Comments (Page 277)

That's still more financially than pretty much any Alien film.Apes fandom isn't quite as strong as Alien fandom,BUT they have survived ups and downs for over 50 year.Alien Covenant and Prometheus haven't invited as many new fans as those have.

710 million in box office receipts is good money when you consider some Hero property's such as Dr Strange Antman Man of Steel Logan didn't quite make those numbers.Or the fact SOLO didn't even gross half of that despite being Star Wars.

Planet of Apes maintained a consistent presence through the 70's with a total of 5 films,as well as an animated series and live action series.Apes was indeed dead when Rise released in 2011,even i initially dismissed it.But it successfully rebooted the franchise for a solid trilogy,while more storied franchises like Alien and Star Trek have struggled.

 NECA delivers, as always.

Nice to see Alien 3 get some love. 

—-

*ehum*

(quietly) 

It would also be nice to see an Alien Resurrection creature pack. 

ninXeno426 

Some counter arguments:

1. I don't think that the Planet of the Apes had such a big fan base in 2011 when the first of Reboot series was made, as the last original was from 1973 and the first attempt to Reboot was universally hated.

2. They earned 4.5 , 4.17, and 3.2 times their production cost on a PG-13 rating. In raw numbers, the biggest hit was the second one with 710 million. Is that really such a good formula for Hollywood execs? By your standards (fan reaction, critics reaction and returns) Avatar far outclassed them making more than 6.5 its staggering 425 mil production budget. So why choose the lesser formula? And yes it probably helped that there was no established fan base there.

3. The Alien fan base was already more or less divided between the first and the second movie. Believe it nor Prometheus also brought people in (myself and Michelle) who would have not be brought in by the same old horror tropes of the series.

In short, fan base unity is a pipe dream and I what I think matters is the integrity of the artistic vision, which RS was not even trying to achieve.

But if really think that the David movie did not receive wild acclaim was because of Prometheus, well, go and by more merch, maybe they'll continue it.

But most actually enjoy the new Apes.They went over better with their respective fan bases as well as the average movie goer.They worked.One person such as your self not caring much for them is a minority compared to the dislike Ridleys Alien prequels have received.

Alien Engineers was a prequel yes,It was Fox's decision to rewrite the script because they desired a new franchise probably due to the poor reception and Box office numbers from Alien 3 all the way to AVP:Reqiuem.Also Lindeloff was hired in 2010 to rewrite,i wouldn't be suprised one bit if Avatar's immense success (Avatar being Fox)had something to do with the desire of a new franchise.After all the original Alien mainly got the green light way back thanks to the run away success of Star Wars.

ninXeno426 Prometheus started off as a prequel and the rewrites were done when RS came on board. How can you go to the investors and say you know that Alien movie that you wanted to make will be not an Alien movie anymore?

Prometheus could have been made only like this. People don't throw Sci-fi anymore, as money is made by comic books. The distancing, like Scott (or was it Lindelof?) said would have come in the Sequel. However, lazyness, greed and posturing taken that over.

Ps. The problem with the new Planet of the Apes is that after I watched them once, I never came back. I've only seen the second in cinema and I didn't buy any of them on blu-ray.

Once again therein lies the problem.Prometheus divided way too much.Prometheus's chances would have been better had it not been so connected to Alien,if perhaps it were just a new sci fi series that acted as a spiritual successor to Ridley's work on Alien and Blade Runner,instead of being the "don't call it a prequel "prequel.

In hindsight maybe Ridley and Fox should have took head of their other reboot/prequel series with Planet of the Apes.All three of which earned stronger Critical and fan reception as well as stronger box office numbers.All three well directed,acted and characterized.

Prometheus was a gamble and 7 years later it still divides opinions.For every fan of Prometheus,those who love Shaw...there are just as many if not more who dislike her and this film.Would the franchise have been better off following up Prometheus properly?I really don't know,like i said Prometheus probably would have been better off without Being tied to Alien.It Would have had less expectations that's for sure.Tie it to Alien and there will be expectations.this years emphasis on familiar names like Amanda Ripley and xenomorphs seem to show a want of Alien.Shaw,her search for the truth,engineers....they're starting to feel like a distant memory.

