Rethinking whether Lindelof ruined Prometheus...
QueenElizabethShaw
MemberChestbursterMay-21-2017 9:44 PM
Taking a step back after seeing the film, I've had to ask myself... was the huge deviation from the feel of Prometheus a result of Lidelof's absence? Would this film have done a better job in finding balance had he remained with the project?
I was always one to blame Lindelof for many of the logic issues with Prometheus. Now I am wondering how much of this was actually Ridley's doing? What if Lindelof was responsible for many of Promethus's shining points?
Is it possible he realized that completing the story in a way he'd tell it is not something that would work with Scott's execution style? Is this possibly why he excused himself from the project? Could Covenant have benefited from keeping Lindelof on staff?
Thoughts?
Roger55
MemberChestbursterMay-21-2017 10:14 PMI am not particularly interested in either I meaning AC scriptwriters, Logan and Harper, but the same way than Lindelof, unfortunetly they failed, developing a story coming from Jack Paglen and M. Green, where only shines the beauty of the set and enviroment, nothing more.
joylitt
MemberNeomorphMay-21-2017 11:23 PMIt's funny, but reading Spaiths original script, I realized that he already made David the villainous character he is now. I would say that without Lindeloff, Prometheus would have resembled more to Alien Covenant.
Wonder Boy
MemberOvomorphMay-22-2017 3:51 AMLindelof is a poor writer imo and I am not saying that because of the nonsense that was 'Lost.' He believes people enjoy confusion and it makes them come back for more. Sadly, with hugely expensive films - people want some sort of payoff. Also Lindelof doesn't seem to have the intelligence to write credible stories. He constantly writes himself into blind alleys. I think Alien Covenant was good because he was not involved.
splatterpunk
MemberFacehuggerMay-22-2017 5:26 AMLindeldork is terrible. I think he worked on a few other projects and they bombed. He was lucky with lost. Go back to tv lindeldork and yes he screwed Prometheus.
BigDave
MemberDeaconMay-22-2017 5:47 AMWe need to remember Ridley had a idea, he passed to FOX and then Spaights came in to discus these ideas with RS and then they worked on his drafts..... FOX then felt the whole Engineers Curve-ball was more interesting and wanted to remove the Action and Xenomorph type scenes.
Lindeloff was brought in for this and so he did not change much of the Plot, he just tidies up elements.. His Ideas and Changes were Better than Spaights..
The failings are ambiguity but RS also played a part in this, and well while Lindeloff changed Characters a bit so they was not Robotic as Spaights draft, he did make some of them a bit too goofy and cheesy as opposed to more serious..... The same kind of flaws are seen in how JJ Abrahams Star Treks are.
Ultimately Prometheus needed someone else to tidy up Lindeloffs work, and add few things back from Spaights.. but then Ultimately is FOX and RS who edit the Final Drafts to a Screenplay... where a lot of changes happened...
Lindeloffs Paradise draft is actually not bad at all.
R.I.P Sox 01/01/2006 - 11/10/2017
Patient Leech
MemberFacehuggerMay-22-2017 6:32 AMPrometheus maintained the mystery that the series needs. Ridley Scott USED to understand that, but he clearly went completely senile for Covenant. Lindelof did a good job. I think they should have kept Spaihts and Lindelof on the writing staff. Bringing in so many different cooks into the kitchen is sinking this series into a bigger and bigger convoluted mess with too many inconsistencies and misinterpretations.
The Alien series is done. It's dead. Covenant killed it.
BigDave
MemberDeaconMay-22-2017 6:49 AMhttp://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/PARADISEfinal.pdf
http://www.prometheus2-movie.com/uploads/PARADISEfinal.pdf
Two links to one of the drafts above
R.I.P Sox 01/01/2006 - 11/10/2017
zeppo
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2017 6:36 PMLindelof may be the scape goat here but lets be fair the man earned it. He is famous for presenting ideas without any f'ing clue as to where its will lead. Prometheus was rewritten to delete the xenos and so something had to be added and to his credit he came up with something. Now in A:C they are trying to figure out what that is and for the most part did a good job.
zeppo
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2017 6:36 PMLindelof may be the scape goat here but lets be fair the man earned it. He is famous for presenting ideas without any f'ing clue as to where its will lead. Prometheus was rewritten to delete the xenos and so something had to be added and to his credit he came up with something. Now in A:C they are trying to figure out what that is and for the most part did a good job.
dk
MemberTrilobiteMay-23-2017 6:42 PMI don't know the nuts and bolts of how writers and directors work together, but I think RS could have said- this sucks! Rewrite these scenes to make sense."
JazzHands
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2017 8:26 PMTBH, I'm upset with Logan. He did some really fine work with Penny Dreadful and I'm pretty sad that he failed to produce for A:C.