Yet Another Cycling Forum

Off Topic => The Pub => Arts and Entertainment => Topic started by: andrewc on 27 November, 2011, 08:42:21 pm

Title: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: andrewc on 27 November, 2011, 08:42:21 pm

http://whatculture.com/film/bootlegged-prometheus-trailer-leaks-it-sure-feels-like-alien.php (http://whatculture.com/film/bootlegged-prometheus-trailer-leaks-it-sure-feels-like-alien.php)

Leak or viral marketing.....who cares...

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: Steph on 28 November, 2011, 12:13:00 am

Been removed, so I guess 'leak'.

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: Ewan Houzami on 28 November, 2011, 12:25:22 am

I was an extra on one of the promos/virals for Prometheus, and production were paranoid about anything leaking out. I'd like to tell you who was in it and what it was about, but I'm actually that worried about revealing something I shouldn't and being prosecuted, that I don't feel that I can.

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: andrewc on 23 December, 2011, 11:50:30 am

Official trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sftuxbvGwiU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sftuxbvGwiU)   :thumbsup:

It's so Alien.... http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/1178902/prometheus_trailer_analysis.html (http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/1178902/prometheus_trailer_analysis.html)

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: LEE on 24 December, 2011, 02:05:55 pm

An "Alien" prequel by the director of "Alien".

It sounds too good to be true and Scott would now have enough clout to prevent his visions being steamrollered by Hollywood marketting types (you would hope he made it on the understanding that he got full creative control).

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: andrewc on 04 March, 2012, 09:08:30 pm

https://www.weylandindustries.com/ (https://www.weylandindustries.com/)

If you'll indulge me, I'd like to change the future.....

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: Wowbagger on 04 March, 2012, 10:37:32 pm

I opened this thread in the hope that the Prometheus Trailer was a viable alternative to the Bob Yak.

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: andrewc on 04 March, 2012, 10:49:50 pm

Quote from: Wowbagger on 04 March, 2012, 10:37:32 pm

I opened this thread in the hope that the Prometheus Trailer was a viable alternative to the Bob Yak.

It's something that's gone on before, rather than something that follows behind.....

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: andrewc on 17 March, 2012, 01:51:43 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq7Z3pqJ4dY&feature=player_embedded (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq7Z3pqJ4dY&feature=player_embedded)

And another....

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: TimO on 17 March, 2012, 03:44:17 pm

Those trailers look quite promising.  It looks like it could be something more than just another "waiting for something to jump out" version, and to be fair to the various makers of the Alien film franchise, most of them have had a different take on the beasties, so they weren't just remake of the same storyline against a different background.

Unfortunately, the original Alien series got weaker as the films progressed.  I liked them all to some extent, but the earliest was definitely the peak.  Alien Resurrection had a few nice bits in it, but overall was a bit hopeless.  AVP was also an interesting approach, combining the two series reasonably cleverly, but again the original Predator film was better than the later ones, and I don't think AVP came close to competing with either "Alien" or "Predator".

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: LEE on 17 March, 2012, 07:34:33 pm

Quote from: TimO on 17 March, 2012, 03:44:17 pm

Those trailers look quite promising.  It looks like it could be something more than just another "waiting for something to jump out" version, and to be fair to the various makers of the Alien film franchise, most of them have had a different take on the beasties, so they weren't just remake of the same storyline against a different background.

Unfortunately, the original Alien series got weaker as the films progressed.  I liked them all to some extent, but the earliest was definitely the peak.  Alien Resurrection had a few nice bits in it, but overall was a bit hopeless.  AVP was also an interesting approach, combining the two series reasonably cleverly, but again the original Predator film was better than the later ones, and I don't think AVP came close to competing with either "Alien" or "Predator".

Quote

I don't think AVP came close to competing with either "Alien" or "Predator".

I don't think there's a sane human being on the planet saying it did.

Alien was a masterpiece but I'll concede that James Cameron did a great job on Aliens and gave us some iconic scenes/quotes (the Powerloader entrance with the classic "Get away from her you Bitch" still gets the hairs on my neck standing up.)

I don't have much time for 3 & 4.

Prometheus (Alien -1 ?) still looks promising and epic.  IMAX eh?

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: TimO on 17 March, 2012, 07:55:34 pm

I'm wondering about organising a work outing to Waterloo IMAX one evening, if they're showing this film.

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: andygates on 17 March, 2012, 08:06:22 pm

Squee!

Was that a flying space-jockey ship?  It was! It waaaaas! *dance*

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: redshift on 18 March, 2012, 08:36:01 am

And now this one:

http://www.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=GB#/watch?v=HHcHYisZFLU

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: TimO on 18 March, 2012, 09:04:29 am

Based on that trailer things seem promising.

They're obviously being deliberately vague about who left the message on Earth (and what it means), so it's not clear if it's the big bloke we saw dead in the first film, the aliens themselves, or something else.

The footage looks good, although obviously modern CGI should be capable of producing impressive stuff, should they make the effort.  That's not to say that the original Alien film wasn't, and indeed largely still is, impressive, but it'll be interesting to see what they do this time.

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: spesh on 18 March, 2012, 09:23:57 am

Quote from: TimO on 18 March, 2012, 09:04:29 am

Based on that trailer things seem promising.

They're obviously being deliberately vague about who left the message on Earth (and what it means), so it's not clear if it's the big bloke we saw dead in the first film, the aliens themselves, or something else.

The footage looks good, although obviously modern CGI should be capable of producing impressive stuff, should they make the effort.  That's not to say that the original Alien film wasn't, and indeed largely still is, impressive, but it'll be interesting to see what they do this time.

+1 to that.

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: TimO on 18 March, 2012, 10:08:05 am

I think I need to get out my box set and watch the first couple of films again.  That's something to do this evening organised. :)

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: andygates on 18 March, 2012, 10:18:53 am

*deploys tenalady* ;D

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: andrewc on 18 March, 2012, 11:37:17 am

The Weyland Industries site also has a few updates https://www.weylandindustries.com/#/timeline (https://www.weylandindustries.com/#/timeline)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gEO3lmVy-tU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gEO3lmVy-tU)

Nerdgasm!

