Escape to the Movies: Prometheus

[Nautical Honors Society]

It's been pointed out to me that this planet isn't apparently the same planet as the one in Alien, so I digress, it's not nearly as lore breaking as I thought.

Really? That must be last minute excuse making unless those ships always land in exactly the same position when they crash.

I never saw it, but apparently they did show the moon's name, and it's different from the one in Alien... which ultimately means this movie has fuck all to do with the Xenomorphs.

It was still a terrible... TERRIBLE movie.

Terrible? Very good acting, solid pacing, great shots, and thought provoking if you actually try and look at it past the surface.

Man if you think Prometheus is terrible I'd hate to hear what you think of movies that are actually...well bad.

Also, "fuck all to do with Xenomorphs"? Really? Did you even watch the film?

There was a clear undeniable link to this movie and the Xenomorphs...it is quite unmistakable. But I don't want to spoil it for people so PM me if you want an explanation.

 

[Draconalis]

Terrible? Very good acting, solid pacing, great shots, and thought provoking if you actually try and look at it past the surface.

Man if you think Prometheus is terrible I'd hate to hear what you think of movies that are actually...well bad.

Also, "fuck all to do with Xenomorphs"? Really? Did you even watch the film?

There was a clear undeniable link to this movie and the Xenomorphs...it is quite unmistakable. But I don't want to spoil it for people so PM me if you want an explanation.

That's a really good list of all the things this movie lacked... though it's unfair to say the robot didn't tear it up in the acting portion.

And since this isn't the world where the first Xenomorph was encountered, and the Xenomorph species already exists (There mural portrayed a Xenomorph apparently), it's mostly just a movie that features the space jockeys.

 

[Nautical Honors Society]

Terrible? Very good acting, solid pacing, great shots, and thought provoking if you actually try and look at it past the surface.

Man if you think Prometheus is terrible I'd hate to hear what you think of movies that are actually...well bad.

Also, "fuck all to do with Xenomorphs"? Really? Did you even watch the film?

There was a clear undeniable link to this movie and the Xenomorphs...it is quite unmistakable. But I don't want to spoil it for people so PM me if you want an explanation.

That's a really good list of all the things this movie lacked... though it's unfair to say the robot didn't tear it up in the acting portion.

And since this isn't the world where the first Xenomorph was encountered, and the Xenomorph species already exists (There mural portrayed a Xenomorph apparently), it's mostly just a movie that features the space jockeys.

No that is a list of things the movie did not lack...hence why I listed them. Opinions bro.

Dude I won't spoil things for people, I won't talk about it here. I said PM me. Otherwise whatever.

 

[mrhappy1489]

I saw that Wreck-It-Ralph thing, Bob...and like I asked on another forum, since WHEN is Zangief a bad guy?!? Actually...since it's Pixar, which still has some connections to Disney, and it's about video games, I will be VERY disappointed if we don't see a Tron or Kingdom Hearts based cameo.

Too bad the "prequel" aspect of Prometheus prevented some immersion. Scott probably should have kept a tighter lid on things.

It's actually just a disney film, it's not being made by Pixar. To extended the written part, I'm still probably going to see Prometheus, but my expectations have been a little lowered, though to be honest they weren't super high to begin with. Not that I'm saying I thought it would be bad, mainly it was just that I wasn't overly thrilled or angry about its existence.

 

[Draconalis]

No that is a list of things the movie did not lack...hence why I listed them. Opinions bro.

Well... since you know how opinions work... then why are you trying to change my opinion that it's terrible?

 

[Nautical Honors Society]

No that is a list of things the movie did not lack...hence why I listed them. Opinions bro.

Well... since you know how opinions work... then why are you trying to change my opinion that it's terrible?

I was just shocked by your choice of adjective.

 

[TheBrett]

Terrible? Very good acting, solid pacing, great shots, and thought provoking if you actually try and look at it past the surface.

Man if you think Prometheus is terrible I'd hate to hear what you think of movies that are actually...well bad.

Also, "fuck all to do with Xenomorphs"? Really? Did you even watch the film?

There was a clear undeniable link to this movie and the Xenomorphs...it is quite unmistakable. But I don't want to spoil it for people so PM me if you want an explanation.

