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[Joe Shlabotnik]

Anyone got an answer to my first "?"

48FPS - yes or no or maybe or I'm going blind/vision loss?

No. Well, one or two shots in the Engineer Vs. Facehugger fight kind of looked like he did that strobing effect where he shot in a higher speed and then cut it to 24 fps, but that could have just been my imagination. And it's still 24 fps.

The movie does not actually have a ton of fast-moving action or pans--Scott really does know how to shoot in 3D--so it all looked great.

 

[3N16MA]

Quick question was the movie 48FPS or parts of it

My eyes went Whoa! at the start with the falls and DNA sequence, it looked good, so clear and real

I was really happy... please tell me my eyes weren't deceiving me

I enjoyed the movie a lot, damn the haters!

Dariusz Wolski:

Was there any discussion of shooting it at 48 fps?

No, that’s Peter Jackson’s idea. I have not seen it but I’ve heard that it becomes so crisp and so sharp that it becomes bothersome. And really, few theatres are set up for it.

 

[GraveRobberX]

Thnx for the replies

There was some motion+ bullshit during the beginning sequence, I swear, the water/cloud scenes at the start made me go hey wait a minute

It was like extra frames... Fucking GAF has made me into believing in counting frames... Fuck My Life

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Speaking about the whole "they were going back to destroy us" thing. Supposedly the albinos were going to do that more than 2000 years ago before they got killed themselves..but the movie establishes at the beginning that they had visited mayan and hawaiian civilizations...those didn't exist 2000 years ago.

Unless there was old Hawaiian text reading "Breaking news: Big white aliens showed up last week", I can buy that it was a motif passed down through the generations.

 

[JB1981]

Unless there was old Hawaiian text reading "Breaking news: Big white aliens showed up last week", I can buy that it was a motif passed down through the generations.

yes but wasn't the discovery signficant because the pictograms were found by civilizations that were separated by centuries and had no contact whatosever?

also, i watched the hbo behind the scenes for this yesterday and the guy who plays charlie halloway seemed as big a douche in real life as the character.

 

[SquiddyCracker]

Just watched this movie and while I enjoyed it, there were so many questions I almost hated it.

 

[FStop7]

The megahugger vs. engineer struggle was one of the few occasions when I really felt sheer physical strength was well conveyed in a film. There was no need for parlor tricks or special effects like metal walls being punched through. It was done through acting and very good CGI. It reminded me of the death struggle between a spider and an angry wasp caught in its web.

 

[Deified Data]

Seeing this in 3D Imax this weekend. Can't wait.

 

[mantidor]

The megahugger vs. engineer struggle was one of the few occasions when I really felt sheer physical strength was well conveyed in a film. There was no need for parlor tricks or special effects like metal walls being punched through. It was done through acting and very good CGI. It reminded me of the death struggle between a spider and an angry wasp caught in its web.

You know I have to agree, that was a very well made scene. You really didn't know who was going to win that one.

 

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

You know I have to agree, that was a very well made scene. You really didn't know who was going to win that one.

Another scene with no dialogue being singled out as good, it should have been a silent film.

 

[MNC]

Apparently, according to the linguist guy on Prometheus, David and the Engineer actually had a full blown conversation that was cut, rather than just what David uttered to the engineer.



Also he revealed what David said to the Engineer:



http://thebioscopist.com/2012/06/20/the-linguistics-of-prometheus-what-david-says-to-the-engineer/


Now we have two people who worked on the film saying there will be a director's cut.

Holy shit.


Y'know this movie as a concept is just so fucking amazing and awesome. Theatrical execution was just a bit shake-y. There's just sooooo much bts stuff like this that's just begging to go in the full movie. A full blown conversation... Amazing! And I love how we actually have confirmation from the actual language professor!

I am now convinced I actually love prometheus once you hear it from alot of the angles and I want to view it again with new found knowledge.

 

[Deified Data]

Another scene with no dialogue being singled out as good, it should have been a silent film.

