The Prometheus Hypocrisy

there are some simple things you can do to raise the fear threshold one is sound there are frequencies you can use to put people on edge that they can barely detect not soundscapes and atmospherics but raw hyper low frequencies. Gore and shock wont cut it for me i'm more terrified by the prospect of being taken out of ones equilibrium and the prospect of being unable to distinguish reality from fantasy. Madness and the loss of ones faculties is more terrifying then jumping out of a plane with a parachute or a bungee jump. Deep seated psychological issues which are attributed to individual cases as opposed to general audiences like phobias but those childhood fears and the strength of imagination like the boy alone in a dark room who creates demons in the wallpaper that is the core of fear. sexual, psychological, physical, sensory, and emotional, i'm hoping Prometheus taps into the lot and more. Gore and bumps in the night are secondary to all that for me.

I of course don't know the parameters of the rating system, but I think had Alien been released now- it would still be rated R. Yeah, the chestburster was gory, but no more so than many movies with a lesser rating today. I think the "intense horror sequences and disturbing images" will still be the determining factor, and I hope those are present in Prometheus. Ridley might be able to omit SOME blood and gore, but this movie still needs to be profoundly disturbing to truly stay in the "same universe" as Alien. If some of those scenes (or extended scenes) are on the director's cut BD, then I can wait for that. My curiosity is more with exactly WHAT this "epic" story will be, but as many have said already- I wonder how much they can scare us with a PG13 movie. I think it's rather humorous that some say they won't even go see this if it gets a PG13 rating. All the naysayers will still be in that $10 movie seat, just like the rest of us... I'm sure Fox is banking on that.

i agree with all of what your saying but initially i was taken in by ridleys announcement that he wanted to make a nasty sc fi epic and i was sold on that especially when it emerged it would take place in the alien universe. I have never heard ridley use that term before (NASTY) in any film he has made including Hannibal which was the last thriller he made. Its fair to say that i think it will be magnificent regardless i just hope there are some genuine nasty surprises in store .

i also think once you bring the word 3d into the mix its almost a licence to market to the young because your average adult without kids like me just cant relate to 3d in the same way . I and many of my friends are just not in the least bit interested in 3d so i feel that although i was part of the generation that grew up with alien me and my age group are not the target audience for this however its amazing to see the old fans coming out of the woodwork to take an interest in a genre defining film prequel and that may be something fox was not anticipating on the level that it has stirred debate.

@Jeystone - You have managed to put into words exactly how I feel about this movie been watered down to some Walt Disney, kiddy friendly sci fi flick. I have been so excited about this film, and find it hard to verbalise my utter disgust if it gets the kid rating. To quote Ridley "its gonna be really nasty" "its the dark side of the moon" "I want to scare the living shit out of you" ...Playing it safe with Prometheus is not the correct strategy, even financially I think it would get more traction in the long term if they really went for it(the Gods_- Xenos doing really perverse things) Its not that I want to see violence and perversity for the sake of it, I just believe those ingredients are required to make this the dark, foreboding, unnerving entity that it should be. I fear Ridley has gone all Lucas on our asses! He should tell the soulles fox suits to go fuck themselves and not have bothered, or at least had the creative intellect to make the thing on a lower budget.

I can honestly say i have never in my adult life paid to see a pg13 film at the cinema the last time i did go to the cinema i had a press pass when i did a review for revenge of the sith and I was doing a short column in a local publication.

Anyway, I just hope it's not softened as in the case of the Expendables 2 ... or as Carter of Mars (Disney) where we see a Dejah Thoris running across the sand dunes of Mars with more costumes than Mother Teresa...instead of wearing a dental floss

The biggest problem is the movie budget...they don't make 150 million R rated movies...period! That is the only reason why this movie might end up as a PG13...I trust that their will be a directors cut on the blueray/DVD...but in the cinemas...we will be lucky to get an adult rating.......sadly!

Hey I wish PROMETHEUS to be a hard R, but just by analyzing the market (AVATAR & APES movie success, both Fox Production), I think it is safe to say that the movie will likely be PG13. Europe almost definitely will get the R version, if Fox decides on 2 ratings. I hope not.

PG13 or R, I'll be at the theater to see it along with my wife, while my daughter stays at the grandparents'. :-) I think/hope Prometheus will be good regardless of the rating. Besides, 2012 looks to be a good year for movies, so one of them on my list (and hopefully several) are going to satisfy me.

