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[Pachterballs]

God, the finished product is just so cool.

yea, when the movie started after sweeping the landscape; and he shows up - I just thought the SJ looked incredible. Something in the face also had hints at the easter island statues I thought, Just sick looking.

 

[JonnyBrad]

Easter Island statues is a great call.

 

[genjiZERO]

Which is also a great movie. It sounds like you know what you are talking about, but it also sounds like you would get more enjoyment out of a science journal than a movie ment for entertainment.

I don't know much science besides high school. Even I thought it was whacko when the dude removed his helmet. Then I remembered they scanned the air for microbes, and then I remembered that Holloway was pretty much a religious zealot along with his GF. He had long ago stopped being a scientist and became more like Ahab chasing the white whale. A real scientist/archeologist would of been ecstatic just to find a clay pot from an alien race, he was disappointed it was just another tomb.

Totally didn't see this as the conversation moved way too far into my very minor criticism of the film visually.

Honestly, I find I can't enjoy most film or even books that deal with biology as a concept. As a scientist (I have a MS in biology and taught it for a year at university before starting law school) I find that I really scrutinise it for accuracy (especially biological concepts). I wish they'd actually hire real scientists to make sure that the science is accurate.

But I think your comment about Ahab is intriguing because the whole time I got a strong Moby Dick vibe from film. The movie, in a way, was literally about a ship of people fanatically chasing something giant and white, and everyone dies except the "pure" character (because she had faith the others lacked). I think that's highly criticisable, form a conceptual point of view (I've always disliked Moby Dick because of it), but it's interesting I'm not the only one who got that vibe.

 

[Tom_Cody]

yea, when the movie started after sweeping the landscape; and he shows up - I just thought the SJ looked incredible. Something in the face also had hints at the easter island statues I thought, Just sick looking.

I noticed this as well. I can't wait to get the art book to see what other subtle touches went into the design.

 

[Mr Swine]

Guys, here is what david said to the engineer to make him pissed....

http://youtu.be/ui4EESK1vrM

 

[andycapps]

I wonder, he seemed to scan the room, didn't really react till David spoke.

Then he touched David. Realized he was an android and went berserk?

He didn't even seem to be chasing after Shaw until They crashed into his ship...

I wonder if David told him where she went... more "experiments" to see what happens? Then gave her the heads up he was on the way to make it a fair fight?

He seemed very interested in her survival ability/will. Much like Ash admired the creature in Alien. I think he was testing her, I also wonder if he talked anymore to the engineer after the crash or just shut up

It seems like it was disgust at their creation (Weyland) gone awry and becoming the creator. They'd seemingly seeded life on other planets as well (remember the dropship dropping off the lone engineer, Prometheus) so wiping out the human race on earth wasn't a bad thing for them since they'd started it to begin with. They'd look at it as we'd look at pulling the plug on our creation of androids. We created it so we can turn it off if we want.

Fassbender said that what he said definitely does have an English translation but Scott was opposed to using subtitles to describe it. Fassbender downplayed the importance of it. I'd assume it was a generic greeting to the engineer and saying how nice it was to meet mankind's creator.

Looks like an "elder" escorting a much younger Engineer for sacrifice. At least we have confirmation that the Engineers age.

May not necessarily be an elder Engineer, so much that they could have different classes or breeds. They'd seemingly figured out how to manipulate DNA. The one in the back almost evokes images of a priest to me.

Or it could be an older engineer like you say.

 

[we.are.the.armada]

David could have told the Engineer that he was a synthetic created by humans who were seeking answers from their own creators. This would plausibly put the Engineer is a state of confusion for a moment, and would explain why he touched David - to verify that what he said was indeed true, before realizing how far the human race had advanced while he was asleep, and losing his shit complete.

I wish that I had the dialogue exchanges between David and the group and Shaw after he was decapitated. IIRC David says he was wrong about the engineers or something.

I read on another forum that Ridley mentioned that it doesn't matter what David said, because the SJs felt "superior enough to look upon humans as insects". Still, the SJ's behavior is a little brash.

It would have been amazing if the SJ and David had a dialogue exchange with subtitles!

SJ - "Why are you here?"

David - "We seek eternal life."

SJ - "My Juggernaut detects a facehugger within your ship. You're negligence reprehensible. I must purge you all."

David - "We only have one gun. Our ship isn't armed. Care to give us a head start?"

SJ - "Poor choice of words..."

 

[Anton Sugar]

It was noted earlier, but the Engineer's faces/heads look almost exactly like the Roman "perfection" motifs in a lot of their sculptures. Even looks a little cherubic.

 

[agrajag]

Greek/Roman statues were also very muscular, like the Engineer.

 

[alphaNoid]

How does David know what 3 months looks like in the context of a squid baby?

Human fetuses are measured in length to determine age/growth stages. David simply based his 3 month approximation on size alone, thats all.

 

[we.are.the.armada]

Greek/Roman statues were also very muscular, like the Engineer.

And tiny dingdong too. Or was he wearing a loin cloth? SJs don't have nipples so my bet is that they are the androids of some other super race.