What's the point of this post? There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

 

[agrajag]

Thnx for the replies

There was some motion+ bullshit during the beginning sequence, I swear, the water/cloud scenes at the start made me go hey wait a minute

It was like extra frames... Fucking GAF has made me into believing in counting frames... Fuck My Life

I saw no such thing.

also, i watched the hbo behind the scenes for this yesterday and the guy who plays charlie halloway seemed as big a douche in real life as the character.

Is such a thing even possible?

The megahugger vs. engineer struggle was one of the few occasions when I really felt sheer physical strength was well conveyed in a film. There was no need for parlor tricks or special effects like metal walls being punched through. It was done through acting and very good CGI. It reminded me of the death struggle between a spider and an angry wasp caught in its web.

Yeah, I was almost rooting for the Engineer, like "come on, he's so big and strong, he could get out!"

 

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

What's the point of this post? There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

The fact that anything involving characters, story or plot is messy and hard to like but the moments of the film that rely wholly on Scott's visual talents end up the only things people can really hold onto as been good.

 

[Maxrunner]

The megahugger vs. engineer struggle was one of the few occasions when I really felt sheer physical strength was well conveyed in a film. There was no need for parlor tricks or special effects like metal walls being punched through. It was done through acting and very good CGI. It reminded me of the death struggle between a spider and an angry wasp caught in its web.

The concept art for that scene looked better,because the facehugger is more reminiscent of the one in alien but i understand, why they made it bigger. After all the Enginner is like a much stronger Human so they wanted to convey that you would need a very strong creature...

 

[commedieu]

The megahugger vs. engineer struggle was one of the few occasions when I really felt sheer physical strength was well conveyed in a film. There was no need for parlor tricks or special effects like metal walls being punched through. It was done through acting and very good CGI. It reminded me of the death struggle between a spider and an angry wasp caught in its web.

agreed. The weight of the characters actions/tension in the muscles/jockeying for position..

 

[mantidor]

The fact that anything involving characters, story or plot is messy and hard to like but the moments of the film that rely wholly on Scott's visual talents end up the only things people can really hold onto as been good.

I think the acting was fine, given the script. When Shaw tells the captain he knows what he has to do or there would be "no home to go back to" (ruined by the spoilerish trailer, those bastards), how he ponders for a second and knows he has to take action, and gives Vickers a few minutes to go, that whole scene, as an isolated scene, is extremely good. What got us there, the reasons, motivation of the enginners, etc, is whats terrible.

In summary, is the script itself that is atrocious.

 

[Deified Data]

The fact that anything involving characters, story or plot is messy and hard to like but the moments of the film that rely wholly on Scott's visual talents end up the only things people can really hold onto as been good.

So it's a very visual movie. The human characters are largely secondary to the pervasive sense of mystery and slowly-building dread. A "story" can be told without tired archetypes relating to one another. What characters and plot were you expecting, outside of scientists seeking the unobtainable and not liking what they find? We have a crew with loosely-defined motivations who essentially serve as alien fodder. Story and character-wise, how is Prometheus different from Alien?

 

[Freshmaker]

Anyone got an answer to my first "?"

48FPS - yes or no or maybe or I'm going blind/vision loss?

Proof 48fps fears are groundless.

 

[Robot Pants]

I think I'd put Resurrection over Prometheus. Not that Resurrection is good, but it's somewhat more entertaining than this and maybe more coherent even.

See? At least someone agrees.

 

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

So it's a very visual movie. The human characters are largely secondary to the pervasive sense of mystery and slowly-building dread. A "story" can be told without tired archetypes relating to one another. What characters and plot were you expecting, outside of scientists seeking the unobtainable and not liking what they find? We have a crew with loosely-defined motivations who essentially serve as alien fodder. Story and character-wise, how is Prometheus different from Alien?

The fact that the people involved felt real and acted in a way that makes sense with their job and standing in the crew, and that Alien was not just visually elegant but had a true feeling of growing thread and danger.