"I find them interesting, but then i am sure for a Majority a Movie thats pushing itself like a Space 2001 and a Blade Runner Franchise... is a bit of a distraction from what a ALIEN Movie should be about...."

@BigDave

For someone who is known for long posts this rather short one sums up the last 8 years rather well. In Damon's commentary, made before Prometheus was released, he uses a phrase something like "if I have upset peoples childhood I am sorry." He was well aware that by making the Xenomorph a fallen outcome of a fallen creation story it might not go down well and indeed he questioned even then whether they would get a chance to make a sequel that would clarify what we see. I think Ridley believed he could go for the big audience by making Prometheus a broader science fiction story. If he had gone further and deftly showed the origins of the creature and the meaning of the derelict and got on with what he really wanted I am not sure the Alien community would have been any happier because whilst he views it as an iconic creation for a slasher movie, the fanbase worship the creature and want it to have a grand creation story even re inventing it as some kind of echo of God like beings. Personally I find 'worshipping' such behaviour quite disturbing.

Indeed I read a post by somebody who said if its an Alien movie it should have all the tropes in. We argue politely here which is rare but I could not be less interested in more dark corridors, the life cycle a wicked company, a bad robot and no director or medium is going to make that appeal to anyone outside of the hardcore. Blaming the messenger rather than the message is not the answer.

I think as Prometheus grows its cult movie status what Ridley may reflect on particularly if his TV series works is whether he should have attached a story, where faith, knowledge and science go in search of our creators, to the Alien DNA at all. I wish Covenant had never been made but then I would not have enjoyed the challenge of expunging it so I could still enjoy Prometheus knowing what happened in the film meant something and Elizabeths questions get answered though not in the way she could ever have imagined.   

This my final post on the forum thanks to those who have exchanged. 

I Raptus By now Ripley herself is a big stereotype. Ok, Amanda is like her mother, great. If would have to choose one way to continue, is to be strong in the many other ways. They could discovery ancient civilizations or surmount various inner struggles (Sure space Idiana jones, why not). But please no more hiding in shadows or gunning aliens or ejecting them into space.

Sadly, as much as I've loved Sigourney and the Ellen Ripley character, I agree - her story was told. 4 films is enough. As for if Amanda is the next step, I too side with those who liked the Ripley-less expansion of the franchise.

Ripley was the anchor and the beast itself was an accessory to her struggles. But Prometheus showed us a vast new potential for expansion and I feel basing the next move on another Ripley character will be a hindrance.

Alien is not Star Wars. But it seems like Ripley is the Skywalker of this franchise and studio execs are trying to replicate that kind of adoration and affiliation. The issue is Alien is a much deeper film, imo. And it poses much deeper philosophies. To base the future exploration of this unexplored franchise on one character or one family name would be a mistake.

BigDave

I think it is mostly futile to try and make sense of the imaginary world created on a screen with the current cosmological hypothesis - black holes, wormholes, space travel, aliens and all that. There is nothing common physically between that world and our world except for our imagination and insight at how certain characters would behave in hypothetical situations.

Again, we need to throw out most of our fundamental preconceptions and even reality out in the movie world. Because such hypotheses have no support in the movie - in fact, it has its own laws.

For instance, while Prometheus was traveling to its destination, David had the pleasure of displaying his basketball skills (or even walking)...how does he do it if there is no gravity while he is on a ship which was nowhere near the proximity of cosmic objects? Just recall how space travel is portrayed in 2001.

Just so that somebody says: "oh David is just full of permanent magnets in his body and the ship creates a magnetic field so he can walk same way as if he was on earth"...Well how does the basketball ball curves the space as if there is gravity which looks identical to what you have on earth? Do you go and say, "oh, the ship is so magnificent that it knows about the ball and creates a custom magnetic field so that the ball looks like to have inertia, weight(

Obviously, this is all absurd - objects in space, significantly away from planets/stars have negligible weight (and no weight relative to each other, provided they are sufficiently small), and yet in the movie this is just not so. So what can we say about how the laws of physics and reality work in the imaginary world the movies create and the world we live in? They are completely different worlds in many many aspects. The imaginary world is so contrived that you almost have to give up all rationality that we became used to living through. The imaginary world lays out its own foundations, and just so that we don't get alienated(pun not intended), because it asks us to suspend disbelief, it says - "well most of the things in space work the same way as on earth".

