Prometheus minus Alien - any good as a film?

basically, did we need the (constant) back referencing to Alien throughout the Prometheus film? the angle of the derelict in every shot the giger design lingering the arrangement of ampules-that-weren't-eggs the space jockey chair LV-this or that I know Ridley said that he [b]wanted[/b] to explore who that SPACE TRUCKER was, and who commissioned his eggy cargo, but he seems to have gone off on a totally different cinematic voyage in the thirty years it took him to make this film. Now, I have no problem with this, BUT would Prometheus have been attended with such enthusiasm had Ridley just released what was essentially just another Stargate Remembered film? Was there enough in the film to strip it of its ALIEN lineage? And this is a serious critical question, i.e. not for the Prometheus fanboys (yes, I realise this is a fan site) to just go loony about. Come on, "Would Prometheus have stood up as its own story?" I personally (for what it's worth) think we could have had a better version of Battlefield Earth as a movie, visitors coming to claim their land? Not sure, help...