Anyone check out the AC RS commentary?

Gidday dk, i bought the blu-ray 2 days ago but have not checked out the commentary yet, i have watched everything else on the disk, its good to stop and rewind when something interesting catches your eye, can't do that in the cinema lol!

The stench in the egg room is ammonia, mentioned in the novel, i would say for sure walter will be back, maybe reactivated by engineers or a WY team sent to investigate?

That would be awesome.

airshaft_surprise

 its good to stop and rewind when something interesting catches your eye, can't do that in the cinema lol!

Definitely- there were lots of things un noticed or unheard in the theater. I have not read the novel, but it is nice to know (the more senses that can be engaged, the better) and that short scene (as with the others) could have fleshed out things better imo.

Sorry dk, did not mean to toss a spoiler in there from the novel, i recalled Silence of the Lambs when they rubbed some kind of menthol tincture under the nostrils to mask the smell.

airshaft_surprise Totally ok! I will likely not ever read the novel. But now that you mention it, I got a heavy Hanibal vibe from David when Oram told him it was a colony ship with 2000 people. "Well, well, well" was just one line reminding me of Solence of the Lambs!........and the moth sketches!

'He did not state that Walter is dead-'

A ray of light... :)

I'm glad you said it, dk! I got a kick out of Scott's, "DUH!" For me though it just kind of cemented my feelinfs about that twist. From the first time I saw Covenant in the theater, I was one of many (if not all) whho saw it coming, but I liked it because they milked it for sooo long. Daniels fixing him up was tense and then when he was assisting with the Xenomorph on the ship he started the sequence out with an almost smirk (was it a smaile? Was it not??). Through the rest of it he showed too much emotion to be Walter, but they kept holding onto the true reveal. Then they literally made my skin crawl when David flips the evil switch and Daniels has to go to sleep with that fact. Absolutely WILD way to end her journey in the film. 

Short (and coherent) version: The twist was obvious, but it worked because of how long they milked it. 

cuponator3000 Nailed it. I also found his duhh humorous lol

Hi All.  It has been about 4 months since I last posted.  I went to see AC six times at the cinema.  I loved it each and every time.

I am so happy that folks got the Hannibal Lecter feel when David said " well, well, well. All good souls I'm sure": or something like that.

I got that on the nose the first time I saw it.  From that point in the movie it was a grand opera of David's monstrous intent and delightful evil creations.  His promenade down the lines of the innocent at the end of the movie was pure drama as one thought of what he will do to each one of them.

Regular Parrot, welcome back :)

Your post reminded me of something someone said somewhere in the forum recently which was basically: 

Ridley and the writers took a pretty big risk having the villain win outright. Once David was revealed to the crew for the first time, everything went downhill and never came back up.

In America, for example, we like our happy endings! Not everyone per say, but that is how the statstics have pointed throughout film history they continue to do so. In a film analysis class last year we watched a film (I can't remember the name unfortunately. It's pretty well-known, although old) and the heroes died and evil won out! We were all devastated (it was an intense story and a tough note to end on). The Professor said, "Well, it's French."

I am pretty sure most countries that these tentpole films release in prefer the happier endings too, so yeah. It's a risk on the creative teams' part, but one I enjoy and respect!

For me long haired David looked more akin to Iggy Pop than Kobain, but every one to his own.

I don't think Walter is dead Ati. 

I thought David 8 had a Point Break look.

Regular Parrot & cuponator3000 

That's what I loved about A:C, it's dark and takes risks. It's seeping Lovecraft through its jelly-filled maw >:-)

It's  delicious.

It is very Lovecraftian. So was the original Alien. Probably the closest thing to a big budget Lovecraft tale we will ever get.

I listened to the commentary last week. Ridley repeated several of the same stories that he told on the other Alien commentaries. There are no new revelations, but I heard a few interesting things (SPOILERS AHEAD).

• Ridley states the stellar shockwave that hit the Covenant was a "random accident that can occur in space often".

