Puppy Love

@Red Wolf: To answer your question, you would need to know the purpose of the mask. That is never explained, but there are plenty of possibilities. The masks were obviously in common use, not just in the 'Gunner Chair'.

1. the worms were small, and there was no reason for the team to suspect there would even be worms on the moon. Also I think they were somewhat distracted - big head, carving, mural, urns, decapitated Engineer. 2. at a guess. the "pup" may have been picking up the sleeping Engineer, but interference from the storm and/or ship may have been causing errors in its scans and the transmission back to the Prometheus.

I could be over-analyzing things, but I'd think the pups would be programmed to pick up ANY life form... And do you mean the pups were distracted or the crew? I'm just wondering if the other pup may have been picking up a xeno (there was xeno goo on the control panel David monkeied with)... Of course, xenos have never been known to sneak around hallways, spying on folks... Like I said, probably an over-analization, but it's easy to do that with this film...

the crew were distracted, which is probably why they didn't notice the worms

Interesting. The PUPs were supposed to pick up any life forms indeed. The sequence when David 8 is walking in the room and the worms do their wormy thing on the soil should have been picked up by the PUPs but wasn't [and if I remember correctly that scenes is previous to the storm]. I guess the PUPs don't pick up everything after all... just big things, maybe?

But the issue isn't with the crew, directly. The scenario set was that the crew are in possession of technology that can detect alien Life and inform them of the fact. It seems to me, that would then mean that the technology detects alien Life - whether the crew is, "distracted", or not: but, apparently, it doesn't. I'm sure there are various imaginings of varying quality that could be used to explain some incidents away, but some other incidents, 'though perhaps small, are actually very, very significant to the way the story plays out, the sense it makes - and sense of care in Authorship they communicate in the way they are handled. Those issues - and the audience - deserve a little more sophisticated attention: I think the worms is one such issue. The matter of the Engineer could be easily and reasonably satisfied: interference from alien technology, for example and etc, etc, etc. But, it appears to me, the fact that the matter of the Engineer could easily be satisfied, only makes the worm issue, an even bigger failure: Our technology can detect Life. It can do so, even at a some distance through alien walls, although it [perhaps, for example], could be confused by alien life-support technology. OK, that's fine. However, that exact same technology, that can detect Life, at a distance, through alien walls, although it [perhaps, for example], could be confused by alien life-support technology - that same technology cannot detect Life [i]in the same room?[/i] Seems to me, that whether the crew is, "distracted" or not, never mind it being a little weak as an excuse, is actually completely immaterial. That looks to me like plain old, simple old, "unresolved inconsistency" - and either a matter of lazy convenience, or lack of due regard for the story and the audience.

allinamberclad: Agreed. "Lazyness" almost sounds like... MAGIC

And another interesting aspect (or again, more "laziness") is the fact that the erns didn't "melt" due to the worms' presence, but did when humans walked in. Someone (I believe it was Shaw) says, "Oh, we've changed the atmosphere in here and the erns are changing..." but isn't the terraforming also present OUTSIDE the Big Head Chamber (BHC)? And there was no apparent way in/out of the BHC other than the door that decapitated the Engineer -- so what happened to the 4-5 Engineers who successfully ran into the BHC on the hologram? Are they part of the Engineers who were piled up down the hall; if so, did they get out via the same door and just leave their decapitated brother lying there? Or were they perhaps hosts for xenos, since those piled up had burst marks all over (NB: in no other Alien film have xenos cared a lick about dead hosts' remains; certainly not enough to pile them at the end of the hall...). One thing's for sure: xenos' goo was present and several Engineers had chest bursts, which can only logically conclude that there should be xenos afoot!

We don't get to see what happened to the rest of the SJs but we can get a preety good guess of it [like we do in ALIEN with the dead SJ]. but yes...Lindelof Galore

Had been xeno's afoot, 2000 years ago...

Sure SEEMS that way, but no signs of xeno carcasses -- and the Engineers also had head bursts (like the re-animated one in the lab) and other bodily bursts. So is it just me (and what seems like HUNDREDS on this site) or did 20th/Fox and RS severely underestimate how sci-fans love to "dissect" sci-fi films or were they and Lindelof unbeLIEVably lax? I mean, Jesus Christ (pardon the pun/reference)! There are more unanswered/inconsistent/puzzling aspects to this film than ObamaCare!

