PROMETHEUS: Ultimately a failure as an ALIEN Universe film.

djamelameziane You know what I am just starting to get a little tired of this ambiguity thing. However its the ambiguity that keeps the mystery alive. The whole success of the alien franchise resides with the mystery of the sj and derelict. If we start to solve that are we not destroying the basis of the mystery and therefore ending what keeps people coming back ? (we will probably only know by the end of p3 if at all) I am just waiting for the DVD so that I can get answers on 2 things: is Ridley moving away from a2 - a4(or not) (as in everything after a1 is not considered canon by ridley as it relates to p1-p2-p3-a1) and will the answers provided by the cut scenes really help us to significantly answer the mysteries - particularly regarding the xenomorph origins and why they wanted to destroy us and what happened to the sj/derelict ? (meaning that we will wait a couple of years for the restoration cut eventually getting the answers or maybe only in p2?) I am not sure we will get answers on those but I will stay positive until after we have definite feedback from the cut scenes from members on this forum . What does this have to do with nerion's OP ? Well if the DVD answers these questions then perhaps a lot of people feeling like nerion about prometheus might change their mind that it failed as an alien universe film because there is definite proof that it is moving towards an explanation as to origins of the xenomorph and why the space jockey crashed. So now I am waiting for feedback on the cut scenes to see what materialises. I am just beginning to wonder how many re release DVD 's we will see until the final restoration cut is released (of prometheus).

@Magellan9 Thanks for the compliment on my previous review. I think "we park our cars in the same garage"...cinematically anyway. After reading the responses so far, It's nice to know that I'm not alone in my feelings, thoughts, and opinions on PROMETHEUS. By the way, I'm drawn to PROMETHEUS, as a bee is to pollen...through my great cinematic affection for the original. So, I did enjoy many aspects of it. Which makes it all the more frustrating for me, knowing that it could of been so much more. If it had been a prequel to TRANSFOMERS, I couldn't have cared less. It's precisely because it IS related to one of my favorite pieces of art EVER, that I care. ~N :-(

why did you think the narrative/script was unsatisfying?

I totally agree with you. It's fine on it's own but as anything linked to Alien it just doesn't work, the ending seemed tacked on simply to please Alien fans. It was very unsatisfying.

@Keep-itreal For me, the questions left unanswered in the original ALIEN actually enhanced the mystery, atmosphere, and horror. In PROMETHEUS, it seems more like plot holes, like errors in story development and editing. The ALIEN tropes seem like they were just thrown in as window dressing for Alienphiles like ourselves. N

I am with you as well Neurion it was a good film and even had moments of greatness but it was filled with utterly bonkers bits which for many of us detracted from the movie. And no I am actually mainly not talking about the unanswered questions I am talking about the way people acted in this movie and a few other things of which I have talked about so much I cannot be bothered to repeat them all again! I likened it to Eisenstein with dementia moments were it looked mind blowing and like it was going to blow us away then awful almost comedic parts that made me cringe with pain argh! If this does get turned around with some unbelievable amazing follow up (movie, internet or tv) I will take my hat off but it really feels like it going to be more of the same in the next few parts -limping along to an end - I will watch it all but I really hope they pull the stops out after this one!

I could not disagree more wholeheartedly. I'll even go as far as to say that it's more meaningful and poignant than [i]Alien[/i]. Beneath the ambiguity there is depth and layers that Alien [i]doesn't[/i] have. The ideas are much more grand and provocative. I've found that the film is very satisfying in that I find myself thinking about what stuff means all the time. The film sticks with you. And to me the connections to Alien enhanced it. It made the imagery familiar, yet still alien (heh). And Ridley and his team did a [i]superb[/i] job with said updated imagery and special effects. Superb direction and a visual feast. Having said all that, I didn't watch the trailers or read all the hype. So I went into the theater having not seen a whole lot of the film and not having expectations built up from the trailers. And dark science fiction is my bread & butter, so I was mesmerized. Saw it 3 times in the theater and can't wait to get the blu-ray.

@Neurion. In 79 you could count the number of tv channels on two hands? Where you from? I could only count 3 channels then, when i was 2 (on my little stubby fingers lol). Anyway, i think i know what you mean. Being a massive fan of ALIEN since i was about 8 (yes, i had bad parents). I always wondered what was that big alien thing sat in that weird seat, in that weird alien spaceship and why did it have all those eggs in the basement (silo)? ALIEN was a complete nightmare of a Film (in a good way!) and i was really expecting something extremely dark and horrible from the SJs past and expected it to be straight from the mind of H R Giger himself! When i heard the news about the prequel, in about December 2011, i went into sci fi mode, i was so excited! 'would my thoughts about that SJs past be realized after all these years of wondering?'. June 1st, it was released at the pictures (cinema) and i was finally going to find out what that damn SJ was really all about. I took the wife with me and i was like a little kid on christmas morning! We came out of the pictures, after it had ended and went for something to eat. We ordered our food and whilst waiting for it to arrive, my wife said to me, " Are you ok? You seem down, are you dissapointed about the Film?". The only reply i could muster was "Yeah". When we got home, after having a very quiet meal, i started to think about it. Yeah, it was defo what Ridley wanted, something completely different but at the same time keeping it in the same universe as the Alien series (sort of). I've since forgiven it for being not what i expected. I'm 50/50 on it at the moment. On it's own, as a stand alone Film, it's very good! But as part of the ALIEN universe, it falls wide of the mark, by a mile! IT SHOULD AND COULD HAVE BEEN ALOT DARKER!!! BAD CREATURES! BAD! I really like the engineers though, what a great surprise that was!