Just look at the scene where Ripley goes down to the bowls of the ship to look over the repair job, the outwardly playful power battle that's laced with contempt is aeons ahead of anything in Pro.

Ones a masterpiece and the over is an OK movie that looks amazing.

I think the acting was fine, given the script.

Dude, no shit to the actors, the cast for the most part was outstanding.
If they had a naturalistic, human script like Alien they would have been up to the task.

 

[MNC]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgfDnflqMGA

What a fucking stunning intro this movie had. The vistas are fucking superb. Can someone provide me with some gorgeous wallpapers of this movie? It also had the best 3D I've ever seen in a movie, I was blown away. Avatar got nothing on that.

I love how I'm probably the only one making a positive turn around. I'm just a sucker for this particular origin story, that's great at a concept level.

 

[Robot Pants]

Thats 1 moment. Again, Prometheus has 30... and the script is horrible. And the characters don't react to one another. Ever.

Space truckers knew to quarantine.
Scientists didn't.

But, feel free to continue the "BUH BUH BUH Alien had a stupid moment too! So that means its ok for Prometheus to be 2 hours of them." argument.

"Why does shaw have staples in her gut?"
- Never came up.

I agree with this post.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0511541/board/nest/200320105

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0511541/board/nest/199747508

About all the LOST writing stuff, I have no problem admitting I liked LOST. In fact I was utterly addicted to it the first 2-3 seasons. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride from beginning to end. But I'm not going to sit here and say the story wasn't full of plot holes and overall didn't have a cohesive story. That's my huge problem with Prometheus. Stuff like that is ok for a FOX tv show to pass the time, but it shouldn't be happening at Ridley Scott level sci-fi. Especially not nowadays.

Whatevs. I was super excited for this movie (was on media blackout except for the two trailers), so my expectations weren't out of line. I knew what I should have expected from this movie, and it was simply not any good.
5/10

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

So it's a very visual movie. The human characters are largely secondary to the pervasive sense of mystery and slowly-building dread. A "story" can be told without tired archetypes relating to one another. What characters and plot were you expecting, outside of scientists seeking the unobtainable and not liking what they find? We have a crew with loosely-defined motivations who essentially serve as alien fodder. Story and character-wise, how is Prometheus different from Alien?

It's not a "visual" movie. Tree Of Life is a visual movie, because while it is not silent, there is comparatively little dialogue. There is lots and lots of dialogue in Prometheus, and exposition, and dialogue, and voice over, and dialogue. Nothing about the movie suggests that it's meant to be a "silent" movie, except that almost everything everyone says is terrible.

And the story only resembles Alien if you pull it back as far as "a crew goes into outer space and finds something unexpected". Even by the end of Prometheus we can't quite define the threat. That's pretty much the exact opposite of ALIEN. Who or what is the antagonist in Prometheus? Black goo? David? Vickers? Weyland? The Engineer that shows up in the last ten minutes? The crew can't be "alien fodder" when there isn't an alien around.

 

[effzee]

David said they were about to leave for Earth when shit hit the fan, and that was 2000 years ago. Lindelof pretty much confirmed that by saying one could take a good guess as to what made them change their minds about mankind 2000 years ago (and of course, Scott went ahead and mentioned Space Jesus).

... But yeah, there were cave paintings from around 600 AD, at the beginning...

Ok so I am still confused. Let me get this straight

2000 years ago Engineers got mad at mankind and were on their way to destroy life on Earth. Something happened to change their mind. How does this relate to Jesus besides the date (2000 years ago). Space Jesus?

And whatever made them change their mind let to their demise?

 

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

The crew can't be "alien fodder" when there isn't an alien around.

Also I think I would have like a movie just watching the crew of the Nostromo as a drama, the
class system, the way they treat travelling billions of miles as something banal.
The Alien could never show up and there would still something special to watch.