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: redshift on 18 March, 2012, 08:48:22 pm

And a much more sensible UK trailer.  This one makes me more inclined to see the film than the US one - not that I was going to miss it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9jRaa4Wkbk&feature=player_embedded

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: andrewc on 18 March, 2012, 09:12:35 pm

I was a smooth cheeked 15 year old in 1979, they wouldn't let me in to see it. I've still never watched the original on a big screen.

When I went to Iceland in 2002 I hiked up to the snout of the Skaftafellsjokull glacier.  Someone had found an almost perfectly oval rock and positioned it vertically at the side of the track, it looked distinctly like an Alien egg.....

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: Kim on 18 March, 2012, 09:41:11 pm

Quote from: redshift on 18 March, 2012, 08:48:22 pm

And a much more sensible UK trailer.  This one makes me more inclined to see the film than the US one - not that I was going to miss it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9jRaa4Wkbk&feature=player_embedded

That's more like it...   :thumbsup:

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: TimO on 18 March, 2012, 11:17:48 pm

I wasn't even remotely old enough to go and see Alien when it first came out, although I do remember seeing the image of the big chap sat on his chair with a hole in his chest, in the alien spacecraft, shown as part of a review of the film in ETI (Electronics Today International).

A few years later one of the computing magazines had a program for the BBC Micro, which redefined the colours in one of the graphics modes to create an "animated" image similar to some of the initial footage in the film, that shows the Nostromo's flight path as it lands on the planet.

Even though the technology of the film was appropriately futuristic for 1979, by modern standards it all looks rather quaint.  Modern video games can trivially produce far superior graphics.  The weapons, computers, medical and engineering technology they use just isn't realistically superior enough for a culture which appears to have extensive and widespread spaceflight.

I'm not sure when I first saw the film, but it was probably on the TV some years later.  I don't recall ever having a copy of VHS (for the few years I had a VCR), but bought the box set of all four current films on DVD a few years back.

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: spesh on 18 March, 2012, 11:57:17 pm

Quote from: TimO on 18 March, 2012, 11:17:48 pm

Even though the technology of the film was appropriately futuristic for 1979, by modern standards it all looks rather quaint.  Modern video games can trivially produce far superior graphics.  The weapons, computers, medical and engineering technology they use just isn't realistically superior enough for a culture which appears to have extensive and widespread spaceflight.

I would argue that using kit that appears to be behind the bleeding edge of the technology curve in a space-faring civilisation makes more sense than going overboard with teh shiny. Older, less advanced tech may be more robust - even with FTL drives, you will be weeks or months in transit between star systems, so reliable, proven equipment that is less likely to break down could make the difference between life and death. And if it breaks, you need to fix it as easily and as quickly as possible, so simpler technology, or that which is mature and more widely understood is a better bet.

Not to mention that FTL drives will be insanely expensive, so once you've fitted your starship with the drive systems, the accountants will be insisting on the cheapest kit that they can get away with for life support, astrogation etc.  :demon: ;)

ETA - the phenomenon of using "Gen minus" kit instead of the bleeding edge latest-generation tech is nothing new in science fiction. For example, in Gordon R. Dickson's Dorsai books, spacecraft have FTL drives, but standard firearms are spring-powered, because higher-tech level weapons can be gimmicked, or are just plain unreliable anyway.

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: Kim on 19 March, 2012, 12:01:10 am

Quote from: TimO on 18 March, 2012, 11:17:48 pm

Even though the technology of the film was appropriately futuristic for 1979, by modern standards it all looks rather quaint.  Modern video games can trivially produce far superior graphics.  The weapons, computers, medical and engineering technology they use just isn't realistically superior enough for a culture which appears to have extensive and widespread spaceflight.

I need to re-watch the series, but I thought they did a pretty good job on the technology in Alien.  The things that really date it are analogue video^[1] and CRT displays (that's one that Star Trek TNG really got right), the obviously standard fluorescent light fittings in the opening scene, and miscellaneous clunky engineering that has no right to be on a spacecraft.  The weapons in the original film were supposed to be improvised, so that's okay.

Aliens was a bit more technology-focussed, and I think dates more badly as a result.  OTOH, if it were set on, say, 2050 earth without the space travel elements, we'd probably say it did a pretty good job (especially if you include the deleted scene with the robotic sentry guns).

As in the original Star Wars, they did a lot of good by making the tech look like it had been actually used.  I can forgive an awful lot of 1950s aircraft cockpit on that basis :)



_{[1] And let's be realistic here, the trope of analogue video noise in representations of futuristic technology is only just beginning to fade in time for the first generation of children who've only ever experienced digital video.  Bonus points to Defying Gravity for consistently doing near-future digital video breakup right, and to Firefly for working with the assumption that displays will be higher definition than that used to film the series, and simply shooting through a cutout of a display panel, in the retro 60s manner.}

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: TimO on 19 March, 2012, 08:04:28 am

The technology of Alien appears to be near future, ie not radically different from our own, the implication being that it's only a few decade ahead of us, which I could live with.

... but the nature of their flight is such that they imply widespread and very distant use of space flight, which is clearly relatively routine, which to my mind implies far more than a few decades, probably a century or more (and I seem to recall from somewhere, probably one of the trailers, seeing 2085 mentioned for Prometheus, implying a lot later for Alien).

I'd think that the technology of that time scale would be so far advanced from us, and to be almost impossible to comprehend, although obviously that wouldn't do for a film which we're trying to watch.  Even an old clunker of a ship used by a second line company (which the implications of "The Company" tends to exclude) would still be using at least some technology which would be far more advanced.

You tend to see this more in written science fiction, than you do in Hollywood science fiction, because the average audience wouldn't be able to deal with it, and for that matter, you'd spend too much of any film trying to detail the background!

I'm thinking of stuff like advanced nano-tech, and AI that actually works and exists (or is at least indistinguishable from real AI if that turns out to be impossible).  Of course, history has shown that we generally aren't very good at predicting the future, because something unpredictable which radically changes things will come along, but there future is more like a couple of decades from now, only with some sort of very advanced space flight, which is apparently totally independent of any other technological advance.

