PROMETHEUS UNMARKED SPOILER THREAD!

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LOVED LOVED LOVED IT. But one thing i did not get is why was that humanoid in the beginning of the movie committing suicide.
 
LOVED LOVED LOVED IT. But one thing i did not get is why was that humanoid in the beginning of the movie committing suicide.

He was spreading his seed, creating conditions for humans to arrive and evolve, but as even the actual movie points out, it makes no sense because of evolution. Their biotech is instant in every other scenario, but somehow millions of years long to make crappy little versions of themselves via a common ape vector. Which they then get mad at, for lord knows what. Maybe they are mad at people for inventing fire. Because we haven't actually done much else by the time they get mad.
 
He was spreading his seed, creating conditions for humans to arrive and evolve, but as even the actual movie points out, it makes no sense because of evolution. Their biotech is instant in every other scenario, but somehow millions of years long to make crappy little versions of themselves via a common ape vector. Which they then get mad at, for lord knows what. Maybe they are mad at people for inventing fire. Because we haven't actually done much else by the time they get mad.

Probably the one time I'll come to the defense of this movie. The evolution argument is wholly separate and not really applicable. The movie goes out to create a different "creation" story completely for its own universe, not our reality.
 
Everytime someone says they don't understand the opening sequence in this movie, take a drink.

brb killing myself
 
Things we can assume are "true" from what is explicitly said in the movie:

1- Engineers created humans, then changed their minds and decided to destroy them.
2- The moon is a military installation, their home planet is somewhere else.
3- It contains bioweapons that ended up turning back on the engineers.
4- There are three rooms visited in the titty-base: one is a cargo hold full of stacked jars, containing the bio-weapons, these are placed in an orderly fashion horizontally on top of one another. One is the control deck which also contains sleeping beds. One is specifically a tomb, which has a giant humanoid-head, murals of an engineer punching a creature in the head, an altar with a green stone, and a mural of a xenomorph in what looks like a religiously-significant pose, right in the center of the room, above the altar.

For some reason the tomb appears to contain the same kind of jars as those found in the cargo hold, but placed on the floor vertically. It's a bit weird for them to be there in the tomb when there are countless others stacked in the cargo hold. If this has any significance, I don't know.

The script is really poorly written, so either these things mean something, or they don't.

edit: Thinking about it, I think the xenomorph mural is basically shown as a "savior" for the engineers, as if the Xenomorph is something they hold in high regard, so its position in the room with the engineer-punching-an-alien on the side is meaningful. It means the engineers battle and defeat the other aliens under the guidance or the power of the Xenomorphs, who would be actually above them. So maybe the engineers are the worker-species of the Xenomorphs? They create life to help the Xenomorphs eventually reproduce.

That would be pretty sinister: the Xenomorphs are actually the gods? The Zergs!

I think that may be where the sequel is headed. The Engineers are the Titans, they are Prometheus, spreading knowledge and the gift of life. Not mankind. But then why did they want to kill us? And what went wrong on that ship?
 
He was spreading his seed, creating conditions for humans to arrive and evolve, but as even the actual movie points out, it makes no sense because of evolution. Their biotech is instant in every other scenario, but somehow millions of years long to make crappy little versions of themselves via a common ape vector. Which they then get mad at, for lord knows what. Maybe they are mad at people for inventing fire. Because we haven't actually done much else by the time they get mad.

umm I don't think the black goo had anything to do with the evolution, the engineer's DNA did, which traveled alone in the waters. Let's just say that the organism, which shared same acids just took many different paths, other animals and something as similar as the engineers, for the environment plays a big role in evolution. But yeah, that would also alter our DNA, so no matter the origin it can't be 100% match.
 
Yeah, I think it was panspermia or something. Makes no sense like the entire movie.

How in the world did it make no sense? It shows that the Engineers created humans. Which is the whole point of the movie. Finding humanity's creator.

So what is the next sci-fi movie coming that will actually deliver? My money is on either Elysium or Riddick.

Isn't Star Trek 2 out before them? The "first" Star Trek was probably the most enjoyable sci-fi movie in the last 5 years. Pure pulpy space opera fun.
 
You know what's really hilarious about all of this? GAF's favorite whipping boy, Avatar, is a much, much, much better written film than Prometheus. Yes, Cameron uses a lot of cliche and cheeseball lines, and the story is one we've seen recycled for a century, but the plot and the characters actually make sense, even if they are a bit shallow, and the movie has a sense of structure and pace completely absent in this.
I (finally?) watched Avatar a few days ago and thought the exact same thing.
 
