The hightech stuff in Prometheus and Covenant...
Benni_RoR
MemberOvomorphJune 18, 2017One thing that "bothered" me right when I watched Prometheus (and later Covenant) for the first time ever, was the fancy hightech stuff, the hologram projectors, the touchscreens and everything.
It feels very weird compared to the tech seen in all 4 Alien movies. Obviously this is due to the fact that Prometheus and Covenant are modern movies, whereas the older Alien movies are actually "old" and show the actual computer tech available at the times the movies were made.
But to me, this is no excuse. Alien: Isolation perfectly managed to recreate the retro-tech and was basicly the first movie in form of a game. (with a different story of course) And A:I is a damn videogame. (a damn good one tho)
So why did Ridley Scott decide to make everything so fancy and new? Why did he ignore the feel and vibe of his own movie?
Another thing are the weapons. In Prometheus, the security dudes use some weird blue pistols, that don't do much against Fifield nor the Engineer. Originally, Scott wanted to have Pulse Rifles, or atleast some version of the classic Pulse Rifles.
Then in Covenant we see AUG-A3s and M4 carbines, which should be considered damn old at the time Covenant takes place.
Again, why no Pulse Rifles?
My solution to this "mystery" is that the Prometheus and the Covenant are both highend and hightech vessels directly developed and constructed by Weyland, one for exploration, one for exploration+colonisation.
The Nostromo on the other hand is just a cargo ship, probably even outdated, or maybe just the standard ship one would encounter at the time. I dunno remember anymore who said it, but he said something along the lines of: "Alien is about a bunch of truckers in space."
Is this the reason for the differences in tech and equipment? But if so, why would a brand new ship like the Covenant be equipped with outdated weaponry? Ok, weapon is weapon. When Captain Oram shot the Neomorph, his weapon was totally suitable for that job. Fair enough.
But shouldn't Weyland (or whoever was in charge after Peter died on LV-223) be a perfectionist of some sort? Just look at David.
But I don't wanna lose myself in "weapon talk" here.
Just curious about what other people here thought about the tech shown in Prometheus and Covenant. Maybe I did not look carefully enough, but to me it seems that barely anyone else noticed this. Sorry for the long post.
Yeah, the chunky, retro, used-up look of the original movie was great.
It's nice to see what they can do these days of course. One thing that I found out of place in Prometheus is that the Prometheus ship wasn't realistic/practical at all. Let me explain. This is one of the first long-distance missions, costing over 1 trillion. The ship is unrealistically spacious and luxurious. A mission like that would be pretty cramped just because you'd have to bring everything with you. You'd never see a grand piano on a vessel like that.
Here's an aesthetic that I really like. Check it out. Imagine this gritty look made with modern tech/methods (this had a casual tie-in to blade runner):
Movie Trailer: Soldier 1998