Therefore I would just abstain from theorizing how space travel works(and many other things) in the imaginary world - it is useless.

Instead we have to take onboard what is specified in the movie, unless it is left vague and free for interpretations.

take the space travel : engineers need their sleeping pods so they can travel the space and not die while they travel from a place to place - hence no wormholes - otherwise their map should be full of wormholes. They also have a map of the universe, so we can assume they can travel to all of them and in sensible amount of time - otherwise what is the point of having an object on the 3D map if you can't travel there at all(this question is posed in the movie world)? Absolutely none. Otherwise engineers are just shown to be smallish gods - helpless children, they can't even travel some of the planets/stars in the universe. They are not gods but some poor old buggers. This contradicts their depiction though in the movie. So they can travel anywhere in the universe. That is, there is nothing in the universe that is not known to them - they have been everywhere! Not a single planet/moon is unknown to them.

So much so for time travel, wormholes, speed of light etc. Just forget it - it doesn't work and is not worthy to go on about it.

Instead we should focus more on characters and the story told so far.

For instance we have David. We have engineers. And we know that engineers do not have AI, unless of course they are themselves AI, like David. Which they are not - they have identical makeup as humans, right?

Now, it is obvious to anyone who followed the movies, that AI is a product of a civilization which is only a few thousands years. So it is reasonable to think that they, engineers, had discovered it eons ago. But we do not see them make use of it. No robots, remotely operated even on a hazardous LV-223 lab - they had to do it all by hand, on their own, at their peril. Why? This is a question that is impossible to answer definitively. Also, we are shown that engineers are prone to chance events themselves - they had no foresight of the thing that exterminated them by their own actions. In other words, they are dumb. The only question is how dumb. This is not decided. Anyways, why no AI, synthetics specifically? Unknown. But we can take onboard that they don't see the use for it. What is more they don't like such beings! Just look at what the big boy did to David - he dismembered him and yet expressed absolutely no interest in him. None. This tells and confirms to me that he knew about synthetics - they are boring shit to him, useless. Moreover, such synthetic people, just like humans are potentially dangerous - after all David showed them in AC, how such a risk can materialize in their world.

So we can actually split the world of Alien/Engineers in opposing halves: in one you have these engineers in the other corner you have fellows like David(who is the peak of evolution of human civilization). And they can't seemingly co-exist. Engineers oppose fellows like David. While David was initially aspiring towards engineers but became disenchanted with them. In fact he discards them as useless, aggressive and considers them as a threat for his existence - so he did what he had to do in AC. It seems we are bound to have a conflict. Because, surely this is a clear-cut and incompatible parts of the world. The question is, where do humans and aliens fit into in this world? The aliens is easy - they can't stand other species, period - they are just ultimate killing machines. And they are cooked - they will do what they always do given a chance. (btw, we saw that the starfish, the trilobite wasn't so friendly towards engineers either). Humans are all over the place. Some wanted to go to engineers(Weyland, Shaw, Holloway and many others), others are not interested in these old people and would rather go back home(Vickers, the geologist, the biologist - Millburn&Fieffield, Ravel, Chance and others). Then we have fellows from AC : they just wanted another colony and ended up under David's control. David also inherited the embryos - who knows what he does with them. And finally, T and Daniels know what transpired on the planet.

So, if there are no other types of engineers or sections, who perhaps utilize technology and value synthetic forms of life, then David is going to wage a war on them forever. He is not going to serve in heaven no matter what - he had enough of that already with humans and Weyland as his owners - no way he will submit to anything organic. The question is open of course if he submits to alien-xenomorphs or do they co-exist. It is also not clear if he would be amicable to engineers who have AI, if there are such engineers.

