Prometheus, Dog or Not?

[kawaiku]

I'm excited, I'm hoping this turns out like a solid S.F. movie.

 

['Ol Fezziwig]

Re: Alien Prequel Killed by Prometheus

My 17 yr old daughter was a bit disappointed in the film, mostly because she expected it to cleave tightly to the Alien franchise; too, there's one gaping hole "he had five minutes of film to work with that he screwed up...royally" my budding film criticess declared. As a film on its own merits, I liked it and, hey, Charlize Theron in a unisuit, a tight unisuit, ...well, can't go wrong there.

 

[Scott Tortorice]

Re: Alien Prequel Killed by Prometheus

My 17 yr old daughter was a bit disappointed in the film, mostly because she expected it to cleave tightly to the Alien franchise; too, there's one gaping hole "he had five minutes of film to work with that he screwed up...royally" my budding film criticess declared. As a film on its own merits, I liked it and, hey, Charlize Theron in a unisuit, a tight unisuit, ...well, can't go wrong there.

I am starting to read reviews that agree with your daughter's opinion. From Human Events:

Movie review: “Prometheus”

Expectations were very high for this movie. It’s terribly sad that it couldn’t meet them. And if you were worried that the trailers already gave away most of the plot, you’re entirely correct. Prometheus is a beautiful film, containing very little of the unexpected, but an overdose of the inexplicable.

I think the reviewer might have hit on something here:

Prometheus is full of lost opportunities like that. It feels as if Scott really didn’t want this to become a horror film, but the studio insisted, and his heart just wasn’t in the final reel. Alien can still keep you up all night, thirty years later. Prometheus is not even slightly scary, in large measure because the faceless crew of idiots generates no attachment with the audience.

But I think he might have it reversed. I suspect in this age of PG-13 goldmines, the studio didn't want a "R" rated horror film, but Ridley Scott insisted. So, in the end, they split the difference and produced a muddled story that isn't sure what it wants to be.

According to another post I read, there were a lot of creepy/moody scenes cut from the film - over an hours worth, based on the official Prometheus art book. Why do I suspect we can expect an "unrated" director's cut that is going to be coming out in about a year?

 

[Scott Tortorice]

Re: Alien Prequel Killed by Prometheus

Yup...the Mountains of Madness link is confirmed:

'Prometheus' vs. 'At the Mountains of Madness': How Ridley Scott's 'Alien' prequel killed Guillermo del Toro's dream project

 

[Nexus6]

Re: Alien Prequel Killed by Prometheus

I must admit that I was a bit disheartened by all the negative reviews of Prometheus I read on Metacritic. It seemed that for every person saying it was great someone else was saying it was dreadful. Of course I'm still going to see it this Thursday though. As I recall when Kubrick's seminal Space Odyssey came out people either loved it or hated it, so we'll see I guess. I would say that I really like Michael Fassbinder. He was another one of the great cast members in the fabulous Band of Brothers miniseries.

Speaking of Space Odyssey, Roger Ebert was comparing Prometheus to that great film. I would say though that although I really like Ridley Scott, he's no Kubrick. All of Kubrick's films were great (yes, I even liked Eyes Wide Shut. With Scott I loved Blade Runner and Alien (of course), and also The Duelists, Gladiator, 1492, and Thelma and Louise. Scott has had a couple of dogs though like Robin Hood and Hannibal, and a few 'mehs' like American Gangster, Body of Lies, Legend, and Black Hawk Down. I also mostly liked his Kingdom of Heaven film about the Crusades, but felt it really didn't give a balanced view of Christianity and Islam. But I digress.

Concerning HP Lovecraft, I recently saw The Call of Cthulhu and thought it was great. Although on a shoestring budget, it was done in the format of an old silent film, and you could tell that the production team really loves Lovecraft.

 

[Blackcloud6]

Re: Alien Prequel Killed by Prometheus

I just got back from seeing Prometheus. I liked it very much.

 

[Nexus6]

Re: Alien Prequel Killed by Prometheus

Just saw Prometheus in 3D and without doing a full-blown review which is my wont, I would say overall I give it a guarded B+. Loved the first half hour with all the nods to Stanley Kubrick, and the final half hour was really good bordering on great. Alas, the middle hour was kind of a mess. Also, I loved lead Nooma Rapace, but felt Oscar winner Charlize Theron was given short shrift. Anyway, it's my hope that the director's cut will restore a lot of footage and give the middle section a bit more coherence. Still in all I stayed glued to my seat the entire time, at the end I left the theater with mostly good feelings, and I definitely want to see the director's cut DVD when it comes out. Come to think of it, the 'Alien' does owe more than a passing nod to HP Lovecraft's Cthulu beast.

