Why Did Ridley Change Course?

Molecular

MemberOvomorphMay 30, 20121058 Views21 Replies

Hi Everyone! Wow, so much buzz going on here lately with all the reviews and such- I feel kind of stunned. If anything, it just exemplifies how impactful the original ALIEN was; some things just can't be topped, and although we knew there would be disappointment, some folks are really walking out of theaters in a rather nasty mood. But all this makes me think- Ridley seemed very confident in the direction he was taking this film during the early days. He can certainly tell a good story; I mean, he fought to keep in the Space Jockey and that made all the difference in that film (indeed, Prometheus depends on it). I wonder what made him change his mind- what was his original idea, and what about it didn't he like? Even something "simpler"- like exploring the SJ's homeworld in the midst of some interplanetary war- could have been equally (if not more) compelling. Certainly, the films after ALIENS didn't push the storytelling envelope in any way, so it's not like he had to top them. A lot of people would have liked some of the elements we saw in ALIEN kept in and explored in a purer form- no suits, humanoid aliens and grand explorations of deity- it would have been awesome to seen that taken to the next level. I guess I have a lot of Googling to do later, because I'm hoping he explained his motivations somewhere. =)

Deckard_B26354
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May 30, 2012

Equally if not more compelling? I disagree 100% about that. Then again I haven't seen the film. But the origin of life as we know it is just a little more compelling than an alien war. And he's said before that the xenos and eggs and facehuggers have been done to death. Maybe that's his reasoning.

MAJ
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May 30, 2012

I'm guessing that he was unsure of himself, as odd as that sounds. His first 'return' to scifi would naturally be parsed and picked apart, and I think he had to play it safe. Over-reaching would have made a sequel difficult.

Deckard_B26354
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May 30, 2012

Man, I seem to find myself doing this a lot in this thread but... Play it safe? Seems like "safe" would have been to do a straight prequel like pretty much the whole of Hollywood and major movie making in general would have done.

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May 30, 2012

I think he took the direction he always wanted, discover the SJ, tell their tell and keep moving forward. With all the viral marketing spots, they themselves add to the overall story and the Alien Universe. All points east, west, south and north... meaning now we can really start expanding this Alien universe and create some incredible stories.

paparhino
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May 30, 2012

I cannot believe people are saying Ridley is playing it safe. More still seem destined, almost convinced they are going to leave the theater pissed...what ever happened to going into a film unbiased? Oh yeah, sites like this happened. They'll complain that trailers and clips gave too much away while searching furiously for more clips. It's Ridley that cannot win. He took a cool idea, made it even cooler and grandiose, and STILL he's being knocked in the nuts. There's only so much you can do on someone else's dime these days while also striving for artistic merit. I think the studio brass gave Ridley carte blanche with this one, and he kept his vision intact. Do you really like SciFi or do you like things being spoon fed to you with total resolve so you do not have to think for yourself?

Deckard_B26354
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May 30, 2012

Well said, paparhino!

Molecular
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May 30, 2012

Yes, exploring the origins of life itself is a not a light undertaking, I agree with that- and let me just say thank you Ridley for giving me another sci-fi epic to see even though it's a hell of a risk at this point in his career (and life). What I really want is to just understand how the story evolved and the motivations behind the decisions. I wish I was sitting there with them when they were discussing the story elements, arguing back and forth, it must have been really involved and intense. Hope some of that finds it way to the Bluray release!

craigamore
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May 30, 2012

Exactly Deckard_B26354.....paparhino......Thankfully there are some left who willing to patient and let the experience be whatever may be when they see it as opposed to using prejudgement, supposition and self-defeating pessimism on a scale I've not seen in a long time..........anyone else feel maybe people are expecting one thing and just are NOT willing to let any other ideas, new ideas replace their beloved and TIRED franchise tropes like xenos, facehuggers and eggs....don't get me wrong, I love those things...[i]Alien[/i] IS my favorite movie.....but I am getting so sick of this assumption that [i]Prometheus[/i] is a disappointment simply do to whispers that it doesn't deliver whaty fans want it to specifically or feel they are OWED these specific answers....... [i]Prometheus[/i] will be what ever it was meant to be by Scott.........NOT necessarily what we EXPECT OR FEEL OWED in that respect...and that's just bloody well fine with me....

craigamore
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May 30, 2012

Good point there Molecular...

fader
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May 30, 2012

I read somewhere RS wanted to tell the story of the SJ back when he did Alien, also he likes the concept of the Ancient Alien theory were as Aliens may have seeded the earth w/alien dna, see History's channel Ancient Alien. I believe that theory is the bases of the Prometheus plot of course..... The more and more that I research the ancient alien theory myself, the more I believe that really happen on our planet in ancient times....

