Was Prometheus simply a reboot?

get-it-out-of-me!

MemberOvomorphJuly 07, 20123294 Views13 Replies

Some days I think that Prometheus was simply a reboot of the Alien franchise. As if all those years ago when he got the original script Ridley Scott thought 'okay I'm a hired hand right now but if it were my movie I'd do it like this' and Prometheus is the result of it. Scott's decision to base the movie around the Engineers / Space Jockies I think maybe dates from this time as he has said in interviews he couldn't understand why subsequent sequels left this part of the story alone. His assertion that the movie has 'Alien DNA' is telling I think. As if he was taking the basic elements of the original (the Giger designs, the derelict ship, the company's duplicity, etc etc etc) and using them as a foundation to construct a different building to what was seen in 1979. Also when he said Prometheus is in the same universe but will follow its own mythology reinforces the reboot idea. As in, yes its clearly influenced by the original but it tells a completely different story. Having the Engineer ship crash in the way that it did with several differences to the original storyline (different planet, with urns instead of eggs) might be his way of saying 'this is completely different'. I think until there is a movie directly linking it to Alien I'll always have this thought in my mind. It doesn't alter my opinion of the movie one way or the other, I still think its ace. Sadly though, this would mean we are all chasing our tails trying to link Prometheus to the wider Alien series! The reboot idea is an interesting thing to think about although I sorta hope its wrong.

Gavin
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July 07, 2012

IMO not a reboot, an extension following the story of the Engineers

Red Wolf
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July 07, 2012

I gotta say that w/out the xenos, two or more sequels about a muscle-bound, hairless race that speaks like Ghandi on quaaludes is a recipe for (box office) diasaster.

RobJM
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July 07, 2012

I think Ridley just didn't want to do a reboot/direct prequel , and like he and others have mentioned, the biggest question to come out of Alien was 'What is the Space Jockey?'

Red Wolf
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July 07, 2012

Must agree I was intrigued at what it was and how/why it got there -- but the biggest STAR that came out of Alien was the xeno. And STAR = $$.

Synthrimonger94
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July 07, 2012

I think it's probably a PREBOOT part prequel in that it takes place before Alien but reboot in that it probably only takes into account Alien and maybe Aliens(most likely not) leaving Alien 3 and Alien Ressurection out of the equation! I am almost certain that WE WILL SEE THE DEACON in sequels which would add the Xeno factor in to these film giving more $$$! This Deacon is a redesign of the original Xeno because to be honest he's been done to death!

aircraftfixer
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July 07, 2012

Ridley Scott and Jon Spaihts had a good thing going. IMHO, Damon Lindelof made a wreck out of it. Even though James Cameron didn't address anything about the space Jockey in Aliens, he did make a good film that might be said can stand on its own. Ok. I realize that saying so will bring on dispute and negative opinions, but what if James Cameron somehow got to fix up the mess created by Lindelof??

David 1
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July 07, 2012

I like when the artist remakes his/her own works. It means he/she is not content with only one side of the spectrum and feels the need to explore other possibilities. Like Shin'ya Tsukamoto did with his TETSUO. The man took his original ideas and instead of making extentions/sequels he just remade them. Ex: Tetsuo - The Iron Man Tetsuo - Boddy Hammer Tetsuo - The Bullet Man they are the same story [a guy has the strange ability to morph with metals] but the aesthetic experience is different in everyone of them. Sounds good to me. [img]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0X2C4qXOy6c/TtQV4wx-ItI/AAAAAAAAAKU/YibnhygmbYE/s400/tetsuo.jpg[/img] [img]http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m44dw2jWed1r21i5xo1_1280.jpg[/img] [img]http://goninmovieblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/bullet-man_still01_small.jpg[/img]

[b]Ask nothing from no one. Demand nothing from no one. Expect nothing from no one.[/b]

centaurian_slug
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July 07, 2012

you might be on to something there, For me a dis-satisfying aspect was, we're shown A derelict ship (complete with distress/warning signal), and are clearly supposed to think it is THE derelict ship, as if they were trying to show that or felt they had to but couldn't quite find a way to write a decent story for it. as a Prequel: i think it would be very dumb if we had [a]another[/a] film that features a plot about [a]another[/a] bone-ship crash to explain how the one gets to 426 and how get get from vail/giantsquid/deacon to eggs/facehugger/alien But if it isn't supposed to have strict continuity - just some od the same elements in a reboot, part "re-imagining" - it actually comes across less confused. (i'm sure i read years before that they were considering making a definite re-imagineing, i remember quotes about how 'you'll see the alien back but different and doing surprising things')

David 1
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July 07, 2012

centaurian_slug: It's too bad the Industry doesn't care for the artists anymore. Greedy folks they are.

[b]Ask nothing from no one. Demand nothing from no one. Expect nothing from no one.[/b]

allinamberclad
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July 07, 2012

I think this question is very well framed. From every aspect of what took place, I got the feeling that the hand was just not [i]firm[/i] - that the film tried to do one thing, [i]and[/i] do the other thing on top of it and, as a result, lacked in conviction and certainty. Some of that endless back and forth in the months before release came to mind, where no-one seemed to be able to, or wanted to, say whether it was a "prequel" prequel, or not; or would say that it kind of [i]was[/i] a kind of prequel, but it also kind of [i]wasn't[/i] - and then there was the "DNA"; and then there was the, "new Story"; and there was the, "tie in"; and etc, etc, etc... The idea that the film could be considered a, "reboot", or even, God help us, a, "preboot", on top of a, "prequel", and a, "kinda prequel", actually does seem reasonable - but I don't think that fact is necessarily healthy. I wonder whether, when the intention of the film, with little effort, could be interpreted so numerously, that can be a very good thing. @aircraftfixer I can't help have a feeling that something in your first sentence is practically within touching distance of the truth.

aircraftfixer
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July 07, 2012

Ummm... Errr... Is that a good thing?

sukkal
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July 07, 2012

In FOX's mind a "reboot" is a new revenue stream out of Hill and Geiler. The content of the film(s) is just details/smetails to them. [i]Prometheus[/i] is already leaving [i]Alien 3[/i], [i]Resurrection[/i] and both of the [i]AvP[/i] legacies in its global gross dust. My money is on the alabaster Engineers and their burbling black potions for growing share and reinvigorating the franchise, and as it all unfolds, the xenomorphs need not die in the process either.

allinamberclad
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July 08, 2012

@aircraftfixer Truth is always a good thing - it's just the consequences that can be unpleasant.