Illustrated Xenomorph conception, drawn by H.R. Giger:

cGXq7.jpg

If the picture is considered canon, it kinda implies that there has to be female Engineers, right? Or did the Engineers experiment on human females.

The beginning of the film implies that they have no problem sacrificing themselves to create life.
 
So what is the next sci-fi movie coming that will actually deliver? My money is on either Elysium or Riddick.

There's also Gravity by the Children of Men guy but I hate Sandra Bullock so the movie is already partly ruined for me. edit - beaten
 
I think that may be where the sequel is headed. The Engineers are the Titans, they are Prometheus, spreading knowledge and the gift of life. Not mankind. But then why did they want to kill us? And what went wrong on that ship?

Like I said, I think the mural and tomb demonstrate that the engineers are not the gods, they are the servants of the Xenomorphs.

The tomb has "black goo" in what looks like ceremonial vases that leads to the creation of Xenomorphs, it's seemingly very virulent. And in that same room, there is an altar, with a Jesus-posed Xenomorph above it, as if holding it in high esteem. On the side is a mural with an Engineer punching an alien creature.

So the whole room implies: xenomorphs = holy and god-like, engineers = fighters/servants.

It's like the engineers are actually working to "grow" humans, and then use them as hosts for the Xenomorphs. Not to use the Xenomorphs as a weapon, but rather to provide with Xenomorphs (gods) with a reproductive mean.
 
Isn't Star Trek 2 out before them? The "first" Star Trek was probably the most enjoyable sci-fi movie in the last 5 years. Pure pulpy space opera fun.

It is, but I'm wary of it due to the Lindelof factor.

I (finally?) watched Avatar a few days ago and thought the exact same thing.

Yep. It's cliched and formulaic, but it's still incredibly well constructed and executed.
 
If Lindelof writes Star Trek 2 most of the crew will be atheist except 1 character who 'has faith' and is 'strong against all odds' and he/she manages to overcome the other pessimistic, realistic assholes by turning out to be right. Then everyone will drop to their knees and say sorry you were right we shouldn't have ever doubted etc.

Also everyone on the ship will be revealed to be created by a superior power, and a main character will die in space, floating with arms extended in Christ imagery as he falls into the sun. Super metaphorical.
 
It is, but I'm wary of it due to the Lindelof factor.

Abrams was ever to overcome a crummy screenplay from the peerless duo of Orci/Kurtzman, but if they combine with Lindelof, forming the unholy Hollywood Hackatron? I don't even think PTA can beat that shit.
 
If Lindelof writes Star Trek 2 most of the crew will be atheist except 1 character who 'has faith' and is 'strong against all odds' and he/she manages to overcome the other pessimistic, realistic assholes by turning out to be right. Then everyone will drop to their knees and say sorry you were right we shouldn't have ever doubted etc.

Is he religious?
 
Like I said, I think the mural and tomb demonstrate that the engineers are not the gods, they are the servants of the Xenomorphs.

The tomb has "black goo" in what looks like ceremonial vases that leads to the creation of Xenomorphs, it's seemingly very virulent. And in that same room, there is an altar, with a Jesus-posed Xenomorph above it, as if holding it in high esteem. On the side is a mural with an Engineer punching an alien creature.

So the whole room implies: xenomorphs = holy and god-like, engineers = fighters/servants.

It's like the engineers are actually working to "grow" humans, and then use them as hosts for the Xenomorphs. Not to use the Xenomorphs as a weapon, but rather to provide with Xenomorphs (gods) with a reproductive mean.

That does make a lot of sense with that room. That whole room is the most interesting thing about the movie. A shame we didn't get to fully explore its content and discover what it really meant. But that alien mural certainly tells us that the xenomorphs already exist or have for quite some time. I really wanted to know what that green stone was, and what the other mural with the engineer meant. I'm willing to bet there was more murals in that room that they didn't show.
 
That does make a lot of sense with that room. That whole room is the most interesting thing about the movie. A shame we didn't get to fully explore its content and discover what it really meant. But that alien mural certainly tells us that the xenomorphs already exist or have for quite some time. I really wanted to know what that green stone was, and what the other mural with the engineer meant. I'm willing to bet there was more murals in that room that they didn't show.

The green stone seemed to be on a coffin. It might even contain a Xenomorph, a "god", with the vases being much like the equivalent of the Chinese emperor's guards statues in China:p

edit: In fact, the coffin might symbolize an "egg", the giant head might symbolize the "host". The Xenomorph is above the head, is symbolizes what becomes of the union: the birth of the godly Xenomorphs.
 
