Prometheus

[MinisterofDOOM]

HELL YES. (Also: no spoilers here. Don't worry.)

Trailer because I can.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sftuxbvGwiU[/youtube]

I am a GIGANTIC, SPECTACULAR fan of the original Alien. I consider it to be the best movie ever made. It's fantastic. Exceptional on so many levels.

I'm also a huge fan of Ridley Scott. His track record is not perfect (Kindgdom of Heaven and Robin Hood) but he's got a unique vision and a talent for making the outrageous feel tangible.

So I've spent the last decade-ish looking forward to what was has gone from vague rumor of a new Alien film in the vein of the original to a spinoff-prequel with its own direction. I've had high expectations...my favorite movie from my favorite director has a new baby. When I saw the first trailer I nearly jumped out of my seat with glee.

The movie was very, very, VERY good.

It felt very much like Alien, but wasn't trapped in the mold. Everything had echoes of the look and feel and sound and spirit of Alien...but none of it was content to remain the same. The design of Prometheus is recognizable to those familiar with the Nostromo (of which I have a miniature version sitting on my desk...alongside a tiny alien). The panelling in the halls. The mess hall. The cockpit. The naval-feeling bulkheads in the passageways. The design is all more contemporary (holograms and touch screens and HUDS and transparent monitor in front of vast windows) but you don't get the same problems Star Trek ran into where reality outran the fictional future. Nostromo is an industrial transport vessel: heavy duty and grungy. Touch screens have no place there; only beefy keyboards suited to gloved hands and dusty conditions. Nostromo's a Peterbilt. Prometheus is an JXL Supersport.

I liked that it still felt claustrophobic and lonely despite having a vaster setting and larger cast. This is no Aliens...it's not an action film. It's "unseen menace" like the original.

My only complaint with the movie is some of the special effects. A few monster effects were a bit cheesey (there's a particular one during "the surgery scene" that's rather generic in design in addition to being Jaws-shark fake looking). And there are a couple of instances of CGI that felt so far below par that I'm fairly sure they were done by a separate studio than the rest of the film's effects.

The big thing everyone's talking about is Michael Fassbender as the new android. He is pretty damn good. A few reviews are comparing him to Rutger Hauer in Bladerunner, which is spectacular praise. (Bit of trivia...there are some subtle tie ins in the marketing for Prometheus that suggest Hauer's Nexus 6 is a predecessor to Fassbender's David 8...which is in turn a predecessor to Ian Holm's Ash...possibly tying Blade Runner into the Alien universe as well).

The rest of the cast is pretty good, too. Guy Pearce's role is well done. The right kind of "just barely insane" for the CEO of an ultra-wealthy corporation.

My favorite part of the whole deal, though, is that Prometheus gives a big fat middle finger to the rotting, fetid abomination that is AvP. I've always hated Alien vs. Predator. The comics were stupid fanservice and the "lore" they created for the Aliens is insulting to the Alien universe. Predator was a goofy (and fun) action movie. Alien (the movie and the creature) was a work of art. AvP can suck my xenomoph. The Alien universe stands on its own.

I've seen a lot of complaining online that Prometheus doesn't answer enough questions from Alien and instead goes off on its own tangent. I don't think it's anything to complain about at all. Anyone who paid attention to Alien will get plenty of answers here. But there's now a lot more to the universe than just xenomorphs...and it's not a bad thing at all.

Also: I was right about the Space Jockey. I always said that's what it was. When I was a little kid, I argued with my friends about it. I was right.

OH!
The other disappointment:
No eerie out-of-key fade out to the 20th Century Fox theme as in Alien 3.

[themadscientist]

Just heard about this yesterday. Stoked? I pulled out midstroke and said "not now woman, I have to mark my calendar!"


When this hits the theater I will be front row center with an IV of Monster and a pair of Depends on so I don't have to get up during the movie.

[Razi]

Saw it last night.
Great movie!

Fassbender was excellent.

[krash]

MOD making a thread, ranting about something he likes? Has hell frozen over?

I intend to see this movie, looked pretty good from the trailers

[themadscientist]

I have to wait until AUGUST! WTF JAPAN?!!

[MinisterofDOOM]

That friggin' sucks.

MOD making a thread, ranting about something he likes? Has hell frozen over?

There's a few things I like. At least 4.

[krash]

hahahahaha

[Rev_D21]

Now I can't wait to see this. Alien has to be one of the best out there and I sure am a fan.

[Dattebayo]

I've been holding out for a good superfan's review, now I go tonight.

