Alien Covenant Trailer Released

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How did Ridley fall off so hard? Was it the wine?

he didnt. he always did some mediocre/bad films and then some fantastic ones. the martian proves that he still has it (as long as the script is good and he has no influence on it, like prometheus).
 
So there's nothing wrong with this concept in theory and you're complaining and asking questions a movie that isn't out yet.

Okay. Glad we got that cleared up.

You asked how any of that sounded bad, I provided an explanation. Now, you're complaining about my reaction to these leaks because the movie isn't out yet? How can I win?
 
How did Ridley fall off so hard? Was it the wine?

As Martian proves, he's still a good director, he just needs a good screenplay. Preferably adapted from strong material.

...he has made a LOT of crap in recent years though, it's not just Prometheus, there's Exodus, Robin Hood and The Counselor too (this last one I didn't even bother with). I imagine some people might feel that way about Body of Lies or American Gangster too, although they're aight for me.
 
He hasn't fallen anywhere, he's still a great director but he's mostly interested in the technical aspects of cinematography. He shines when he gets a good script.
The cinematography in this trailer isn't even good though. That's like the only thing he has going for himself nowadays.
 
You asked how any of that sounded bad, I provided an explanation. Now, you're complaining about my reaction to these leaks because the movie isn't out yet? How can I win?
You didn't. You're asking us questions about a movie you haven't seen. How do you expect us to answer? You haven't explained how it sounds bad, you just asked a bunch of questions based on spoilers to a movie you haven't seen.

You can "win" by stating why you feel the idea is bad, like what everyone asked.
Example:
"I think this is bad because it does not fit this, this and this"
Or
"I do not like this concept being explored because this, this and this and I'd prefer this direction as it's more interesting"

It's not hard.
 
The Martian almost feels like a fluke. Let's look at his output in the last few years:

The Martian
Exodus: Gods and Kings
The Counsellor
Prometheus
Robin Hood
 
The cinematography in this trailer isn't even good though. That's like the only thing he has going for himself nowadays.

There was one good geography shot there though. I just think that the trailer was terribly cut.
 
The cinematography in this trailer isn't even good though. That's like the only thing he has going for himself nowadays.

Both The Martian and Prometheus (especially) are great technically and visually, this trailer isn't groundbreaking or anything but I'm pretty sure the movie will be great in that respect.

It's the scrip that messed Prometheus and might mess Covenant as well. Ridley felt Alien: Engineers (original version of Prometheus) was formulaic and decided to hire Lindelof to open new avenues for the franchise, that failed and now the studio is resorting to the old formula again, which might actually prove Ridley's initial fears right. We'll see.
 
As Martian proves, he's still a good director, he just needs a good screenplay. Preferably adapted from strong material.

...he has made a LOT of crap in recent years though, it's not just Prometheus, there's Exodus, Robin Hood and The Counselor too (this last one I didn't even bother with). I imagine some people might feel that way about Body of Lies or American Gangster too, although they're aight for me.

Staying on topic, If you want to see Cameron Diaz be an Alien face hugger with her crotch on a car windshield, the Counsellor is for you. It's an awful film.

Martian is brilliant.
 
Both The Martian and Prometheus (especially) are great technically and visually, this trailer isn't groundbreaking or anything but I'm pretty sure the movie will be great in that respect.

It's the scrip that messed Prometheus and might mess Covenant as well. Ridley felt Alien: Engineers (original version of Prometheus) was formulaic and decided to hire Lindelof to open new avenues for the franchise, that failed and now the studio is resorting to the old formula again, which might actually prove Ridley's initial fears right. We'll see.

The Lindelof stuff is a bit of a myth. Scott came up with all the shite and asked him to put it in.
 
Inside the ship looks like ass though, almost amateurish.

Probably using the camera as an analogy, give a claustrophobic feel. I'd rather see it in the entire package than judge it right now, although I can't disagree with you. The rest of the inside shots seem fine, it's probably only done for the first scenes with the alien.