Abrams was ever to overcome a crummy screenplay from the peerless duo of Orci/Kurtzman, but if they combine with Lindelof, forming the unholy Hollywood Hackatron? I don't even think PTA can beat that shit.

I would tend to put more of ST2009's success on the shoulders of the great cast and their amazing chemistry than on Abrams, but you aren't wrong - he managed to turn what should have been a turd on paper into a fine piece of blockbuster filmmaking.
 
The green stone seemed to be on a coffin. It might even contain a Xenomorph, a "god", with the vases being much like the equivalent of the Chinese emperor's guards statues in China:p

Maaaaaaan, they should of just made the whole movie about that room. It's so far more interesting. Also, didn't we seen hologram engineers enter that room before we saw the last one fall and had its head decapitated? Where were they?
 
It is, but I'm wary of it due to the Lindelof factor.



Yep. It's cliched and formulaic, but it's still incredibly well constructed and executed.

Lindelof was heavily involved in the first films script, he just wasn't credited as a writer.
 
I can't see how a sequel would work, to be honest. Especially if it revolves around David and Shaw going to the homeworld of the Engineers. Are we supposed to believe that despite all that's happened with the Engineers, they'll be able to even land on the home world, let alone be given time to sit down with a cup tea with Lord Engineerzo for a meaningful discussion?

And outside of that, what would the story possibly be if were something new within the universe?
 
Yes... like saying "This is a galactic system, and in this system there is a sun! And close to that sun is what seems to be a planet, and it has a moon that supports life!!".

HOLY SHIT. Did the person who wrote that even have a slight comprehension of high-school-level astronomy?
Oh come on, I thought the briefing scene was one of the worst in the movie but you don't have to make up your own dialogue to make it worse than it is.

He said something along the line of "In our galaxy there is only one system that matches, and that system has one planet, and that planet has only one moon capable of supporting life."

Big deal.
 
Maaaaaaan, they should of just made the whole movie about that room. It's so far more interesting. Also, didn't we seen hologram engineers enter that room before we saw the last one fall and had its head decapitated? Where were they?

Yeah they went in, but they fell in a plot hole. Or they came back out later on, it's not clear.
 
I would tend to put more of ST2009's success on the shoulders of the great cast and their amazing chemistry than on Abrams, but you aren't wrong - he managed to turn what should have been a turd on paper into a fine piece of blockbuster filmmaking.

Oh yeah, you're right, it's a combination of Abrams confident direction and the absolutely fantastic cast they turned a script with that many plot contrivances and weak-as-hell villain into one of the better blockbuster movies of the past few years. Those qualities all confirmed to be back makes me a little more confident.
 
Everytime someone says they don't understand the opening sequence in this movie, take a drink.

brb killing myself
Everytime somebody doesn't get why the biologist and the other guy were trying to be friendly to the alien life form in the face of certain death, I slam a nail into my hand.

My hand is pulp now.
 
Everytime somebody doesn't get why the biologist and the other guy were trying to be friendly to the alien life form in the face of certain death, I slam a nail into my hand.

My hand is pulp now.

Wait, how is a glorified eel supposed to be "certain death"? Sure, we as the audience know that, but there is no reason at all the characters would or should know that.
 
Is he religious?
I suspect he's mostly betting on the viewers loving that kind of stuff...
Plus it's kinda self-serving: "don't be like those skeptical, critical scientific guys (nerds!), don't question the plot: it's all about spirituality and feeling all warm and cozy inside as you watch the characters cry!"


Oh come on, I thought the briefing scene was one of the worst in the movie but you don't have to make up your own dialogue to make it worse than it is.
He said something along the line of "In our galaxy there is only one system that matches, and that system has one planet, and that planet has only one moon capable of supporting life."
Nope, Ether_Snake's version is a lot closer, actually.
 
Is he religious?

No, he's quite the opposite. What angry fork said about him there is absolute nonsense... Are we supposed to side with Shaw to such an extent we support her reckless pursuits and faith? No. The film rebukes faith. It marks it as misguided, irrelevant and dangerous in some cases.
 
Like I said, I think the mural and tomb demonstrate that the engineers are not the gods, they are the servants of the Xenomorphs.

The tomb has "black goo" in what looks like ceremonial vases that leads to the creation of Xenomorphs, it's seemingly very virulent. And in that same room, there is an altar, with a Jesus-posed Xenomorph above it, as if holding it in high esteem. On the side is a mural with an Engineer punching an alien creature.

So the whole room implies: xenomorphs = holy and god-like, engineers = fighters/servants.