 

[Tom_Cody]

It was noted earlier, but the Engineer's faces/heads look almost exactly like the Roman "perfection" motifs in a lot of their sculptures. Even looks a little cherubic.

Certainly.

This is of course true of the body as well. Additionally, the body of the Sacrifice Engineer is clearly meant to invoke marble.

 

[pel1300]

I bet Shaw returns home in the sequel then has a baby, who she calls Ripley. That would totally tie the films together.

that would be so george lucas

 

[Zoe]

And tiny dingdong too. Or was he wearing a loin cloth? SJs don't have nipples so my bet is that they are the androids of some other super race.

The one posted above has nipples and a belly button.

 

[Endo Punk]

I think this is my favorite behind the scenes Engineer shot. Boy is it great to see practical effects used so well. I consider the Final Engineer to be a new classic movie monster (so to speak).

Just incredble. The Engineers are going down in history as amazing alien design. So simple yet so creepy and effective at the same time. Looks better than every CGI alien or creature shown in the past decade. Love that body costume.

Im also glad they don't use typical fire power in the movie. It would have been so easy to just make them some meat head space soldier with a trigger finger.

 

[we.are.the.armada]

The one posted above has nipples and a belly button.

Ok bellybutton I see but the nipples are covered... is he wearing a muscle suit? Like George Michael in Arrested Development?

 

[Tom_Cody]

Just incredble. The Engineers are going down in history as amazing alien design. So simple yet so creepy and effective at the same time. Looks better than every CGI alien or creature shown in the past decade.

Love that body costume.

Seriously

 

[Tom_Cody]

Ok bellybutton I see but the nipples are covered... is he wearing a muscle suit? Like George Michael in Arrested Development?

Not a suit, but augmented with prosthetics.

http://neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=38909480&postcount=5948

 

[Zoe]

Ok bellybutton I see but the nipples are covered... is he wearing a muscle suit? Like George Michael in Arrested Development?

I don't think they're covered... Just painted to match the rest of the palate.

But yes, it looks like mostly prosthetics aside from his forearms (which look comically small in comparison).

 

[we.are.the.armada]

Not a suit, but augmented with prosthetics.

http://neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=38909480&postcount=5948

Damn that is cool!

Im also glad they don't use typical fire power in the movie. It would have been so easy to just make them some meat head space soldier with a trigger finger.

Yeah, I'm glad that they didn't have SJ using zero logic and attack a group of alien entities with his bare hands not knowing how many of them there were or what weaponry they had. It would have made him seem like a dumb videogame monster. Oh wait...

 

[Dresden]

To be fair, he saw a bunch of creatures half his size and only one of them actually held what could presumably be a weapon.

 

[Endo Punk]

Damn that is cool!



Yeah, I'm glad that they didn't have SJ using zero logic and attack a group of alien entities with his bare hands not knowing how many of them there were or what weaponry they had. It would have made him seem like a dumb videogame monster. Oh wait...

We just saw them running in the hologram. So clearly they were caught off guard and were attacked by something more menacing then them. Prob Stage 4 Xeno.

 

[Bluemercury]

 

[we.are.the.armada]

To be fair, he saw a bunch of creatures half his size and only one of them actually held what could presumably be a weapon.

Everybody else was jumping to conclusions, why not him as well? 100% match

Actually, here is how I think it went down...

Dat booty on the one in the front.

 

[TrAcEr_x90]

So first of all, the intro to the movie in 3D was worth the price alone for me. So in the beginning did the engineer drink that black stuff? So its sort of a weapon and it breaks down molecules? Then some wierd shit happens through the movie so that it keeps evolving into other biomechanical weapons? I swear, I understood the movie better when I read the early script synopsis......

 

[Spectral Glider]

One thing I'm really tired of is people calling the Engineer ships half-eaten donuts, horsehoes, etc.

It's a croissant, you uncultured heathens. A space croissant.

Or it's a giant toilet seat to make way for the massive dump that Ridley took on the audience!

 

[Bluemercury]

this looked interesting:

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

"So how did our (in the context of the film) terrible murderous act of crucifixion end up wiping out all but one of the Engineers back on LV-223? Presumably through the black slime, which evidently models its behaviour on the user's mental state. Create unselfishly, accepting self-destruction as the cost, and the black stuff engenders fertile life. But expose the potent black slimy stuff to the thoughts and emotions of flawed humanity, and 'the sleep of reason produces monsters'. We never see the threat that the Engineers were fleeing from, we never see them killed other than accidentally (decapitation by door), and we see no remaining trace of whatever killed them. Either it left a long time ago, or it reverted to inert black slime, waiting for a human mind to reactivate it.

The black slime reacts to the nature and intent of the being that wields it, and the humans in the film didn't even know that they WERE wielding it. That's why it remained completely inert in David's presence, and why he needed a human proxy in order to use the stuff to create anything. The black goo could read no emotion or intent from him, because he was an android.

