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[Ushojax]

I get what Scott was going for with the whole created vs creators, I really do. He just stretched way too far and drank too much wine, the end result is a nonsensical movie full of characters with no guile or intelligence. The lore is needlessly convoluted and at times literally eye-rolling. I mean...Jesus being an Engineer...really?

 

[mrklaw]

My main issue with prometheus, and subsequently with movies trying to capture the 'alien' sci fi it's that I just can't believe such dumb people exist. Listen, horror movies tend to have dumb fucking characters. But at least in general I can just make an assumption that they're a dumb teen or just not particularly capable of dealing with stressful situations effectively.

But when scientists are sent to space you'd think they'd be the cream of the fucking crop. Not the "let me pet this weird new alien" type.

Difficult to know without understanding more details about he wider world around them, but in Alien they were jobbing astronauts so it seems like travelling in space had become perfunctory and everyday. So the insane level of process/checklist/preflight stuff is probably ignored because nothing interesting ever happens - so when shit hits the fan they fall to pieces because most of them aren't space explorers.

As for Prometheus - saw it yesterday and it was a bit middling. I don't understand why David is quite so manipulative from the start. I understand trying to find the engineers for his boss, but surely they had no knowledge of the aliens so why would he go from zero to 'deliberately infect someone hoping you'll bring a sample back via cryo sleep'? Why not just take a literal sample back? You have no idea what it is or what it'll do.


Separately to that is the realisation about what the engineers were making. That was ok but a bit muddled. I assume the 'why' is deliberately left open for another movie which is annoying but perhaps expected.

And why did all those cave paintings show where they came from if they actually didn't come from there after all?

 

[Ushojax]

As for Prometheus - saw it yesterday and it was a bit middling. I don't understand why David is quite so manipulative from the start. I understand trying to find the engineers for his boss, but surely they had no knowledge of the aliens so why would he go from zero to 'deliberately infect someone hoping you'll bring a sample back via cryo sleep'? Why not just take a literal sample back? You have no idea what it is or what it'll do.

David does what he does because he resents humanity, they created him simply because "they could" and they feel no affection for him, so he experiments on them with the goo to get back at them and try his hand at creating life just because. To David humans are toys, nothing more. It doesn't really work that well in the film though because David and Weyland's relationship is not properly fleshed out.

 

[LookAtMeGo]

Pretty decent flick. Seen it twice. Dont usually watch a movie a second time unless I enjoyed it somewhat.

 

[wesleyshark]

This is one of the few films that I walked out of the theater and then went to see what the next showtime was and saw it again.

For me, aside from the gorgeous cinematography, the most fascinating parts about the film revolved around the dichotomy of Shaw's and David's search for the meaning of life, via the creation origins of it.

But for David, to understand those who created him, he wants to meet or learn about those who created humanity. Through that, he hopes to find his place in the universe, as he doesn't really have one. It leads him to some dark places (though he probably wouldn't see it as such, as it's more of an enlightening journey for him).

That this all moves towards, either directly or indirectly, the eventual creation of what we know as the Xenomorph, makes it even more fascinating to me.

 

[BumRush]

The problem for me is that I love the Alien universe and expectations were too high. In the theatres I loathed Prometheus. I've watched it several times since and I rather enjoy the film - it's much much different from Alien and Aliens - but my initial viewing was soured due to expectations (which is partially my fault)

 

[mrklaw]

David does what he does because he resents humanity, they created him simply because "they could" and they feel no affection for him, so he experiments on them with the goo to get back at them and try his hand at creating life just because. To David humans are toys, nothing more. It doesn't really work that well in the film though because David and Weyland's relationship is not properly fleshed out.

Ah. There is a nice but short conversation that goes over that. Shame that wasn't fleshed out more because while you get the idea David has disdain for humans, it could have been covered much better I think

 

[Fancy Clown]

I rewatched it a few months ago and it was just as bad as I remembered. I can't enjoy the positive elements in isolation because the script is just so, so, so bad that it kills my enjoyment of everything else. Also, the cinematography is pretty good, but it's not that good. Fassbender is the best part of the movie.

 

[Inkvoterad]

it was alright, dumb as hell but looked cool. If that one fella is actually serious with "imma put you on ignore cus you like a movie i hate" then uhh... stop being fucking five. jesus

 

[Steejee]

I give it about a C+

The whole look of the movie was fantastic, and it was easy to lose yourself in some of the scenes if you let yourself. Great sound design, action, VFX, etc

The dumbness was profound and dragged the movie down. I'm usually pretty good at turning my brain off but Prometheus challenged that ability like no other movie.