Red Wolf: Interesting enough I saw a guy's Prometheus Review on youtube where he states that the movie was too long for him and he felt he had to think. ah, what about that? Young peeps don't want to think it seems.

thats called the wonder of the word "Mystery". rather than give us a film that gives us all the answers to all the questions we have ever asked about the Aliens and the Engineers, Ridley has instead introduced us to the characters of the Engineers and posed more questions for us to ponder. That is why we are here discussing, for if he had given us all the answers there would be nothing to discuss other than our acceptance of the answers we had been given.

That particular chain of events made me wonder as well. I note that after excusing themselves from the others, neither Fifield nor Milburn expressed concern as to where they were going, or how to get out of the structure. Granted they didn't know a storm would trap them inside the scary structure when they checked out. What got me messed up here is that it is not shown (or I don't remember it being shown...) just exactly HOW the probe is indicating a life form to Janek- compared to any other graphic representation seen. It was only shown to map in three dimensions, but couldn't penetrate walls, doors or any opening that was smaller than itself. There is no explanation as to how it detects or identifies life forms. Why these probes missed giving any indication of the worms, when the audience was certainly shown that they existed beats me. How the anomalous probe was indicating a life form that was two rooms away can be attributed to suspense created for us where Fifield & Milburn are concerned. But it is ripe with continuity problems established by missing the worms. ...Unless there really WAS a big-enough-to-detect life form that we were not shown actually detected by the far away probe...

Snorky: I can fully appreciate a film that isn't written for children -- but C'MON! this movie literally has more questions than answers (again, I never watched one minute of Lost, but was told by several people that the final episode answered very little and left people tossing their shoe at the TV) and more literary license than a Nancy Pelosi speech. For example, I though A Sixth Sense was an excellent example of a movie that had the audience guessing the whole time -- and wrapped it up in the end so that when you watched it again, you could/would say "Ohhhhhhh, now I get it." Prometheus is akin to the final episode of The Sopranos: answered some things but left [me anyway] tossing MY shoe at the TV.

There is a scene you can see in the Full trailer @1m 33sec where David is inspecting an urn with a flash light, on top there is something moving, is it possible these are the worms that mutate into the hammerpedes ? Not sure but I think the pups were scanning before the crew entered the ampule room ?

@Red Wolf I'd say the worms, were already present - it was the humans who crashed the gate. I have very deep reservations [i]around[/i] some of what you mention, but, narrowly specifically, I don't actually have a problem the question marks over what happened to the other Engineers, nor the pile of corpses. My own view is that there is a very significant difference between, "unanswered questions" and, "terrible inconsistencies" - the one, actually drives Fiction; the other, is like a disease, that kills it. Sometimes, if those issues do get confused - as a result of poor or lazy handling, or [u]trying to pass the other off, as the one[/u] - then it is the Author, [i]not[/i] the audience, that is to blame.

Agreed, All-in. I've seen my share of sci-fi in my day (saw Alien while in High Scool; that's as age-specific as I care to get); thought Aliens was better than Alien (one of the few sequels that out-shone its predecessor); and enjoyed Predator immensely. In my childhood, however, these were called Monster Movies (my personal favorite as a boy was Creature from the Black Lagoon); they were designed to ENTERTAIN an audience. And while we've come a long way from the lagoon, it's just two cents that sci-fi audiences are STILL looking for entertainment. Again, I'm not looking to be spoon-fed, but a LITTLE "So THAT'S why..." is worth its weight in gold. I have a strong feeling very little of all these inconsistencies/questions from Prometheus will be "answered" in Part 2. And unless it flashes back to the 4 or so years it takes Shaw/Holloway to get to LV-223, the only "human" characters will be David 8 and Shaw!

@ Red wolf, it seems that intention is that Prometheus is the first part of a trilogy. taking that into account Prometheus is the first act, the introduction of the story and its key characters and premise. typically in a story the second act builds upon the first, fleshing out the introduction, answering questions and leading towards the finale, the 3rd and final act. All in all Prometheus is well made and well structured, but IMO they cut out too much in the editing room, which would have made the ride more enjoyable and full bodied.