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 19 March, 2012, 09:13:51 am

Tim is correct about the tech.  considering the period, very few writers had any idea of the impact of the march of technology on daily life. Most writers concentrated on big stuff - big spaceships, world-girdling technology and projects. Not iPhone-level stuff.

Arguably only William Gibson got any of right.

Looking at current tech and projecting 100years ahead, military stuff will be swarms of emf-hardened airbots, and viruses that infiltrate our consciousness.

However for me part of the power of 'Alien' and 'Aliens' is that we can relate to it.  It's near-now tech. We can imagine being in that environment

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: TimO on 19 March, 2012, 09:31:36 am

Quote from: mrcharly on 19 March, 2012, 09:13:51 am

However for me part of the power of 'Alien' and 'Aliens' is that we can relate to it.  It's near-now tech. We can imagine being in that environment

Indeed, and that's in the nature of storytelling, it can't be too far removed from us, or it becomes incomprehensible.  Much fiction is similar stories, just told against differing backgrounds which provide some of the flavour and story mechanisms.

A few hard science fiction writer do try and write stories in a far future, with an attempt at a realistic and radically different culture, but it's often hard to read, and requires your mindset to acquire the referents, which takes a while.  Frank Herbert with his Dune novels did this, as has Iain M Banks with his Culture novels.  Frank Herbert just dropped us into it, and expected  us to pick things up as we went along, whereas Iain M Banks combined The Culture with other less advanced cultures that gave him an excuse to explain things to us.

I suspect that this sort of thing isn't best suited to popular science fiction films, which need to tell a story relatively rapidly.

The Alien franchise works because the people really aren't that different from us, but a future with lots of these beasties in it, needs a far reaching space faring culture.  I suspect Prometheus will try and glue things together, as did AVP earlier in the timeline.

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: Kim on 20 March, 2012, 02:36:55 pm

Quote from: BigBenji on 20 March, 2012, 01:48:07 pm

Yeah i agree Timo, still not loving the modern SGI as much as i should be i don't think. Ruined too many films for my liking

Indiana Jones And The Film With The Overly Long Title was a particular low.  They'd deliberately stated that they were going for a traditional special effects aesthetic, in keeping with the other films.  Then ...didn't.

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: andygates on 20 March, 2012, 06:27:01 pm

The water inundation at the end was spectacular, though.  Best water I've seen. 

Bug swarms, less so.  Real bugs please.

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: Kim on 27 March, 2012, 09:23:49 pm

The thought occurs that Prometheus had better not take off and nuke the fridge from orbit, as it's the only way to be sure...

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: andyoxon on 18 April, 2012, 03:52:44 pm

Prometheus will probably not live up to hype... hope I'm wrong though.  I thought Alien was more chilling, but Aliens a better all round action film.  3 and 4 a bit meh, but still worth watching.

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: LEE on 19 April, 2012, 04:33:49 pm

Quote from: andyoxon on 18 April, 2012, 03:52:44 pm

Prometheus will probably not live up to hype... hope I'm wrong though.  I thought Alien was more chilling, but Aliens a better all round action film.  3 and 4 a bit meh, but still worth watching.

All 4 available on BluRay as a box set for £17 at Asda.  I feel that constitutes a bargain

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: Steph on 19 April, 2012, 06:20:48 pm

Alien was a haunted house story, Aliens a shoot-em-up adventure. Both superb in their own way. WRT to technology, have a look on the desks when they first get into the control room in Aliens. On one of them is a Tefal deep-fat fryer.

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: andyoxon on 02 May, 2012, 09:58:47 pm

Extended trailer... with some more alien peeks... http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/prometheus_2012/trailers/11164611/

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: LEE on 03 May, 2012, 11:24:56 am

Here is quite a web site

https://www.weylandindustries.com (https://www.weylandindustries.com)

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: Wascally Weasel on 03 May, 2012, 01:12:03 pm

After the last spoilertastic (but lovely) trailer I saw for Prometheus I’m not looking at any more trailers, clips or photographs.

I really like trailers, think they are fun thing to sit through before a film starts but more and more I’m enjoying seeing films having not seen the trailer and knowing as little as possible about them.

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: LEE on 01 June, 2012, 07:58:00 pm

Tickets booked for 15:00 tomorrow.  3D version

Setting my expectation fairly low after some "meh" reviews but still looking forward to it.

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: redshift on 01 June, 2012, 08:59:52 pm

Enjoy.  It's sort of a quite good adventure story.  It's not alien(s).  Don't be scared to laugh when it gets silly.  ;)

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: andygates on 02 June, 2012, 04:36:15 pm

God, that was bad.

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: mattc on 02 June, 2012, 06:11:59 pm

District 9 is free on the telly tomorrow - proper modern sci-fi!

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: Wascally Weasel on 02 June, 2012, 06:20:47 pm

The trailers lied.

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: LEE on 02 June, 2012, 06:52:08 pm

(click to show/hide)

Hmmm.......average. 6/10

My pulse rate never went above 60bpm I reckon.

It looks amazing (but no need for 3D..as usual), fabulous sets and CGI but it's just so......errrrrr..."pedestrian" (That's the best term I can come up with).

If I forget about Alien and Aliens then it's 7/10 but I need to remember that there's been a third of a century to come up with a prequel script.  I'm afraid that the storyline (which was kept such a closely guarded secret) isn't tight enough.  I don't know anything more about the why's and wherefore's...in fact I have more questions now.......cue Prometeus II .....

Set your expectations fairly low and forget Alien/Aliens...you may think it's OK

Having just thought more about this.....

(click to show/hide)

No really, I'm going to discuss the story here....

(click to show/hide)

I'm really disappointed, it's too messy.

There's a snake Alien that goes down the throat of the first guy.  That kills him it seems.  No reproduction.

Then the Android spikes the "hero's" drink and he gets an "eye-worm" but appears to be decomposing to a quick death....no reproduction.  It relies totally on him shagging his girlfriend.

Why did Android spike his drink?  The aim of his boss was to meet the "Engineers" not breed aliens.

Girlfriend gestates an "Octupus Alien" in 24 hours...why an Octopus?