Yes, terrible. The acting was okay, but never even came close to getting me emotionally involved with the characters. Rapace and her husband/boyfriend/whatever had minimal chemistry, and everything about their connection felt rushed, like they had to bring him on screen just long enough to do his plot-relevant bit.

The visuals were okay, but nothing about them really stands out or makes me want to see them again. You expect them to do good visuals in a SF movie this expensive.

Everything else was bad. The pacing was bad, the dialogue was mediocre, the plot came to rely more and more on Movie Stupidity to make it work, and so forth.

 

[Casey Goddard]

I saw this movie today. I had to read the thread here to catch some of the subtleties, but even after that there are several things I don't get. Looking for someone to explain these to me (or commiserate with me in a giant "wtf".)

*** Spoiler related questions: ***

1. Why didn't they make the 2 idiots that got killed by the giant worms just normal grunts? Why make them scientists? They clearly weren't critical thinkers (i.e. scientists, though I realize none of the scientists acted like scientists). Just make them hired goons. Then it makes their idiocy slightly more believable. I guess this is likely due to the re-writes mentioned by Bob and others, but what were the writers thinking?

2. Why did David infect Charlie? That made no sense to me. Did I miss something explaining the reasoning? It seemed like David clearly had a plan in mind but it wasn't clear to me how he decided this was the right course of action. I guess he chose Charlie perhaps because Charlie was a total jerk to him, but why did he choose to infect any humans?

3. Why did Charlie get infected with goo and then proceed to just die, while the geologist turned into a super-human zombie that tried to kill everyone? They had previously established that the goo just seemed to kill the engineers. While I appreciate a bit of mystery and not hand-holding your audience through the movie, the danger is a seemingly arbitrary and random set of sci-fi "stuff" that does whatever the script writers want at any point in time. Put another way, if you aren't going to explain why the strange sci-fi stuff causes thing to happen, there needs to be consistency in how it effects the world so the audience can figure it out.

*** End Spoiler ***

There were several really big plot holes. I feel like Bob has reviewed better movies and given them a bad review, so why does he like this one? Maybe that is a case of the hype getting to him and altering his view.

http://cavalorn.livejournal.com/584135.html#cutid1

It's all about Space Jesus...or something.

 

[MrBaskerville]

Don´t understand why so many people complain that the movie doesn´t explain or answer the questions raised. Since when did good sci-fi explain or answer anything? It´s meant to provoke thought and reflection, not answer questions.

I don´t think Prometheus is perfect, i think it could have done with more scenes of dialouge between the characters. There are som plot threads that seems a bit underdeveloped. But aside from that i thought it was great. I liked that it only rarely felt the need to explain anything, as i see it the movie is pretty bold that way. It doesn´t expect it doesn´t think for the audience. First time i saw it i was a bit dissapointed, but i was really liking it the second time, more than i expected to.

 

[MrBaskerville]

"I'm gonna bring this flame-thrower for protection!"
"Hell no, this is a SCIENCE expedition. Just because we are heading into an unknown enviroment doesn't mean that we can't assume that everything is safe and the 'engineers' will welcome us with open arms. After all, we must have been INVITED here by all the ancient peoples of the world."

I think its Rapaces character making that decision? She´s highly religious, and i think they kind of expect their creators to be friendly, they are essentially going to meet god, they don´t expect to be met with hostility. They also state at one point that they see the cave paintings as an invitation. They aren´t expecting bad things, hence they don´t see the need for weapons.

 

[Emiscary]

I saw this movie today. I had to read the thread here to catch some of the subtleties, but even after that there are several things I don't get. Looking for someone to explain these to me (or commiserate with me in a giant "wtf".)

*** Spoiler related questions: ***

1. Why didn't they make the 2 idiots that got killed by the giant worms just normal grunts? Why make them scientists? They clearly weren't critical thinkers (i.e. scientists, though I realize none of the scientists acted like scientists). Just make them hired goons. Then it makes their idiocy slightly more believable. I guess this is likely due to the re-writes mentioned by Bob and others, but what were the writers thinking?

2. Why did David infect Charlie? That made no sense to me. Did I miss something explaining the reasoning? It seemed like David clearly had a plan in mind but it wasn't clear to me how he decided this was the right course of action. I guess he chose Charlie perhaps because Charlie was a total jerk to him, but why did he choose to infect any humans?

