000,000 less than THE TOWERING INFERNO, and it cost $4,000,000 more than EARTHQUAKE 

It was one of the most expensive films made, at that time. It was so costly, that Fox almost pulled the plug. We have one person to thank, for STAR WARS...and it's not George Lucas.

I digress.

Perhaps we are approaching the issue from two different angles; the visual, and the emotional/intellectual. There's nowt wrong with wanting to build a cinematic world. BRAVE NEW WORLD did it, as did FORBIDDEN PLANET, DUNE, and PLANET OF THE APES (the original, mind you, not the shitty "reboot").

I just want to ask the question: what, if any, was the connection between Scott's brother dying, and him agreeing to helm BLADE RUNNER?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

To distract himself? Drown his anguish in a creative project?

[Chen G. 3,949]

2 hours ago, Alexcremers said:

You and Steef are it's only champions!

 

Lots of people adore Braveheart. Clearly Scott and his writers did; Peter Jackson does. I seem to recall Spielberg liked it, or maybe it was James Cameron? Dunno.

 

It’s a great piece of cinema. And unlike Gladiator, it was Gibson’s sophomoric effort at directing, which is bonkers. Talk about ambitious filmmaking!

[Thor 7,494]

1 hour ago, Alexcremers said:

The more I watched it, there better it became. With Gladiator, it was the other way around. 

 

Fair enough. Vice versa, it's a film that's grown on me since I saw it in the cinema  in 2000. Every time I rewatch it, and there's usually several years between sessions  now, I always get blown again by the film language on display.

[A24 4,331]

 

40 minutes ago, Richard said:

 

I just want to ask the question: what, if any, was the connection between Scott's brother dying, and him agreeing to helm BLADE RUNNER?

 

Scott first turned down Blade Runner because he wanted to do Dune (he felt Dune was more like Star Wars, while Blade Runner was too hardcore sci-fi). Then his brother died, and if I'm correct, he wanted to work to get his mind off the death of his brother and so he accepted the project after all. 

 

I believe it was Gary Kurtz who said Stars Wars had a "small' budget, especially compared to the grandioso vision Lucas wanted to achieve. 

 

15 minutes ago, Thor said:

 

 Vice versa

 

Of course! But if it gets worse with each viewing, why claim KOH is the superior movie? 

 

26 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

To distract himself? Drown his anguish in a creative project?

 

Yes. 

 

17 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

 

Lots of people adore Braveheart. Clearly Scott and his writers did

 

Seriously? 

[Jurassic Shark 12,065]

58 minutes ago, Thor said:

 

Fair enough. Vice versa, it's a film that's grown on me since I saw it in the cinema  in 2000. Every time I rewatch it, and there's usually several years between sessions  now, I always get blown again by the film language on display.

 

It needs a special edition to make the CGI less sterile.

[Thor 7,494]

3 hours ago, Alexcremers said:

Of course! But if it gets worse with each viewing, why claim KOH is the superior movie? 

 

We're talking past each other here. GLADIATOR does not gets worse by each viewing. It gets better. But I still think KOH (the director's cut, mind you, important to point out) is the superior of the two.

[Jurassic Shark 12,065]

It's got the better score. And Liam Neeson.

[Thor 7,494]

No, GLADIATOR is the tentpole score that it is, nothing can shake that. Marvelous. But HGW's KOH is still my favourite score of his. I was a never a big fan of HGW, but this helped considerably.

[Quintus 5,399]

In my case Gladiator was exceptionally rare in that I saw it twice at the theatre during its run (once with the gf; then we took her mother). It was a pretty big movie, I remember. We're talking many years ago now, but I thought it was fabulously entertaining and full of memorable scenes/dialogue. 

 

I own the blu-ray but have never gotten around to watching it, most likely because I OD'd on the film all those years ago (I reckon I watched it about eight times in total, including the original DVD release). It was one of those movies that I could recite lines from, which should tell you how much I loved it for a time in my younger years. 

 

Gladiator also sparked my first serious interest in Hans Zimmer. This was back in my soundtrack CD buying days, and I even bought the second release with its additional tracks. I never listen to this score anymore, but I'll always appreciate its impact on me at the time (and on a legion of other movies that followed). 

 

I need to find the time to sit down and see this again, probably with the wife this time, who hasn't seen it. I'm fairly certain I'd still think it was great today. 

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I saw it with my parents straight after seeing the dental surgeon.

 

And I remember the hype for the DVD being a reference quality release.

[Jurassic Shark 12,065]

4 minutes ago, Thekthithm said:

the dental surgeon.

 

I haven't seen that film. Any good?

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

S'alright.