It's like the engineers are actually working to "grow" humans, and then use them as hosts for the Xenomorphs. Not to use the Xenomorphs as a weapon, but rather to provide with Xenomorphs (gods) with a reproductive mean.

Why would they worship something they created, and that was borne out of them? The only thing the movie didn't show was how they would go about creating the facehugger eggs. Presumably there are female engineers that birth them similar to Shaw? Or did they experiment on human females.

I don't think the mural portrays the engineer punching an Alien creature, that's ridiculous. It's more like the Engineer is looking down on the creature with benevolence.
 
Wait, how is a glorified eel supposed to be "certain death"? Sure, we as the audience know that, but there is no reason at all the characters would or should know that.

Those two guys were characterised as wimps when they tried to leave (as well as incompetent when they got lost), why would they be all friendly with a snake alien when they were scared of a dead humanoid one in front of a door?
 
Haven't read all of this thread yet, but has this writeup been posted. It's quite long but here's a small bit. This movie is insane, :)

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


I have found a problem with his explanation of one scene so far....

The 'Caesarean' scene is central to the film's themes of creation, sacrifice, and giving life. Shaw has discovered she's pregnant with something non-human and sets the autodoc to slice it out of her. She lies there screaming, a gaping wound in her stomach, while her tentacled alien child thrashes and squeals in the clamp above her and OH HEY IT'S THE LIFEGIVER WITH HER ABDOMEN TORN OPEN. How many times has that image come up now? Four, I make it. (We're not done yet.)

And she doesn't kill it. And she calls the procedure a 'caesarean' instead of an 'abortion'.

She didn't call it an abortion because the machine was only set up to operate on male (assuming the old man), if she had the option to select "abortion" I am sure she would have done that.

Edit: The writer does go on to say that they do not want to begin to examine the thought of pro choice in the film, still I am pretty sure she just wanted it out. She was in pain, it was not human, pretty sure it was at the point of get it out any means necessary.
 
I have found a problem with his explanation of one scene so far....



She didn't call it an abortion because the machine was only set up to operate on male (assuming the old man), if she had the option to select "abortion" I am sure she would have done that.

It's kind of hilarious because the writer seems to have missed the scene before that where she's like GET IT OUT OF MEEEEEE.
 
It's kind of hilarious because the writer seems to have missed the scene before that where she's like GET IT OUT OF MEEEEEE.

Yeah, I understand the symbolism to the god Prometheus via the way she has it cut out of her abdomen but in no way was there any concern for the health of the squid baby. haha
 
Erigu, I came to that interpretation easily, by simply watching the film.

It’s not an overly complex story, but I really enjoyed the ideas it played with – scientific challenge to faith and ingrained beliefs, and man’s need to know more about his maker(s) - when perhaps the whys and wherefores of our being here are ‘disappointing’, irrelevant, not worth knowing or even dangerous. David is the linchpin for some of those ideas, and he’s got a creepy curiosity and ambivalence in certain interactions and deeds that made him great in this movie. He’s not the same, but it reminded me a lot of how I felt about Ian Holm in the original Alien. Charlize Theron was good too... quite the bitch. My only complaint is the geriatric Weyland employing some bad age makeup and the non-hesitant leap to super-herodom from some of our minor characters towards the end of the movie. I think it will hold up well in repeat viewings, and lays a foundation for a parallel mystery adventure in the Alien universe -- which is, let's face it, a better fate for that universe than melding it with the Predator universe. To me, the unanswered questions are a strength.

I enjoyed how the humans had an existential curiosity about their maker, but David had a cold, scientific curiosity. My favourite interaction was with Weyland - "There's nothing", "I know"... I loved the many manifestations of the parasite. Speaking with some people who disliked the movie, they seemed most confused about this because I think they expected it to just manifest itself the same way every time, no matter what it infected, and expecting a long evolution to the Alien we know and love, rather than the chaotic, dangerous bio-weapon we saw in this movie. I don't think some people connected the worms crawling in the goop to the snake like creatures that attacked the first two victims, or the idea of insemination resulting in a different, feotus-like parasite (like a face hugger) that would also retain human (and therefore space jockey) DNA and characteristics. The very beginning scene was interesting - the space jockey chowing down on the black goop after watching something leave in a ship unfamiliar to us throughout the movie. Suicide ritual? Poisoned by something else?

I'd be excited about the possibility of a sequel -- because unlike other prequels, where you know where they're going and headed to, this one leaves a lot of questions and made lots of room for the 'new'. Whatever happened to Shaw? Did she ever get to their homeworld with David? What did they find? How does Weyland Corp go from 'building better worlds' to becoming an even more sinister Weyland-Yutani? How does the corporation find out about the Alien?

