Prometheus Thread

[whitesoxfan99]

Hey, whitesoxfan99, have you actually seen the movie?

 

Yes and I posted in this thread already.

[DukeNukeEm]

Alright, I saw it, read the reactions and I am so insanely disappointed with people's perceptions of this movie its out of control. Especially the opinions people have surrounding David and its motivations.

 

You aren't supposed to get where David is coming from when he's doing what he does. His unwavering reliance and reason makes his motives impossible for a human to understand. Remember when Shaw tells him he'd never understand why she did what she did because she has a soul, and how nobody is really questioning Shaw's motivations of even Idris Elba's sudden willingness to sacrifice himself to save humanity? We get why the human's in that movie behave the way we do because we can relate to their existence by way of our own. We dont really know why the Engineers did what they thought they had to do or why David suddenly gets all nutty because their minds are not structured the way ours are.

[DukeNukeEm]

Also just because Idris Elba says "Its a weapon!" doesn't make it so. That just happens to be a pretty good way to rally the troops, and frankly by that point you should have wondering what the hell the Engineers were doing down there anyways and forming your own opinions.

Edited June 12, 2012 by DukeNukeEm

[Steve9347]

Alright, I saw it, read the reactions and I am so insanely disappointed with people's perceptions of this movie its out of control. Especially the opinions people have surrounding David and its motivations.

 

You aren't supposed to get where David is coming from when he's doing what he does. His unwavering reliance and reason makes his motives impossible for a human to understand. Remember when Shaw tells him he'd never understand why she did what she did because she has a soul, and how nobody is really questioning Shaw's motivations of even Idris Elba's sudden willingness to sacrifice himself to save humanity? We get why the human's in that movie behave the way we do because we can relate to their existence by way of our own. We dont really know why the Engineers did what they thought they had to do or why David suddenly gets all nutty because their minds are not structured the way ours are.

Also, it's a pretty good explanation of David's motivations. He was built as a tester, he asks Holloway if he's willing to do anything to learn more prior to putting the black stuff in his drink. That was permission.

 

I think this movie is being shredded by people who aren't really thinking it through. There might be one or two "huh?" moments, but beyond that the movie explained things rather well.

[whitesoxfan99]

Also, it's a pretty good explanation of David's motivations. He was built as a tester, he asks Holloway if he's willing to do anything to learn more prior to putting the black stuff in his drink. That was permission.

 

I think this movie is being shredded by people who aren't really thinking it through. There might be one or two "huh?" moments, but beyond that the movie explained things rather well.

 

Except that this isn't correct according to Damon Lindelof who has indicated in an interview that Weyland directed David to spike the drink which would make absolutely no sense given that they have no idea what the liquid is.

[DukeNukeEm]

Except that this isn't correct according to Damon Lindelof who has indicated in an interview that Weyland directed David to spike the drink which would make absolutely no sense given that they have no idea what the liquid is.

I dont care what the spineless writer is trying to do to make people who didn't get the movie hate him less, I only go by what I see in the movie.

[whitesoxfan99]

I dont care what the spineless writer is trying to do to make people who didn't get the movie hate him less, I only go by what I see in the movie.

 

I'm not a huge fan of Lindelof (although he is very creative) but I haven't seen him shy away from criticism in the past. In fact, he has basically flat out stated he doesn't care if someone doesn't like the Lost ending because he wrote the ending he wanted. It is far more likely that Lindelof's stated reason is true then he gave an interview giving an explanation to appease people who weren't happy with the movie.

 

And please do explain what I didn't get about the movie. The themes of the movie, where do we come from, what makes us human (explored and dealt with much better in Blade Runner fwiw), why are we are here, god v. science, are all interesting themes but they aren't dealt with in a meaningful or profound way. Instead, the movie raises questions it never answers and has characters that consistently take actions that are either illogical or for which we can see no motive for the sole purpose of progressing the plot.

[Steve9347]

People are strange. I thought this movie was amazing, others are hating it. It generally seems to be well-received. I am, however, an admitted fanboy of the entire Alien universe and read the books, but I loved the movie and so did my wife who had never seen anything Alien.

 

To each his own, but I will defend Prometheus with my life!

[clyons]

Interesting Take

 

Saw the movie last night and thought it was great. I also think this author made a ton of astute observations, most of which I can buy.

[Steve9347]

I am being a total nerd and seeing it again tonight.

[CrimsonWeltall]

lulz

 

 

"So they bring along a biologist and the second that they find a dead alien body, instead of being curious about it, scientifically, he just wants to run away. It's been dead for 10,000 years. Before sending this biologist out on a 4 year long space mission, didn't they do some kind of psychological profile on him? The results showing that he was some kind of p****? I have to take a psychological profile test when I apply for a job at Target. But then later, when that same scientist is confronted with a sketchy-looking grey alien penis, he wants to stick his face in it. That seems kinda stupid to me."

Edited June 13, 2012 by CrimsonWeltall

[Steve9347]

That movie rocked in 3D.