Then Mr "meltyface" shows up and is a mutant strong-man (but again, no reproduction, he's just a sort of angry, mentalist).

Why did "Space jockey" seem so desperate to kill girlfriend?  Why not just fuck off on another of his kind's spaceships?
Why did "Space Jockey" die in the escape ship and not at the controls of his Spaceship? (The scene was set  to recreate the start of "Alien")

Why do women lie about how difficult childbirth is when it's clear you can have a C-Section and then take part in a Heptathlon immediately afterwards?

How come there's a full-on Lumberjack Axe in the escape ship?  Do all Spaceships carry such tree-felling equipment?

Why did she feel the need to grab it?  Last time she saw Octo-baby it was about 2 feet tall.

Too many storylines, too many bit-part characters, too many questions, too many gaps.  No real hero/heroine to engage with.

Why did the "Engineers" want to kill their Human experiment?  We were the same as them...perfect DNA match...but not so tall and we aren't all baldies.

Too many..."Whaddafuck?" moments

5/10 because I was expecting so much more

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: redshift on 02 June, 2012, 07:54:53 pm

That's why I tried not to analyse it too much.  It's just a bit of fun.

(click to show/hide)

The crash is on a different planet, thobut.
You could argue that the 'engineer' at the top of the show drinks the same stuff as Holloway, but the escaped product is somehow 'different.'
Somehow, not being able to have children is really important and makes Shaw cry, but having a squid is just 'a bit weird', and requires little emotional input.
...etc.

But then that would be taking it far too seriously.

Like I said, it's either a think piece about the longterm ramifications of genetic engineering and unintended consequences, or it's a film about tentacles.   ;D

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: LEE on 02 June, 2012, 08:51:14 pm

Quote from: redshift on 02 June, 2012, 07:54:53 pm

That's why I tried not to analyse it too much.  It's just a bit of fun.

(click to show/hide)

The crash is on a different planet, thobut.
You could argue that the 'engineer' at the top of the show drinks the same stuff as Holloway, but the escaped product is somehow 'different.'
Somehow, not being able to have children is really important and makes Shaw cry, but having a squid is just 'a bit weird', and requires little emotional input.
...etc.

But then that would be taking it far too seriously.

Like I said, it's either a think piece about the longterm ramifications of genetic engineering and unintended consequences, or it's a film about tentacles.   ;D

"Just a bit of fun" won't be a valid reason for making this film to many Alien fans I'm afraid.

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: redshift on 02 June, 2012, 09:20:40 pm

Quote from: LEE on 02 June, 2012, 08:51:14 pm

"Just a bit of fun" won't be a valid reason for making this film to many Alien fans I'm afraid.

Valid reasons for making a film include 1. Making money or 2. Making art.  Considering this is Fox (previous oeuvres including but not limited to Lucas and the Star Wars prequels) guess which category this falls into?

Also, based upon the Star Wars prequels, 'what the fans think' isn't a consideration.

I'm starting to think Scott peaked with Blade Runner.  Everything I've seen since then has been fantastically pretty but not necessarily a good film.

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 03 June, 2012, 01:42:21 pm

(click to show/hide)

Yeah. A spoiler

(click to show/hide)

I 'got the plot'. 'Prometheus', the alien at the start, 'gestates' a new race, against the wishes of the other aliens (lets call them Titans).

The Titans regard the new race as an abomination (hence the instant hatred on waking up and finding them).

Desiring to wipe out a planet of abominations, the Titans genetically engineer a biological weapon. However, the someone on delivery ship carrying the weapons fucks up, a weapon gets loose - captain jumps into hibernation.

The plot holes pissed me off. As someone mentioned, the 'mutant' human coming back and attacking the others was just silly. As was the c-section - uber-sophisticated med machine doesn't even operate properly and sew back the abdomen muscles properly.

It was fun, but no horror movie and the science was inconsistent.

Title: Re: Prometheus Trailer
Post by: Arch on 03 June, 2012, 10:44:15 pm

Quote from: Steph on 19 April, 2012, 06:20:48 pm

Alien was a haunted house story, Aliens a shoot-em-up adventure. Both superb in their own way. WRT to technology, have a look on the desks when they first get into the control room in Aliens. On one of them is a Tefal deep-fat fryer.

And when they land on the planet and go to storm into the base, they run past a small yellow vehicle which looks suspiciously like the next generation of the electric truck I drive at work!

We're planning to see Prometheus, I only saw the first films over the last 3 weeks, when MFWHTBAB found out I'd never seen them...

Title: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: Charlotte on 11 June, 2012, 11:21:38 am

I went to see Prometheus on Thursday night.  It's kind of hard to discuss it without letting a massive couple of spoilers out of the bag, so everything else in this post is hidden.

(click to show/hide)

What the fucking fuck was that all about?  No seriously, Ridley - I'd expected so much and apart from some pretty good CGI, you just cocked it up from beginning to end.  I wanted the Alien reboot as much as any other sad, quadrilogy-owning fan but instead of a clever, consistent narrative, you gave us the sort of soft, lame-ass lazy science fiction that made me want to rip my hair out.

Maybe your storyline was sound, I don't know.  Maybe you'd got the science sorted and the studio wonks insisted on rewrite after rewrite until it made about as much sense as sense as the rest of the dross that passes for SF at the cinema these days.

Anything I could say about how badly you stuffed it up has already been written by people cleverer than me, starting with these guys:

http://scienceblogs.com/sciencepunk/2012/06/01/the-science-of-prometheus-a-review-containing-a-lot-of-spoilers/

http://digitaldigging.net/prometheus-an-archaeological-perspective/

My advice to Alien fans?  Buy it second hand on DVD when it hits eBay.  Watch it once and wonder what the hell happened - unless you really like watching the splodypretty on the big screen (or in 3D) it's just not worth a cinema trip.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: Mr Larrington on 11 June, 2012, 12:56:36 pm

This ^^^^.  Saw it yesterday.  Noomi Rapace was pretty good but the film itself was utter bobbins.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: andygates on 11 June, 2012, 01:33:42 pm

Utter bobbins.

