Support NeoGAF

[duckroll]

Ha, I was right. The thing behind the head is not only really an altar, it is indeed where the engineer sacrificed himself to generate the black goo which would be used to create the xenomorphs, as shown on the mural.

Sacrificial altar, with bowl. In the movie they replaced it with a green stone??

Wait, what. Why would they change such a major visual detail in the movie? This really introduces more questions about the altar. If it was originally a bowl like the one from the opening, it would have certain specific implications. But since they deliberately changed it into something else, that implies they want to suggest something different. But instead it's just a random prop in the background which they never bother going back to again. Wut????

 

[vas_a_morir]

I still stand by the 'opposing factions of engineers theory as a possibility.

 

[oatmeal]

Just read all of this thread (well...skimmed a lot).

Fun times.

It actually made me dislike the movie, and then like the movie again. That's odd.

I like it despite its many flaws. It's dumb, some shit inexplicable, but it had some really cool set pieces and it was gorgeous.

The Lindelof hate is particularly funny. From duckroll's post it sounds like Spaiht established a lot of the broad strokes already. Which means Ridley had established the broad strokes. We don't really know exactly what Lindelof changed or added or whatever (other than Weyland on Mars).

Anyhoo...fun times, good way to waste three or four days of random browsing.

 

[Count Dookkake]

Given that the containers resemble canopic jars, perhaps the liquid is the remains, or some essence, of the proto-xenomorph.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Ether_Snake
妄想妄想妄想妄想妄想妄想妄想

(that's a hell of a leap to make)

It's the same kind of bowl the engineer drank from at the beginning, and.

Ah fuck it, why bother.

Given that the containers resemble canopic jars, perhaps the liquid is the remains, or some essence, of the proto-xenomorph.

Yeah, he killed himself, this creates the black goo to make the xenomorphs, and it was then stored in the jars.

 

[Erigu]

It's the same kind of bowl the engineer drank from at the beginning, and.

Yeah, that kind of stops there, right?

 

[Ether_Snake]

Yeah, that kind of stops there, right?

NO

That+bowl says it all.

Self-sacrifice = new life, in this case xenomorph. Self-sacrifice was done drinking from that bowl.

Pretty clear.

 

[duckroll]

Yeah, that kind of stops there, right?

The important detail to take away from that is that in the actual movie, it was some sort of green crystal thing instead. Which means they changed something in production, for some reason, which we will never know about because the movie is such a mess.

 

[FStop7]

Maybe it's petrified space oatmeal. Engies were eating their space breakfast when whatever went off the rails happened.

 

[Ether_Snake]

The important detail to take away from that is that in the actual movie, it was some sort of green crystal thing instead. Which means they changed something in production, for some reason, which we will never know about because the movie is such a mess.

It even makes sense that the stone was CG. Holloway says, upon touching the BOWL (CG-ed into a meaningless green stone), something like "omg... this is a tomb.". Why would he say that from touching a random green stone? The bowl on the altar makes it much more logical, since it makes the whole setup more familiar with an Earthly tomb.

So this was done AFTER shooting, which means VERY late in production.

 

[duckroll]

Maybe there's some hope for the Director's Cut after all. They just need to restore stuff they changed, remove some voice overs, add some new dream sequences, cut some bad scenes.... hey wait, this sounds like another classic Ridley Scott scifi movie I know! Lolol.

 

[Erigu]

That+bowl says it all.

Not to me, sorry...

Self-sacrifice = new life, in this case xenomorph.

I'm somewhat hesitant to make that kind of leap, especially for a movie as messy as this (so Fifield was turning into some Deacon-like creature, too? urgh...).

 

[duckroll]

I think if there was the same bowl on the altar in the actual movie, many people would have naturally made the connection eventually that the mural of the Xenomorph suggests that it is the intended final evolutionary product. It is less important whether the jars were specifically meant to create that directly, but a connection definitely as to be made. Instead right now we are left pondering what the green crystal thing is. :/

 

[Ether_Snake]

And now look at this!

HANDS holding the xenomorph. There are TWO creatures, one bigger lifting up the xenomorph. You can see the "greater-xenomorph" above the smaller one, above, on the full shot of the mural.

 

[ghostmind]

This is going to be like Kingdom of Heaven isn't it? We're going to get a Directors Cut release that brings back major plot points (that go a long way in explaining things) and make us wonder why the hell was this cut from the film?

 

[Erigu]

I think if there was the same bowl on the altar in the actual movie, many people would have naturally made the connection eventually that the mural of the Xenomorph suggests that it is the intended final evolutionary product. It is less important whether the jars were specifically meant to create that directly, but a connection definitely as to be made. Instead right now we are left pondering what the green crystal thing is. :/

I certainly agree that a bowl would (at the very least) have made it look like there actually was something there, some connection to figure out. The decision to change that is somewhat... puzzling.