Thanks!

[szh]

He is pretty damn good. A few reviews are comparing him to Rutger Hauer in Bladerunner, which is spectacular praise.

High praise! In that case, I think Prometheus will be on my must-see list this summer.

My 14 year old son and a bunch of friends went to see MIB 3 yesterday evening - I tagged along to make sure that 15 middle-schoolers stayed out of trouble. Fun movie, but not in the same league as Prometheus ... we saw the trailer for it, and it looked pretty darn good!

BTW, I consider Bladerunner to be one of the finest movies ever made. And Hauer made it even better - he was the best actor in that movie for sure, and made Harrison Ford do an excellent job too!

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the ..." is easily one of the finest scenes in moviedom. Apparently, Hauer saw the original words of that screen-play words and modified them himself ... made it awesome.

Z

[audtatious]

Weird...on another forum they were all complaining that the movie sux even with the great effects.

[MinisterofDOOM]

BTW, I consider Bladerunner to be one of the finest movies ever made. And Hauer made it even better - he was the best actor in that movie for sure, and made Harrison Ford do an excellent job too!

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the ..." is easily one of the finest scenes in moviedom. Apparently, Hauer saw the original words of that screen-play words and modified them himself ... made it awesome.

Z

Bladerunner's my #2 after Alien.

My Ridley Scott nerd corner:

I have the Alien Quadrilogy box set but I left it in the Maxima on a hot summer day and the disc trays warped, so it's not suitable for display.

Also, neat trivia:
The main villain from the Metroid games, a giant dragon-like Space Pirate, was named Ridley after Ridley Scott by Metroid creator Yoshio Sakamoto who was fond of Alien and said it had a huge influence on the world of Metroid. Metroid 3 is one of my favorite games of all time, and has a very similar atmosphere to Alien.

Weird...on another forum they were all complaining that the movie sux even with the great effects.

MOST of the effects were phenomenal. But there were two particular instances that looked very below-par. One bit reminded me of the CG in Alien 3.

[SHIFT_COUPE]

Can't wait to see this movie. Thanks for the review.

Bladerunner on the other hand...I've watched a few times with the hopes of enjoying it. I just can't wrap my head around it. Some dystopian films are tough for me for some reason.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I remember watching Blade Runner with my dad when I was about 12. He was really excited...he'd borrowed a copy of the Director's Cut and kept going on about how amazing it was. He was convinced I was going to love it. I was really looking forward to it but found that I couldn't follow it, didn't understand it, and just didn't get it. I didn't like it at all.

Wasn't until about a decade later that I borrowed that same VHS copy and watched it again. And LOVED IT. Of course in the intervening 10 years I'd read a lot of Phillip K. d!ck and Ray Bradbury (RIP both of them) and the like which probably honed my tastes a little. It's one of those movies that I enjoy more each time I watch it. And the Voit-Kampf briefcase edition I own has five cuts of the movie...so each of those adds a little to the picture, too.

[snwbrdr435]

http://www.whatis101112.com/

[alms24sebring]

Alright so Im sorry to bust everyones ball sacks but this movie sucked. Like it wasnt meh, wasnt ok, it f***ing sucked. Ill admit it started out really cool and had some major promise with the story line and CGI and all, but it became so cliche and fake that I ended up hating it by the end of the movie. There was nothing unique or special about it. When "Your pregnant" happened, I sighed out loud with an even louder eye roll. By that time I thought I got my moneys worth and wanted to leave. MoD of all the things, please explain why you bow down to this movie.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I already explained why it was good. You can feel free to explain why it was bad if you want.

[skydragoness]

I watched it this past weekend and was a little annoyed with all the unanswered questions and the open-ending for another movie.
The dialogue was cliche', 'convenient'/cliched things happened, and I ended up liking David as my favorite character...don't know what that says about the rest of the acting going on. :P

It wasn't scary to me but they did a good job of making a creepy atmosphere and the visuals were cool. That being said, I'm curious on what the hell they're going to do in the second one.

[themadscientist]

Chalize Theron is in everything these days. Not that I am complaining. Maybe we can get some more scenes like in Reindeer Games?

[Rev_D21]

Alright so Im sorry to bust everyones ball sacks but this movie sucked. Like it wasnt meh, wasnt ok, it f***ing sucked. Ill admit it started out really cool and had some major promise with the story line and CGI and all, but it became so cliche and fake that I ended up hating it by the end of the movie. There was nothing unique or special about it. When "Your pregnant" happened, I sighed out loud with an even louder eye roll. By that time I thought I got my moneys worth and wanted to leave. MoD of all the things, please explain why you bow down to this movie.

