Recently saw trailer in theater and...

mogy79

MemberOvomorphMarch 14, 20122630 Views48 Replies

So, against my better judgement, I recently went to see John Carter. I think the anticipation of Prometheus has given me a renewed appetite for SciFi... so I indulged this whim. My opinion is that the movie was intolerably reductive.... a grey, putty like mash-up of Star Wars, Star Gate, Avatar, and Disney's Pocahontas. And please don't mention the special effects as a redeeming quality... they were standard at best. If you are like me you have been craving a smart, epic, creatively expansive science fiction genre movie for some time. I think the last one I saw and really liked was Moon, but I wouldn't call it epic.... or very original. Also, if you are like me, you too may have wanted to turn your back on the genre all together after horrendous Star Wars Trilogy prequels. So my point of this post to share my experience of seeing (unexpectedly) the Prometheus trailer play to a fully packed theater of (I presume) scifi fans. I felt so excited when it began... I saw Ridley's crow logo appear and got goosebumps as I prepared to share the moment with a group rather than alone on YouTube. It brought back the memory of going to see Aliens with my Dad in the 80's... I was probably too young to see it, but I begged him incessantly to take me for weeks... all because the commercials I had been seeing on TV had infected me with fascination and curiosity... do you remember them? Well the audience reaction seemed lukewarm at best... actually more like oblivous. It was really ant-climatic for me personally. Are today's audiences going to be smart enough to appreciate this. I know I'm going to sound like a snob here, but don't you agree that the majority of pop culture consumers today are morons. I'm not convinced, that even if this movie is a masterpiece that the masses have the capacity to digest it... and by masses I mean the ones who watch Jersey Shore, the Kardashians, and Dancing with the Stars... and the one's to my bewilderment (after showing no reaction to the Prometheus trailer) proceeded to cheer on John Carter in one the worst scifi films I've ever seen. I "they" now outnumber "us" I'm afraid... and that probably doesn't bode well for Prometheus.

Xenotron
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March 14, 2012

I just call Mohawk Mutant Man "Kuato" because I joked in another post about Prometheus being like the mutants in Total Recall. That's my pet name for him. For the next 85 days, as far as I'm concerned, he's Kuato.

db
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March 14, 2012

In Hollywood no one can hear you scream... Unless you advertise it properly.

Cinefan
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March 14, 2012

Sorry Mogy, with some of the talk about a couple other films just wanted to throw one out myself. I didn't think it warranted it's own thread. My bad.

Alien Drone
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March 14, 2012

Two things to say about the John Carter movie. First the way it was marketed, terrible by Disney. You have a total of 11 books written by the same author that wrote Tarzan and you don't push that angle. Secondly, the series of books precedes most scifi except for Jules Vergne, so when you talk about it being a mix of Star Wars and other current favorites, I'm thinking they borrowed a few ideas from Edgar Rice Burroughs. I happen to like the older authors and the stories they wrote, think about it, they actually used their imagination to write something original, unlike todays movie makers. Read some of Burrough's work sometime, discover one of the true original superheros.

eighty-five
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March 14, 2012

I agree on the point about what people consider a good movie. I was recently at my dad's house and the movie 'Faster' was on one day. Dwayne Johnson-wheelman-with ridiculous-don't drive like this if you want to get away from the cops after a bank robbery-action movie. I suggested that we watch 'Drive', which I think is an awesome movie. Camera work, acting, realistic driving, characters showing believable emotion, etc. Well, he didn't like it so much and immediately began talking about how the ending could produce a sequel...c'mon dad, 'Drive' got a 15 minute standing ovation at Cannes, if that means anything. Oh, and a sequel would take everything away from it. Sorry for not keeping my post aimed at Prometheus. 85 Days, 10 hours and 22 minutes!

eighty-five
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March 14, 2012

Sorry, *aimed at Alien...forgot which subject we're supposed to be talking about!

aintnozeno
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March 14, 2012

I would go a step further than you mogy79... It seems the stupid people breed at 4 times the rate of anyone else. I like a good "popcorn flick" as much as the next fella, but a good movie that makes you ponder it for hours afterward? AWESOME! Most of my friends think any movie that makes you think is stupid, and they want to be entertained only. If I want entertainment, I'll go to Disneyworld. I enjoy reading for the same reasons I like a good movie: I have to use my brain to enjoy it. I like a film that has great effects, a powerful conflict, and a controversial plot. It makes me think about things from a different perspective. Science fiction often covers all those aspects, so it's always my favorite.

Cypher
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March 14, 2012

I have The Thing From Another World and still like to pop it on every now and then ;-)

[url=http://www.robocopmovie.net/][img]http://i888.photobucket.com/albums/ac89/snorkelbottom/NewRoboBanner.jpg[/img][/url] "Is it dead this time?" "I dunno, poke it with this stick and see."