 

[Vespa]

Watch the fan edit of the movie. It makes it watchable

Is there only one fan edit of this or a particular one you recommend?

Audio and visuals are so damn good in this movie, I'm a fan of the atmosphere Ridley created in this movie, it's got me to watch it a few times on that alone. That being said, the characters are pretty bad outside of David, Elizabeth and Mr Weylad. Worst of all are the plot holes and the characters acting really stupid (Zoologist trying to pet something showing a threat display etc) they're huge blemishes that stop it from reaching Alien and Aliens tier.

 

[Adam Sadler]

I love noomi rapace in this movie and that surgery scene was ace and the cinematography of this movie was amazing. Everything else though? Like everyone else like the characters I disliked so much


I love the concept of the movie tho

 

[Foggy]

Movie was made by a visual master and was scripted by two terrible screenwriters with notes from a director who's drunk 90% of the time. That's what it is for better or worse.

 

[Purkake4]

Movie was made by a visual master and was scripted by two terrible screenwriters with notes from a director who's drunk 90% of the time. That's what it is for better or worse.

This.

 

[Jill Sandwich]

The soundtrack is too good for this film.

 

[Monocle]

Yes, I've just rewatched this movie, and while the characters are prone to acting like complete morons, and the motives of some characters are lame or make no sense ("becuz i CHOOZ 2 buhleev!"), and the screenplay has significant issues, Prometheus is still an above average sci-fi film for its mood and presentation alone.

Its visual are flat out gorgeous. The atmosphere of each location is totally absorbing. The sound design and score are superb. Even the tone of the character interaction works. You get some interesting dynamics between them. A lot of tension arising from their differing personalities and their reactions to danger and tragedy.

So the plot is muddled. A least it didn't go off the fucking deep end and switch genres like Sunshine. At least I can rewatch the thing and experience a cool adventure that goes badly wrong in an organic way that actually fits a kind of logical trajectory from the film's starting point.

That's not what I think about when I'm watching Prometheus though. I'm admiring the cool rooms and helmets, the arresting environments, the subtleties of David's performance, and the awesomely creepy alien elements. It's flawed but it's good.

 

[JB1981]

I think Shaw assumed the creature was dead after it went limp, and after that she was probably in too much shock from the event and at Weyland's appearance to say anything about it. Apparently at least Vickers was aware of it, but it was a very casual comment. Still a bad way to go about it though. There could have been an interesting scene with the security team investigating the room only to be attacked. Whatever happened to those guys that just drove off in the truck during the Fiefield incident?

Yeah, this movie has too many holes.

Agreed that it is a massive oversight that got worse in editing. On the blu-ray supplements they talk about how they reworked the whole movie in editing from the surgery scene onward and there is a deleted or extended scene where Vickers mentions to Weyland that there's a "big squid" or something to that effect writhing in the medical pod room.

Actually many of the deleted scenes would have given the movie a little more clarity. I particularly liked the scene with Vickers and Yanek after Vickers killed Holloway. And Vickers' extended conversation with her dad just before he goes to meet the Engineer better illuminates their relationship.

 

[theCalamity]

It's not that bad of a movie, but people had high expectations for it and the movie didn't live up to it. Wasted potential is worse than just being shit.

 

[boiled goose]

It's a beautiful movie with some interesting ideas, but the characters and plot are dumb.

 

[HelloMeow]

The way they portray and talk about DNA in this movie makes no sense. The writers seem to lack a basic understanding.

All other flaws aside, the xenomorph is about the last thing that needed an origin story. It's just so unnecessary. I don't want to know where it came from.

 

[ronaldthump]

Yes, I've just rewatched this movie, and while the characters are prone to acting like complete morons, and the motives of some characters are lame or make no sense ("becuz i CHOOZ 2 buhleev!"), and the screenplay has significant issues, Prometheus is still an above average sci-fi film for its mood and presentation alone.

Its visual are flat out gorgeous. The atmosphere of each location is totally absorbing. The sound design and score are superb. Even the tone of the character interaction works. You get some interesting dynamics between them. A lot of tension arising from their differing personalities and their reactions to danger and tragedy.

So the plot is muddled. A least it didn't go off the fucking deep end and switch genres like Sunshine. At least I can rewatch the thing and experience a cool adventure that goes badly wrong in an organic way that actually fits a kind of logical trajectory from the film's starting point.