Ok so I am still confused. Let me get this straight

2000 years ago Engineers got mad at mankind and were on their way to destroy life on Earth. Something happened to change their mind. How does this relate to Jesus besides the date (2000 years ago). Space Jesus?

And whatever made them change their mind let to their demise?

You'll have to tune in to the next season to find out.

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

Ok so I am still confused. Let me get this straight

2000 years ago Engineers got mad at mankind and were on their way to destroy life on Earth. Something happened to change their mind. How does this relate to Jesus besides the date (2000 years ago). Space Jesus?

And whatever made them change their mind let to their demise?

The idea is that either Jesus was an Engineer or was some kind of emissary for them, and we crucified him. So they were furious with us and gave up on us and were on their way to wipe us out with their black goo bioweapon when it got out of control.

 

[MarshMellow96]

‘This man is here because he does not want to die. He believes you can give him more life’.

 

[Dwight Schrute]

The idea is that either Jesus was an Engineer or was some kind of emissary for them, and we crucified him. So they were furious with us and gave up on us and were on their way to wipe us out with their black goo bioweapon when it got out of control.

How can you deduce this from the movie ?

Too far reading/fetched imo.

 

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

‘This man is here because he does not want to die. He believes you can give him more life, fucker’.

.

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

How can you deduce this from the movie ?

Too far reading imo.

It's largely pulled from comments by Scott and Lindelof. I think it is a stretch to pull that directly from the movie, although I do think there is enough between the "2,000 years old" line and the emphasis on Christian imagery that "something to do with Jesus" is a valid read of the movie.

 

[Robot Pants]

I'm interested in seeing the directors cut. I always thought this movie moved way too fast and never took its time with anything. Needed to be at LEAST 30 minutes longer. It was barely 2 hours to begin with.
Directors cut will probably be an entirely different movie.

 

[SquiddyCracker]

Ok so I am still confused. Let me get this straight

2000 years ago Engineers got mad at mankind and were on their way to destroy life on Earth. Something happened to change their mind. How does this relate to Jesus besides the date (2000 years ago). Space Jesus?

And whatever made them change their mind let to their demise?

I honestly don't think the Engineers were ever happy for the humans, at best they probably tried to turn us a bit more civilized, Humanity was kinda like a surprise babby that they couldn't straight-forward eliminate out of some sense of responsibility, but once we killed one of their messengers (Jesus at the year zero; sent to try to teach us lessons) they had enough justification to kill us.

They still felt responsible for us though, so they basically gave us a chance of survival so long as we never developed space-faring capabilities, and did so by seeding the world with rockpaintings and art of one of their "nuclear silos".

The reason the ship in Prometheus was heading for earth was because of their weapons mis-firing on themselves, and they realized that any humans heading to this planet would die out too quick to return to earth to finish the job - so they set course for Earth, hoping to release the goo straight at the source.

The engineer in the movie was just straight-up pissed that their plan had failed, and that one of their "children" had the audacity to demand life.

 

[MarshMellow96]

‘This man is here because he does not want to die. He believes you can give him more life, father’.

Ridley'd.

 

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

Ridley'd.

I don't know which version I prefer, 'fucker' has more impact but 'father' highlights the conflict of emotion his gone though better.

 

[Deified Data]

It's not a "visual" movie. Tree Of Life is a visual movie, because while it is not silent, there is comparatively little dialogue. There is lots and lots of dialogue in Prometheus, and exposition, and dialogue, and voice over, and dialogue. Nothing about the movie suggests that it's meant to be a "silent" movie, except that almost everything everyone says is terrible.

And the story only resembles Alien if you pull it back as far as "a crew goes into outer space and finds something unexpected". Even by the end of Prometheus we can't quite define the threat. That's pretty much the exact opposite of ALIEN. Who or what is the antagonist in Prometheus? Black goo? David? Vickers? Weyland? The Engineer that shows up in the last ten minutes? The crew can't be "alien fodder" when there isn't an alien around.