Some of the baffling stupidity might be redeemed by a longer cut, and there were moments: "Why did your kind make me?" "Because we could, I guess." "Imagine how disappointed you would be to find that" is awesome and will stick with me, and the autodoc was deliciously grim -- but so recklessly dumb and irrational and silly.  Everything was puppet to the Plot, and the plot was meh and holey.

The Alien universe has always had annoying vagueness about it: is this the only life they've found? We assume not from the Sulacco "another bug hunt" line but nothing sentient, obviously.  What sort of tech are they sporting?  Why do they land on the exact place the plot is waiting?  GAH!

Etc, etc. 

For pretty-but-a-let-down, it may take the crown from Sucker Punch.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: Wascally Weasel on 11 June, 2012, 02:27:21 pm

Yes but in defence of Sucker Punch at least when you are seeing a dragon and a WW2 bomber dogfighting you know that the film isn’t meant to make sense.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: LEE on 11 June, 2012, 04:14:09 pm

Reviewed here also http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=54258.30 (http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=54258.30)

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: redshift on 12 June, 2012, 12:43:51 am

I thought it was going to get ugly when the viral campaign became so self-important.  When the 'hidden websites' thing started, I really knew, and I'd got bored of the campaign by then.

I went to see it and laughed like a drain.  I think I enjoyed the spectacle because I'd already twigged it wasn't going to be the film everyone wanted it to be.  Like I said elsewhere, it was beautifully made, but content-free media is the new cinematic experience.  Welcome to the future.

Avengers was a better movie, and considering the premise of that, that's saying something.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: Wascally Weasel on 12 June, 2012, 08:05:24 am

Prometheus: The Alien franchise jumps the squid.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: Charlotte on 12 June, 2012, 08:09:04 am

I merged the threads - no film this poor deserves two...

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: Kim on 12 June, 2012, 02:55:51 pm

On which note, has anyone seen Sarah Palin vs The Space Nazis yet?

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: andygates on 12 June, 2012, 03:28:30 pm

I think the thing that annoys me most about Prometheus is that it made me stop gushing about how good Avengers was, to gush about how bad it was.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: AndyK on 12 June, 2012, 04:44:04 pm

Iron Sky was better than Prometheus.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: andygates on 12 June, 2012, 10:48:14 pm

Space Jesus and cut scenes.

Why was Engie so grumpy? Why were they so keen to wipe us out? Because the Engies sent Space Jesus and we nailed him to a tree.  No, really. 

(I'd admire the chutzpah of that in a five-page short in F&FS or Astounding, and it's been done and done, but I can see why they cut that. The laughter would have drowned out the tentacle-thrashing)

Why was Guy Pearce in rubbish makeup the old guy?  Original plan was to have Fassbot read his dreams too, with lots of establishing character stuff featuring Young Weyland, but they cut that after signing the contract. 

Neither of which fill me with huggy warm glows, but, you know...

Quote

Questions...

I no have answers. I just do eyes.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: ian on 13 June, 2012, 09:12:23 pm

I quite enjoyed the spectacle (especially in Imax 3D eyepokeyvision) but, yeah, the story. As far as I could tell, basically

(click to show/hide)

some alien bloke got out of the wrong side of his snoozepod and had a big barney about being woken up and there were lots of Habitat vases in his spaceship that appeared to be filled with some kind of psychotic Nutella that made your head explode if you so much as tasted it. Which was probably why he was so angry in the first place.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: LEE on 14 June, 2012, 12:02:06 am

Quote from: andygates on 12 June, 2012, 10:48:14 pm

Space Jesus and cut scenes.

Why was Engie so grumpy? Why were they so keen to wipe us out? Because the Engies sent Space Jesus and we nailed him to a tree.  No, really. 

(I'd admire the chutzpah of that in a five-page short in F&FS or Astounding, and it's been done and done, but I can see why they cut that. The laughter would have drowned out the tentacle-thrashing)

Why was Guy Pearce in rubbish makeup the old guy?  Original plan was to have Fassbot read his dreams too, with lots of establishing character stuff featuring Young Weyland, but they cut that after signing the contract. 

Neither of which fill me with huggy warm glows, but, you know...

Quote

Questions...

I no have answers. I just do eyes.

Aha..THAT was Guy Pierce, I forgot he was in it.  I HATE young people made-up to look old.  It almost never works (it certainly looked ridiculous in this case, nice ass for a 90 year old I thought).  Why not get an old bloke to play an old bloke?

Now I know why Ridley only allowed the principle actors to read the script for an hour before returning it.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: Jakob on 24 June, 2012, 01:16:06 am

Just came back from the cinema and while it was visually stunning, the story was a load of tosh. Plot-holes the size of a galaxy, completely irrational characters, etc. Very disappointed.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: nmcgann on 24 June, 2012, 10:31:26 pm

Just got back from seeing it...

Oh dear. Plot holes you could drive a bus through and annoying (stupid) characters you wanted to punch (repeatedly).

Pretty disappointing all round  :hand:

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: ian on 25 June, 2012, 11:36:46 am

I think something to do with the ten phases of Hollywood scriptwriting:

• They option your story / script/ whatever. You are very happy. Really happy. You are checking flights to LA and entertaining thoughts of hot tubs in the hills.
• Famous directors are reading your script. There's talk of actors. People you have heard of. Oh my.
• They want to do some minor changes. 'Tighten it up,' that kind of thing. Your are cool with that, they know what they are doing. You are a neophyte in the movie world.
• The rewrite (yes, it's now a 'rewrite') is being done by the producer's nephew. OK, he was probably bought up by the movies. It'll be fine.
• It's a bit of hack job. But they at least sent it back to you for an opinion. You do so. The creative process is, after all, iterative.
• Silence. No more further communications on the script. Your agent tells you this normal. Entire teams will be working to turn your script into the director's final vision. However, he's going to have chase the studio, because you haven't been paid.
• They're making the movie. You still haven't been paid.
• Final production. You're almost happy enough to forget you haven't been paid.
• Release date. It's still your baby. Assemble friends and family. First night tickets (paid for yourself).
• Two painfully long hours later, you watch the credits roll like the last rites. They even spelt your name wrong. At least you can pretend that it wasn't you that wrote it.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: Tigerrr on 25 June, 2012, 11:46:45 am

This film suffers from the same problem that underlies so much of american culture. Its the assumption that the look of things, and the pace of it will be enough to satisfy. Its why you get supersized sandwiches that taste of nothing much, why the join between disneyland and real america is so hard to spot, and why american sports have goals every 10 seconds but are completely boring.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: LEE on 25 June, 2012, 01:21:37 pm

Quote from: Tigerrr on 25 June, 2012, 11:46:45 am

and why american sports have goals every 10 seconds but are completely boring.

