Alien Movie Universe

Why did Weyland not send a rescue mission?

1527 Views25 Replies
Forum Topic

yasjooni

MemberOvomorphMar-21-2012 2:41 PM
Hi, I have been following this fantastic site for ages now and have just registered as a user, so apologies if what I am going to talk about has already been raised as a discussion. What I would like to know is that in the first film, 'Alien', the crew of the Nostromo were instructed that if they receive a distress message or something similar it was the companies policy to investigate, but surely if the comapany sent the Prometheus on a mission to investigate the possibility of life on another planet, 30 years earlier, I would have thought that as soon as they lost contact or a certain time had elasped when Weyland relealised that something had gone wrong, that some sort of rescue mission would have been made. The other theory would be that the Nostromo was sent into this region of space on purpose as the company knew that a failed mission had taken place, but if this was the case why leave it for so long with not knowing what had happened to the crew of the Prometheus.
25 Replies

BellaisanAlien

MemberOvomorphMar-21-2012 2:52 PM
It could be due to the cost of such a mission and the limited resources

Lord Ennio

MemberOvomorphMar-21-2012 2:55 PM
That's a good point. Whereas in Aliens, it must have been a matter of days or a couple of weeks before the company sent out the USS Sulaco. Here again, your question might be answered in the second film. But then, there's this idea of time-travel somewhere in the film. So, perhaps the surviving members of the Prometheus crew might have become lost in some sort of black hole and was never heard from again. The company might not have picked up any sign of the civilization until around the time the Nostromo arrived in that particular sector, which supports your second theory.

Plewis51

MemberOvomorphMar-21-2012 2:57 PM
What's interesting enough is that the distress signal heard in the original ALIEN from he Derelict ship stems from the failed Prometheus mission. The trailer scenes indicate the Derelict ship crashing to the surface, possibly from the attempts of the Prometheus (or rogue ship) smashing into it, sums up the end of the movie and entertains the idea of the beginning of ALIEN. This in itself means that Wayland has been planning a return mission for sometime, and the Nostromo was it's real first opportunity. As for the timing, remember that there is no real urgency for rescue missions when it comes to Wayland. In all the Alien films they made it clear that all crew was expendable.

Preston

MemberOvomorphMar-21-2012 2:59 PM
The two movies are presenting, as I understand it, alternate event sequences in the same starting universe. So the Nostromo and the Prometheus most likely do not co-exist in the same universe. Alternately, the Prometheus was a privately funded and, probably covert mission. Were it widely known that the Prometheus had encountered alien life then the planet would either be crawly with explorers or quarantined. The events of the movie Alien make LV-426 a completely unknown planetoid, so if they were both in the same universe, then the events were unknown.

Preston

MemberOvomorphMar-21-2012 3:14 PM
Also, the wreckage of the Prometheus should have been fairly prominent to the crew of the Nostromo. So it's either a different universe or a different crash site.

genjitsu17

MemberOvomorphMar-21-2012 3:17 PM
Where was it said they were in an alt. timeline? God, Ihope not. It barely worked for Star Trek.
I may work for the company, but im really an OK guy.

Dropyourlinen

MemberOvomorphMar-21-2012 3:19 PM
Different universe? Alternative universe? Surely it's already been established that this is a prequel to Alien? And set in the dame universe?

Dropyourlinen

MemberOvomorphMar-21-2012 3:20 PM
Different universe? Alternative universe? Surely it's already been established that this is a prequel to Alien? And set in the same universe?

Preston

MemberOvomorphMar-21-2012 3:23 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiE-VAXF3Hg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

genjitsu17

MemberOvomorphMar-21-2012 3:29 PM
Hah, even she knew that was b.s. I don't buy it for a second.
I may work for the company, but im really an OK guy.

skyguy1054

MemberOvomorphMar-21-2012 3:41 PM
Remember the distances involved. the real Zeta Reticuli is ~39 light years from Earth according to paralax measurements. In ALIEN, after the crew are awakened "just short" of this point, they discover they are still 10(?) months from Earth. In Prometheus they are in cryo for 5 years, right? And that's just one-way. Assuming they communicate w/ Earth at the speed of light, that (?) years for a distress call to reach home and at least five years for help to arrive. And that's asuming there is a 'rescue' ship ready and waiting. personally, I think they're on their own out there and therefore screwwed. I'm also thinking that the scenes of early earth might be flashbacks, where WE, the audience, get to see what happenned in the distant past. I've seen no indication that anyone time travels.

Dropyourlinen

MemberOvomorphMar-21-2012 3:41 PM
In the words of the lady, 'I think he's just trying to throw us off'

Dropyourlinen

MemberOvomorphMar-21-2012 3:48 PM
I think the 'company' waits until they have some other venture near in that neck of the woods - i.e. the Nostromo is going to be passing by. They don't send any kind of rescue mission because, as always with company matters, the crew of the Prometheus is expendable. Capture of alien technology is paramount, crew involved are of secondary importance. 'We don't want to rescue the crew, just secure a specimen'

Preston

MemberOvomorphMar-21-2012 4:21 PM
I think Ridley Scott is enough of a stickler for detail that he would not have the wreckage of the Prometheus and the alien ship be the derelict that the Nostromo finds. There are too many continuity problems beyond the obvious "Why can't the Nostromo see the wreckage of the Prometheus?" LV-426 is a lifeless, airless planetoid that was terraformed later. It's hard to draw a map to such a trifling local in the wall of a cave. The planet we see in the trailer is a dynamic place with a structure and ground moving plates, etc. I'm betting it's not the same.

genjitsu17

MemberOvomorphMar-21-2012 4:28 PM
I wouldn't mind if it's a different ship. Leaves the new movie room to go it's own way.
I may work for the company, but im really an OK guy.