That's not what I think about when I'm watching Prometheus though. I'm admiring the cool rooms and helmets, the arresting environments, the subtleties of David's performance, and the awesomely creepy alien elements. It's flawed but it's good.

I agree with most of what you've said about Prometheus - I actually really enjoyed it and watched it twice at the cinemas. Its tonally and visually a rather beautiful film with strong performances.

 

[afternoon delight]

It's a beautiful movie with some interesting ideas, but the characters and plot are dumb.

And the ideas aren't even that interesting. Comic space jockeys actually managed to be better than blue dumbo men Engineers.

Waste of a killer cast, waste of budget, time, aliens lore, ugh just a film that leaves an awful taste in the mouth. Perfectly in line with the franchise which has more bad films than good ones in it.

I forgot how fucking STUPID the writing is, omg. Post op surgery, don't dodge the megadonut, hey don't open the hatch I opened the hatch, map person getting lost, animal person taking off their fucking helmet, oof. Camp counselor slasher movies muster more internal logic.

 

[wesleyshark]

Yes, I've just rewatched this movie, and while the characters are prone to acting like complete morons, and the motives of some characters are lame or make no sense ("becuz i CHOOZ 2 buhleev!"), and the screenplay has significant issues, Prometheus is still an above average sci-fi film for its mood and presentation alone.

Its visual are flat out gorgeous. The atmosphere of each location is totally absorbing. The sound design and score are superb. Even the tone of the character interaction works. You get some interesting dynamics between them. A lot of tension arising from their differing personalities and their reactions to danger and tragedy.

So the plot is muddled. A least it didn't go off the fucking deep end and switch genres like Sunshine. At least I can rewatch the thing and experience a cool adventure that goes badly wrong in an organic way that actually fits a kind of logical trajectory from the film's starting point.

That's not what I think about when I'm watching Prometheus though. I'm admiring the cool rooms and helmets, the arresting environments, the subtleties of David's performance, and the awesomely creepy alien elements. It's flawed but it's good.

I liked the genre switch in Sunshine, but other than that I agree with your write up on Prometheus.

Despite its flaws, it really does stand out among other sci-fi films. As a film that's part of the alien franchise, it does a great job laying the initial groundwork for what will eventually lead up to the 1979 classic.

 

[Markoman]

I shit on this film because it had soooo much potential but ended up being just mediocre overall.

The whole premise of Prometheus was a great set-up for an intelligent movie, but somehow it turned out to be a stupid Hollywood flick without the fun that often comes with this type of
movies. 6/10 (7/10 for Charlize)

 

[Kev Kev]

Am I the only one that likes the "mystery" being revealed? That's one of the things I'm most excited about for Covenant. Seeing the Engineers home planet and unraveling the mystery of how the whole Alien story originated.

One of the things I was pleasantly surprised by is they took it to a whole new level by implying that the story is possibly intertwined with the origin of life on earth. I think that's cool!

But that's just the story part. As far as how bad the movie is mechanically (acting, character development, etc), well I have to admit that stuff typically goes right over my head. I'm more interested in the story and "unraveling the mystery".

What I'm trying to say is, maybe that's what separates those who thought it was amazing (myself) and those who that it was a dumpster fire. I wasn't really analyzing all the mechanical stuff (I'm not sure mechanical is the best word to use but I'm not sure how else to say it). As a result, I thourougly enjoyed Prometheus and can't wait to see where they go with the lore.

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

Prometheus is a poor film for the reasons you stated.

I can say it's a pretty film to look at and can say in the same breath that what I want out of a movie isn't skin deep religious metaphors and characters that don't even act like people.

 

[Blue Submarine No. 6]

Prometheus makes me angry because of the enormous talent and money that went into producing such a self-indulgent turd of a movie. It actually thinks it's clever, when it's just shyte... Bad writing cannot be redeemed by good music... And hey, if your abdominal muscles have just been fucking cut through, you can NOT get up and walk! Never mind run!

I look at films like Monsters, Ex Machina, Moon, Arrival or Sunshine, and I see these wonderful - if flawed - additions to the genre... I look at Prometheus, and I see an unforgivable waste of potential, a film that cost more to make than all five of the others I mentioned, that does nothing but insult it's audience and waste what little currency the Alien legacy had left...

Honestly, I'd rather rewatch Aliens: Resurrection than this thing...