Except Baseball where nothing happens for hours but is very enjoyable.

I don't think any Hollywood film gets released without substantial "focus group" surveys.  You are trying to make a epic, thought-provoking, film whilst trying to hold the attention of some middle American teenager (with his baseball cap on the wrong way around).

Perhaps this sort of film is best made by the French with a low budget.  Prometheus looked great but I expect everyone who has so far commented on it would trade its $200 million good looks for a truly thought-provoking $20 million storyline.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: Wascally Weasel on 25 June, 2012, 03:06:27 pm

“Sometimes you do your best work with a gun to your head”.

I wonder how much a big budget really helped this story?  One of the many things that has made certain films so successful has been the way that filmmakers have had to work to tell their story within a limited budget, this is what made Alien so damn good in the first place.  It’s the editing in Jaws that makes a lot of the impact for me, which was done in part to distract people from what would otherwise have been an obvious crap fake shark. 

I also think that Ridley Scott has become much too dependent on the post-theatre edit to tell his version of a film.  I think he is right in that people have more time to watch a film at home and are less affected by length but I think that means that he has lost some of the tightness and consistent internal logic of his earlier films, as well as tension and believability.

Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven, of which I am a big fan, was somewhat mangled in its studio release – not just deleted scenes but deleted entire characters, story threads and a completely different emphasis in others - including all of the opening scenes set in France which are markedly different and less clumsily anti-clerical than in the theatrical release.  The motivations of many central characters are completely different and more adult in the extended edition and I think of all of Ridley Scott’s films to date (up until Prometheus) he felt that the studio editing of this film had destroyed its meaning most (he makes quite an impassioned speech for him as an intro to the extended DVD edition decrying the numerous studio forced edits).

Part of the problem of Kingdom of Heaven was that the studio really wanted it to be Gladiator II whereas that wasn’t the film Scott had made at all, although you wouldn’t know it from the trailers.

I do wonder what an extended, more adult Prometheus cut might look like but I guess I would say that I did enjoy the theatre cut of Kingdom of Heaven when I first saw it*, despite thinking it flawed but I didn’t really enjoy Prometheus the first time round, other than enjoying the visuals as many others have said.


*So much so that I ended up at the off-licence in my armour, very drunk and buying more wine.  The Director’s Cut of Robin Hood couldn’t rescue that film, likewise the extended cut of Gladiator was a cynical studio cash in, which just adds in some deleted scenes (and which were scenes that Scott was perfectly ok with losing; he is on record as saying that the original theatre edit of Gladiator is effectively the Director’s cut).

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: Jakob on 25 June, 2012, 08:45:11 pm

Quote from: Tigerrr on 25 June, 2012, 11:46:45 am

Why american sports have goals every 10 seconds but are completely boring.

Basketball aside, which other American sports has goals every 10 seconds?

Football? No. Hockey? No, Baseball? No.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: AndyK on 25 June, 2012, 08:54:51 pm

Quote from: Jakob on 25 June, 2012, 08:45:11 pm

Quote from: Tigerrr on 25 June, 2012, 11:46:45 am

Why american sports have goals every 10 seconds but are completely boring.

Basketball aside, which other American sports has goals every 10 seconds?

FootballRugby in padding? No. Hockey? No, Baseball rounders? No.

FTFY.  ;)

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: andygates on 25 June, 2012, 08:55:22 pm

Quote from: LEE on 25 June, 2012, 01:21:37 pm

Perhaps this sort of film is best made by the French with a low budget.  Prometheus looked great but I expect everyone who has so far commented on it would trade its $200 million good looks for a truly thought-provoking $20 million storyline.

Add some Canadians: for $30m you can get Splice, not perfect but good stuff and Dren rocks. 

Or by the British: Moon is great, and cost £5m.

Or by the Finns and Australians. Iron Sky was utterly dumb and delightful, had a third act that was actually pretty deep, and cost €7.5m. 

There's plenty of good stuff out there not relying on a jillion dollar budget and a script mangled to anodyne blether.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: Jakob on 25 June, 2012, 09:36:42 pm

District 9 cost around $30mil and still got nominated for a VFX oscar...however, it's a rarity.

Prometheus problem was using the scriptwriter from 'Lost'.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: alexb on 26 June, 2012, 09:47:27 am

No-one has suggested that Weyland's "daughter" might have been a robot too...

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: Tigerrr on 26 June, 2012, 07:56:51 pm

Quote from: Jakob on 25 June, 2012, 08:45:11 pm

Quote from: Tigerrr on 25 June, 2012, 11:46:45 am

Why american sports have goals every 10 seconds but are completely boring.

Basketball aside, which other American sports has goals every 10 seconds?

Football? No. Hockey? No, Baseball? No.

Hmm you may be right. I have absolutely no idea what I was trying to say. No idea at all. 

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: Gus on 26 June, 2012, 08:05:38 pm

Quote from: alexb on 26 June, 2012, 09:47:27 am

No-one has suggested that Weyland's "daughter" might have been a robot too...

Didn't the Captain of the Prometheus suggest that ??

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: andygates on 26 June, 2012, 08:42:39 pm

There's another whole interesting story there, that WE'RE NOT BEING TOLD because it's the bloody writer from Lost, and he's a cocktease.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: redshift on 26 June, 2012, 08:59:38 pm

That explains a lot, I thought Lost was laughable tosh as well.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: ian on 26 June, 2012, 09:17:54 pm

Quote from: redshift on 26 June, 2012, 08:59:38 pm

That explains a lot, I thought Lost was laughable tosh as well.