Cypher
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March 14, 2012

Ah :-D Gotcha Xenotron ;-)

[url=http://www.robocopmovie.net/][img]http://i888.photobucket.com/albums/ac89/snorkelbottom/NewRoboBanner.jpg[/img][/url] "Is it dead this time?" "I dunno, poke it with this stick and see."

Cypher
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March 14, 2012

[quote]I would go a step further than you mogy79... It seems the stupid people breed at 4 times the rate of anyone else. I like a good "popcorn flick" as much as the next fella, but a good movie that makes you ponder it for hours afterward? AWESOME! Most of my friends think any movie that makes you think is stupid, and they want to be entertained only. If I want entertainment, I'll go to Disneyworld. I enjoy reading for the same reasons I like a good movie: I have to use my brain to enjoy it. I like a film that has great effects, a powerful conflict, and a controversial plot. It makes me think about things from a different perspective. Science fiction often covers all those aspects, so it's always my favorite.[/quote] HEAR, HEAR AINTNOZENO!! You earn cookies :-P

[url=http://www.robocopmovie.net/][img]http://i888.photobucket.com/albums/ac89/snorkelbottom/NewRoboBanner.jpg[/img][/url] "Is it dead this time?" "I dunno, poke it with this stick and see."

Moonibal
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March 14, 2012

In defense of my generation I'd like to say that not all of us like Jersey Shore and the people who do only represent about half of us at best. The only problem I see with Prometheus is that besides the people who did see Alien vs Predator and only see that as what Alien is (and trust me there were a few people I knew who were like that a few years ago). Still yet there are a lot of people who don't know what Alien is. A lot of people don't know what a lot of older movies are for that matter.

craigamore
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March 14, 2012

You're in good company aintnoxeno...Cypher.....cheers my friends

Cinefan
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March 14, 2012

@moonibal I still say the problem with getting the younger generation to watch what most of us consider a great movie is the fact that it is more than 30 years old. I was 10 back then and no way could my dad talk me into watching a movie from the 40's or 50's. It's just a hard sell to them. No disrespect moonibal.

Late
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March 14, 2012

Mogy - you get the gig. Nothing worse than seeing our anticipation build, only to have silence from a theatre where cell phones, chatter, and mindless banter over previews some of us look forward to overcome our excitement. We get taken in that moment from a time where you had to STFU once the curtain drew back. This is why I stopped going to flicks - tired of peeps running their faces and ruining the anticipation of the moment where we find ourselves psyched to see a teaser, and even more so - in this time where someone like Taylor Swift is considered a legitimate contribution to art - we stand aside and wonder WFT happened to us? Consider the silence at that moment a blessing, yer ahead of the curve, and it'll make for a pleasing showcase for what we grew up with. The simpletons will go elsewhere, we get to celebrate what we enjoy. Not that we are better than anyone else, we just have things we dig that do the gig.

Cypher
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March 14, 2012

I hope I get an empty (or near empty) theatre. It's Port Macquarie. I have high hopes for that :-P

[url=http://www.robocopmovie.net/][img]http://i888.photobucket.com/albums/ac89/snorkelbottom/NewRoboBanner.jpg[/img][/url] "Is it dead this time?" "I dunno, poke it with this stick and see."

Xenotron
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March 14, 2012

I think the silence was more due to the Inception-like "THWAAAANNGG"s from the music in the trailer while people were trying to figure out what they were watching. Maybe part of it was trying to figure out the word the sticks were spelling before it was finished building the word. And then, when they finally see the title "Prometheus", they're probably thinking "Huh?" I know if I didn't know anything about anything and I watched that trailer, it wouldn't tell me anything about the movie. Actually, it would've probably reminded me of that one Dennis Quaid sci-fi movie from a few years back, "Pandorum" or something like that? I probably wouldn't have connected it to a 30 year old movie.

mogy79
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March 14, 2012

I can see your point Moonibal... the Alien series (particularly the first film) is old now and is probably not in the scope of many younger (I'm figuring under 25 year old) people. I also don't think it's your generations fault the that you are bombarded with so much mind numbing garbage all the time... I guess it's difficult to avoid so much flashy distraction. Still, as a teenager I remember seeking out of the ordinary films (and other creative media)... for example I remember seeing 2001 which was way before my time... I don't think at 11 or 12 I really "got it", but I remember distinctly thinking "now this is special... this is not like most of the other stuff I've seen... I wan't more of like this"... that theme continued through my adolescence till today. I'd like to think that if I was going through adolescence now or in my early twenties or whatever, I'd still be eager to find something more substantial.

Cinefan
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March 14, 2012

@late Sounds like you need to visit a Drafthouse theater. Look into it!

craigamore
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March 15, 2012

I there with you mogy79.......let's hope a few souls amidst the adolescent masses have the patience to blossom in their viewing of 'Prometheus' in to the kind of person who's open to what they normally wouldn't be.

mogy79
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March 15, 2012

... beer and movies sounds fine... although I'd hate to have to use the bathroom and miss a critical scene... this is probably going to be a film where something interesting is always about to happen