 

[wesleyshark]

Am I the only one that likes the "mystery" being revealed? That's one of the things I'm most excited about for Covenant. Seeing the Engineers home planet and unraveling the mystery of how the whole Alien story originated.

I'm with you. I like that we're digging into the why and how and who and what of the derelict, the xenomorph, and other mysteries.

 

[Arrogant Bastard]

Saw it in the theatre, with my dad and brother, we all liked Prometheus.

Logged onto the internet and found out some people hated it.

Shrugged.

This seems to be nearly every movie for me.

 

[RangerX]

I have to say even recognising the flaws,and there is a fair few, I still really enjoyed the film. I loved the cinematography and style. The characters were pretty dumb though.

 

[tanooki27]

the only really bad part of the film is when idris elba plays love the one you're with.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

First off, I'm not gona sugarcoat this: the characters are as dumb as bricks, especially as they are scientists. I don't think I even need to reiterate the silly decisions they make in this movie considering how they've been a butt of the joke on the internet for sometime now (why are they running in a straight line? why the fuck would you touch that thing? etc.). That said, they're not unlikable -- not the most compelling set of characters out there, yes, but for all their stupidity, I never found them that insufferable or "broken." They are pretty par for the course in terms of the genre; the movie just did a terrible job at masking how run-of-the-mill they were or better yet, adding more to that.

They threw away hundreds of years of evolutionary biology based on cave paintings, broke every biohazard rule on the books in modern society by removing PPE in a non-sterile space, got lost in a 3-D mapped finite structure no more than a half mile across, kept things hidden from one another after obvious biological exposure/contamination.

They are bafflingly stupid for sci-fi protagonists, and insultingly so when they're written to be allegedly exemplary scientists several centuries in the future.

 

[Z3M0G]

Just finished re-watching it. It's crazy how one silly scene can nearly destroy an entire movie. Visually stunning start to finish at least. Super stoked for Alien!

 

[Ushojax]

The way they portray and talk about DNA in this movie makes no sense. The writers seem to lack a basic understanding.

All other flaws aside, the xenomorph is about the last thing that needed an origin story. It's just so unnecessary. I don't want to know where it came from.

I think there is a moment in the movie where they do a DNA test on the Engineer and it comes up as a "100% match" with human DNA. It really is like they got an infinite number of monkeys to write the script.

 

[Hyun Sai]

Promotheus was visually awesome, but I can't handle so much stupidity from the script and characters. And unfortunately, those are what matter to me in judging movies / series.

Verdict : pretty garbage.

 

[Lamel]

I really liked the concept/setting/visuals of the movie, but the characters were pretty idiotic. Overall it was an enjoyable watch but I can definitely agree to many of the criticisms. It is no where near the worst movie I have ever seen though, that's just hyperbole.

 

[Purkake4]

I think there is a moment in the movie where they do a DNA test on the Engineer and it comes up as a "100% match" with human DNA. It really is like they got an infinite number of monkeys to write the script.

It's a bone fide Lindelof classic.

 

[Jezbollah]

I found myself laughing at this film the more I watched of it.

I don't think that was the intention of the film makers.

 

[Omadahl]

Ill never forget the main character having an alien ripped put of her, and then just continuing on like nothing happened and no mention of it to anyone as it just grows in that room. Quality lindelof stuff right there.

You know what's funny? My wife had a C-section the day after we saw this in theaters. I still do a wobbly-armed tentacle impression when she talks about giving birth. My dad also apologized a thousand times for suggesting we see that movie because of that scene.

 

[ForsakenLotus]

I haven't watched it in a while and I really should. The overwhelming feeling I had during the movie and afterwards was that the characters were just...off. Sure there were the cliched supposedly smart characters doing dumb things - which is still frustrating. But I remember almost every character acting strangely at some point. I especially remember a scene between the captain Idras Elba and Charliz Theron having this unnerving subtextual element that just tainted both characters.

Yeah, I should rewatch it to see if I still feel that way.

 

[greycolumbus]

I found myself laughing at this film the more I watched of it.

I don't think that was the intention of the film makers.

It was probably the only time I went into a film fully willing to accept it for what it was and leaving thinking it was a joke. Usually I need more time to digest things but nope, not with Prometheus.

I guess I'm willing to watch it again though.

 

[Wolfe]

I like it when important things happen in a story, and then more things happen as a consequence. Cause and effect stuff. And also characters who talk about what happened.