We adults deserve to see an R rated version, period. True, a film of this magnitude must be "milked" for all of the profit that it can bring. That's just business. But, to dilute art (which is what Scott and Giger are all about) is a travesty. If they want to make this available to children (IMHO this is NOT a kid's film) as well, then allow people a choice between seeing the PG13 OR R rated version. Today's modern multi-screen theaters certainly can accommodate one of each. The closest to my home has 18 state-of-the-art screens. Mr. Scott: Tell the suits your art MUST NOT be watered down to the point that adults will not want to see it. We might as well just wait for the Blu-Ray to be released in your Director's Cut.

also, just my pinion but if I am in the demographic FOX is shooting for, that is a teen angst filled 15-19 year old male, I am going to be far more attractyed to a 14+ rated film, than one rated PG...it's a bad move by Fox, not very bright in my opinion, and in the end it matters not cause Ridley said there will be an explicit dvd version. I cannot wait for it.

@Juxtapose, 'Girl with a dragon tattoo' was a 100 million dollar budget, R rated movie....so um yes, they do make large budget R rated movies...if the director stands his ground and doesnt pussy out

here here Jeystone. I saw in an interview Lindellof pussying out. Saying you can up the tension without upping the rating, sure you can - I agree with him. But I think we all want utter terror beyond belief. Really shocking shit. Thats why we need the R. Boundaries on acceptability need to be pushed in Prometheus. NOT Pg 13 Diet Horror tension.

Start an ANTI-PG13 campaign people! Boycott Fox if they release a PG-13 Alien Prequel. I remember AVP is rated PG-13 but it does contain quite a bit of stabbing, impaling, decapitating especially during the Clash of Titans moments. But the way I remember it, the movie feels safe, toothless, despite the amount of violence in it. It takes a great filmmaker to film violence that make an impact I guess.

Start an ANTI-PG13 campaign people! Boycott Fox if they release a PG-13 Alien Prequel. I remember AVP is rated PG-13 but it does contain quite a bit of stabbing, impaling, decapitating especially during the Clash of Titans moments. But the way I remember it, the movie feels safe, toothless, despite the amount of violence in it. It takes a great filmmaker to film violence that make an impact I guess.

yeah the big problem today is that everyone is so entrenched in a world of action and instant gratification. We all want everything "NOW". Movies tend to over do the action, the story sucks, the cgi is overdone, movies rip off from other movies, ideas are constantly recycled, every scene is spoiled through the trailers so that movie studios can draw in an audiences easier, audiences are always comparing one movie to another, studios are too afraid to produce anything original due to budget constraints and financial risks. Movies just don't leave an impact as they once did. Film studios and filmmakers alone are looking to just please the audiences and make films that will bring in a large profit. Nothing is just "story" anymore. Its all about pathetic and overdone cgi and action. Everyone goes to the movies to be entertained but nowadays its like their spoon feeding us rushed and overdone crap. They put everything in the trailer just so we can spend our money and increase their profits. A good director knows that they have to fight for their vision. They can't just let studios walk all over them just to get what they want. Film studios don't care about the creative content of a film, they just want things in a film that they know will draw in an audience. What a good director knows is that he will have to fight for his vision in order to convince the film studios to up the budget and thus giving the director more room to expand his vision. It seems like either directors nowadays either depend on too much cgi or they just want to remain "friends" with the studios thus giving the studio the opportunity to take advantage of whomever may make the film. In the end I feel like over 60 percent of the films we get nowadays are done in small amounts of time, rushed out the door and milked dry for advertisement purposes. Very few films, if any leave a lasting impact anymore. Originality has been thrown out the window for cash and cgi is overdone pathetically to the point where we have just accepted it. What happen to miniatures. What happened to "REAL". Is everything just going to be done in cgi one day? I really don't know. All I know is that film itself has taken a turn for the worst and the biggest problem is, it doesn't seem to be getting better anytime soon. I know Ridley Scott has a plan up his sleeve. There's not a lot of directors out there like Scott who know how to advertise properly and ultimately keep things under wraps until the release of the film. Look how heavily guarded 20th Century Fox is about Prometheus. Obviously some of that has to do with Scott's advertising techniques. They haven't spilled all the beans yet about the ENTIRE film in their trailer or through interviews like some filmmakers tend to do. What's lost in today's society is secrecy and mystery. Everyone wants to get the word out RIGHT AWAY. They don't ever want to wait until the primeire of the film. One of the biggest damn culprits of spoilage is trailers themselves. Editors and studios milk the films dry of all the key scenes within a film. Honestly, "WTF" is all I have to say. Its a cheap way for audiences to get enticed to go to a movie and spend their money just too see everything they saw in the trailer. I think Scott will be able to dodge most if not all these problems. Obviously 20th Century Fox respects Scott and his ability to make a film. So there's a good tell tale sign that things are on the right track for Prometheus.