Monocle
Member
Haha, nice. 10/10.
PROMETHEUS UNMARKED SPOILER THREAD!
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gollumsluvslave
Member
I can understand some of the criticisms, and there are a number of flaws - mostly around dialogue.
That said, the overriding criticism seems to be that it raises more questions than it answers?
Any movie that tackles these themes is going to have that problem, and it will never please all the people all the time, there is no 'pink ribbon' wrapping the meaning of life!
However, some aspects of the film were handled brilliantly and provided some answers (if also creating more questions):-
These 3 quotes and interactions make the movie for me, regardless of the other criticisms, it's a rare film that even attempts to tackle these questions without flinching.
Now, in terms of the issues:-
With the Xeno origins, we have one pure fact - there is a mural with a clear Xeno in the altar room; this tells us that either Ridley and co are trolling their fans with an ill-advised easter egg, or the Xeno at the end is definitely not the first and there is a reason for the mural. I choose to believe that latter! What the reason is, I'm not sure - maybe it's a warning sign?
Humans and Engineers have the same DNA, so I don't see why a human needs to be involved in the creation of a Xeno - engineers could easily be all that's needed.
Add to that the Jockeys were clearly fleeing something in the holographic recording, it's not a great leap to speculate that there was a previous Xeno outbreak 2000 years previous, explains a lot.
I'm also not convinced the black goo that David spikes Holloway with (did it look to anyone else like there was a microchip in the little blob? need to see it again) was the same as what the Jockey at the start ingested, the start had a gold kind of hue to it too.
Definitely need more viewings, there was tons to take in.
There are always more questions though, and that to me is the whole thrust of the movie; to be human is to ask questions, even when you shouldn't, and even when you get answers, especially if you don't like them there will still be more questions. It's inevitable.
That said, the overriding criticism seems to be that it raises more questions than it answers?
Any movie that tackles these themes is going to have that problem, and it will never please all the people all the time, there is no 'pink ribbon' wrapping the meaning of life!
However, some aspects of the film were handled brilliantly and provided some answers (if also creating more questions):-
Not an exact quote, but it was a clear allusion to the intro sequence. Was the engineer doing that volunteering? Was he being punished? Lots to digest...
David is the fulcrum of the movie and his motivations are very interesting... what exactly did he say to the Engineer?
Amazingly powerful to see Weyland die so utterly bereft and disappointed. Yet even after everything Shaw keeps to her faith and puts her cross back on. Is she nuts? But isn't that the nature of faith?
These 3 quotes and interactions make the movie for me, regardless of the other criticisms, it's a rare film that even attempts to tackle these questions without flinching.
Now, in terms of the issues:-
With the Xeno origins, we have one pure fact - there is a mural with a clear Xeno in the altar room; this tells us that either Ridley and co are trolling their fans with an ill-advised easter egg, or the Xeno at the end is definitely not the first and there is a reason for the mural. I choose to believe that latter! What the reason is, I'm not sure - maybe it's a warning sign?
Humans and Engineers have the same DNA, so I don't see why a human needs to be involved in the creation of a Xeno - engineers could easily be all that's needed.
Add to that the Jockeys were clearly fleeing something in the holographic recording, it's not a great leap to speculate that there was a previous Xeno outbreak 2000 years previous, explains a lot.
I'm also not convinced the black goo that David spikes Holloway with (did it look to anyone else like there was a microchip in the little blob? need to see it again) was the same as what the Jockey at the start ingested, the start had a gold kind of hue to it too.
Definitely need more viewings, there was tons to take in.
There are always more questions though, and that to me is the whole thrust of the movie; to be human is to ask questions, even when you shouldn't, and even when you get answers, especially if you don't like them there will still be more questions. It's inevitable.
DKehoe
Member
I'd say the overriding criticism is that the characters all inexplicably act like idiots.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
It's clearly related, but not quite the same. Probably just what happens when you impregnate an engineer instead of a human.
IMO that isn't even a question that needs an answer. That scene was the one time in the entire movie where I felt a character did something coherent to its universe and plot. He regards humans as little more then pests and treats their attempt to communicate like you'd treat an ant talking to you.gollumsluvslave said:
If translation of what David said makes that scene play out differently - it would just take away the one redeeming scene from the movie for me.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
That's a good point. Maybe the goo turns semen into eggs and then he laid his eggs down her throat, since she didn't have any eggs of her own.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
Probably regular intercourse, since the alien was in her womb, no?
Yeah, it's not properly explained but the WoMD thing can be explained based on his viewing the number of vases, the pictures of all the dead engineers and what it does to a human (Fifield). So him claiming they are WoMD is somewhat plausible.
It being a military installation. It's not all that surprising him thinking it's a military base. It probably doesn't occur to him that scientists (advanced species or not) would create something like the goo to help seed life on planets. I mean, how could be possibly know? His only experience of it is infected and mutating humans.
And this is pretty cool, shame they changed the design....
l.
How did the Xeno come out of the engineer full size? So dumb
Uncle Rupee
Banned
Maybe it has something to do with the fact it was seeded by something different than the facehuggers we are used to?