Just like a fine Cuban cigar, Snorks. Here's hoping at least 500 of the 1000 or so questions are answered...

"..Here's hoping at least 500 of the 1000 or so questions are answered..."... What happens at the end of the trilogy..there are more questions than answers? To the fisrt release Srar Wars movies had a good balance,,of story telling..ending and unanswered questions,,,preparing you for the next installment.. You could discuss any of the middle three episodes and,,on their own were good movie experiences.. With Prometheus,,,it doesn't have completness at the end. Yes Shaw and David(I originally put David's name first,,showing how his robotic role,,doiminated the storytelling) are now off to the next world,,,,but the movie we discuss here,,didn't have that stand alone storytelling...that Ihave expereince in other multiple part movies.. Many more questions...maybe too many..than answers.

@Red Wolf Precisely. It is far from a matter of being,"spoon-fed", or simplistically requiring that every single stone is turned over - not every question needs to be answered. However, it is a matter of storytelling and it is not unreasonable to expect a story to be told well, if you are actually paying for it. Regardless of genre, budget or writer - either that job is done well, or it is not - and, if it is not, it is not unreasonable, as an audience, to raise your hand: or not pay for any more of it. I really cannot accept justifications based on a premise that we, as audiences, need to get used to films that are parts of sequences and that we should only expect them to function as a whole?! It seems a ridiculous and awful precedent that would doom us to progressively degenerate quality of storytelling as a result of us issuing some kind of 'Licence to Any Nonsense'. Many other trilogies or sequences have functioned perfectly well, while remaining functioning, intelligible films in their own right, without that kind of very peculiar allowance being made...

Y'know, what EXACTLY did we learn from Prometheus? A. We were introduced to the Engineers, which explains just what the SJ on Juggernaut is. Other than that we learned little, if anything, about them. B. We were introduced to black goo, which reacts different ways at different times to different recipients, including but not limited to making heads explode and total tear-down of DNA (only to immediately re-build as well). C. We re-learned that Weyland is a coniving bast*rd who puts himself above all others. D. Learned that Lindelof takes himself WAAAAAY too seriously or is attempting to impress a college co-ed somewhere. Unless I'm forgetting something of significance, everything else is an apparent set-up for Part 2. Can you imagine how POed we all be if there ISN'T a Part 2???? D.

Ok I have a question for u guys... 1. When the Engineer gets into the gunner chair to head to Earth he puts on the Exoskeleton Mask and when Fifield and Milburn saw the pile of dead Engineers they have the Exoskeleton Mask on them as well when they aren't in the Gunner Chair? Why?

Q: Why didn't they detect the worms? A: The signal from the hydrogen bond resonance decoupling sensor was attenuated by the damp soil in the chamber. Isn't that completely obvious? Or perhaps instead the worms are simply immune to our probing. Do you remember the phrase "maybe they don't show up on infrared at all" from a certain popular film? I mean, honestly, if you are trying to turn this into a plot hole to justify your opinion that it was a bad film, you should perhaps learn a bit more about science fiction first.

mandroid- Fifield released the probes (I don't remember how many) upon entering the structure. When the Big Head/Ampule room was opened by David, at least one of the probes was hanging around nearby and went into the room first.

Consistent inconsistency may work in liberal politics, but makes for poor Tier-1 sci-fi, my friend.

When Charlie finds the last painting in the caves and they match it up why would they think that thats where their ''Masters'' come from and where they live?

zzplural- "The signal from the hydrogen bond resonance decoupling sensor was attenuated by the damp soil in the chamber." Where was that bit stated or even mentioned in the film?! First I thought that perhaps the anechromatic particle phase inducer wasn't calibrated. Then I remembered that the omochronic annular confinement beam generator's tetrion emitter only works in a vacuum.

@ Red - Dude, why do you have to bring your political leanings into [i]every[/i] one of your posts? You're not impressing anyone.

[quote=Red Wolf][i][u]Consistent inconsistency may work in liberal politics[/u], but makes for poor Tier-1 sci-fi, my friend.[/i][/quote] Do you REALLY want to go there? R E A L L Y ? I sincerely suggest that you go chat about that with the folks over at FOX News. This DIVERSE community is much more in the ballpark of FOX [u]Pictures[/u] (who love EVERYONE's money)... In response to the original wormy question: [i]"It's a movie, not a science lesson."[/i] — Ridley Scott Oh, and "over-analization" is my newest most favoritest word in the universe.