 

[Scott Tortorice]

Re: Alien Prequel Killed by Prometheus

Thanks for the reviews, guys!

After trolling the internet, the consensus seems to be similar to what you two wrote: Prometheus is a very good (i.e., B+) bit of sci-fi that missed an opportunity to be great by falling back too much on the Alien movie. Is that a fair summation?

I won't be seeing it until it comes out on DVD in November (yes...the studio already posted some pre-order info on Facebook ), so I'll have to wait to form an opinion until then. I also hope I have a chance to buy a "Director's Cut" because according to some people who are familiar with the script and/or purchased the art book, more than a little seems to have been cut out of the film (from what I gathered, moody exploration scenes).

 

[Nexus6]

Re: Alien Prequel Killed by Prometheus

Thanks for the reviews, guys!
Prometheus is a very good (i.e., B+) bit of sci-fi that missed an opportunity to be great by falling back too much on the Alien movie. Is that a fair summation?

I don't think nods to Scott's original Alien were necessarily a bad thing. I think everyone expected it. IMHO the problem was that they rushed a lot of them in during the final 30 minutes. This made things a bit chaotic and disjointed, though it certainly was a wild ride. And you haven't lived until you've seen the C-Section scene!

Something else I would add was that in the original movie the cast was fantastic and you got to know each one intimately. In Prometheus with the exception of the lead Nooma Rapace, everyone else was pretty much cardboard. Again though, maybe we'll get more character development in the Director's Cut. On a related note, Idris Alba as the captain was more likable than believable, though his place in Valhalla is definitely assured.

Also, though seeing it in 3D was cool, I actually thought that Avatar made better use of 3D. Having said that, you are probably safe in waiting for the disks. You are correct though in that Prometheus was a very good movie that just missed being a great one.

 

['Ol Fezziwig]

Re: Alien Prequel Killed by Prometheus

...According to another post I read, there were a lot of creepy/moody scenes cut from the film - over an hours worth, based on the official Prometheus art book. Why do I suspect we can expect an "unrated" director's cut that is going to be coming out in about a year?

Something I suspect as well..my daughter hopes so in the desire for clarity and continuity...


Speaking of Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness, the inspiration of that novel was clearly Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, another stark Antarctic horror mystery...both worth the read.

 

[Manilianus]

Re: Alien Prequel Killed by Prometheus

Something I suspect as well..my daughter hopes so in the desire for clarity and continuity...


Speaking of Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness, the inspiration of that novel was clearly Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, another stark Antarctic horror mystery...both worth the read.

Agree. Same goes with HPL's "Dreams in a Witch House", which draws influence from Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment", both worth read also.

 

[kawaiku]

Re: Alien Prequel Killed by Prometheus

Just saw Prometheus in 3D and without doing a full-blown review which is my wont, I would say overall I give it a guarded B+. Loved the first half hour with all the nods to Stanley Kubrick, and the final half hour was really good bordering on great. Alas, the middle hour was kind of a mess. Also, I loved lead Nooma Rapace, but felt Oscar winner Charlize Theron was given short shrift. Anyway, it's my hope that the director's cut will restore a lot of footage and give the middle section a bit more coherence. Still in all I stayed glued to my seat the entire time, at the end I left the theater with mostly good feelings, and I definitely want to see the director's cut DVD when it comes out. Come to think of it, the 'Alien' does owe more than a passing nod to HP Lovecraft's Cthulu beast...... I don't think nods to Scott's original Alien were necessarily a bad thing. I think everyone expected it. IMHO the problem was that they rushed a lot of them in during the final 30 minutes. This made things a bit chaotic and disjointed, though it certainly was a wild ride. And you haven't lived until you've seen the C-Section scene!

Something else I would add was that in the original movie the cast was fantastic and you got to know each one intimately. In Prometheus with the exception of the lead Nooma Rapace, everyone else was pretty much cardboard. Again though, maybe we'll get more character development in the Director's Cut. On a related note, Idris Alba as the captain was more likable than believable, though his place in Valhalla is definitely assured.

Also, though seeing it in 3D was cool, I actually thought that Avatar made better use of 3D. Having said that, you are probably safe in waiting for the disks. You are correct though in that Prometheus was a very good movie that just missed being a great one.