I should reach the frontier in about 6 weeks. With a little luck, the network will pick me up. This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo....

Drakeequation
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May 30, 2012

Why did Ridley change course? The reason is called Damon Lindelof.

arrgy
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May 30, 2012

Three years ago when this movie was talked about they went through 5 different writers. That is five. Whenever you have 5 people try to write the story and script for anything, you have trouble ahead. Lost was a piece of crap, sorry but it was. This started as an Alien prequel, and it should have remained an Alien prequel. Answering the simple question of how the company knew of the creature, and why did it send the Nostromo to go get it. That's it, that's all that had to be done. No, RS went and made some grandiose space opera like crapola, set in the Alien universe which has been retold over and over again. No one wants that, not the Alien fan boys, and not the general public. Ugh a train wreck that I saw three years in the making is about to happen.

artyoh
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May 30, 2012

He changed course, because the franchise was in a ditch, plain and simple. I'm thankful he did so, because even if the audience has become inured to shock-horror, you can still baffle them with a good mind-fuck. There's an inverse relationship between how extensively a particular God figure is defined, and the degree to which that figure actually seems [i]God[/i]-like.......as the saying goes: "familiarity breeds contempt." So yeah, I can understand why Scott wanted to open up an entirely new can of worms, and leave us with far more questions than answers. There's an interview in which he's asked about a sequel, and by his reaction, I had the distinct impression that he'd probably already worked out at least some of the story.

Otto
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May 30, 2012

GREAT statement, paparhino...

Rubirosa
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May 30, 2012

Mr. Scott went about all of this right way. Like I have said in another thread before. The Xenomophs are boring to me at this point in time. Probably do to Alien 3 and the one that came after that, and those dreadful avp movies. I want to know about the Engineers. Those interesting beings who might have created the Xenomporphs, and helped the human race evolve. The creators are much more interesting then the creation itself. So I won't get to see a Xenomorph. Big deal, show me the engineers, the creators, the space gods.

Ebugogo
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May 30, 2012

I agree with ARRGY 100%, they should not have changed the direction, it should have been a direct Alien prequel, which is what everyone really wanted. We wanted to know how that particular space jockey was killed - by one of the Xenos we are all familiar with, nobody was wondering about other Engineers and other Xenos, they could have still been in the movie, but what we were really wondering is how did that one specific Engineer die? What was his story specifically? What was the purpose of those specific Xeno aliens eggs? That was the prequel that was expected, not who created mankind? Jeebus, give me a break.

Windood
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May 31, 2012

@Ebugogo "they should not have changed the direction, it should have been a direct Alien prequel, which is what everyone really wanted." Define "everyone", because that film is exactly what no one wanted to see except a handful of sad fanboys and AVP lovers. A couple of days ago I watched The Darkest Hour, witten by Spaihts. No input from Lindelof at all. One of the worst movies I've ever seen. I've not seen it mentioned on here, so I was surprised when his name popped up in the opening credits (its an alien invasion movie), but I can see now why maybe RS and Fox went for Lindelof. Spaihts writes formulaic tripe. All the people calling for a straight prequel....thats what theyre really asking for. Something pitched a the level of a redneck numbnuts.

Deckard_B26354
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May 30, 2012

Am I lost? Seems like I'm on an AVP forum or something...

Melkor
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May 31, 2012

Why did Ridley change course? The reason is called Damon Lindelof. Haha.

Ebugogo
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May 31, 2012

Windood is right about Spaihts, he sucks worse than Lindelof, there is no way that combination is going to produce a Blade Runner or Alien. The thing is, before we found out that it was NOT going to be a real prequel after all, nobody complained anywhere. The complaints only started afterwards, that's what I mean by "everyone" wanting the prequel, it was obvious because nobody complained about it. Let me say it again, all the complaints started when we found out it wasn't a prequel, not before, when we thought that is was going to be a prequel. For those who say that they were immediately against the prequel, show me the post that you made, stating this, with a time stamp to prove it. Oh, don't have that? Thought so.