Poor story line at best. I feel so let down. It had the look and the attitude but it was lacking a script and a storyline. I wanted to be scared out of my wits like the first one but that never happened, I just laughed most of the time. Didn't care for any character in the movie. And they spent too much time making us wonder which way the alien ship was going to fall, that was like the most intense moment of the movie...yawn! I broke my 'no movies after 1995 rule' to watch this quagmire. Perhaps Hollywood should consider doing revisions to movie scripts rather than just using any ol' idea that was thrown up on the idea board because s*** made no sense.

[Jesda]

I didn't entirely understand what was going on but I enjoyed it.

Glad I didn't see it in 3D. 3D sucks.

[alms24sebring]

'no movies after 1995 rule'

Thats funny as hell cuz I have the same rule except mine is like 2000ish. Very few exceptions. I almost never watch movies anymore, really only if its a date or something because the letdowns like the one that just happened hurts harder than Nala banging my mom.

Glad I didn't see it in 3D. 3D sucks.

Not only that but its like $8 more. And what the hell is so special about $16 IMAX. Just give me a dam movie that I can watch with my dam eyes like a normal human being without quantum radiated glasses to help it seem 12% more realistic It angers when the only option is IMAX or 3D.

[themadscientist]

I look at Nico in 3D. You all look like you are coming right at me.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I didn't entirely understand what was going on but I enjoyed it.

Glad I didn't see it in 3D. 3D sucks.

I'm still pretty anti-3D, but I'll see movies that were FILMED in 3D that way. It's stuff that is filmed 2D and then "converted" that I'm not up for paying extra for.

My 3DS has taken a few steps toward proving to me that 3D has merits in videogames. But it's the interactivity of videogames that makes the enhanced spatial awareness afforded by 3D so beneficial. Movies don't work the same way, so 3D isn't necessarily beneficial.

[SHIFT_COUPE]

Saw it last night and loved it! Great film. Now I need to go re-watch the Alien movies.

[Jesda]

I feel like I need a notepad and pen to follow these kinds of films. There's so much stuff going on that makes little immediate sense that I tend to get lost. Fortunately, Prometheus had enough "we're running from scary creatures" action to keep it entertaining.

I first have to accept the film's fictional universe before I can swallow the rest of the story.

On the other hand, mysteries and crime dramas [like "Zodiac"] seem easy to follow. They're grounded in a version of reality so the plot becomes the primary focus.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I first have to accept the film's fictional universe before I can swallow the rest of the story.

On the other hand, mysteries and crime dramas [like "Zodiac"] seem easy to follow. They're grounded in a version of reality so the plot becomes the primary focus.

I'm exactly the opposite. I rarely like movies which are firmly grounded in "reality," but thoroughly enjoy movies with skewed or completely invented realities.

[Looneybomber]

I have not seen this yet, but if I don't remember much about Aliens (all three of them) should I watch them first, then watch Prometheus?

[Razi]

Watching just Alien 1 is probably enough.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I have not seen this yet, but if I don't remember much about Aliens (all three of them) should I watch them first, then watch Prometheus?

Alien is all you need to see.

Alien 3 has some relevant stuff about the evolution of aliens themselves but it's very subtle and not directly addressed.

Aliens is fun but has nothing to do with the lore aside from confirming the nature of Weyland Yutani's involvement in the first movie.

Whatever you do, DON'T watch the "special edition" or "director's cut" of Alien. It adds several minutes of footage back in, but then REMOVES even MORE original footage...so it ends up shorter than the theatrical cut and trades relevant stuff for irrelevant stuff. Even Ridley Scott himself said the director's cut throws off the pacing of the movie and is only called a director's cut for marketing reasons.

The director's cut of Aliens is worth it for some intro stuff about the colony and Newt's parents.

And the "Assembly Cut" of Alien 3 is the superior version, especially if you get it from the "Anthology" set. The "Quadrilogy" DVD set I own has no ADR for the re-added scenes, but ADR was added in the Anthology re-release (which is available on blu-ray). A lot of people hate the movie but I actually like it.

Alien Resurrection was not a good movie, but with this one again the director's cut is superior. This one is definitely NOT necessary to appreciate Prometheus. Despite being not-very-good, the ending of the director's cut (a shot out the window of a spacecraft landing on earth, above a devastated France) has some very good imagery.