Prometheus, Dog or Not?

[Nexus6]

I definitely need to see this one again. Hopefully a director's cut will clean up some of the plot issues in the middle of the movie. As I recall when I saw it in the theater it left me with a mostly good feeling. Still in all I think Ridley Scott had his golden age way back in the late 70's and early 80's with Alien and Blade Runner. I do admit though that like everyone else I did like Gladiator, and also kind of liked Kingdom of Heaven in spite of its mildly pro-Muslim stance. He did do some dogs though like Hannibal (Lector) and the dreadful Robin Hood film, and I also thought that Black Hawk Down should have been better than it was. It was too long.

 

[Dr Zaius]

The movie was watchable, but overall it was a massive disappointment.

 

[Nexus6]

The movie was watchable, but overall it was a massive disappointment.

Although I think you're maybe being a bit hard on Prometheus, my main concern is that since it was an OK movie rather than a great one, it may not bode well for his proposed Blade Runner sequel. Again, I think Sir Ridley is not nearly as good as he once was. Not only is he getting very old, but he's been under the thumb of the New World Order (read 'Illuminati' for years.

 

[Dr Zaius]

Although I think you're maybe being a bit hard on Prometheus, my main concern is that since it was an OK movie rather than a great one, it may not bode well for his proposed Blade Runner sequel. Again, I think Sir Ridley is not nearly as good as he once was. Not only is he getting very old, but he's been under the thumb of the New World Order (read 'Illuminati' for years.

Posted my reply on the blog.

 

[prymus]

Thanks for the blog post Don, interesting read.

 

[prymus]

Ok, so I watched this flik the other day. Interesting, fun, enjoyable, are my basic thoughts, but... It feels like there was another 45 minutes that should have been there but weren't. There seemed to be a lack of real depth, and story lines that could have been developed further. Maybe I missed it, but what was the robot smiling at/for when he put his head next to the sleep/cryo chamber of the Alien dude? I ended up watching it two more times trying to pick up things that I may have missed with one watching. Final verdict, I enjoyed it, it left me kind of wanting more, and in my opinion it set itself perfectly for exploration of the chick and the robot heading out to find the alien planet to look for answers. But then again, what kind of movie would that be? Not sure it would be very intersting.

 

[Nexus6]

Ok, so I watched this flik the other day. Interesting, fun, enjoyable, are my basic thoughts, but... It feels like there was another 45 minutes that should have been there but weren't. There seemed to be a lack of real depth, and story lines that could have been developed further. Maybe I missed it, but what was the robot smiling at/for when he put his head next to the sleep/cryo chamber of the Alien dude? I ended up watching it two more times trying to pick up things that I may have missed with one watching. Final verdict, I enjoyed it, it left me kind of wanting more, and in my opinion it set itself perfectly for exploration of the chick and the robot heading out to find the alien planet to look for answers. But then again, what kind of movie would that be? Not sure it would be very intersting.

You nailed it Prymus. My thoughts exactly. I felt like huge chunks were taken out of the middle of the film making it rather confused and chaotic at times. Also, although I was not unhappy with the ending, it didn't leave me feeling that there would be a compelling sequel as you so succinctly noted. Your final verdict was mine exactly. That is, I left the theater with a mostly pleasant feeling, but also with the nagging ambiguous feeling that the film was something of a missed opportunity. I would also add that as Don said, the supporting cast was mostly cardboard. The talents of Academy Award winner Charlize Theron, especially, were totally wasted. At the end of the day not a bad film, but not a great one either.

BTW, I may go to see Skyfall and will certainly check out the Hobbit next month. I would add though that I think I'm going to walk in to the Hobbit 'loaded for bear', so to speak. That is, I'm expecting more bloated pretension from the master of bloated pretension Peter Jackson. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[Scott Tortorice]

The movie was watchable, but overall it was a massive disappointment.

You nailed it, Don. Saw it last night and I was massively disappointed, too. It almost came across as a repudiation of everything that made the original Alien great. As an Alien tie-in...it didn't. As a Mountains of Madness tribute...it wasn't. At best, Prometheus came across as a grade "B" horror story set in space, lacking any of the gritty 'realism' of the original (the characters were Hollywood perfect, and the Prometheus was far too clean and roomy). As you also mentioned, even the plot was incoherent at times and lacked any sort of continuity.

The only good thing I can say about this movie is that the final FX-laden scene (with the crashing spaceship) was pretty darn impressive. So technical points there.

But as a science fiction movie, Prometheus was, again, little more than a repudiation of everything that made Alien so special.

Sigh...I don't think there remains any hope for the future of cinematic science fiction.

 

[Nexus6]

I begin to think that threads like this are pretty pointless. I mean, some are going to like it, some are going to hate it, and some can take it or leave it. Like all art, it's totally subjective and in the eye of the beholder. Just saying.

BTW, I say half-joking and half-seriously that Amazon and Netflix are to blame for everyone being an amateur critic these days. lol

 

[Nexus6]

Sigh...I don't think there remains any hope for the future of cinematic science fiction.

I have to add though that I agree completely with you on this. With hacks like JJ Abrams being proclaimed as the darling of the current batch of scifi cinema director/writers, the future of scifi cinema seems very bleak indeed.