Shaw's comment when the urn chamber is entered - 'we've changed the atmosphere in the room' - is deceptively informative. The psychic atmosphere has changed, because humans - tainted, Space Jesus-killing humans - are present. The slime begins to engender new life, drawing not from a self-sacrificing Engineer but from human hunger for knowledge, for more life, for more everything. Little wonder, then, that it takes serpent-like form. The symbolism of a corrupting serpent, turning men into beasts, is pretty unmistakeable."

 

[daviyoung]

Engineers are just less kinky cenobites.

 

[MjFrancis]

David - "We seek eternal life."

That's exactly what David was told to ask the Engineer. Whether he actually said that or not, only Ridley Scott and possibly a few others know. It's not too farfetched to believe it was enough to send him into a temper tantrum moments later.

 

[symphonask]

For those that asked for the ship layout. Click to make big.

 

[agrajag]

plz no space jesus

 

[Neuromancer]

I'm not a big fan of the engineers design. Although there is something to be said for its simplicity, its also seems generic: a stock, pale skin humanoid alien. I think it just doesn't satisfy my expectations for what engineers look like based on the original space jockey from Alien.

I agree 100%. I know why they did it for the purposes of the story but it was disappointing for me personally.

 

[agrajag]

Were you guys really expecting them to look like elephants?

 

[The Elite]

Did the same people who did the makeup on the Jockey do the makeup on Weyland?

 

[TheJollyCorner]

That's exactly what David was told to ask the Engineer. Whether he actually said that or not, only Ridley Scott and possibly a few others know. It's not too farfetched to believe it was enough to send him into a temper tantrum moments later.

unless David believes in 'eternal life' after physical death, so maybe he provoked the Engineer to attack with whatever he said?

I did like when David looks at Weyland and says "Have a good journey"... or something like that, right before Weyland dies. Not sarcastically... it actually seemed lovingly. Well, as 'lovingly' as an android can do.

 

[MjFrancis]

There's always complaint #56 I have on Prometheus: there's no reason to use Guy Pearce in a faceload of make-up when you just could have got any old actor instead. It would have looked more believable, too.

 

[Neuromancer]

Were you guys really expecting them to look like elephants?

I didn't expect them to look like big pale humans. Honestly from the context of Alien there was no way to know that that was just a space suit the one was wearing.

 

[andycapps]

That's complaint #56 I have on Prometheus: there's no reason to use Guy Pearce in a faceload of make-up when you just could have got any old actor instead. It would have looked more believable, too.

Well, the Ted Talks video he did is a small reason. Another is that there was reportedly footage of him as young Weyland in the movie that was cut. There's also possibilities of flashbacks in a sequel.

 

[Aurongel]

Seeing the amazing makeup effects on display here for the SJ makes me really wonder what the hell was going on with Weyland.

 

[daviyoung]

Seeing the amazing makeup effects on display here for the SJ makes me really wonder what the hell was going on with Weyland.

If the engineers spoke and needed characterization there would be similar complaints I think. Most of their scenes don't focus on facial expressions.

In India at the beginning with the flashback. It's not said that it's India, but they fairly obviously look like Hindus, and the girl and her father appear to be Christian missionaries. Even if it's not explicit the sense that it gives is that they are Christian missionaries there to help them out of poverty and teach them about Christ (the fact that the father is cooking in a dinged tin pot emphasizes this).

Well, in 70 years India will probably be a wealthy country anyway. But we still don't know how that wealth would be distributed. Could be an extreme scenario with even more poverty.

 

[Neuromancer]

Wasn't Weyland's life extended long beyond natural means through various medical technologies? That would account for him looking so weird. Can't remember if they actually said that or if I imagined it.

 

[daviyoung]

I remember reading/hearing he was around 114 years old.

 

[watershed]

Were you guys really expecting them to look like elephants?

I didn't know what to expect but I remember seeing a sketch or reading something about how the original space jockey was wearing a helmet/suit so the whole elephant structure wasn't set in stone for me.

But I was expecting something long and thin, a bit like the xeno itself. And more than anything I was hoping for a better characterization of the space jockey race that had become mythic due to Alien.

But the most prominent engineer we see doesn't have any character at all. I would have been happy with some more explicit religious stuff just to give the engineers more depth.

 

[Branduil]

So the Engineers were played by really tall guys?

 

[Count Dookkake]

Were you guys really expecting them to look like elephants?

Well, that's what they looked like in the comics, so I can see some people expecting that.

 

[Zoe]

I remember reading/hearing he was around 114 years old.

He was supposed to have been born in 1990.

So the Engineers were played by really tall guys?

The last one is the predator from the AvP movies. He's 7'1".

 

[TheJollyCorner]

I remember reading/hearing he was around 114 years old.

He was born in 1990, according to the corporate timeline.

He would have been just shy of 100 for Prometheus, no?

edit: beaten by Zoe.

 

[daviyoung]

99 years old then. I wonder if that's a significant number, one year off a century.

 

[Dead]

 

[agrajag]

Well, that's what they looked like in the comics, so I can see some people expecting that.

Are those really canon though? Honest question, I'm not familiar with the comics.