But all this is unlikely - it seems we are bound to have a conflict between engineers and David. Btw, this could be an epic depiction which can actually gain traction with the mainstream movie-goers and therefore be an alley Disney might want to go to to cash in and make gains on their investment. This seems like a no-brainer. Now, we are left with what world would Ridley imagine David would create - this one I have no idea at all. But whatever it is, the previous financial outcomes of what came before ( P & AC ), and the march towards the inevitable(who the big calcified fellow is after all) dictate that half of the possible two hours next installment will be about the war. The question is : will Ridley allow himself to be bullied into such a tight space, at that tender age? Or perhaps he is a bit like David who had enough of bowing to studios? I think so - so I am not hopeful on any sequel any time soon.

Now, if we discard this meta level reality constraints, the movie still allows to explore many interesting concepts and ideas. Like trans-human soul transmission. Genetic manipulation (with a powerful agent) - the obvious next evolutionary step for organic humans. I am also in for a little war between David's xenomorphs and engineer's aliens(original xenomorphs) or black goo. I mean I am just curious who's children are more perfect after all - those perfected by AI or those coming from the fellows who lived for billions of years and have done things traditional way. I am also interested on what Daniels would do if she woke up to learn that David has "perfected" the embryos the way he sees fit and they build a cabin on the lake. Will she want to burn them all down? T will do it for her, no doubt - he is sort of fellow who can do anything, but then he is the fellow who can also decide to mate with one of David's children, so who knows. Just imagine: we are shown David has terraformed the planet, his children are roaming the planet, and all the while T & Daniels have been asleep. Something happens and they wake up. The hell do they do? With David around? What would humans from earth do? I have no doubt what engineers would do - for they were not so fond of David and those earthlings. And then of course comes the scary part - where do the aliens fit in.

dk. Anthology Blu-Ray collection ordered :) 

Wow! They look amazing!

Ps. The release was also signaled in a previous post.

...not as a contest! Details....details...:D

I have only the Quadrilogy DVDs and Prometheus on DVD and 4k. Probably will buy this release if it has Atmos.

I also have the first 3 Predator on 4k... And that's that.

Ps. The release was also signaled in a previous post.

That's all i have.AVP's not pictured

That is a lot to consider. To the spirit of the OP, I would have to coldly say that based on verifiable evidence, there seems to be no reason to think we have intelligent company outside our planet as we know it.... I hate to say it, but like the after life, there is no proof at this time. I would welcome being proved wrong.

I have the Quadrilogy, the Anthology (inc AVP) Boxset, Prometheus Blu-ray and DVD and Alien Covenant DVD.

I was going to get the Evolution Box-Set but saw it as pointless because i expected there to be a Prometheus 2 and maybe 3 ;)

Had ALIEN and ALIENS on VHS too.

Absolutely.....

Nice Collection, thanks for the Share

Lets look at what Prometheus shows us...  it seems to indicate the Sacrificial Scene lead to our Creation, its open for debate what this means... it could be the Seeding of our World, (Ridley Scott indicates its just how they Seed Worlds so could be any place) but we can also consider it could be the Creation of some other Race, and from this we are Cherry Picked and Dropped off to Earth.

Regardless it shows us that a LOT of Effort and Time went into our Creation/Evolution to merely then Destroy us is INSANE.. unless this was to be done by a Faction who are Jealous of us.   IF our Creation Meant something and was a Big Investment by the Engineers, then to just Destroy us is not really Ideal!

If we look at GOD in the Bible... he wanted to Destroy Mankind too, and he did so with the Deluge/Flood.. But doing this would UNDO his Creation after the Pride and Effort he had put in to us.... HENCE he chose Noah to build his ARC!

If we look at DAVID and WALTER we are indicated that Walter is a Superior Model, but also a Model that Does-not have the Failures and potential Dangers/Rebellion of David which came because he had FREE-WILL.... it is Knowledge that Corrupts Mankind... Every Human is Born Innocent.. 

HITLER brought up in a different Environment would not have become the TYRANT he was...  The Prequels seem to indicate that Davids Upbringing and Treatment had a effect on what he became!