However the shots at 0:36, 0:57, 1:02, 1:20, and 1:31 are pretty great, so I have to disagree with your initial argument!
 
The Martian almost feels like a fluke. Let's look at his output in the last few years:

The Martian
Exodus: Gods and Kings
The Counsellor
Prometheus
Robin Hood
It's also adapted straight from a book lol.

Hell even Blade Runner was based off of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

The Alien concept wasn't anything mind blowing even in 79 but the script was tight as hell and that was all him however.
 
The Lindelof stuff is a bit of a myth. Scott came up with all the shite and asked him to put it in.

yep. the original script (paradise) was inferior to prometheus. all the same stupid stuff was in there, but it directly shat on alien/s with its ending. both scrips are not great, but prometheus is better (i know its hard to believe).
 
I'm still not convinced Ridley wont try to tie the two together somehow.

Prometheus was already (but poorly) treading a lot of the same thematic/philosophical ground Blade Runner was built on as it was. I could see him trying to strengthen those ties more solidly, much in the same way he (unnecessarily) solidified Deckard's status as a Replicant with his Final Cut.
Deckard is much better without being a Replicant, or at the very least having it be ambiguous. He really is Lucas 2.0.
 
The Lindelof stuff is a bit of a myth. Scott came up with all the shite and asked him to put it in.

More like, he said: let's change the focus from another horror/slasher sci-fi into an ancient aliens/mystery-adventure film. He might've fucked up the Engineer's mythology for a lot of fans, but he didn't make the flat, boring and stupid characters, or decided to left most things unexplained (Lidelof trademark, I love the guy but he wasn't right for this).

I still think Ridley was right to want to open new venues with Prometheus, it just ended up going a little bit too far from Alien and now we're in the reverse situation with Covenant.
 
Deckard is much better without being a Replicant, or at the very least having it be ambiguous. He really is Lucas 2.0.

I can be glad this movie exists because Dennis freaking Villeneuve is directing Blade Runner 2049 at least, instead of Scott. And has even confirmed he's keeping it ambiguous.
 
I honestly don't think it matters if Deckard is human or a replicant.

The movie goes out of its way to make it clear he's a replicant with the unicorn dream though.
 
I honestly don't think it matters if Deckard is human or a replicant.

The movie goes out of its way to make it clear he's a replicant with the unicorn dream though.
I think it does. The whole stuff with Roy teaching Deckard what it's like to live with a short expiration date is redundant if Deckard's not human.

But yeah I've only watched the Final Cut and it would have been ambiguous even in that if it wasn't for the last 5 seconds with the origami unicorn
 
Depends which cut you watch.

Theatrical cut?
giphy.gif


Anyway, apparently Scott sez the unicorn scene was meant to be in the original cut:


From The Blade Cuts, an interview with Ridley Scott:

Scott: ...did you see the version [of the script] with the unicorn? McKenzie: No... Scott: I think the idea of the unicorn was a terrific idea... McKenzie: The obvious inference is that Deckard is a replicant himself. Scott: Sure. To me it's entirely logical, particularly when you are doing a film noire, you may as well go right through with that theme, and the central character could in fact be what he is chasing... McKenzie: Did you actually shoot the sequence in the glade with the unicorn? Scott: Absolutely. It was cut into the picture, and I think it worked wonderfully. Deckard was sitting, playing the piano rather badly because he was drunk, and there's a moment where he gets absorbed and goes off a little at a tangent and we went into the shot of the unicorn plunging out of the forest. It's not subliminal, but it's a brief shot. Cut back to Deckard and there's absolutely no reaction to that, and he just carries on with the scene. That's where the whole idea of the character of Gaff with his origami figures -- the chicken and the little stick-figure man, so the origami figure of the unicorn tells you that Gaff has been there. One of the layers of the film has been talking about private thoughts and memories, so how would Gaff have known that a private thought of Deckard was of a unicorn? That's why Deckard shook his head like that [referring to Deckard nodding his head after picking up the paper unicorn].
Scott goes on to talk about how he decided to make the photograph of the little girl with her mother come alive for a second, then later in the interview we have:

McKenzie: Are you disappointed that the references to Deckard being a replicant are no longer there? Scott: The innuendo is still there. The French get it immediately! I think it's interesting that he could be.