I enjoyed Lost. It was stupid but the writers obviously joyously ran with it. It was almost stream of consciousness. It takes a certain chutzpah to do that.

The best bits of Lost were the breathless deadpan everything-you-need-to-know-in-eight(ish)-minute recaps. They were probably just on the box set (and YouTube now). Google 'em.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: redshift on 26 June, 2012, 10:16:52 pm

Quote from: ian on 26 June, 2012, 09:17:54 pm

The best bits of Lost were the breathless deadpan everything-you-need-to-know-in-eight(ish)-minute recaps. They were probably just on the box set (and YouTube now). Google 'em.

On the whole... er... no.

I work in TV, I have better things to do than go looking for recap clips of something I thought was tosh the first time round.  Knitting string in the presence of cats is one thing I could do that's more entertaining.  I have a few box sets, but they're few and far between.  'Lost' isn't one of them.  I'd rather watch Shogun again, or the whole of B5, Firefly, The Prisoner and BSG back-to-back, than watch the X-piles or Lost.  When 24 became 48 and then 72, I lost the ability to care about Jack Bauer.  Mulder was a tit, and Scully wasn't funny - actually now I think of it, that works both ways round - and lots of people take TV too seriously.  When I saw the first couple of episodes of Lost, I realised how much better it would be if they'd all died openly, right there in the first episode when the plane crashed.  At least I wouldn't have had 6-effing-years of people telling me how profound they thought it was.

It may appear to you that I spend much of my life wandering around in a mix of mildly amused cynicism tempered by anger.  You'd probably be right.  I blame all the crap TV I've had to watch...

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: redshift on 26 June, 2012, 10:18:45 pm

Oh... and just don't get me started on Twin f**king Peaks...

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: nmcgann on 26 June, 2012, 10:19:13 pm

Quote from: Jakob on 25 June, 2012, 09:36:42 pm

District 9 cost around $30mil and still got nominated for a VFX oscar...however, it's a rarity.

Prometheus problem was using the scriptwriter from 'Lost'.

I liked District 9 a lot (I missed it on the big screen, but bought the DVD). It was clever, amusing and thought-provoking.

Pretty much everything Prometheus wasn't  ::-)

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: Kim on 26 June, 2012, 10:30:29 pm

I thought that Lost was either a terrible accident or the work of some sadistic scriptwriting genius.  It managed to simultaneously make no sense and leave you waiting for the next episode, while all the time frustrating you ^{_{TO DETH}}!

The only good thing to come of it was some fan site I was pointed at sometime during the second series, where they somehow managed to tie it all together with a single hard sci-fi plot device.  Needless to say this never happened in canon, just more ludicrous wtfery.

Pah!


Oh, and in this house 24 is known as 16.8, for obvious reasons.  It's frankly hilarious how much it doesn't work when you watch a whole series back-to-back.  After a while you become more interested in hunting down and brutally murdering the Cisco ringtone department and the (just plain wrong) kerning of the clock digits than the plight of Bauer and his incredibly unlucky family.

Babylon 5 was good though.  Mostly.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: Bledlow on 26 June, 2012, 10:52:08 pm

Quote from: AndyK on 25 June, 2012, 08:54:51 pm

Quote from: Jakob on 25 June, 2012, 08:45:11 pm

Quote from: Tigerrr on 25 June, 2012, 11:46:45 am

Why american sports have goals every 10 seconds but are completely boring.

Basketball aside, which other American sports has goals every 10 seconds?

FootballRugby in padding? No. Ice Hockey? No, Baseball rounders? No.

FTFY.  ;)

And the bit you missed.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: AndyK on 27 June, 2012, 08:53:39 am

Quote from: Bledlow on 26 June, 2012, 10:52:08 pm

Quote from: AndyK on 25 June, 2012, 08:54:51 pm

Quote from: Jakob on 25 June, 2012, 08:45:11 pm

Quote from: Tigerrr on 25 June, 2012, 11:46:45 am

Why american sports have goals every 10 seconds but are completely boring.

BasketballNetball aside, which other American sports has goals every 10 seconds?

FootballRugby in padding? No. Ice Hockey? No, Baseball rounders? No.

FTFY.  ;)

And the bit you missed.

And the other bit I missed.  ;)

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: Jakob on 27 June, 2012, 08:41:41 pm

Those jokes are so old and mostly pathetic. Mention any North American sport and they'll come up...

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: AndyK on 27 June, 2012, 08:53:10 pm

Quote from: Jakob on 27 June, 2012, 08:41:41 pm

Those jokes are so old and mostly pathetic. Mention any North American sport and they'll come up...

There are north American sports?

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: andygates on 27 June, 2012, 09:47:25 pm

Shogun and kerning. Me gusta.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: Mr Larrington on 28 June, 2012, 11:47:24 am

Quote from: AndyK on 27 June, 2012, 08:53:10 pm

Quote from: Jakob on 27 June, 2012, 08:41:41 pm

Those jokes are so old and mostly pathetic. Mention any North American sport and they'll come up...

There are north American sports?

Lacrosse?

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: AndyK on 28 June, 2012, 11:54:34 am

Quote from: Mr Larrington on 28 June, 2012, 11:47:24 am

Quote from: AndyK on 27 June, 2012, 08:53:10 pm

Quote from: Jakob on 27 June, 2012, 08:41:41 pm

Those jokes are so old and mostly pathetic. Mention any North American sport and they'll come up...

There are north American sports?

Lacrosse?

Isn't that Irish?

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 28 June, 2012, 12:23:22 pm

Nope, it's as American as you can get.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: andygates on 30 June, 2012, 01:39:28 pm

Quote

Lacrosse, a relatively popular team sport in the Americas, may have developed as early as AD 1100.[1][2] By the seventeenth century it was well-established and had been documented by Jesuit priests, although the game has undergone many modifications since that time. In the traditional Native Canadian version, each team consisted of about 100 to 1,000 men on a field that stretched from about 500 meters to 3 kilometers long

And I always thought it was French Shinty.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: LEE on 30 June, 2012, 08:31:33 pm

Is there a "Sidetracked Thread of the Day" award?