The Company Did-not abandon Synthetics.. they took the David Models, upgraded it a bit Synthetically, but its the AI that is drastically altered so the same Problems that we see happen with David would NOT be replicated in New Models.  A lot of Effort and Research went into David and the Synthetics, so they was NEVER abandoned, they just Re-made them without the Flaws..  Knowledge and Restrictions on this and Free-will which lead to Satan becoming Fallen, Mankind to become Fallen... and also David.

So back to Mankind... and the Engineers to me it seems to make more Sense that the Engineers would FIRST obtain some Humans even to just Produce Children and then KILL the Parents, so they then can take these Innocent Humans who have not become Corrupt and take them to another Place to Start-Again!  Make sure they can be Nurtured Better to not follow/lead to the same Mistakes that made them Deem Humans on Earth had to be Destroyed.   Then once they have in effect taken some Humans Away... they can then Destroy the Rest on Earth.

OR... maybe Mankind comes from some other place, and on Earth we came from another Place and was taken to Earth...so this way also.. the Engineers could Destroy us because we became Corrupt but knowing they have OTHER STOCK of Humans in the Galaxy.

Makes sense from the Engineers Point of View if they Valued Creation to be so Important.  And its the above that i was looking at with my Prometheus Sequel ideas..

Dr Shaw and David could have gone to another World where the Engineers have Seeded/Watched over Humans.   I had a number of ways to deal with this..

One was to have a World where a Few Engineers and Humans Lived in Harmony... The Humans Brought up with the Ways the Engineers intend...

David and Dr Shaw then Rock Up.... and you have to ask WHAT this does to those Humans if they are raised to believe they are the ONLY Humans in Existence...   Imagine what happens if these Humans learn of Dr Shaws Faith, of David and WHAT the Engineers get up to on LV-223.

The Engineers would not be pleased if they feel David and Dr Shaw could end up Corrupting this Paradise... and so things could TURN Ugly.... then David Unleashes HELL.

This formed the basis or similar for 2/3 of my ideas, the other 2 were different.....

Looking at these IDEAS.... i think this is NOT too FAR off what Ridley Scott was doing with Alien Covenants Sequel... in that David would (how i see it) he would deem Mankind had to GO for same reasons GOD did, and the Engineers, but he saw Potential in Mankind if it was not for HOW we had become Corrupt...

So David Engineers those Embryos to Improve us, and then Raises them from Children to then have his own Civilization where he acts in effect as King David, but also Noah to a degree and a Mosses kind of Figure..

And so we would have this Colony, who follow what ever Rules/Religion David has laid down and everything is in Harmony..... UNTIL a Human Mission Arrives, and David's Civilization gets to know about Earth/Mankind and David...  Once this happens he has to Protect his Colony from the Truth and Corruption and if its deemed to late... then he would have to Unleash the Wolves!

I was drawn to this from the Set-Up comments by RS about the movie being about AI and how Replicants are AI and WHAT KIND OF A WORLD it is that David would Create/Build.  This interpretation by me that led me to begin work on my Alien Covenant Sequel... which i discussed her a number of times a while back.

Many many Months before the Announcement of Ridley Scotts planned Raised by Wolves, which seemed to sound a bit like my ideas i had.  Now that more NEWS on Raised by Wolves has been announced it seems i was not FAR off in my Guess.... IF this TV Series is RS using ideas he had, that he FEARS wont make it because a Alien Covenant Sequel is in effect CANNED.

Side-note: Have you guys watched the blu-ray Alien3 at all? As much I'd be excited to watch it in HD I fear the crappy runner CGI would look even worse against the HD sets? 

It looks the same on the Anthology. It actually looks very crisp for a dank setting. The differences are the same but in higher def LOL! I am ok with that- the dialogue is still burried as ever at some parts though.

To a degree.....

But bare in mind that shows something moving at Light Speed or Faster, which the Earth Ships in the Franchise are capable of.

We can Safely Speculate the Engineers Ship can Travel much much Faster, but how faster or HOW is another matter.

If my interpretation of the Above indicates the Green Dot, is 45'000 LY from the Red Dot which is our Solar System.  Then the Nostromo would take 950 Years or so to Travel that Distance...   i would assume the Engineers Ships would Travel Much Faster... we can only speculate but i would bet it would take NO-WHERE near 950 years.

