Still Very Excited To See USA Opening Show

TheBlueMan

MemberOvomorphJune 06, 2012882 Views12 Replies

Despite some of the so-so reviews and feelings of disappointment among some viewers, I am still looking forward to watching [i]Prometheus[/i] when it opens here in the USA in a couple of days. After reading a number of reviews here on the forums and on various sites around the internet, a couple of thoughts came to me about what I was expecting from the movie and how I'm going to try to judge the film. 1. [i]I never expected[/i] Prometheus [i]to be a direct prequel to[/i] Alien. This was never my thought about the movie, and not something which I 'need' the film to fulfill. If [i]Prometheus[/i] does not end on the derelict ship with a chestburster coming out of the space jockey's chest, I'm ok with that. This was just not an expectation that I had and so I won't be disappointed if this is not the case. 2. [i]I want to judge[/i] Prometheus [i]for what it is, not what I think it SHOULD have been and not as a Masterpiece To End All Masterpieces[/i]. So, what is Ridley Scott trying to say in the movie? What is the point of the movie in and of itself, not as it ties-in to [i]Alien[/i] and not as a function of how it has or has not lived up to the hype? There is a tremendous amount of material available about the movie online, with the viral marketing campaign. I've tried to follow most of it so that the movie will hopefully make more sense to me when I see it. Also, I've gone over the Greek Promethean myth for myself again, to be familiar with those references, too. 3. [i]I think it is a plus if a director does not come out and tell me every little thing explicitly. I think the better directors leave more up to the viewer and the not-as-good directors try to make everything 'too clear' to the audience, like the director doesn't trust the audience to figure it out for themselves[/i]. Ridley Scott has never been a filmmaker who just gives everything away. Think of [i]Blade Runner[/i], or even a film like [i]Legend[/i]. Ridley likes to have ambiguity in his movies and he likes to leave things somewhat opened-ended for the viewer so the viewer has to work to come up with their own conclusion. I see this as a strength, not a weakness. Ridley Scott is a brilliant filmmaker. Not a perfect one, of course, but no one is. So, if a film he made doesn't make immediate sense to me, that might not be his issue, it could be mine. Maybe I'm missing something, or maybe there are some other angles I need to look into to understand what is being presented better. I'm glad to join in the discussion here. I've been a lurker for some time and I'm eager to see the film in a few days.

FREEZE!
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June 06, 2012

^Nice positive attitude Mr. Blue! I look forward to your review!

[url=http://www.madmax4-movie.com/]Visit the Mad Max: Fury Road Forums today![/url]

TheBlueMan
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June 06, 2012

Thanks, Freeze! I'm just trying to stay even-keeled and realistic. You guys run a great site. So glad this site exists! :)

Twitch
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June 06, 2012

Agreed. 2more days :)

Cinefan
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June 06, 2012

I'm ready for this movie. When I heard this "prequel" was now going to be its own film and not be a direct prequel I must say I was dissapointed. I now feel the less ties it has to Alien the better. I think dispite what the filmakers have been saying all along people are still expecting heavy ties with Alien. I'm going in judging an independent film on its own merits without considering Alien. I've been waiting 3 years for this movie and can't wait til Friday!

shardy
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June 06, 2012

i too am excited. i've waited so long for this, come this friday night, i hope to have my simple mind blown at first i was a bit miffed that the UK would get to see this film 1 week before America would, but after reading the all the negative reviews of this film, i compels me to venture into the theater this friday with an even more open kind, and REALLY understand that the film is it's OWN - - and will not be the prequel to ALIEN that i had thought it would be so with that mindset, i feel i will be in the PRO-PROMETHEUS group, rather than the group of folks who really seem to hate this great looking new film (for whatever reasons) can't wait...!!!

TheBlueMan
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June 06, 2012

Twitch, Cinefan, Shardy: Great to see that others are feeling as I do. Can't wait until Friday. I think I will try to see the Thursday midnight show in 3D, if I can. I'm a huge Ridley Scott fan, and have been my whole life. I'm 40 years old, grew up on [i]Alien[/i] and Giger's pictures in magazines like "Omni." Some of my favorite films of all time are from Ridley, including [i]Alien[/i], [i]Gladiator[/i] and [i]Black Hawk Down[/i]. He's a brilliant man. That doesn't mean he might have gotten a bad script here or there, but he knows what he's doing and what he wants to do when he makes a film. I trust him. I know that people have said that certain characters in the film aren't developed properly, and that might well be true. That's why I've taken time to look at the viral marketing stuff. If you go through some of that stuff, you learn a lot more about certain characters. So I feel like I'm going into the movie better prepared to just enjoy it rather than feeling like I might not know enough about a certain character or characters. I've seen enough advance material to think I have a decent idea of what the movie will be about. And it seems pretty cool, and very much in keeping with what Ridley likes to talk about and explore. It's been awhile since I've seen a film in the theaters, but I am looking forward to this one. Thanks for the cool replies!

galacticnorth
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June 06, 2012

The movie does share more than just a bit of 'DNA' with Alien. It's closer to Alien in many ways than any of the other Alien films were. It's expression is however very different. Alien is a haunted house movie set in space....Prometheus is a sci fi movie.