@Neurion Thank you! [i]''I did want to be amazed, wowed, enthralled, scared…or even scarred''[/i] This is exactly how I felt when watching Prometheus! Personally I was very, very disappointed, to say the least. Problem for me (and a lot of others) was that my expectations for this film were sky-high, and I expected something based on the darker theme from the trailers, that in the end were misleading. To be rude you can call it false marketing. I absolutely loved the initial scenes with the sacrificial engineer, and then David aboard the ship before it reached LV-223. This really helped to build up the tension and raised my expectations to unimaginable levels. But the moment the crew woke up, introducing the characters and what followed, (particularly Holloway, also Milburn and Fifield) I started so see cracks in the beautiful facade. And soon my worst fears were realized, as the pacing increased combined with how some of the scientists behaved during certain situations. Every movie is flawed some way or another, but in this case, so many things just weighted down the overall experience down for me in terms of story development and how a lot of scenes seemed to be completely cut. I think this is the moment when a lot of disappointed viewers started to pluck the film into the slightest of details. And we cannot question the fact that this film was disliked (and hated by some) by an alarming number of people, take the dislike forums for instance. Of course other forums contain disappointing reactions, but oh boy this sure is a new level of disappointment that I've never witnessed since Schumacher's version of the dark knight. As for me, I initially hated everything but Fassbender's performance and the great visuals as the credits rolled for me for the first time, and people with Alien T-shirts and Nostromo logo's were booing in the cinema, which says a lot. However, as time passed I've consigned this film to the shallow ''popcorn film'' section together with Avengers. At least it's entertaining and fun to watch, and in the end; just a movie. The difference between Prometheus and Alien IMO is that I consider the latter a [u]serious[/u] film and a benchmark in film history. What I like about this forum are other's opinions and how we see this film different. Neither did I intend to provoke, this is just my opinion and It's been so fun to write! BTW Neurion, I also read your earlier review which was very well written.

i too waited 33 yrs ... about that god damn S/J sitting in the chair ???, yr after yr,, i took that out of the movie the most , i just felt the movie should have been more darker and the acting more down to earth and simple , just like Alien Agreed Neurion

The movie is going to make 400 million bucks at the boxoffice or pretty close to that. Critics and the audience also overwhelmingly liked it, so it's definitely earned its place in Alien canon. Scot said he wasn't going to remake Alien to begin with. He wanted to do a completely different movie. So I think your perceptions were slightly biased. I went in with an open mind not expecting Alien 2, and I was extremely pleased with the film.

It's not as bad as seeing Paradise before one is pulled into hell. I did like the wrath of God for altering nature message. For sure next time I'm not going to open any Christmas presents before we land on the Planet. I wonder was that Black Irish whiskey Halloway was drinking? Ahhh yes perhaps it was Janek. BuT Why ...WHY aren't all the mining ships not already equipped with standard issue space trucker functioning androids during Nostromo's time and after? Which reminds me of Space Hunter...classic Sci-fi! When Molly was still a boy. Space Doobies for all and for a good nite ;) [img]http://www.sushitree.org/images/events/117.jpg[/img] Thirsty like a fish out of water?

@Space Doobie; Holloway was drinking "Ace of Spades" Champagne. [IMG]http://i47.tinypic.com/2rpcm51.jpg[/IMG]

I think prometheus worked remarkably well. Ridley deftly navigated the tight rope of operating within the "alien universe" while at the same time forging a new and interesting framework for further (and most importantly fresh and different) cinematic expression and exploration. I would have been very disappointed had prometheus involved facehuggers/xenos/eggs/hives/haunted house in space etc. The "alien universe" is now more interesting than it has been at any other time.