It bugs me that Alien geeks are forcing the established xeno biology on something which is related but DIFFERENT.
Besides, Giger had little to do with the Aliens films after the 1st one. All that stuff about queens was James Cameron.
Maybe Giger and Scott have different ideas about the xenos?
I guess we'll just have to wait for the deleted sex scene.
Who said that was full size!? whoooaaaa!?!?/
I'm just saying how is it physically possible that something that size could come out of an Engineer? How did it fit in there ?
dat hard sci-fi
And Tyson gaffes that it was Charlize Theron...it was Vickers. You know, the character Charlize plays.
FantasticMrFoxdie
Mumber
tomakasatnav
Member
dat hard sci-fi
British million? ¬¬ someone do the math!
Joe Shlabotnik
Banned
To start life on the planet. Never mind that there is already water, grass, etc.
LOL
you just walked up to your theater and asked for a poster? Fuck I may have to do that.
If Vickers character was a scientist or astronomer this would be funny.dat hard sci-fi
SpeedingUptoStop
will totally Facebook friend you! *giggle* *LOL*
The thing I love about this is how clear it was Theron was not only the least scientifically knowledgable person on on the ship, but also clearly using short hand in the effort to make a smoother clever statement. Nothing about the line she said that in would've sounded smoother if she said light years. It's like saying " we're heading just up the block" when you mean actually a couple miles down the street.dat hard sci-fi
I'm not even sure Neil meant this that seriously, but a lot of people pounce on it as if he did, which is, c'mon son.
So the goop is to Proemetheus what the island is to Lost?
Pretty much. It's a bullshit mechanism that is used to drive the plot forward without ever discussing it in detail despite being crucial to the narrative.
The effects of the goo(discounting the opening sequence as it contradicts everything later in the movie) are:
1.If infected it will decompose you and slowly kill you. This sometimes can have explosive effects as seen on the Engineers with holes in their head and the one that is revived through electricity afterwhich it explodes.
2.If infected and already dead then it will revive you as a super zombie that allows you to fuck people up. It is not known if this happens in cases like 1 as well.
3.If infected, afterwhich you reproduce, you then create a xenolifeform
I've actually pretty much figured out the goo.
I threw mine out.
This is just like the Mass Effect 3 fiasco all over again. I live for moments like this.
My take on that zombie guy is that the black goo mixed with the acid blood (which sprayed on his helmet) which created a different effect than if you just get infected with the goo.
That's also the only explanation that to me makes sense.
sazabirules
Unconfirmed Member
How was David's head and body in the same spot after the ship crashed and fell on its side? I assume maybe the ship had some system that controls the gravity inside.
The goo is organic in nature and it seems semi-alive on its own so it's possible that it hijacks the host and goes on a rampage but can't build off of it like it can a life host because the host is dead.
That's a straight up plothole and error. Don't bother reading too much into it.
Yeah it's such a leap in logic to assume these highly advanced crafts would be anything than big hunks of stone with rockets attached to them. But it's not spelled out so it's a plothole.
Lloyd Dobler
Member
This is one guys take on explaining pretty much everything, I don't know if it was already posted:
Prometheus Unbound: What The Movie Was Really About
http://cavalorn.livejournal.com/584135.html#cutid1
Yes, it's a livejournal. . .but interesting nonetheless.
Prometheus Unbound: What The Movie Was Really About
http://cavalorn.livejournal.com/584135.html#cutid1
Yes, it's a livejournal. . .but interesting nonetheless.
It's a spaceship, it's not a fucking plane. Duh.
I'm 99% sure they weren't.
Ok. Have fun in your imaginary world where you think Lindelof is competent. The head would have moved off the raised platform. That's not for debate. Even if there was some sort of antigravity/crash dampener(whatever you would want to call it), the crash itself would have pushed his body and head on the ground somewhere and way off into a corner.
But they were off in a corner and not on the platform when Shaw came back.. watch it again.
SpeedingUptoStop
will totally Facebook friend you! *giggle* *LOL*
Shh, Lindelof, the director of the scene, is incompetent. We're tossing around facts here.
So they were against a wall? That's where their body should be.
brandonh83
Banned
yep, again, people looking for Lindelof hate. Do you really think he wrote in the script "David is still perfectly intact after the crash."
I highly doubt it.
space magic.
Alright put the blame on Scott. He fucked up multiple times throughout this too. Either way it's a technical error to some extent. Not a particularly important one but whatever.
My god the artwork is so amazing and indicate a very clear and consistent overarching vision and design for the world, the aliens and the engineers. Why was all this so fucking confusing in the movie? Why couldn't they just explain this all to us in a very coherent manner? Is it because they plan on explaining all these things in the sequel? Was this movie originally conceived as two movies? I remember hearing rumors that it was.
The ship rolled and tumbled so unless you've run a simulation on the whole physics of that sequence how the fuck do you know in the exact spot david's head and body should be at the end? Fact is that the body is in the "trench" below the raised platform.. maybe in reality they should have been 30 centimers closer to the eastern wall. We'll never know!
This is one of many imaginary plotholes conceived by people who didn't really pay attention during the movie.
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