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This topic comprises 4 pages: 1 2 3 4
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Author
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Topic: Prometheus
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Stu Jamieson
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 524
From: Buccan, Qld, Australia
Registered: Jan 2008
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posted 06-09-2012 08:22 AM
Director Ridley Scott has, for some time now, been playing down the status of Prometheus as a "prequel" to his 1979 monster hit, Alien, and now that his return to the franchise has arrived it's clear why. Prometheus is indeed a prequel but it is of a different flavour to Alien and so the pre-release rhetoric is designed to diminish punters' expectations of another "bug hunt" movie.
Scott deserves recognition for pushing the franchise in a new direction because, let's face it, when it's diminished to the quality of the Alien vs Predator movies, it's time to put the old girl down. Scott sensibly disregards the Alien vs Predator films entirely despite those also being prequels; these abominable additions to the Alien canon make no sense whatsoever in his timeline anyway.
Scott has a grander vision for the series, a vision where the xenomorph isn't even the focus of the story. It's a brave move and not one, it seems, that everyone has liked. But Scott has loftier goals than frightening us out of our wits; he means to question our origins, our purpose and, through the arms-length conduit of Erich von Däniken's theories of extra-terrestrial visitation, our relationship with God. Heady stuff indeed, particularly when framed in a horror flick.
Much criticism has been levelled at the script but I beg to differ. It's a subtle composition to be sure which treats its audience with intelligence. It makes no attempt to compete directly with it's forebear. Indeed it seems almost unfair to compare it directly with Alien in much the same way that it's barely valid to compare Alien with Aliens - the former is a horror thriller, the latter is an action bonanza. Prometheus, Alien and Aliens are all great on their own individual merits; one is not better than the other, they're just different types of films.
The script for Prometheus tends towards the cerebral, raising more philosophical questions than it answers and it is better for not attempting to answer them. The characterisations are slight but elegantly handled; the reveal of Liz Shaw's (Noomi Rapace) infertility, for instance, is beautifully executed in an almost wordless fashion. The script may be sleight on the surface but much is suggested beneath.
Scott presents one hell of a back story based on the scant origins of two H. R. Giger images from Alien - that of the alien ship and the chest punctured "space jockey". Despite having no new creative input, Giger's spirit continues to hang heavily over the franchise for although his biomechanoid design is curiously absent bar that which was lifted directly from Alien, his special brand of Fruedian horror endures in the newly designed vagina monsters that impregnate their victims through phallic oral invasion. All that's missing is the inky black skin and hydraulic veinwork.
I seem to spend a lot time decrying the current exploitative trend in 3D technology but I'm pleased to say that this film is one of those rarities that is worth the trip. Scott understands 3D, shooting wide open spaces and wide open space with suitable depth of field, exploiting the technology to the full. This is what 3D is all about! Immersion, not liver-in-your-lap gimmicks.
Prometheus is an elegant philosophical thriller which dares to set a different tone to it's cash cow predecessors. It bravely sends the franchise in a different, more thoughtful direction, nicely referencing Christian theology, Greek mythology and Von Daniken. If anything, the most disappointing moment is the final reveal of the alien we all know and fear - it's a gratuitous scene that goes without saying and I suspect studio meddling to include it. That one scene aside, it's a very good film.
9 out of 10.
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Manny Knowles
"What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???"
Posts: 4247
From: Bloomington, IN, USA
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 06-12-2012 09:47 PM
The opening was incoherent. Off to a horrible start. WTF was that all about? No - don't - please don't try to explain it. You'd be wasting your time. I really couldn't care less.
Moving right along...we're in space now...
Problem: Given how long ago the clues were left on Earth -- the idea totally STOLEN from 2001 -- and how "old" the visible light from a star is (when viewed from Earth) it's a wonder anything was still there when they arrived. Sure, it's possible, but good sci-fi is supposed to anticipate these kinds of logical questions, and find clever ways of convincing the skeptic to suspend disbelief.
"Intelligent viewers" don't merely settle for possible. We prefer plausible. We like a little bit of "science" in our science fiction.
Which brings me to...
We're supposed to believe they got there in just a few years. Even if they traveled AT the speed of light -- which isn't theoretically possible, unless Dr. Sagan was wrong -- the nearest stars are about 4 light years away.
Pushups? Immediately following years of interstellar hibernation? Really? Cast your mind back just a few years and recall what a HUGE DEAL it was that the female astronaut (Sunita Williams?) could even WALK off the Space Shuttle after spending MONTHS aboard the ISS. She could barely walk. Barely. And they made a HUGE DEAL out of it.
And, c'mon! -- It just doesn't make ANY SENSE WHATSOEVER that the magic doctor machine would only be designed for males only, when there are two women aboard. And, really, does it make sense that a machine like that would come in a "budget" model? And does it make sense that a company that can fund a mission several light years away would BUY the budget model? Finally -- more to the point -- it didn't really serve the plot anyway because Miss Thing finds a way to trick it in less than 2 minutes -- so it was just a stupid stupid STUPID and TRANSPARENT gimmick to "create suspense." Whatever.
I agree with someone who posted on another forum that the most interesting characters were the two sidekicks with the ongoing bet. I TOTALLY agree.
Wasted opportunity for a "payoff" on the line: "The trick is not minding that it hurts."
And now, if y'all don't mind, I'm going to watch the original ALIEN which I immediately bought at Best Buy for $9.99 -- consider it the mouthwash to rid myself of the horrible PROMETHEUS after-taste -- and, BTW, this copy of ALIEN cost less than the (small) popcorn and (small) Coke I bought at the theatre -- more than a dollar less.
My God in Heaven! These have got to be the LAST DAYS!
Astronaut Walks...
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