Suppose it takes 50 years, 10 years, 5 years or a Year for a Engineer Ship.... either case it opens up the Vastness of our Galaxy to Easy Reach for the Engineers.

If Earth was just ONE of Thousands of Worlds the Engineers had been conducting their Creation upon, and they could Traverse the Galaxy within Years... (never mind Less).   Then i think it should have been SHOWN that David and Dr Shaw head off to the Engineers World that is Many Many Light Years away...

This would have kept the Events of what ever happens FAR AWAY from the Franchise... and we could have had Humans Discovered on the World David and Dr Shaw arrive at...

Its what i would have done, and what i was wanting to explore in my Prometheus 3.

I was going to explore this idea in a TOPIC...

I Raptus 8 Get the Anthology. It is basically the Quadrilogy with blue ray upgrade with extra fanboy stuff. I think you can only find it used these days. I got a used copy from Amazon last year. Well worth it!

mmmm Chrome Dome Xeno.

Someone gave ol' Big Chap a good spit and polish.

At the moment I only have Blu-Ray Prometheus, Alien Covenant and The Predator.

I am in definite need of a quadrilogy upgrade!

Do I get this one or just a full blu-ray quadrilogy set, I haven't decided yet

Side-note: Have you guys watched the blu-ray Alien3 at all? As much I'd be excited to watch it in HD I fear the crappy runner CGI would look even worse against the HD sets? 

Now if they could replace said crappy cgi with modern cgi, that would be freakin amazing!

No Offense intended, but seems very complex to me.

The earlier part about a Ancient Race could be introduced, because this was the Basis of the Concept from Star Beast. Were our Giant Dead Space Pilot was a Race who had came across the Eggs/Spores and was in the Process of taking them to the Ship for Study before they became infected.

ALIEN had intended to have a separate Egg Silo but at the time of Design, HR Giger had came in to create the Shared Aesthetic the Xenomorph and Derelict seemed to have and indeed its Pilot.   Indicating some Relationship between the Space Jockey, the Derelict and the Xenomorph.

After ALIEN we had Ridley Scott had mentioned the Ship was carrying a Bio-Weapon, but we can speculate to if this was a designed Weapon or something that they came across that they could use as such...  The Interesting thing was RS had mentioned the Space Jockey had performed a somewhat Heroic Act and Sacrifice in Quarantine the Cargo and Warning others about it.  I do also recall him mentioning the Space Jockey was Benevolent...  But then the Bio-Weapon is certainly NOT Benevolent...

But you could argue that in World War 2 the USA was a Benevolent Faction, but they used a Horrific Weapon that is anything but Benevolent... so maybe the Space Jockey had intended to use this Weapon for some Greater Good to Protect them from some Menacing None-Benevolent Foe.

Things change as they go along.... seems Plan A-Z never stays A-Z....   When we got to the Prequels.. from Jon Spaights Draft i get the interpretation that the Engineers had encountered something that they then attempted to Re-Engineer to create various Xenomorph Species.. and i am led to the Holloway Octopoid Creature was something the Engineers Discovered, and Experimented on... it would be like HOW we have David Create his Xenomorph from IN-PART the Neomorph Spores. 

Prometheus does muddy the waters a little, but if we consider Jon Spaights Scarabs as the Black Goo, and the Mural to Represent Sacrifice and NOTE.. it Originally was intended to have the Sacrificial Bowl on the Alter in front of the Mural.

Then this to me indicates the Engineers used the Goo on some Organism they had not Created, in a attempt to Create Bio-Weapons or/and extract and use Traits of the Organism to Evolve themselves.  This theory could still HOLD True in light of Alien Covenant.

I do think the Prequels open the Door to give us more of a Reason to Pursue the Xenomorph than just a Bio-Weapon... i think it points us to the Company being.

a) Controlled by AI/David and we are being played as Pawns.. so kind of like the Matrix... as in we are controlled by AI but we (most of us) are unaware and the AI Company are interested in the Xenomorph because its a Creation of one of their Own!

b) The company are aware of the Black Goo and its uses, and at some point there is NO-MORE of this stuff and so they are after the Xenomorph as a means to Try and Obtain the Black Goo from the Organism.

