Alien: Earth and Alien: Romulus sequel news

Life genesis scene -Scientific nonsense

Darwin

MemberOvomorphJune 06, 2012908 Views12 Replies
The scene where the engineer sacrifices himself to seed life on earth doesn't make sense biologically. I am assuming that this is primordial earth since there is no vegetation, which means it;s happening 4.5 billion years ago. His DNA is cut in pieces which form the basis for whole life on earth. Humans appear 4.49 billion years later and have identical DNA to the engineers ! Well we don't have 100% the same DNA with our relatives how can we have the same DNA with the engineers who obviously look different? And how the DNA sequence was conserved through 4.49 billion years of evolution on earth? And all life on earth and its DNA is shaped by the earth's environment through natural selection. Of course, RS thinks that all Darwinism is nonsense and probably chooses to believe otherwise (like Shaw does). Maybe he would think different if he would have taken Biology 101 (but probably they wouldn't offer it at West Hartlepool College of Art). Also, by the way, DNA at the molecular level doesn't look like the rope ladders shown in the scene.
User Avatar
Promethian Man
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile
Funnily enough, there was a two part episode of Star Trek The Next Gen which showed that anthro-form aliens had seeded the cosmos with the biological imperative for humanoid life...so I imagine this movie is a riff of that.
User Avatar
Frantz
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile
ITs a sci fi movie ...why you take it so seriously ...its something made to entertain not to give answers ... otherwise it seems to be under the censorship of science foundamentalists .
User Avatar
Promethian Man
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile
@darwin, Yeah I could have understood if there was a similar strand of DNA that carried through all lifeforms on earth that could be traced back to the naked dude. But then to have an exact DNA match seemed odd. Unless the film is suggesting the encoding in the naked dude's DNA was always meant to lead to us into becoming creatures 'in the image' of the 'gods', i.e. Human Beings. But that would suggest we are the pinnacle of someone's creation, which I personally just don't believe.
User Avatar
GiggidityGeiger
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile
While that scene certainly was a visual feast it did make little sense in terms of actual biology. I would also assume that given an incomprehensible passage of time such as several billion years the engineers themselves would have changed/evolved both physically and technologically into beings little concerned with us, yet their tech seems to have altered very little as did their appearance. Perhaps this is another planet they were seeding and not earth though that was certainly implied. Anyway I enjoyed the flick, it's certainly not as profound as Blade Runner or possesses the same gothic horror of Alien but it's leap and bounds above almost all sci-fi I've seen recently.
User Avatar
gcmax
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile
The dates gracefully eluded me as I was fixated on the artwork and effects, suppose I was a little tired and had I been more awake maybe this would have registered as a very mild complaint.
User Avatar
AlienAge11
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile
I'd like to read more about this! are we making the wrong assumptions? Also, do you think the Engineer's Kings "have their reign" and then must sacrifice themselves? John [url=http://alienage11.com]alienage11.com[/url]
User Avatar
Gavin
Group: Member
Rank: Trilobite
View Profile
I don't think the scene is billions of years ago but circa 550 million years ago, during the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambrian_explosion]Cambrian Explosion[/url].

User Avatar
Drakeequation
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile
@Snorkelbottom if the DNA was conserved then all organisms at the start of the Cambrian explosion would resemble the Engineers and be less and less like them as time went on. Humans came about much later out of natural selection due to environmental pressure as random mutations in the original Engineer DNA would have been selected by the environment as beneficial. In essence, the organisms which the DNA originally created would be closer to the Engineer and we would be farthest away in gene similarity as we evolved much later.
User Avatar
takka_takka_takka
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile
Just pretend it's a Harry Potter movie and it's all magic. This isn't a science class. Take, for instance, the scene where Noomi says she's going to "trick its nervous system into thinking it's still alive." And then she proceeds to stick a magic wand in the head. That scene was pure Harry Potter. If you go into Prometheus with your critical thinking engaged, you're going to have a bad time. Better just to suspend your disbelief and gawk at the visuals.
User Avatar
legion
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile
1. Think bio-engineering and the engineers performing extinction level events ever so often until they got it right, remember humans were not the first animals on planet earth. 2. To Giggidity Geiger think suspended animation.
User Avatar
Ratoncito_Perez
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile
Good observation! But as a few other commentators have noted, the science element of this movie is most notable by its absence. A big part of the problem is in the badging of this type of movie as ‘science fiction’. An alternative nomenclature, something like ‘speculative fantasy’ perhaps, would make more sense. That said, I loved that opening scene. I read it more as a poetic, metaphorical representation of the Engineers’ role in seeding or shaping life. An allegorical image from the Engineers’ own mythology or creation myth, in which a Horus/Christ figure makes the supreme sacrifice for greater ends. Or something.
User Avatar
artyoh
Group: Member
Rank: Ovomorph
View Profile
@legion I have not seen the movie, but I just knew the SJs would have to be completely ruthless and hostile. After all, they not only exist in the "Alien" universe, they [i]created[/i] it........darkly malevolent creatures with an unknown, but very dark agenda, playing God by creating and destroying entire biosheres on a whim......and no doubt, they shall reap what they sow.... I like it. It isn't original, but it[i] is[/i] pretty damned plausible, given the good start we already have, on similar, though less ambitious plans.

Join the discussion!



New Forum Topics
Recently Active Forums
Alien: Earth
Alien: EarthDiscuss the Alien FX TV series here!
Alien Fan Art
Alien Fan ArtArtwork from Alien fans! Share yours here!
Alien: Covenant
Alien: CovenantDiscuss the Prometheus Sequel, Alien: Covenant
Alien
AlienDiscuss all things Alien here
Highest Forum Ranks Unlocked
Svanya
Svanya » Praetorian
89% To Next Rank
ninXeno426
ninXeno426 » Praetorian
63% To Next Rank
Thoughts_Dreams
Thoughts_Dreams » Neomorph
89% To Next Rank
Neomorph
Neomorph » Chestburster
97% To Next Rank
Jonesy
Jonesy » Chestburster
54% To Next Rank
Latest Media
Join the discussion!
Please sign in to access your profile features!
(Signing in also removes ads!)



Forgot Password?
Scified Website LogoYour sci-fi community, old-school & modern
Hosted Fansites
AlienFansite
GodzillaFansite
PredatorFansite
Main Menu
Community
Help & Info
+

Sign In to contribute!