Speaking of JJ, Lost was awful. It was all mystery and intrigue and no payoff. His Fringe was even worse. It was a a total ripoff of the X-Files with cardboard characters no where near as interesting as Mulder and Scully. And don't get me started on the miscarriage that was his Star Trek film.

 

[prymus]

the Prometheus was far too clean and roomy.

Great point. I think this went a long way in destroying the atmosphere and tension that you had in watching a movie like Alien. The sometime claustrophobic feel of Alien and the sense that there was nowhere to escape to heightened the tension and feeling of no hope the movie lends . I'm a fairly simple man and don't look for a whole lot more than entertainment from a film. But the more immersive/believable it is the more I find entertainment. I never really got immersed in Prometheus, it never made me feel a part of it, which I also think is the fault of the characters. None of them were believable, none of them made me care what happened to them. And while Charlize was hot in that suit, what was the purpose of it. It seemingly had no function other than to accentuate her figure(yeah I know, AND...) But it was just another one of those small things that pevented me from becoming immersed in the flick.
I can see things that could have made the movie outstanding, but were just given cursive treatments. Glad I didn't pay full theater ticket cost to see this. Hard to beat a $4.99 movie. But still kind of glad I saw it.

 

[Dr Zaius]

I'm very disappointed in Ridley Scott over Prometheus. Ridley was the one guy who had a proven track record on such films and a director who is unafraid to break convention and make great films instead of films that just look great.

But he has apparently been seduced by the allure of flash over substance and glamor over grit. What a missed opportunity.

 

[prymus]

Yep, I too think it was a film that had so much potential, but didn't take advantage of what could have been. Too Bad really.

 

[Scott Tortorice]

I'm one of those who thought Prometheus was a MASSIVE disappointment and the end of Ridley Scott's career as a serious sci-fi director. And here is a good summation why:

[video=youtube_share;-BWnTW4rL0U]http://youtu.be/-BWnTW4rL0U[/video]

 

[Scott Tortorice]

This is even better than the previous vid! :laugh:

[video=youtube;RBaKqOMGPWc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBaKqOMGPWc&feature=share&list=UUOpcACMWbl Dls9Z6GERVi1A[/video]

"God, please just stay away from Blade Runner." :laugh:

Seems like a lot of people hate this movie as much as I do!

 

[sarfs]

This is even better than the previous vid! :laugh:

[video=youtube;RBaKqOMGPWc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBaKqOMGPWc&feature=share&list=UUOpcACMWbl Dls9Z6GERVi1A[/video]

"God, please just stay away from Blade Runner." :laugh:

Seems like a lot of people hate this movie as much as I do!

The CGI dept. didn't bother to change anyone's heart rate. Good catch!

 

[Nexus6]

Re: Alien Prequel Killed by Prometheus

So everyone hates Prometheus, no big surprise there. To be fair Scott, however, you were also critical of the wildly popular Game of Thrones.

The movie trailer spoof was hilarious though. As they so succinctly noted, there was something terribly wrong when you had a trillion dollar space mission with the most dysfunctional crew this side of McHales Navy! lol

But seriously, I agree that Ridley has gotten really old and should be thinking seriously of retirement. His early work way back in the 80's was his best. He reminds me of these aging rock stars who should have called it a day, and by hanging around they do nothing but sully their formally good reputation. "No one is as good as they once were."

 

[Scott Tortorice]

Re: Alien Prequel Killed by Prometheus

So everyone hates Prometheus, no big surprise there. To be fair Scott, however, you were also critical of the wildly popular Game of Thrones.

"Were"? Am!

The movie trailer spoof was hilarious though. As they so succinctly noted, there was something terribly wrong when you had a trillion dollar space mission with the most dysfunctional crew this side of McHales Navy! lol

McHale's navy! It's true! :laugh:

I really don't understand how a script with soooo many holes and non sequiturs in it makes it through to production. Isn't there anyone in Hollywood who can say "wait a minute, this doesn't make sense. It's not believable." I think Hollywood really believes we are a bunch of drooling idiots.

And I just know that they are going to do to Prometheus 2 what Matrix: Revolutions did to Matrix: Revelations - they are going to try and patch up all the holes with forced plot points that, in the end, will just muddy the waters even more. You reach a point where the damage is just not fixable anymore. Prometheus has reached - and crossed - that point.

But seriously, I agree that Ridley has gotten really old and should be thinking seriously of retirement. His early work way back in the 80's was his best. He reminds me of these aging rock stars who should have called it a day, and by hanging around they do nothing but sully their formally good reputation. "No one is as good as they once were."

Spot on. Lucas, Cameron, Scott - they are all has-beens at this point.

 

[Scott Tortorice]

"So everyone hates Prometheus, no big surprise there."

I didnt hate it. It is merely another reference to the Aliens saga. Plus I enjoyed watching Shaw operate the surgical unit & the fight with the groping monster at the end. Plus I saw it for freeeee!

The groping monster...I think I met that guy on the subway once.

 

[Dr Zaius]

Re: Alien Prequel Killed by Prometheus

It isn't that I hated it, because it did manage to hold my interest and looked very, very good at times. It's that after I saw it, my first instinct was to kick Ridley Scott's ass for wasting such an incredible opportunity.

If he can somehow redeem this with a sequel that is as entertaining and fun as the original Alien, then I'll be genuinely impressed. But I'm no longer sure Ridley Scott has the creative energy left to pull that off. What a shame.