I think this will hold up very well with repeat viewings and grow on people.

Agreed. The whole thing was about how pursuing your faith/beliefs/desire and pursuing answers are not necessarily compatible, in fact doing so can be dangerous. Every single person on the Prometheus who had a dream or an agenda was taken out. David talks with Holloway about what he hopes to learn, and asks him why humans created androids. Holloway says 'because we could?' -- David invites him to ponder how disappointing it would be if that is the very same answer he discovers as to why humans were created. Shaw chases her creationist fantasy to the arse end of the Universe only to have it collapse around her and descend into a nightmare. Weyland ends his days with failure and the realisation that there is nothing after life. Vickers and her desire to inherit control are literally crushed. Even after all of that, Shaw is stubborn in her faith and wants to continue chasing answers -- David counsels her that the answers are irrelevant, but she's going to chase them anyway.

We're not meant to side with the spiritual character... we're meant to acknowledge that humans, all of us, are fantasists -- irrational, dangerously belief driven and emotionally led.
 
"WHY DO YOU FIND IT SO HARD TO BELIEVE!?!?!?"

Lindelof's own words
It's definitely not anti-science. In fact, if anything I think it's pro-science because it advances the idea that part of our own programming as human beings, we're many ways just as governed by our programming as David is. We have to seek out the answers to these questions, even though we know we'll never get satisfying answers. We're curious about what happens as we die. We need to know where we come from. What the meaning of life is. What kind of life we're supposed to lead. These are all sort of nonscientific, philosophical, religious, and spiritual questions. But the idea that we can find some comfort in science, that science can sort of give us a path to follow in understanding our roots. I think we're better off from understanding that we're descended from apes than we are looking at some book that was written 2000 years ago that gives us an explanation for our own roots.

I'm most definitively pro-science, but I think that the movie advances the idea that, "Can the two live along side each other?" Is it possible to be a scientist and maintain some faith in the unknown? And are you rewarded for having blind faith?
 
I really don't buy into anything that deep in that particular scene. She had an alien inside of her that was on the way to busting out through her abdomen. The only choice she had was to override the device and get a C-section. It was the fastest and "safest" option. It wasn't called an abortion, because it wasn't one. They're two different types of procedures.

It's probably likely that she would have died if she tried any other means of getting it out of her.
 
So maybe the Engineers are at war adn the gods are their creators. Life making life making life and so on. Going back to the Blade Runner conflict of created killing creator. Maybe the Engineers are at war with their creators. Gods vs Titans like humans vs Engineers. Perhaps in the beginning they were just putting their DNA in fertile worlds. Not to make humans but to make sure if they get wiped out by the Gods that the titan DNA will survive and evolve.

Edit: my ramblings make no sense since they want to kill us.
 
What was the significance of the big human head statue in that room with all the cylinders?

I still say it's the natives of the planet who may have put it there. They may have built the entire temple above the ship below. The big head room looked like a place of worship.
 
I could sit down and wax poetic about the mysterious Engineers and their plans and what really happened and all the religious symbols and mythological references, but what would the point be? That's like looking at a dented, rusted out, beat up Chevy from the 80's and wondering what kind of awesome engine is under the hood. Chances are that the car's innards are as shitty and neglected as its exterior. So much logic and care has been thrown out the window in constructing the story of the Prometheus's crew, why should I expect them to have any logic and care with the Engineer backstory? Chances are that it is as dumb, muddled, and full of holes as the main plot. Which makes it useless guessing at it and trying to construct a narrative with logic.


I might be reading you wrong, but are you saying you want a film where everything is spelled out for you and nothing left to your interpretation? Because if so, David Lynch was the worst example you could have come up with. All his movies are left to interpretation.

No, I am saying that there is a difference between a movie that is meant to be open to interpretation and a movie that simply defies interpretation due to the screenwriter's incompetence or inability to get across all his big ideas and back story. And that Prometheus is the latter of those two.

David Lynch has movies where it's possible to construct a mostly-sensible story and sequence of events with some ambiguities and mysteries. But he also has movies where there is no possible explanation because either there's no exposition or every possible theory is contradicted by some aspect of the film.
 
Then again, Lindelof is full of shit.
(that's also the interview where he calls the movie "hard scifi")

So you are attempting to speak for his intentions and dismissing not only other people but the writer in question himself to suit your agenda. Got it.

Maybe you're full of shit.
 
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