 

[BuddyJoeHooker]

And now look at this!

HANDS holding the xenomorph. There are TWO creatures, one bigger lifting up the xenomorph. You can see the "greater-xenomorph" above the smaller one, above, on the full shot of the mural.

Isn't that the queen?

 

[duckroll]

This is going to be like Kingdom of Heaven isn't it? We're going to get a Directors Cut release that brings back major plot points (that go a long way in explaining things) and make us wonder why the hell was this cut from the film?

I'm keeping my expectations extremely low. If they manage to do that, it would be great, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Zeliard]

This is somewhat unclear, especially considering they called the dots a "galactic system" (wut? what are the dots, then?), and said the "system happened to have a sun" (wut? what are the dots, then?).
If I were to try and make some sense of the whole thing, I'd say the dots were stars, and they just picked the one star that looked the most like ours, then focused on a moon of that system that seemed capable of sustaining life (LV-223).

Yeah this is what you're supposed to gather from it, though it was pretty funny the way they explained it.

What they probably should have said is that it's a star system that happens to feature a star similar to our Sun, with a planet and moon orbiting it capable of sustaining life.

 

[Zombie James]

Isn't that the queen?

That's what I thought. There are also facehuggers on that wall:

So would an Engineer who drinks from that alter get turned into goo like in the beginning of the movie and then put into urns? Or would he need to have sex with a lady Engineer to get the facehugger?

 

[Erigu]

What they probably should have said is that it's a star system that happens to feature a star similar to our Sun, with a planet and moon orbiting it capable of sustaining life.

Even then, why would a star system be represented with six dots? What are those dots?

 

[duckroll]

I thought Alien Queens aren't part of Ridley Scott's Alien vision?

 

[Zeliard]

Even then, why would a star system be represented with six dots? What are those dots?

Well, the stars in that system, I imagine. Star systems can have a very small number of stars.

 

[Dresden]

Maybe the green crystal is like a soulstone from Diablo, and you jam it into your forehead to turn into a Queen.

 

[CartridgeBlower]

This green stone change is an interesting revelation. Makes it all the more strange why they decided to change it in post. wtf?!?

 

[Erigu]

Well, the stars in that system, I imagine. Star systems can have a very small number of stars.

Oh, right, I was thinking of a planetary system, my bad.

 

[Dresden]

This green stone change is an interesting revelation. Makes it all the more strange why they decided to change it in post. wtf?!?

Nothing wrong with replacing a deliberate connection to what is otherwise a rather puzzling scene from the beginning of the movie with a random green crystal, you know?

 

[BuddyJoeHooker]

I thought Alien Queens aren't part of Ridley Scott's Alien vision?

Did Cameron use Giger in the design of the queen? The mural was also a homage to Giger.

 

[nomis]

I thought Alien Queens aren't part of Ridley Scott's Alien vision?

If he was completely ignoring what Cameron did... wouldn't there also be no "Building Better Worlds"? And no assault rifles and power loaders on the website? Sure that Weyland Timeline could just be Ridley's peons having some fun writing extraneous material that's just fan service, but I'm pretty sure Weyland-Yutani's tagline was introduced in Aliens to go along with the atmosphere processing plot.

 

[duckroll]

Maybe the green crystal is like a soulstone from Diablo, and you jam it into your forehead to turn into a Queen.

So after getting his helmet melted off by acid and his face all fucked up, the guy stumbles over to the altar, and stabs the crystal into his head, which explains how he got those super zombie powers? Brilliant!

 

[CartridgeBlower]

Nothing wrong with replacing a deliberate connection to what is otherwise a rather puzzling scene from the beginning of the movie with a random green crystal, you know?

Ridley Scott and Fox must be PURPOSEFULLY creating flaws in his films now just to build anticipation for the Director's Cut. They seem to be INTENTIONALLY butchering them.

I'll say this...it's ballsy.

 

[Dead]

I thought Alien Queens aren't part of Ridley Scott's Alien vision?

The Deacons face is Queen total

 

[duckroll]

Did Cameron use Giger in the design of the queen? The mural was also a homage to Giger.

No. The Alien Queen was conceptualized and designed by James Cameron himself, and then the final model for effects was Cameron and Stan Winston. I don't believe Giger was involved at all in Aliens.

 

[Ether_Snake]

Another important thing not clear or changed in the movie:

We see one intact sleeping bed, three destroyed ones. This is closer to what I theorized: they never tried to "leave" the planet. They come in the room, three of them go to bed, one sits in the command-deck (specifically names as such in the artbook, not in the piloting chair), and contacts Earth. The piloting chair (described clearly as such in the artbook), never comes out, as can be seen by the fact that it wasn't out when the heros come in the room. The guy just went back to sleep, like the other three, and they waited. But only one survived in the end. There is even another image of a dead engineer with a messed up body, in bed.

edit: woops sorry for giant images

This concept art shows the design of a ship with "hero capsule" as a description for #4. Not sure if this was the one meant to be the one they leave with, or the one with the sleeping jockey.