TheBlueMan
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June 06, 2012

[quote][i]The movie does share more than just a bit of 'DNA' with Alien. It's closer to Alien in many ways than any of the other Alien films were. It's expression is however very different. Alien is a haunted house movie set in space....Prometheus is a sci fi movie.[/i][/quote] That is totally cool with me. I'm more into sci-fi than horror. I cant wait to check it out!

sukkal
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June 06, 2012

[quote=TheBlueMan][i]I know that people have said that certain characters in the film aren't developed properly, and that might well be true. That's why I've taken time to look at the viral marketing stuff. If you go through some of that stuff, you learn a lot more about certain characters. So I feel like I'm going into the movie better prepared to just enjoy it rather than feeling like I might not know enough about a certain character or characters.[/i][/quote] I think this is smart of you and a really great point. Now, that said, in an ideal world, I personally (being older (45)) would not mind if all the character development were in the film proper, but that's not an easy thing to do with this many important characters and a lot of DRAMA that they need to be involved in to make the film a box-office hit. Since Alien came out, a LOT of things have changed in the film industry. - Costs/Budgets/Payoffs (for success) - The internet (and advertising methodologies) - The after-theater life of the film and income stream I think that franchises are now seeing it as perfectly valid to do (to TRY anyway to do) character development "off screen." Here's [url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0785160418/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B005TKRGLW&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0F9M6GHF3HNK3MWEYZ6D]another example[/url]. I'm not saying that these strategies are always (or even often) good, but they are certainly being explored on "their side." A lot of them started [url=http://movies.ign.com/articles/845/845649p1.html]HERE[/url] with [i]Cloverfield[/i]. I'm still very excited about the film, but at this point (though this community has become very important to me), I'm giving the broad market response statistics a bit more credence as a general guideline to "what the film is." I don't have a lot of preconceptions (except now for tainting by the trailers and whatnot), so that "outside" view is quite relevant to me personally in forming expectations.

humpmasterflex
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June 06, 2012

Oh i am very excited too see the movie myself as well, even after all the complaints from all the euro goons. As a matter of fact, i am driving 40 minutes one way just to go see this think in IMAX, since the nearest IMAX theater is in new Rochelle NY, and i am in CT. RS said himself that this is not even a prequel, its set it in same universe but is nothing like alien. Alien is just another horror movie, replace a house with a space ship, and replace Mike Myers with an alien, and thats pretty much what ALIEN was... a mere Halloween or friday the 13th movie, but in SPACE. saying this movie is a prequel to alien is like saying captain america was a prequel to ironman or something, at least thats how i view it, and it makes absolutely no sense to think that way.

Melkor
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June 06, 2012

No matter what, I hope you guys enjoy it... Melkor [url=http://wp.me/p2tPJ3-1]My review here!!![/url]

TheBlueMan
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June 07, 2012

Here is an interview with writer Damon Lindelof that I recommend for others to read: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/damon-lindelof-prometheus-vague-lost-sadistically-cool-334750 In the first post of this thread, I tried to talk about the deliberate ambiguity in many of Ridley Scott's films. Here's some words from Lindelof on the topic of ambiguity and [i]Prometheus[/i]: [quote][i]I do think there's something exciting and challenging about a certain degree of ambiguity in filmmaking. And when you look at the other two science fiction movies that [Scott] made, the original Alien and Blade Runner, both of those movies are still being debated and speculated and theorized about all this time later. And [we looked at Prometheus as] an archeology dig where we're basically going to turn up some artifacts and we're going to put them on the table for everyone to look at. How these artifacts necessarily connect to each other and what the larger story behind them is going to be a matter of some discourse, and the characters in the movie will be having that discourse amongst themselves. But no one's going to basically come out of the skies and tell them whether or not they're right or wrong. That is very much in tune with the movie that Ridley wanted to make, which is, "This is what happens when mankind is silly enough to think they can go and ask God questions.” First off, God might not necessarily be interested in answering you, but even worse than that, you might just set him off just for the act of trying.[/i][/quote] So, it seems as though [i]Prometheus[/i], from this perspective, is kind of like a documentary film on what happened when man decided to ask God about man's origins. And documentaries don't always provide all the answers. I'm really happy that Roger Ebert gave the movie 4/4 stars. I tend to trust his thinking when it comes to evaluating movies. Unfortunately, I am going to have to wait until tomorrow to see the film. I wanted to go at midnight tonight, but that's not possible. So, one more day to wait. I'm still very eager to see the film.