• Ridley says Shaw may have accidentally recorded and transmitted the signal when she was trying to work out the ship controls. She just happened to be singing. The script makes it seem David recorded it and used it to lure a passing ship.

• When talking about the giant heads in the temple room he said they were kind of like Mt. Rushmore. Probably the six elders of the entire civilization. The intellects, the artists, the wise men.

• He said the Engineers lifespan was probably 150 years. I assumed they were much farther advanced than that and had probably conquered death by re-writing the DNA coding responsible for aging cells.

• What you see at the beginning of Prometheus is the Engineers DNA being denoted to the planet to water. From the water is one of the best distribution systems you can have.

• The Engineers role is evolution

• The Engineers are not gods, just higher forms of life.

• The Engineers are more powerful that we are, but nevertheless they were defeated by their own invention. Human life fundamentally fails, and in so doing, so do the Engineers.

• The Engineers let their children, human beings, get out of control. So they (humans) are both no longer valid or useful.

• Ridley guesses that Weyland was probably 100 years old in Prometheus. He looks to be in his 60s or 70s in Covenant, so that means he was probably created around 2050-2070. The timeline on the Weyland website would make it seem David 8 was created before David 7.

Thank you Kethol for the above description and context. Great work. Below, Peter Weyland is speaking in 2023.

Here are the below notes on the corporate timeline when each model was released and Peter Weyland's age when that respective David model was released.

According to the corporate timeline:

David 5 was released when Peter Weyland was 61, David 6 when he was 71, and David 7 in 2068 when Weyland's age was 77. 

It's hard to tell when the interaction in between David and Peter Weyland in Alien: Covenant was.

Below is the press release regarding David 8's release to mass-market.

Does Ridley Scott citing Peter Weyland's age in late 2093 account for time spent in hypersleep? I guess that doesn't matter much because Scott's comments seem to reconcile with the corporate timeline in regards to Peter Weyland's age. 

Kethol That was simply an outstanding brief on the commentary- Thanks!

@Ingeniero - Weyland was 103 when he died, according to the timeline. He was 70 when David 7 was created in 2070. A new David model comes out approximately every 7-10 years, so David 8 should be along around 2080, making Weyland around 80 years old.

When David 8 is born in Covenant, Weyland has a little bit of gray hair, but does not look much different than he did in the Ted Talk. He did not look like a person in his '80s.

If he is really around 80, I suppose we can chalk it up to increased lifespan and quality of healthcare that far into the future, but he looked very aged just 23 years layer when he died.

"He looks to be in his 60s or 70s in Covenant, so that means he was probably created around 2050-2070."

I agree with what you wrote above Kethol (and all the rest of your analysis). Ridley Scott covered quite a bit in the commentary and I'm glad he touched on this.

In the Alien: Covenant exchange in between David and Peter Weyland above, I always though that was an earlier model than the David 8 because Peter Weyland asked him to perform on the piano after reciting the names of the works of art around him (David).

Is David an A.I. Transfer (Consciousness) to new Android/Model or just updates to the original creation of Peter Weyland? 

Above, David obviously had the knowledge of humanity's work but had yet to hear "I am your father" from Peter Weyland. He knew how to play the piano, showed skills, and memory but didn't know who Peter Weyland was when he woke up.

So, Peter Weyland looks around 60 to 70 above. And a little put out with David's question assuming death awaited him. David had been awake just moments and he brought up that he would live forever and his father would die. Peter Weyland shut that down with his insistence on a cup of tea.

I put this time around the release of David 5 but the David that Peter Weyland called "son" was much different from what was released to mass market.

David recognized artwork and everything around him and was able to play the piano and give a history of the musical piece but had to be told he was Peter Weyland's "son".

I believe the David 8 on Paradise that Peter Weyland referred to as "son" was his original creation. His son was special from the rest of all Davids and referred to as David 8 because he was always current.