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: TimO on 20 October, 2012, 01:05:40 pm

A bit late to watching the film, but I just got it on Bluray (well last week, but was too busy at work to watch it).

The film is certainly impressively shot (or cgi-ed as the case clearly often is).  Inevitably as in many of these films, you wonder why people are quite so lackadaisical in their approach to things on a totally alien planet.  The technology that they have, seems more consistently plausible in the context of our current technological level, compared to the way that the original Alien films now look.  The storyline also clearly leaves the room for a sequel, although it can stand alone by itself.  I think the film isn't half bad.  Maybe not quite as impressively original as Alien was, but still pretty good.  There are a handful of bits which are predictable, but to my mind it's not as bad as some critics seemed to imply.

I need to acquire myself a 3D TV, so I can watch it with the full image glory, but the surround sound isn't half bad.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: LEE on 20 October, 2012, 07:53:33 pm

My only real problem with the film (I also got the BluRay disc) is the complete lack of excitement/tension.

Even though I've seen Ripley looking for Jones the Cat a hundred times, it's still more tense than any part of Prometheus.

It's certainly a good one to own if you have BluRay and a big crisp LED-lit TV though.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: TimO on 20 October, 2012, 10:08:34 pm

True, it doesn't have that sitting on the edge, waiting for the beasty to jump out bit, but that's been done with the first Alien film (and to a degree with the later ones).  If you tried to do that again, you would just be validly accused of repetition.  It's hard to see how to do that, which hasn't been done better a dozen times since (in a variety of monster and horror films).  There's little you can do with that now, which isn't horribly unoriginal.

I think with this film they tried to have slightly more plot than just a nasty beasty out to eat the characters (which is largely what Alien is).  It was original insofar as the beasty was particularly nasty and efficient, and was set in space, which hadn't been done as well at that time.

Should they make a sequel, there's more room for the storyline, although it would risk being a bit predictable, so they possibly have to try and go off at a tangent from the way we may think that they would go, insofar as whether the Engineers still exist, and what their current intentions are towards the Earth (regardless of the opinions of the chap in this film, who may have been a bit behind the times).  I'd be interested to see where they go with it, although it could be a bit of a let down, if they got it wrong.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: ian on 22 October, 2012, 10:54:03 am

I saw it again recently and was forced to revise my opinion. Projected from a seatback and thus robbed of the IMAX visual spectacle, it was utter shit.

Firstly, all the characters were dumb. It was like they'd Fedexed a industrial-sized package of stupid to the other side of the galaxy to see what happened. If I were an alien and that bunch woke me up, I'd punch the fuckers too.

Dumb and unsympathetic, to boot. I didn't care. Nothing they did seemed to make any sense, least of all considering these were the elite chosen for mankind's first encounter with alien technology. I wouldn't have sent them to Lidl. The only two characters that were vaguely interesting were robots (well, one was, I assume we're supposed to think the other one might be). That probably says something about the characterisation and scripting.

OK, they might plug the yawning intergalactic voids in the plot with a sequel or three, but that's just lazy writing and plotting. You can make a tight, coherent film and still leave people guessing and aching for a sequel.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: andyoxon on 22 October, 2012, 12:13:52 pm

I watched the DVD, and would probably give about 65%.  There always has to be an element of 'let's go down into the dark basement to see what that noise was...".  Though I have to say the two scientists going 'coochy coo, here boy' to the alien egglayer snake thing rearing up at them was a bit lame...

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: LEE on 13 December, 2012, 10:08:27 am

A great "review" of Prometheus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=-x1YuvUQFJ0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=-x1YuvUQFJ0)

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: Steph on 14 December, 2012, 04:41:53 am

What Ian said. I have a tendency with many usanian films to find myself shouting "Why are you being so STUPID?"

That didn't happen with 'Alien'. In 'Aliens' the soldiers' cockiness and resulting debacle were realistic, and their recovery/rebound plausible. In 'Prometheus', as Ian says, the chosen elite of the planet were stupider than an old Dr Who assistant.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: ian on 14 December, 2012, 03:11:43 pm

Oh I like stupid. I get so angry at the Oscars when Jason Statham doesn't win anything that I invent my own martial art and start chasing people. I think watching movies with subtitles make you like lapsung souchong tea and mustard-coloured clothing and opens the doorway to many other aberrant behaviours. They could have stopped making movies after Under Siege and Die Hard 2 – realistically, that was the top of the range, there's no room to do better. I've watched every episode of Lost in the full knowledge that they were never ever going to clean up that much batshit and quite enjoyed it.

I'm surprised that people are being so charitable about Prometheus. It really is astoundingly bad. And not in a good way. I mean seriously, Ridley Scott probably could have built a small mountain out of the cash on offer for this project. Did he spend it all and then realise he'd forgotten that he'd need to pay for a story and script? Shit, I'd like to claim I could do a better job, but frankly so could either of my cats.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 14 December, 2012, 03:18:39 pm

I was so disappointed with prometheous I went home, made a voodoo doll of Ridley Scott and burnt it with acid.

However, it has a fairly good story in there.

What is so outstandingly amazing is that the good story is totally and utterly ruined by the most incredibly bad scenes. The acting isn't bad. The scenery is good. But individual scenes are like the bad episodes of Red Dwarf, without any humour.

Seriously, Rimmer could have done a better job of 'captaining' that lot and Kyten stood in for the android.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: Jakob on 15 December, 2012, 01:45:33 am

Quote from: Steph on 14 December, 2012, 04:41:53 am

What Ian said. I have a tendency with many usanian films to find myself shouting "Why are you being so STUPID?"

Ridley Scott is now British? And it's produced by Scott Free Productions...

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: Steph on 15 December, 2012, 07:25:54 pm

I was talking generally about usanian films and how they make me feel, and then extending that to Prometheus.

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: Jakob on 16 December, 2012, 08:28:56 am

Right.....

Title: Re: Prometheus - spoiler warnings within
Post by: ian on 16 December, 2012, 06:12:22 pm

Whereas I was saying that I like American films, but Prometheus was shit. In fact a lot of reviewer wordage could have saved with that simple word. Shit. Four letters that say all you need to know. A crashed spaceship full of evil arse Nutella indeed.