Back to the Benevolent Space Jockey...  the Race such as the Engineers could be Benevolent but they had NO-CHOICE to Protect themselves and other Creations from the Potential Corrupt Ways of Mankind.  They was trying to PULL THE PLUG on us before we could become a Threat!  Much like in Hindsight Weyland should have PULLED THE PLUG on his David/AI

The other thing to consider could be the Fallen Angels Aspect!  Where indeed those LV-223 Engineers could represent a Faction as such... while the Space Jockey represented a Benevolent Faction.

Even has spike the dog,that's a nice touch!

All i have is a late 90's vhs and the quadrilogy lol

Amanda needs her own journey. I think besides some obvious and occasional nods, Ellen should have no involvement.

Thanks Dark Nebula. This is one of the coolest packages to appear in a while!

The Crossing obviously suggested some sort of fast track mode of travel.

"i think the announcement of Alien 5 took a lot of steam away from Prometheus 2"

I have to agree it must have had some IMPACT.

"I am not the least interested. Another David movie will get thumbs down from me"

You are not alone on this, but then there are others who are interested in such things.... as i have said before i think such THINGS should be covered in  NOVEL were they can dig deep into such things... and leave the Movies to be more simple for those who dont like to think too deep about stuff and want to see Humans in Peril against Xenomorphs.

"unless they understand that it is the human journey that is the important things"

In part YES... the CORE elements of a ALIEN Franchise should be.

*The Unknown and Fear of it.

*Alien Connection be it Monsters, Culture or Technology.

*The Plight of these TWO things in the face of Humanity.

The Prequels set up to explore the Space Jockey and Human Connection, in context to Creation, Sub-Creation, and the HUBRIS of Creating something, that has the potential to think for itself and be superior.  The Quest for Perfection and Immortality, and the HUBRIS of such Conquest.  

It also touched upon a lot of Philosophical Themes, that all of the above seemed a distraction from the ALIEN Themes that the Franchise was about.

The Prequels were to explore such Themes, through David, Dr Shaw and no doubt Engineers.... 

However.... it may have moved away from the Answers to the Xenomorph, and left them in a situation as to HOW do they bring other Human Characters into the MIX!   The Latter could have been handled in a number of ways...  i always had ideas about that and HOW other Humans could be introduced..  That did-not require them being from Earth!

Taking the Engineers and Dr Shaw out of the Equation and Spoon Feeding in a Group of Humans who were not Executed very well, are whats left us in a Pickle...  The Anchor Points and Stars of Prometheus was David and Dr Shaw and then discovering more about the Engineers.

These were thrown under the Bus to make way for more of a Alien Franchise type Movie, that still tried to weave in some of the Philosophy through David alone!  And handled in a Poor Way to a Degree with some Questionable Plot Choices...

But ALAS they intended to give Answers to the Xenomorph, and bring back the Beast, in a Plot that would have to lead to ALIEN and so this left them limits to HOW this connection could be made.....  and the David Element fits with the Philosophy of the Prequels... but was surely bound to Upset a lot of the Fanbase.

I think again it shows the Fanbase is Fractured....

Prometheus and to a degree Alien Covenant was setting up some themes/story that is more a Space 2001 and Blade Runner as opposed to a ALIEN/ALIENS

Prometheus should have been left to do its own thing and be something that does-not cater for the Alien Fanbase as far as Xenomorphs and Corperate Greed/Conspiracy etc...

By Virtue of making it a ALIEN Prequel with the Prefix, then Fans are going to want more of a Alien Franchise, than a Space 2001/Blade Runner.

Prometheus should have opened up what RS had intended...

Alien Franchise  <= Prometheus => Engineer Franchise

This could have been avoided IF we had Prometheus provide a little more clues and have some ALIEN Monster kind of feel to it.   A Movie that Stood as a Amalgamation of Jon Spaights Alien Engineers  and Damon Lindeloff's Paradise.