Rick

MemberXenomorphMar-21-2012 5:49 PM
Hey guys, I think its two different locations and two different wrecks. Does anyone recall if there is something in the timeline about the Prometheus going to Z2R? There was another discussion that the planet with the temples has a whole chain of them. (We counted 5 in a row) Regards, Rick

arcaneradio

MemberOvomorphMar-21-2012 9:39 PM
SPOILER: I think it is because Weyland was a step behind them. Once they found what they were looking he shows up to "collect his prize" If you look in the new American trailer at 2:13 you'll see in the background what looks like an elderly Weyland. The foreground show men with guns and they like don't look like the Prometheus crew. They seem to be taking an aggressive stance like they are taking over. What I would like to know is why the transmission picked up by the Nostromo crew indicated a warning. Did the space Jockey transmit it realizing the Aliens had gotten loose?

donnie8421

MemberOvomorphMar-21-2012 10:02 PM
PLus it appears as if the Prometheus rams the ship in mid air !Which means that the Prometheus would be in pieces cause it appears to explode and 2 it would not land in same place!

jinxjanx

MemberOvomorphMar-21-2012 10:22 PM
Going back to the first question. In the new release of info from the Weyland web site, they disclose the cost and communication history with Prometheus. They do this in a breakdown of the company financials, so it is a well known expensive adventure. I can't see the company just shucking off lost contact, I think that is the second movie. the rescue of the Prometheus.

skyguy1054

MemberOvomorphMar-22-2012 7:59 AM
On the Wikipedia entry for Zeta 2 Reticuli (a REAL star in the constellation Reticulum btw) there is a map from alien abductees Betty and Barney Hill that looks like the one flashed on the screen in the trailer from the differentr ancient cultures. Any FUFON folks out there care to enlighten us?

skyguy1054

MemberOvomorphMar-22-2012 8:00 AM
MUFON, sorry. (Mutual UFO Network)

Biomechanic

MemberOvomorphMar-22-2012 8:05 AM
The star cluster on those artifacts is [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades]Pleiades[/url]

TKfanboy421

MemberOvomorphMar-22-2012 3:22 PM
The Nostromo is on it way back to earth with its haul, when "the company" redirects it to lv-426 where it was cruising by fairly close when the ship (with ash at the helm) picked up the transmission they later in the film deduced to be a warning to stay away. Now, the company lost contact of prometheus (for almost obvious reasons) and they more or less know what they wanted from the expedition, yet it is so far away and too expensive to just mount a recovery OP, (plus, it would have to be covert to keep it secret from the people.) so they redirect the Nostromo it is the closest/quickest opportunity to "take a look" and deploy ash's secret mission to retrieve specimen-crew expendable. we all know how that panned out. THEN! during ripley's 57 year hypersleep, "the company" sends the terraformer colony to lv-426 KNOWING that the "specimen is there in hopes of getting it--but thats getting off my topic.

skyguy1054

MemberOvomorphMar-23-2012 8:01 AM
> TK I'm pretty sure Ash was in the freezerinos with the rest of the crew.
Add A Reply
Sign In Required
Sign in using your Scified Account to access this feature!
Email
Password
Alien Movie Universe Forums
Alien: Covenant
Alien: CovenantDiscuss the Prometheus Sequel, Alien: Covenant
Alien: Earth Series
Alien: Earth SeriesDiscuss the Alien FX TV series here!
Alien Movies
Alien MoviesDiscuss the Classic Alien Films
Alien
AlienDiscuss all things Alien here
Alien: Romulus
Alien: RomulusDiscuss the new Fede Alvarez Alien movie here
Prometheus
PrometheusEverything About Prometheus
Prometheus Fan Art
Prometheus Fan ArtArtwork & Fiction From the Fans
Alien Games
Alien GamesDiscuss Alien games here
Alien 5 Movie
Alien 5 MovieDiscuss Neill Blomkamps’s vision for Alien 5 here
New Forum Topics
Hot Forum Topics
Highest Forum Ranks Unlocked
Svanya
Svanya » Praetorian
87% To Next Rank
ninXeno426
ninXeno426 » Praetorian
62% To Next Rank
Jonesy
Jonesy » Chestburster
50% To Next Rank
Mornstar
Mornstar » Ovomorph
13% To Next Rank
HuntERS whip
HuntERS whip » Ovomorph
11% To Next Rank
Unofficial Alien Animated Series
Alien: Analects - the unofficial Alien animated series
Watch Alien: Analects - The unofficial Alien animated series we created! Visit the official page!
Latest Media
Community Stats
This Alien Movie Universe community is part of the Scified network. Scified hosts a network of online fan-site communities containing 406,122 posts by 48,305 members (5 are online now). The Alien: Covenant Forum is the most recently active forum. The latest Forum topic added was: Engineers are not a race but a civilization?
VIPWhat are VIP?AdminModeratorSpecial TitleMember

This website provides the latest information, news, rumors and scoops on the Alien: Romulus movie and Alien TV series for FX! Get the latest news on the Alien prequels, sequels, spin-offs and more. Alien movie, game and TV series news is provided and maintained by fans of the Alien film franchise. This site is not affiliated with 20th Century Studios, FX, Hulu, Disney or any of their respective owners.

© 2025 Scified.com
Sign in
Use your Scified Account to sign in


Log in to view your personalized notifications across Scified!

Transport To Communities
AlienFansite
GodzillaFansite
PredatorFansite
Search Scified
Main Menu
Content
Community
Sci-Fi Movies
Help & Info