3. Why did Charlie get infected with goo and then proceed to just die, while the geologist turned into a super-human zombie that tried to kill everyone? They had previously established that the goo just seemed to kill the engineers. While I appreciate a bit of mystery and not hand-holding your audience through the movie, the danger is a seemingly arbitrary and random set of sci-fi "stuff" that does whatever the script writers want at any point in time. Put another way, if you aren't going to explain why the strange sci-fi stuff causes thing to happen, there needs to be consistency in how it effects the world so the audience can figure it out.

*** End Spoiler ***

There were several really big plot holes. I feel like Bob has reviewed better movies and given them a bad review, so why does he like this one? Maybe that is a case of the hype getting to him and altering his view.

http://cavalorn.livejournal.com/584135.html#cutid1

It's all about Space Jesus...or something.

You have GOT to be fucking kidding me...

THAT is the big secret Mr. Scott came up with? The ALIEN franchise has to bend over and take it up the ass, AGAIN, because we needed another fucking morality play about a loudmouth from Jerusalem who's most noteworthy achievement was BEING EXECUTED?! GAH!

Alright, I rescind my moderately positive opinion. Fuck this movie. Michael Fassbender's contributions are the only thing in it worth seeing- and I'd recommend watching them on youtube or via bit torrent if I were you.

NO ONE deserves a paycheck for dragging the flogged rotted horse that is christian allegory into another goddamn setting. ESPECIALLY one that was doing perfectly fine without it.


And seeing as how I no longer give a shit about spoilers, I have gotta put this out there: I can't be alone in being let down by the above monster reveal. Honest to Christ (lol), they took the most interesting creature concept they had- and went the most boring direction imaginable with it. They took the original Xenomorph, then gave it a dick-ectomy, and made the most iconic aspect of its design lamer by 50%.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Can you say rushed?But thats what you get when you do a change up in mid production.

 

[Draconalis]

I was just shocked by your choice of adjective.

Other words I've used:

Horrendous

Atrociously bad

Garbage

 

[Draconalis]

It's almost like we're talking about a universe where smart people have about 80IQ, which, actually, would be fairly consistent with a lot of the rest of the movie.

Sorry, I have to stop right there! That's it!

It's brilliant when you think about it! And it all makes perfect sense now!

I've been wrong from the very start!

See? I was thinking this movie was set in the Aliens universe, but it's not! It's a much more amazing idea than this.

It's set in the Idiocracy universe! It fits perfectly!

 

[Emiscary]

You have GOT to be fucking kidding me...

THAT is the big secret Mr. Scott came up with? The ALIEN franchise has to bend over and take it up the ass, AGAIN, because we needed another fucking morality play about a loudmouth from Jerusalem who's most noteworthy achievement was BEING EXECUTED?! GAH!

Alright, I rescind my moderately positive opinion. Fuck this movie. Michael Fassbender's contributions are the only thing in it worth seeing- and I'd recommend watching them on youtube or via bit torrent if I were you.

NO ONE deserves a paycheck for dragging the flogged rotted horse that is christian allegory into another goddamn setting. ESPECIALLY one that was doing perfectly fine without it.


And seeing as how I no longer give a shit about spoilers, I have gotta put this out there: I can't be alone in being let down by the above monster reveal. Honest to Christ (lol), they took the most interesting creature concept they had- and went the most boring direction imaginable with it. They took the original Xenomorph, then gave it a dick-ectomy, and made the most iconic aspect of its design lamer by 50%.

Did you read that entire thing? There's more to it than just Space Jesus, that's maybe one part of a larger theme on religion and god.

I'm aware they went wide with the whole "magical invisible man with a codified list of rules" concept. The fact that the name of the film is a Greek deity is a pretty solid indicator or such.

 

[jecht35]

Well dispite all the crying of how bad this movie was I still saw it and not once did I see a major movie breaking flaw in it, it had some flaws dont get me wronge its not perfect. But I can't see how its so god aweful no one should ever watch it. I quite enjoyed it.

 

[Hutzpah Chicken]

I just saw this movie yesterday, and I did find it to be a good movie. I didn't like that they used new xenomorph creatures, for the original ones are far more recognizable and creepy. Since Mr. Scott ended it for a sequel to be made, so I hope the xenomorph becomes more recognizable.

Oh, the next big twist in the (possible) sequel will be that the "Engineers" didn't make humans, but they to are searching for their creators. I'm calling that one now.