I can talk about Prometheus for hours after having seen the movie, while Alien inspired no such feeling in me. I can understand why you'd dislike a movie with so many lose ends, but can you not understand why I prefer it? This coming from someone who considers The Blair Witch Project to be the greatest horror film of all time.

And "visual" movies needn't necessarily be "silent" or even lacking in dialogue, all it suggests to me is a distinct focus. I'm hardly a movie critic, but I know what I like.

 

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

This coming from someone who considers The Blair Witch Project to be the greatest horror film of all time.

Oh.

 

[MarshMellow96]

I don't know which version I prefer, 'fucker' has more impact but 'father' highlights the conflict of emotion his gone though better.

I don't think 'fucker' does anything that 'father' can't do, to be honest.

 

[Messypandas]

I'm glad Engy flipped his shit when David asked him that. The dudes bequeathed us with life and yet we're always wanting more

 

[Deified Data]

Oh.

I bow to the awesome might of your objective wisdom, then.

Could you suggest an alternative so I can see where we differ?

 

[mantidor]

I can talk about Prometheus for hours after having seen the movie, while Alien inspired no such feeling in me. I can understand why you'd dislike a movie with so many lose ends, but can you not understand why I prefer it? This coming from someone who considers The Blair Witch Project to be the greatest horror film of all time.

And "visual" movies needn't necessarily be "silent" or even lacking in dialogue, all it suggests to me is a distinct focus. I'm hardly a movie critic, but I know what I like.

I enjoy movies with lose ends, that is not the problem with Prometheus, the problem is actual bad writing, as in, you don't know why things happen, they just, and no one reacts to anything, or react in completely incomprehensible ways, that are also never explained.

 

[brandonh83]

I can talk about Prometheus for hours after having seen the movie, while Alien inspired no such feeling in me. I can understand why you'd dislike a movie with so many lose ends, but can you not understand why I prefer it? This coming from someone who considers The Blair Witch Project to be the greatest horror film of all time

I like you.

 

[effzee]

I honestly don't think the Engineers were ever happy for the humans, at best they probably tried to turn us a bit more civilized, Humanity was kinda like a surprise babby that they couldn't straight-forward eliminate out of some sense of responsibility, but once we killed one of their messengers (Jesus at the year zero; sent to try to teach us lessons) they had enough justification to kill us.

They still felt responsible for us though, so they basically gave us a chance of survival so long as we never developed space-faring capabilities, and did so by seeding the world with rockpaintings and art of one of their "nuclear silos".

The reason the ship in Prometheus was heading for earth was because of their weapons mis-firing on themselves, and they realized that any humans heading to this planet would die out too quick to return to earth to finish the job - so they set course for Earth, hoping to release the goo straight at the source.

The engineer in the movie was just straight-up pissed that their plan had failed, and that one of their "children" had the audacity to demand life.

See I get this and I even like this theory but it doesn't add up with some of the stuff in the movie and NONE of it is even hinted at in the movie. Its all interviews or theories online.

I really am liking it less and less now. I left so impressed but now its just annoying to even think about.

 

[SquiddyCracker]

See I get this and I even like this theory but it doesn't add up with some of the stuff in the movie and NONE of it is even hinted at in the movie. Its all interviews or theories online.

I really am liking it less and less now. I left so impressed but now its just annoying to even think about.

True, a lot of the theories are based on the interviews and other stuff outside of the actual movie.
What I thought whilst watching the movie, was that there were perhaps two Engineer factions warring war - why else make super lethal weapons that work against your own physiology?
So one was at earth teaching and being wise, and pointer towards one of their embassy planets, but unfortunately, the faction that wanted us death won the battle, set up a weapon's manufactory at the planet of the benevolent faction but were killed by their own weapons before they managed to get to earth.

Perfectly explains the reaction of the Engineer as he sees the crew.