[chw42]

lulz

 

 

"So they bring along a biologist and the second that they find a dead alien body, instead of being curious about it, scientifically, he just wants to run away. It's been dead for 10,000 years. Before sending this biologist out on a 4 year long space mission, didn't they do some kind of psychological profile on him? The results showing that he was some kind of p****? I have to take a psychological profile test when I apply for a job at Target. But then later, when that same scientist is confronted with a sketchy-looking grey alien penis, he wants to stick his face in it. That seems kinda stupid to me."

 

It appears that the biologist must have a thing for alien penises.

[GoSox05]

It appears that the biologist must have a thing for alien penises.

 

Who dosen't?

[Brian]

That movie rocked in 3D.

 

Just saw it in IMAX 3D. Holy crap. Awesome to look at.

 

I was fine with it. I'm not an Alien/Scifi guy like a lot of guys here, but I enjoyed for standing along.

 

Was the only real connection to Alien the very end or was their more outside of the timeline and planets?

[SoxFan1]

Going to go see it in 3D this afternoon. I'm pumped.

[SoxFan1]

I enjoyed it, but I wasn't blown away like I was hoping. It didn't have that "holy s***" moment like the trailer made it seem like it did. I want to like it, but it's just kinda meh to me. There is too much that doesn't make sense or is unexplained.

[FlaSoxxJim]

FINALLY got out to see Prometheus today. I am a huge fan of Alien/Aliens and try hard to like the rest of the franchise. I thought this film was excellent, and already want to see it again before it leaves the theaters.

 

I am a confused as hell about some of the same things that have come up in this thread, and as a biologist I totally agree that the biologist character was entirely too lacking in curiosity about everything he was seeing right up until he fell in love with the arm-breaking snake.

 

A theme I thought would have been central to the film that really wasn't was the notion that the cave drawing maps for humans to eventually find their way to LV-223 were more of a warning device for the Engineers than a sincere invitation to humanity to come meet its maker. My working hypothesis is that the Engineers made sure similar imagery was placed on all of the planets where they bioengineered life. Any future progeny from that bioengineering that ended up advancing to the point where they could make the trip to find their creators would have been deemed by the Engineers as too advanced to be allowed to survive and would thus be targeted for elimination. Apparently, the Engineers were jumping the gun and getting ready to off humanity a couple thousand years before we actually made contact before something obviously webt very wrong with one of their WMDs.

 

FWIW, I don't think the xenomorph at the end is THE same xenomorph type from the Alien franchise. Rather, it was something in the ballpark to make us lifelong franchise fans happy and to show how the Alien-type xenomorphs could have arisen under similar circumstances elsewhere in the galaxy.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Just saw it in IMAX 3D. Holy crap. Awesome to look at.

 

I was fine with it. I'm not an Alien/Scifi guy like a lot of guys here, but I enjoyed for standing along.

 

Was the only real connection to Alien the very end or was their more outside of the timeline and planets?

 

For me, there was quite a bit of connection. The life cycles of the proto-xeomorphs—their need to infect host bodies to get to the next stage of the life cycle—was totally and Alien fingerprint regardless of the specifics of what the different life forms looked like.

 

The thematic continuity of the 'artificial humans' — Ash from the first Alien film, Bishop from Aliens, and David from Prometheus. Their motives and directives are never entirely known to the audience. Are they working for the Corporation, do they have pre-directives that really explain what the missions are about, and do they care at all about the human crew are themes common to all three films. Oh yeah, and they all get their heads ripped off and 'live' to tell the tale.

 

Little things like the acid blood of the penis worms being essentially the same as the Alien xenomorphs.

 

HR Giger's visuals setting the tone for all the films is certainly a unifying thread. And the extreme manifestation of that in Prometheus was having the last surviving engineer go all Space Jockey for us all to see and finally understand what that entity first seen in the original Alien really was.

[Steve9347]

For me, there was quite a bit of connection. The life cycles of the proto-xeomorphs—their need to infect host bodies to get to the next stage of the life cycle—was totally and Alien fingerprint regardless of the specifics of what the different life forms looked like.

 

The thematic continuity of the 'artificial humans' — Ash from the first Alien film, Bishop from Aliens, and David from Prometheus. Their motives and directives are never entirely known to the audience. Are they working for the Corporation, do they have pre-directives that really explain what the missions are about, and do they care at all about the human crew are themes common to all three films. Oh yeah, and they all get their heads ripped off and 'live' to tell the tale.

 

Little things like the acid blood of the penis worms being essentially the same as the Alien xenomorphs.

 

HR Giger's visuals setting the tone for all the films is certainly a unifying thread. And the extreme manifestation of that in Prometheus was having the last surviving engineer go all Space Jockey for us all to see and finally understand what that entity first seen in the original Alien really was.

I agree with this post. The entire time I felt I was watching something in the Alien universe.

[clyons]

I agree with this post. The entire time I felt I was watching something in the Alien universe.

 

 

Same here. Also, the strong female characters (Charlize and the impreganted one). The latter's survival at the end echoed Ripley.