Be sure to give me credit for the term (and "most favoritest" is mine). And the fun-loving political poking was designed to illustrate how upset one can get when one takes close-to-the-heart matters too seriously, like sci-fi movies. A lack of a sense of humor amongst left-leaning sci-fi fans was a purely unintended consequence, like trusting a nefarious android to translate for you.

@aircraftfixer: "Where was that bit stated or even mentioned in the film?" It wasn't, of course. And didn't need to be. It really was not important. I find it a little sad that people go to the trouble of dreaming up inconsistencies that don't exist in order to diss a movie. I don't particularly want to know how or why a life form detector actually 'works'. I wouldn't understand it, and I wouldn't want to spend the time in a movie finding out how it works. The fact that it doesn't spot a few worms when it is able to hear the heartbeat of a giant humanoid creature through a couple of doors is neither here nor there and is not at all relevant to the story. It's certainly not an inconsistency, and is not part of a larger set of inconsistent inconsistencies. To say that is simply to troll.

@zzplural- Ouch! Please define what it means "To Troll", as I am unfamiliar with this term beyond Dungeons & Dragons. Sounds like I may have exaggerated a negative perception, or multiplied a detail out-of-proportion. Or just maybe FUBARed what the writers point of view might have been. Please help? Yeah, it isn't important at all. The story went on without need for an explanation. The point I observed is that there IS a glaring inconsistency- and I didn't dream it up. You put my lengthy dissertation into much fewer words: "The fact that it (the anomalous probe) doesn't spot a few worms when it is able to hear the heartbeat of a giant humanoid creature through a couple of doors" Add to this allinamberclad's paraphrased remark: "How does a technology that can detect life through walls miss something in the same room?" However, I wouldn't count this as a contradiction at all. Merely a detail. Details... I love details! I love learning how and why a thing works. I appreciate understanding what someone else has created. And it wouldn't have hurt this film a bit if someone had spent the time to clarify some of it. Please be advised that I'm not a sarcastic person, as sarcasm is actually mockery. This being said, my use of treknobabble in response to your post was in fact a compliment. I was very pleased to see someone else employ it, and wanted to join the fun.

@aircraftfixer - Sorry if I gave the impression that [i]you[/i] were trolling: you weren't, you were just asking a question. (An internet troll, by the way, is someone who doesn't have any friends and likes to spend his time bugging people on the internet simply to get some kind of response to cheer up his dull life). There are quite a few trolls lurking on this forum though! Anyway, OK I will entertain your curiosity with regard to the Pups and give you a theory... Vickers hired a highly competent and cash-strapped geologist for the mission (who happened to have Asperger's syndrome - something that isn't that uncommon in technically minded people). He had some fantastic devices he called Pups that are great at mapping out 3D structures. Vickers asked him to ensure that said devices could also detect possible sentient creatures who were large and humanoid. She didn't go into any further details because the true nature of the mission was hush hush. The prime directive for the mission was on Weyland's orders: Find the Engineers. Not find worms. Not find amoeba or grasshoppers. The biologist could do that kind of stuff if he wanted to. So, Fifield duly obliged, and brought along devices that could detect in some way very tall humanoid beings. For such devices to continually announce the presence of worms or slugs or bats would be one hell of a distraction. Not in the spec. So they didn't. An inconsistency or not?

@zzplural- Whew! I though I was dead meat. Thanks for putting away the big guns! Your theory is an excellent supposition to the unnecessary, but very much liked amount of detail. It makes sense, is corroborated by other elements of both the character using the technology and the mission they are used on. I particularly like your theory because it acknowledges that even high-tech stuff is often limited in capability & scope. That part makes the "inconsistency" go away. Mouse traps, flashlights and tooth picks will always be what they are, even if they are expensive and high tech. I know about Asperger's Syndrome, as well as other Autism related afflictions. Its a dull but cool world out there for people like Fifield. Kinda my take on his character too, which is why I don't find myself part of the discussions about the Fifield & Milburn bashing. And going back- Where did you pick up Treknobabble?

@aircraftfixer I was wrong ! I was soooo wrong :-D