Scott intended the unicorn scene to be in the 1982 theatrical release, but the producers vetoed the idea as "too arty".

I think it does. The whole stuff with Roy teaching Deckard what it's like to live with a short expiration date is redundant if Deckard's not human.

But yeah I've only watched the Final Cut and it would have been ambiguous even in that if it wasn't for the last 5 seconds with the origami unicorn

I think it's interesting either way, since Deckard believes himself to be human. Maybe I would prefer it if he was human.
 
Theatrical cut?
giphy.gif


Anyway, apparently Scott sez the unicorn scene was meant to be in the original cut:






I think it's interesting either way, since Deckard believes himself to be human. Maybe I would prefer it if he was human.

I mean even the police officer would have to be in on the act then because he treats Deckard like he's the best in the business and he's been around for years. Idk I just prefer it with Deckard being the human pov seeing all this shit about the replicants and questioning the morality of it all.
 
I still think Ridley was right to want to open new venues with Prometheus, it just ended up going a little bit too far from Alien and now we're in the reverse situation with Covenant.
Ridley Scott is misguidedly obsessed with transforming the Alien franchise into an epic Biblical allegory/revisionism, which is just utterly unwanted.
 
Ridley Scott is misguidedly obsessed with transforming the Alien franchise into an epic Biblical allegory/revisionism, which is just utterly unwanted.

Which is crazy because the entire notion of that narrative thrust sprang out of a throwaway joke in Spaiht's script that he took literally. Like, there was a character in one draft who introduced the concept solely to mock it, and then Scott seized on it, and now it's basically the overarching theme of his Alien Prequel Trilogy.

Which will, again, likely end with the giant-size Engineer with a hole in his chest on LV-426 being David.
 
Ridley Scott is misguidedly obsessed with transforming the Alien franchise into an epic Biblical allegory/revisionism, which is just utterly unwanted.

You know, even if none of that really belongs with each other,

if they actually found a way to make any of that be interesting and work, I would totally be down for this.

Also, I find it pretty funny considering how often the dude is quick to set religion aside.
 
You know, even if none of that really belongs with each other,

if they actually found a way to make any of that be interesting and work, I would totally be down for this.

Also, I find it pretty funny considering how often the dude is quick to set religion aside.

He even made a Moses movie that attempted to take the supernatural stuff out of it.

I don't understand Scott's deal.
 
Ridley Scott is misguidedly obsessed with transforming the Alien franchise into an epic Biblical allegory/revisionism, which is just utterly unwanted.

Well, I think that he is right in seeing the need for the franchise to be more than a never ending series of incidents in which one or more Xenomorphs get loose somewhere and kill people.

I'm not saying he's right in his vision and where he wants (wanted?) to lead it, he was fascinated by the notion of the space jockey and decided to expand it so he went epic. The religious allegory might've been too much, though. Anyways, I think that most people's apathetic to negative attitude toward the themes of the trailer show he was right in wanting to change the formula, whether he'll mangage to do it remains to be seen.
 
Well, I think that he is right in seeing the need for the series to be more than a never ending series of incidents in which one or more Xenomorphs get loose somewhere and kill people.

I'm not saying he's right in his vision and where he wants (wanted?) to lead it, he was fascinated by the notion of the space jockey and wanted to expand it so he went epic. The religious allegory might've been too much, though. Anyways, I think that most people's apathetic to negative attitude about the themes of the trailer shows he was right in wanting to change the formula, whether he'll mangage to do it successfully remains to be seen.
This trailer might not demonstrate it, but he's been very clear about this new Alien: Covenant trilogy or whatever being a translation of Paradise Lost. This is just leaning more into religious allegory.

I think there are ways to keep using xenomorphs and this universe without constantly remaking Alien/s and also not turning the franchise into something it clearly was not, as in some hokey Biblical epic.
 
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