I agree with you throughout! That's pretty much my feelings after seeing the movie, and like you, expect a lot to be further explained in the director's cut. I also think you wasted your time seeing it in 3D. Avatar was geared for 3D effects and made them all in spades. Most movies nowadays just slap it on imho. I saw it in 2D and it was perfect. I also agree about Nooma, she was fantastic and has been overlooked in the promotion due to Charlize Theron being apart of the cast which was kinda silly imho.

And the c-section... :kotz: (although this was probably crazy in 3D huh?) Also loved the captain as well and Michael Fassbender as David was also very well done.

 

[regularjoe]

Prometheus - dog or not dog? Are the engineers that you see for most of the movie really engineers or slaves/drones/clones? I was expecting something (quality-wise) a lot closer to the Alien vs. Predator franchise and instead got something that was a bit more in the direction of Terrance Malnick's "Tree of Life" (and that's a very good thing).

 

[Roy]

Prometheus - dog or not dog? Are the engineers that you see for most of the movie really engineers or slaves/drones/clones? I was expecting something (quality-wise) a lot closer to the Alien vs. Predator franchise and instead got something that was a bit more in the direction of Terrance Malnick's "Tree of Life" (and that's a very good thing).

I liked Prometheus. Having said that, I think there are some things that were simply added to help explain what was going on that didn't make sense. I also think it was billed by fans as an Alien Prequel, so a lot of fans were disappointed because although it was aprequel to a point, people were expecting "Alien" and didn't get it.

One review I read by a critic in the paper, the guy was disappointed because the movie didn't have the claustrophobic feel of the Alien movies. Silly if you ask me, it's a different movie.

 

[regularjoe]

This website has a forum with some really interesting theories about the movie.
I read a lot of "meh" reviews of it before seeing it - I'm a fan of the franchise so I was going to see it regardless - but I think that the critics were a bit harsh on it. Essentially franchise movies are fanfiction, some of it is really good and some of it is dreck. There's the initial product which often towers over all the rest and if you're really lucky you get some inspired fanfiction when you see a sequal.


There's one part that doesn't add up for me which is the engineers' head that they take back to the ship to study.
The first trailer that I watched with glimpses of the engineers I thought, cool, the engineers look like extradimensional beings, that's really HP Lovecraft.

When I saw the movie quite honestly I watched that scene from that point of view and when they took the head back to the ship it makes sense, this thing just got decapitated and there's still something going on, reflex actions or something. I figured that the other engineers lopped off the head of one of their own as a trap, knowing that the folks would take it back to their ship and that it would infect them. I wondered why they were interacting obliviously around David and I thought, well, he's a machine so maybe if they are semi-manifested in our dimension then things like a robot don't appear to them unless they pay attention. Later I realized that what you're seeing is David watching a video that he figured out how to play of what happened on that ship years ago and the whole head scene falls apart (bad joke) for me because it's like this head has been there for a very looooong time and you have soft tissue?

 

[Michael R]

Enjoyed the movie, but two writing choices bothered me. First, the whole bit with the engineer head. It should have been rotted to bone. As well, if scientists are going to tinker with something like that, they will do it in an enclosure, not out in the open. The second thing that bothered me was when the guy in the egg cave starts making baby talk with the hatched alien. Never would have happened. This guy was a bit chicken to begin with. He would NOT have been poking around in there and he would have left, running away, when something hatched.

 

[Ray Woloszyn]

I liked it. Good cinematography. Need to read those comments on the website. Perhaps they might help me make more sense of the movie. There are holes. Afraid as they were of contamination they seemed to play fast and loose with alien tissue and life forms.

 

[Redwolf]

Really not sure. Too many things not making sense. Too many "incompatibilities" with the Alien series that I don't see a reason for. It really looks like it went through a lot of changes in the middle of making it.

 

[regularjoe]

I didn't see a lot of inconsistencies myself, I just took it for what it is - maybe or maybe not a direct Alien prequel separated in line by two more. There may be exposition involved here that makes more sense when the other two come out. The website I linked in my original post has a lot of comments and threads by people that certainly have me thinking that there is a lot more going on than what is seen at face value.

I read a lot of reviews that were not kind to the movie and I expected to be underwhelmed. I enjoyed it a lot and look forward to some obsessive rewatchings of it when the dvd lands.

 

['Ol Fezziwig]

Prometheus morphed from an Alien prequel into a launch vehicle for an entirely new <planned> series; going into the movie expecting it to be another Alien entry is a recipe for disappointment. On its own merits, it's good entertainment, but when meshing with the Alien backstory it has some pretty sizable and obvious holes...holes that are rumored to be tightened up by plenty of unreleased footage (Director's Cut, anyone?).