 

[duckroll]

Hey Ether, could you please use quotes around the huge images, especially if you're posting several in a row? I appreciate the pics a lot, but it's making it a bit hard to scroll through the thread. Thanks.

 

[Zeliard]

Haha man I have to catch up on all this wacky Lost-like Prometheus theorizing. Deacon, Trilobite, Hammerpede, wtf. I'm so out of the loop.

Oh, right, I thought of a planetary system, my bad.

I agree with you that it was goofy because they said it was a) a galactic system, and that b) it featured "a sun," though outside of the context of our solar system, sun is just a synonym for star. So it was like they were saying that it's a system of stars that features a star, which I got a chuckle out of.

 

[Dead]

Two aliens in fetal position, both Queen crests

 

[BuddyJoeHooker]

No. The Alien Queen was conceptualized and designed by James Cameron himself, and then the final model for effects was Cameron and Stan Winston. I don't believe Giger was involved at all in Aliens.

You are correct.

If he was completely ignoring what Cameron did... wouldn't there also be no "Building Better Worlds"? And no assault rifles and power loaders on the website? Sure that Weyland Timeline could just be Ridley's peons having some fun writing extraneous material that's just fan service, but I'm pretty sure Weyland-Yutani's tagline was introduced in Aliens to go along with the atmosphere processing plot.

I agree with this.

 

[Erigu]

This concept art shows the design of a ship with "hero capsule" as a description for #4. Not sure if this was the one meant to be the one they leave with, or the one with the sleeping jockey.

The latter, I'd say. I believe "hero" is the term used for the one prop the movie focuses on, as opposed to the other, less-detailed background versions of the same object.

 

[Count Dookkake]

I am holding out hope that Giger's "baby gun" will make an appearance in P2.

 

[Zeliard]

People have even busted out MS Paint and screencaps. This really is Lost all over again.

 

[duckroll]

Haha man I have to catch up on all this wacky Lost-like Prometheus theorizing. Deacon, Trilobite, Hammerpede, wtf. I'm so out of the loop.

Those are all names given to the creatures in the art books, so they're "official" names so to speak. Deacon = the Xenomorph at the end. Trilobite = giant tentacle monster. Hammerpede = alien snake.

 

[Ether_Snake]

The latter, I'd say. I believe "hero" is the term used for the one prop the movie focuses on, as opposed to the other, less-detailed background versions of the same object.

Oh ok, makes sense, we can see the dead ones in the other capsules.

 

[duckroll]

If he was completely ignoring what Cameron did... wouldn't there also be no "Building Better Worlds"? And no assault rifles and power loaders on the website? Sure that Weyland Timeline could just be Ridley's peons having some fun writing extraneous material that's just fan service, but I'm pretty sure Weyland-Yutani's tagline was introduced in Aliens to go along with the atmosphere processing plot.

Yeah, that's true. It seems unlikely that Scott is looking to retcon the entire series to ignore anything he didn't personally contribute.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

For what it's worth I had the instant impression the "Deacon" was some sort of proto-queen.

 

[Dead]

For what it's worth I had the instant impression the "Deacon" was some sort of proto-queen.

Dat jaw within a jaw.

Maybe its the King...lolz

 

[Zombie James]

Now this would have been a good shot to have in the movie. I was kind of confused watching it how they were in the pyramid/storage building, walking its tunnels, and then ended up on the command centre of the ship.

Also, from Alien:

I was wondering if there was anything in the original movie that could have been shaped into the sleeping chambers seen on the Engineers' ship in Prometheus, but there's absolutely nothing here that resembles that. If asked, I'm sure Scott or whoever wrote the script would just say, "oh, not every ship has them" but I don't know, I like continuity.

 

[CartridgeBlower]

I thought Scott said he was going to get Giger to contribute some new stuff for this film? Am I remembering incorrectly, or did he really say this at one time? It seems like all the squids in the film could have used his touch. They were so generic as is. Wished we could have seen some new, or at least unused, stuff from him for this movie.

 

[LeMaximilian]

This movie and thread just keep getting better and better. It's been close to a week since I saw the film and can't stop thinking/researching all this stuff.

 

[sc0la]

Saw the movie today. Nothing I can say hasn't already been said.
BUT
am I the only one that was pissed that the jockey ship shaw and David pilot at the end flew backwards? Fuck you Ridley you ruined alien for me. That was the front of the ship!