Why did Weyland not send a rescue mission?

1743 Views25 Replies

Forum Topic

yasjooni

MemberOvomorphMarch 21, 2012

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.

BellaisanAlien
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

March 21, 2012

It could be due to the cost of such a mission and the limited resources

Lord Ennio
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

March 21, 2012

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
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

March 21, 2012

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
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

March 21, 2012

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
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

March 21, 2012

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
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

March 21, 2012

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
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

March 21, 2012

Different universe? Alternative universe? Surely it's already been established that this is a prequel to Alien? And set in the dame universe?

Dropyourlinen
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

March 21, 2012

Different universe? Alternative universe? Surely it's already been established that this is a prequel to Alien? And set in the same universe?

Preston
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

March 21, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiE-VAXF3Hg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

genjitsu17
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

March 21, 2012

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
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

March 21, 2012

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
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

March 21, 2012

In the words of the lady, 'I think he's just trying to throw us off'

Dropyourlinen
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

March 21, 2012

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'

Guest
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

March 21, 2012

same universe, i think the crash on lv-426 was a different planetoid than "zeus" the signal that the nostromo picked up was to stay away (as stated in the film), and most likely was lost-whereabouts unkown AND that weyland assumably redirected the nostromo to lv-426 when the ship (and ash...and weyland) intercepted that signal (also as stated in film), weyland hunching or knowing that it was the alien tech that they lost on the prometheus mission---sent the nostromo there=crew expendable for ash to collect specimen and return it to "the company" BOOM! ANSWERED !!!!

Preston
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

March 21, 2012

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
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

March 21, 2012

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
Group: Member
Rank: Xenomorph
View Profile

March 21, 2012

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
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

March 21, 2012

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
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

March 21, 2012

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
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile

March 21, 2012

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.

Why did Weyland not send a rescue mission?

yasjooni

Join the discussion!

Sign In to contribute!