It's basic stuff, but neither of those very important things happen in Prometheus. To draw the obvious example, Alien has this wonderful cadence to it where the characters sit around and talk about what to do next after things happen. Should they land? Who's going in? What do we do now? Oh fuck, Kane's dead. What do we do now? And the story builds directly upon those things. Along the way the established tensions among the characters play out against the rising strain of events and the result is compelling as hell. A leads to B leads to we're fucked.

In Prometheus Shaw gives birth to a giant squid and it is a great sequence. It's also a total non-event in terms of the story and is forgotten the moment she stumbles down the hallway in her underwear and falls through the door into the 3rd act. Another character returns from the dead as a melted mutant and tears through most of the security staff. That's kind of a big deal? Like, it just killed a half dozen people! Not only does this lead to absolutely nothing in the story, but it's barely even acknowledged by other characters.

In any semi-decent script events like those are hugely consequential, but Scott is content to have them be neat set pieces totally detached from the story. There's a lot of that in the film. Space penis snake anyone? They just chucked that shit at the screen and called it a story, not bothering to fit the pieces together.

The film starts to get interesting when the two women, who have this nice rivalry/tension simmering through the film, are the last survivors and make it to the surface. Maye we'll see those tensions play out as events unfol....oh fuck she ran straight for some reason. There goes that.

On the plus side, Idris Elba gives a nicely understated performance, where he conveys almost wordlessly how his character is putting the pieces together and understands the stakes, and what he's gotta do. His final moment is kinda robbed by there being those two useless co-pilots, but hey.

Prometheus is pretty. It has some neat sequences, and great cinematography. But in terms of script, this thing makes Independence Day: Resurgence look like a masterpiece of narrative craft. In theaters, I went back and forth on whether being pretty was good enough. Maybe it was as a dumb as bricks theatrical experience, and the spectacle was enough in the moment, but the film is posturing to be so much smarter than that, and it all posturing. The script is as bright as the scientist who petted the alien snake penis.

This is my main issue with the film, why should I care at all about half the stuff going on when the characters themselves don't seem to care.

 

[Parch]

Didn't hate it. Didn't love it. I think some misunderstood expectations of it being something more "aliens" might have affected a lot of the hate.

I pretty much ignore the hyperbolic hate the internet has about movies. Lots of trolling going on and opinions just tend to be extreme for emphasis. Most of the time it's not nearly as bad as people make it out to be.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

This film makes me feel sorry for Jon Spaigts every time I watch it or read Lindelof's re-tooling of his original script.

I can't imagine how angry and frustrated Spaigts would have been reading and sitting through that.

Regardless, the direction, cinematography and production design were all very good. It's just a shame they were in service of that script.

 

[paragonpro]

I actually loved it, but ive given up on trying to convince the rest of gaf, to each their own. Ill be in my corner with this and suicide squad, and jurassic world.

 

[120v]

yeah... i could never get on the hate train for the movie.

not a classic by any means but it was probably the best Alien reboot/prequel/whatever you could expect in 2012. though it did do a lot of "handing off" to the next movie... haven't been keeping tabs on covenant and how good it is vis a vis complementing prometheus

 

[C4Lukins]

I really like the film, and it is the third best Alien film despite not really being an Alien film. I think people would appreciate it more if it had nothing to do with the Alien universe.

It has a few scenes that are totally unforgivable and silly, and diminishes the rest of the film. The scene with the cobra Alien, the weird battle with the mutant dude who was infected, the rolling engineer ship scene, and the makeup on Guy Pierce come to mind. But I think everything in between is super entertaining. And it is lovely to look at.

 

[Wolfe]

I actually loved it, but ive given up on trying to convince the rest of gaf, to each their own. Ill be in my corner with this and suicide squad, and jurassic world.

Don't get me wrong, as Sculli mentions above the majority of the parts of the film are great, but the script/plot is poor for various reasons (that have also been mentioned in this thread as well) and I have yet to hear any compelling counterarguments to those issues (for example I would love to hear a nice rebuttal of the post I quoted above).

 

[nel e nel]

It's pretty to look at but when someone asks me the worst movie I've ever seen, without hesitation I can say "Prometheus"

I take it you've never seen Suicide Squad.

 

[Psychoward]

Just finished re-watching it. It's crazy how one silly scene can nearly destroy an entire movie. Visually stunning start to finish at least. Super stoked for Alien!

But, there were multiple dumb scenes?