...from having Shaws faith jammed down our throats as the reason for belief that the SJ race engineered our own race, to Holloway feeling the mission was a failure because they found some dead creatures, to EVERYTHING involving Fifeild, to Weyland himself, to the generic creatures (not including the pressure suited SJ... I thought that guy was pretty cool looking), to David acting as an experienced pro when it came to anything engineer related, and wrapping up with the same cheesy ending as AvP... I was let down quite a few too many times to say I enjoyed this flick. I went in expecting the best, and walked out feeling like i should never hope again. It can be said that all these faults lie on poor writing, but at the end of the day, the director made the call to proceed with filming. After that bunk Robin Hood flick and now Prometheus, I think old age has diminished the abilities of Ridley Scott, and I am going to be leery of anything else he puts out.

the reason PROMETHEUS failed for me? SPACE JOCKEY and CHARIOTS OF THE GODS... no way was I expecting Ridley to SHRINK the whole Space Jockey prop to fit into the 'Engineer NavChair' narrative. Where are my enormous GANESHA/OLIPHANT beasts from Giger-space? Space Jockey was ALWAYS a time-space telescope device for a trunklike space beast type thing powering through the galaxy like a FREIGHT TRAIN until. LV-426 slammed into it. What was the trade like? Why the eggs? All'a that... I 'realise' now, as I'm constantly reminded by Staff (lol), it's intended to be an Engineer NavChair with a gay Orrery interface, but I never saw that coming. I didn't - call me naive, call me hopeful. And I mean this in a sucker-punch way. Surely, SURELY, any number of screen writing teams could have pulled the viewer back in time (and space) to the land of the Giger Beasts AND avoided Alien AND avoided Von Daniken? A proper ONE FILM Alien-prequel that ended with the LV-426 arrival/crashlanding/hyperspace drop out, anything........... It's not that hard to make a TOTALLY HARDCORE and VISCERAL ALIEN-inflamed cinema experience for the adult fans of the Alien franchise - rip their minds to shreds, ffs. It's what they're after. NOT some gay (and I use that word in the Northern English sense to mean 'wishy-washy') flowery overlay-interface funky Kuniform (never translated by the robot who could) lie after lie after lie after lie theatrical event that was this Corporate War Propaganda film for a generation in desperate need for some justification for a God/Gods. Man, it could have been a wonderful psychedelic flesh-trip, it could have been a literal REVELATION; and with a real story - just not this one, neither Spaiht or Lindelof's version, to be frank. Something ANCIENT and morose like psycho-erotic space mythology should be, covered in cum and slithering in its own bodily fluids. Seriously, Prometheus is a film for kids - like all "horror" nowadays. I mean, on a base (the most basic narrative) level, "Did we 'really' need that pointless Juggernaut exhaust-tube (of course Shaw'll escape in time) finale? Did the Juggernaut really need to exit the LV-23 atmosphere like a ROCKET?"

I know that this may seem insanely optimistic, but maybe the elephant like creatures DID exist in the past somewhere and the engineers found them and their tech. I wonder what paradise may hold for us. I hope that the writers have been reading our disappointments and adjust things in such a fashion that helps to both evolve the story and touch base on aspects that we would have liked them to do in Prometheus. I am with all of you who have a long history of wondering about the jockey and derelict. I"m 38 years old and watched Alien when I was to young for such a movie. My fascination with the space jockey and horror pertaining to the Alien itself has been a sort of inspiration in ways for most of my life. I have always wondered about the unanswered details and quite frankly, Prometheus failed to satisfy...the comics did more for me. Again, maybe if we are lucky, Paradise will do what Prometheus did not.

Fan, for me, the [b]obvious scale change[/b] and the [b]obvious design change[/b] suggest that the Engineer version (i.e. all-embracing Chair, rather than born-in TimeSpace Telescope) was BACK ENGINEERS Oliphant Technology. Space Jockey was (was it?) millions of [i]fossilised[/i] years old when LV-426 was the subject of the Alien movie.

What freeplanet said could be one good result - but like people have said the big budget films are heavily controlled by not being 18s - I never expected anything like this anyway. I was fully ready to see a few glimpses of the proto-xeno at the end and I had even seen a picture of the engineer so my disappointments were with dialogue characters and comedic deaths and a few other bits like awful makeup on weyland :O ! But I also think if they had just polished up prometheus (allot! - ie characters and things making more sense) as it is and make some awesome new parts with wicked new monsters - elders and the god like thing it could still be pretty great even a classic could appear in one part :O ! But its a big ask...I think they should integrate the xeno a bit it seems to be going that way with the large mural of one - must be some possibly large integration coming...

+@ freeplanet and yer I was expecting a really deep moving story about that SJ possibly him being the last of his kind and him being alone for thousands or millions of years or something like that - maybe they even getting a psychic link the the bio equipment around him or something - even though he was dead and seeing flash backs to the glory of his races achievements spanning across the milky way - which finally got wiped out by a race which made the xenos or something similar - but to redesign him as such and move it all sideways was strange but it has its merits I suppose its not totally crap...and I hope they can do something special with it all :S ...even something like this would of been closer to the mark: [img]http://cdn.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/Alien-Prequels-Space-Jockey-Concept-Art-280x318.jpg[/img][img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_8GJbAAr1DY8/TRI8yAk5FEI/AAAAAAAACRg/HjwIu6o2JgY/s640/25zmh52.jpeg[/img]