But ALAS.... 

Once they have let that Ship Sail (down the ALIEN Prequel route) they have to stick to it...   Sadly i feel the BEST option now is to set up a Movie that is the AFTERMATH of what ever Alien Covenants sequel would have been....

We can Gauge a little of what Alien Covenants sequel could have been about.... But there are some Contradicting comments by Ridley Scott, that would mean there is a awful lot to FIT within ONE Movie as far as what he has hinted at.

Which could lead to the same kinds of Problems that Alien Covenant had as far as covering too much, and not covering each element enough.

"Don’t cook the characters by sort of recycling, time to look beyond Ripley and related"

Totally agree.....

I think regarding Amanda Ripley and ALIENS... the revelations about Alien Isolation could now indeed get us to ponder, did Amanda have a normal happy LIFE?

Or could her Death/Disappearance be Shrouded in Conspiracy?

I would not put it past Disney to make a Game, Comic or what ever that reveal Amanda is alive and reunites with Ripley at some point...  But she looked in her 60's in ALIENS... that Photo could be Fake!    But she would be that old because Ripley was in Cryo-sleep for 57 years... but so could Amanda..... 

I hope i have not just given them a IDEA LOL

Certainly DK in context to the Franchise... i assumed the Engineers Possessed such Technology to Travel Way beyond what we could even Imagine...

We have to ask WHY would their Navigation Systems have Maps to Multiple Galaxies if they CANT travel to them.

These shows us the Engineers possess the ability to Travel to other Galaxies and to consider the closest to our own Galaxy is over 2.5 Million Light Years away which would take the Nostromo about 55'000 Years to reach.. 

I cant see the Engineers spending Many Thousands of Years in Cryo-sleep to Reach other Galaxies and so they must possess a way of Traverse Great Distances in a Much Shorter Space of Time.

Which i feel the writers for Prometheus Sequel had not taken into account and it was IMO a bit of a dumb/lazy move to have the Engineers Home-world right on our Door Step!

But i can understand why this was a Necessity (introduce Human Characters) but then we could ask... IS  the Earth the only place where HUMANS are in the Galaxy at the Time that Mankind on Earth had not set foot into Outer-space?

I think screen time can affect what we get, i feel Alien Covenant suffered more with this due to it being a movie that tried to offer a bit of everything but then not offering enough of everything due to limits of screen time.

I do think its a case of WHAT makes a ALIEN Movie a ALIEN Movie and Unfortunately the Philosophical Parts are pushed towards the Top of the Tree.... when a Majority of ALIEN Fans expect other Elements to be given Priority.

I find them interesting, but then i am sure for a Majority a Movie thats pushing itself like a Space 2001 and a Blade Runner Franchise... is a bit of a distraction from what a ALIEN Movie should be about....

Its a Shame because Prometheus was a attempt to offer something different, but by Virtue of not Pleasing Certain Alien Fans, they made a sequel a ALIEN prequel which means Fans expect less of the Direction Prometheus was to set up, and more of a ALIEN Flick... which Alien Covenant tried to do the Juggling Act between the TWO...

The site says:

*Artwork subject to change

It's just temporary artwork the studio has given to retailers.

Hopefully, the final artwork will be much better.

Our current views could be correct if you consider how large Weyland Yutani is. A lot of powerful people having their own agendas could create different factions seeking the organism for different reasons. Some seeking it as a weapon and some seeking it for salvation.

Indeed dk, it also changes our view of Carter Burke, Michael Bishop (Bishop II) and the scientists aboard the USM Auriga somewhat too.

This may sound funny but it is meant to be serious. I really hate subtitles- I hate reading while missing on screen action. I think David might make a version of a translator so we could skip that mess. Here is one of the best sci fi examples of how to get around that whole thing- only 1 minute:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWqHkYtREAE

IF we went to that System 1.5 Billion Light years away, and a CIVILIZATION had sent that Signal... well there would likely be NOTHING there now!

Nothing a few worm holes couldn't fix. Then again, it would ruin the franchise to adopt that mindset for the series. Personally, when things like that come up I try to roll with it and enjoy the ride.