 

[Freshmaker]

Ok so I am still confused. Let me get this straight

2000 years ago Engineers got mad at mankind and were on their way to destroy life on Earth. Something happened to change their mind. How does this relate to Jesus besides the date (2000 years ago). Space Jesus?

And whatever made them change their mind let to their demise?

Just from the movie, a more plausible reading of the events IMO goes like this:

The planet wasn't a weapons bunker. It was their interplanetary hub. Something went very badly with their terraforming black goo which gave rise to a plague that decimated the planet's population. (Which would explain the decapitation hologram etc.)

With the world dying, they likely set their sights on a planet they knew supported humanoid life. Rather than compete with humans, they planned to reterraform the planet so they could move in with what remained of their population unopposed.

At best that way, humans killing an emissary would only mean that cohabitation was an option they'd grayed out. Them going all vengeful over one guy when they actively kill themselves to seed planets doesn't scan at all.

In any case, the planet the map pointed to must have suffered a massive disaster 2000 years ago. I can't think of any other reason the other Engineers wouldn't do stuff like say investigate a downed ship/facility.

 

[effzee]

True, a lot of the theories are based on the interviews and other stuff outside of the actual movie.
What I thought whilst watching the movie, was that there were perhaps two Engineer factions warring war - why else make super lethal weapons that work against your own physiology?
So one was at earth teaching and being wise, and pointer towards one of their embassy planets, but unfortunately, the faction that wanted us death won the battle, set up a weapon's manufactory at the planet of the benevolent faction but were killed by their own weapons before they managed to get to earth.

Perfectly explains the reaction of the Engineer as he sees the crew.

What I honestly thought as I was watching the movie was completely different. In that I didn't event try to piece together all the theories. In fact I was enjoying the movie as a sci fi action movie but at that time the only things that really bothered me were the character interactions and lack of logic on display by supposed elite scientists. That and it seemed to jump from certain scenes to another almost as if something was missing to explain things.

The theory stuff I only found out about and got upset about after reading the thread. And not in a let me jump on the bandwagon way, but in a "Yeah you are right none of it makes sense!"

 

[Deified Data]

True, a lot of the theories are based on the interviews and other stuff outside of the actual movie.
What I thought whilst watching the movie, was that there were perhaps two Engineer factions warring war - why else make super lethal weapons that work against your own physiology?
So one was at earth teaching and being wise, and pointer towards one of their embassy planets, but unfortunately, the faction that wanted us death won the battle, set up a weapon's manufactory at the planet of the benevolent faction but were killed by their own weapons before they managed to get to earth.

Perfectly explains the reaction of the Engineer as he sees the crew.

I really like this theory, it's one I've ascribed to myself.

 

[Spotless Mind]

I'm interested in seeing the directors cut. I always thought this movie moved way too fast and never took its time with anything. Needed to be at LEAST 30 minutes longer. It was barely 2 hours to begin with.
Directors cut will probably be an entirely different movie.

There are some extremely jarring edits where you could tell they ripped entire scenes out. The engineer showing up suddenly in the escape pod was particularly obvious. There could have been (and if i'm not mistaken there was) a tension filled sequence as we see Shaw scramble to hide or come up with a plan, but the engineer literally, and awkwardly, appears seconds after David's warning and she dispatches him instantly. So much for build-up!

I think the script is still a mess filled with atrocious dialogue and blatant narrative conveniences, but putting back in some moments of downtime where characters react would help the pacing and suspense immensely.

Cutting the scene of Janek consoling Vickers after frying Holloway was a huge mistake. Seems they only discarded it so they could maintain the utterly pointless ambiguity of whether she was an android. Ugh...

 

[JB1981]

Ridley said the first cut was 2:27 .. Something like that, just longer scenes. I hope he's downplaying how different a possible DC might be

 

[Mush]

Did anyone else immediately know what they were getting themselves into once they saw Damon Lindelof's name in the opening titles? I wasn't all that clued up on the writers and stuff going in so my reaction was like "Hey, I know that guy! He was one of the crew on Los... oh fuck."