Why set this story in the Alien universe?

I agree!

The way I see it...Ridley essentially made The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in space with Alien, and then Cameron one-upped him by creating a whole new universe/backstory with Aliens. Then, several other directors added thier ideas to the mix (most of them bad). Prometheus is Ridley's attempt to take back the franchise he created and expand upon it even further; make it even more profound...at the same time, rendering Alien 3 and and Alien Resurrection as essentially minor episodes in the grander scheme. The tired story of Ripley is now just a small drop in a much larger body of water.

nice JP...I like your points. I do like the tie in all the way around from the alien universe into blade runner just for the fact that it was something that was kinda neat to talk about that hadn't yet.

RS says in the featurettes that he wanted to explore the "Space Jockey" more. In interviews he has admitted that he did not want to do a direct prequel to Alien or use the xeno but rather the "dna" of the beast. I think that is what we have in Prometheus. We now know who the unfortunate soul is waiting for the Nostromo in Alien, right? We know their purpose but fortunately not everything. It's just enough to raise more questions and answer some we already have. As for Blade Runner...that side story is coming, my friend.

thanks...I guess my point is I dont think any universe needs to be expanded with a story such as this...RS is already working on the BR sequel so that was always on the cards this whole notion of expanding universes is such BS - where does it end? Its like taking a film like Heat where the 'Cop in Mall' you see for a brief second is expanded on, and its a romatic comedy of how he met his wife. Two completely different stories that do not have to be joined at the hip.

When there was hype for alien prequel, everyone wanted to see XENO and facehugger. But when RS said, he wants to explore the universe of space jockey and the origins of mankind, I think this is where critics failed to pick things.

Hi Keeler - I know what RS said...im just saying I couldnt care less about teh Space jockey in Alien! Hes already admitted...as has Lindelof..that this story can go off in a completely different tangent to Alien now...which begs the question...what was the point if it wasnt about making more money

[quote]what was the point if it wasnt about making more money[/quote] Sci-fi movies create fan cult. I mean look at alien fans or transformer fans. I guess they want to start something new and want to make money along the way.

That 'cop in mall' happens to be named Sage. and his lovely wife is Barbara

I agree JP. One thing I would say is that beginning with Aliens, there have been inconsistencies in storyline and look from one film to the next. In Aliens, the look of the alien changed slightly, there was introduction of a queen instead of a self styled eggmaker like the original uncut version etc. Alien3 introduced the idea that the alien changes morphology depending on the host organism, in this case a dog, or a bull, in regards to whichever version you've seen. Alien Resurrection just went completely nuts and made it seem like anything can happen. The AVP films were almost tongue in cheek although I do thing the Predalien was kinda cool looking. They were the "Escape from LA" versions of the story. Anyhoo, I will do a spoiler alert here even though we're in the spoiler section. Spoiler......... Seems to me in the new film, the black sludge could be a refined and organically active portion of the Alien's DNA, hence the creatures it causes to be created through ingestion or otherwise. The SJs are shown to be a warlike race. So, the original SJ from millions of years ago was on a mission with a payload of the eggs themselves, against some enemy of the SJs. To me this says the accident that went wrong was a refining of the beast's DNA to make it even more lethal.

I hope we are not excusing creative expression for remunerative advantage after ''all'' we discussed. For shame.

[quote]...what was the point if it wasnt about making more money[/quote] The whole point of Prometheus was to explore the "jockey" from Alien. Why is it set in the same universe? Because that's the universe it exists in. :P I think you're real question might be: "Why was it marketted as an Alien prequel?" Then the answer would be: Money ;)

fair point Keeler......BUT You were told the whole reason they made this movie was to explore the story of the space jockey. Im saying thats BS and its the other way round...there was a story here they wanted to tell...and they crowbarred it into the space jockey story to take advantage of the Alien universe and the money it would generate. Youve seen the film....you know this is the case, they would be selling themselves massively short if this films only purpose was to tie a loop a few hundred fan boys and RS care about. They have much bigger ambitions for this inevitable series of films Lets see - instead of a croissant, you could have an egg sandwich shaped spaceship, instead of an elephant suited space jockey, it could have been a rhino suited one, instead of Weyland Corp it could have been ABC Corp...in eth end none of it really mattered...its going off on its own tangent So my point stands....this didnt need to be in the Alien universe at all By the way...I still think the film rocks...I just came out thinking that it was a bit manufactured in its execution and story telling

WOW! sorry JP, no offense, but if you have no interest in seeing where the SJ came from, than you are TRULY wasting your time.

I agree with you gameover man, how the hell can you come out and say that your a fan of Alien, but are not interested in knowing we're the Space Jockeys came from. One of the best scenes in Alien is when they find the Spae Jockey strapped to the chair. That scene has always stayed in my mind. Where did they come from. Why are they here. Why are they so large. W are talking about a race of advance humanoids that come from the deepest part of the Universe. And your going to tell me JP that the Xeno's are more interesting. You sound like a first class AVP fan to me.

[quote]...So my point stands....this didnt need to be in the Alien universe at all...[/quote] That's fair. However, I think in order for RS to explore a key element from one film (mysterious jockey guy), you have to use that same universe. It'd be like making a film about this reporter named Clark Kent but avoiding the fact that he's Superman to the audience. We all know who he is so there's no reason to deny it. A space jockey in an unrelated universe would just be weird, imho.

Right!

at gameoverman...no offense...I enjoyed the film, read my posts again and youll see the point Im making Rubirosa...most Alien fans (not fanboys/girls) couldnt give a rats arse about the SJ - sorry thats a fact. It was just a fantastic moment in a great film that adds to the tension and weirdness of the situation they found themselves in. Touche on your AvP jibe...at least you know how to insult someone (again...no offense taken)

Agree with the original post. "Prometheus" should've been its own movie not related to "Alien". They could've made a dedicated "Alien" prequel instead of what seems like a spin-off thats half to do with human evolution and half to do with "Alien". The whole idea of tying in the existence of man with "Alien" was imo a reach and a bad idea! The whole prequel storyline should've gone in a different direction.

AT Keeler...my last one here as Im despearte for a beer! I see your point in your analogy...(although the backstory of Clark Kent doesnt really work given its teh same person...but Ill humour you)...if the backstory of CK had nothing to do with Superman story we all know, therefore it was a story that held up in its own light ...then its the story that is really of substance, not the protagonist. The director might choose to make it the story of CK becuase to do so 'expands the universe' and generates more money - a few little sinews here and there, or dna, just to 'prove' its part of the same universe still doesnt get away from eth fact that its crowbarred in. That CK story could quite as easily been set outside the Superman universe by simply not making it about CK So all Im saying is this movie opened my eyes even more to the Hollywood money machine ...that's all folks!