Prometheus

[SealLion]

There's one point where I do have to disagree with you, old friend. And that is regarding this 'origin' of the human race, which I guess isn't really reverent within this topic; however, where I do have to disagree with you on is that part of film production in which the characters came to this conclusion without any scientific discussion or 'backed-up' theories to support their claim. I just felt it to be so rushed as I've briefly mentioned above. Basically, it just looked like this elite group of anthropologists making a closed-circle conclusion without there being any input from peers. Which I am sure you know is the usual route for any one working in a scientific field when wanting to seek and establish support for what-ever theory they want to put forward. In this film, it was basically the husband and wife anthropologist team along with the old guy who themselves strongly believed their own idea regardless if others felt they were a bunch of quacks or not. For sure it was not a masterpiece but for sure the F/X was great too. I also did like the F/X. Glad you liked the show though. Entertainment is better than critique.

[Instab]

There's one point where I do have to disagree with you, old friend. And that is regarding this 'origin' of the human race, which I güss isn't really reverent within this topic; however, where I do have to disagree with you on is that part of film production in which the characters came to this conclusion without any scientific discussion or 'backed-up' theories to support their claim. I just felt it to be so rushed as I've briefly mentioned above. Basically, it just looked like this elite group of anthropologists making a closed-circle conclusion without there being any input from peers. Which I am sure you know is the usual route for any one working in a scientific field when wanting to seek and establish support for what-ever theory they want to put forward.

if we wanna apply realistic procedures for a moment although it's a scifi movie.

scientific enterprises if funded by the industry are often on a very tight schedule and aimed at specific goals. a proper workflow often is not followed the way one would think or might do if the circumstances were different. even more so in some cases that's not even wanted at all but instead getting to a certain point at any cost.
i have not seen the movie yet but an expedition commissioned by a company like weyland yutani could very well go on exactly like that

[SealLion]

I would definitely agree with you if a scientific enterprise is funded by an industry and for sure it would not delineate much if at all from the chosen targeted goal, though how about if it wasn't funded by an industrial enterprise?? I'm of the opinion it might not necessarily go the direction some might intend to go let alone go a slower pace. Anyways, you said it well.

[slikrapid]

@Instab:

if we wanna apply realistic procedures for a moment although it's a scifi movie.

actually, thats an important part which qualifies it as SF, plausible 'realism' within an imaginary setting

scientific enterprises if funded by the industry are often on a very tight schedule and aimed at specific goals.

depends on their research (field, short/long term, goals,...) - in this case, research regarding 'the origins of mankind' is obviously something not doable on a (very) tight schedule, let alone with a handful of 'researchers'

a proper workflow often is not followed the way one would think or might do if the circumstances were different

whatever improvisation/deviation is made, the tendency is still to come as near as possible to the 'proper workflow' or at least catch-up with it asap afterwards, especially regarding organized enterprises

an expedition commissioned by a company like weyland yutani could very well go on exactly like that

ofc, there is always a scenario (however improbable) where all those inconsistencies may indeed occur, but that kind of lazy/weak scriptwriting shouldn't be a part of big-budget projects (or any other aspiring ones for that matter), if they want to uphold their reputation, that is

[slikrapid]

expect spoilers, what else?

so i saw it the other day and i'd say it turned out pretty good, in fact it seems to be currently the best SF movie made this year (which doesn't say much since others were pretty bad) - its true what they say about many plot holes, somewhat sub-par acting, silly ideas about human origins, a less haunting atmosphere (that made the first alien movie extraordinary) and having weak action scenes (which were a big part of alien 2) - still, if one is not too picky it offers an enjoyable ride, it feels like an expedition into the unknown (which is its best aspect, apart from the very well done cgi), an adventure with occasional (more or less mild) thrills, though it does get rushed towards the end, with unbelievable (action) events coming one after another and a finish that is partially satisfying: the alien connection (alien 1 scene) was nice, the destroy-the-earth part was silly and they just had to leave it incomplete (awaiting a sequel?), anyways, it was fun to watch though i still think movies from the alien quadrilogy were better (more enjoyable)

some observations:
- notice how the actor playing the robot looks like, must be every eugenicist's/technocrat's/supremacist's wet dream lol
- those scanner-spheres were pretty cool, as well as most of the holographic stuff
- thrives on the idea that humans have ET origins, wanting to meet their 'maker', which is quite infantile/ignorant
- repeatedly plays with the phrase 'thats what i chose to believe' which sounds catchy enough though its quite meaningless since 'choosing to believe' doesn't make it real, its just another hypothesis, the 'believer' simply gave-up on practically testing his 'belief', a valid belief has to be practically verifiable, otherwise its an exercise in futility since every evidence, no matter how relevant, that conflicts with the belief will just be ignored and censored-out, which is obviously not recommended if one is sincerely looking for answers

i'll use an imdb review to make additional comments:

1. The dreams sequence. David can watch Shaw's dreams. Amazingly this technology also cuts from scene to scene like a movie camera...Please. No one dreams like that.

agreed, not necessary, it does however hint at a similar idea as 'your mind is the crime scene' (from 'inception') so i'd say that one was used on purpose

2. How did they randomly find the temple so quick? This is an entire planet surface!

a quick surface scan would have solved that, but its irrelevant

3. Why was the landing so soft and easy?

irrelevant

4. Why does Fifield start screaming at Shaw like that? Calm down mate..jeez..And later on with an Alien cobra he is cool as ice.

these guys were more like a cross between some 3rd-rate space marines or mercenaries and adventurers, definitely less like scientists, nothing major, lets call it their 'charming personality'

5. Why does that moron Buddy Holly scientist try and touch the cobra alien? not once....not twice...but 3 TIMES!!!

its forgivable because of the pretty cool death scenes after that

6. Why on earth would a scientist remove their helmets in a possibly infected temple? I am just a civilian and even I understand the concept of VIRUS CONTAMINATION ON AN ALIEN FRIGGIN PLANET. They then have the cheek to talk about Shaw's strict quarantine fail-safe procedures...please

true, it was like cowboy-science (just like the exploding head scene), however if a member gets infected, they still have to (try to) help him, not leave him outside or just burn him alive!

7. What does this Black Goo do exactly? Accelerate worm growth? Infect crew members? Cause pregnancies? Create life? Pick one and stick to it please

black goo 1: infects a host, spreads rapidly, destroys the host
black goo 2: infects a host, grows rapidly into a creature, destroys the host, reproduces/multiplies, destroys a planet's species, clear enough?
black? goo 0: creates (is the origin of) all life on earth? ROFLMAO

8. Why does Ford straight away start giving the head electricity for kicks? Do they not have procedures? What is this fun with Frankenstein?
9. Why does the head explode?

yeah, non intrusive tests come first and its a very slow process, it was a good effect though (the deformation/explosion)

10. Why are the medical staff so damn careless with a possibly disease ridden and bacteria infested decapitated head? I swear they didn't even wear plastic gloves.

the machine 'said' it was clean

11. How did Shaw know the Jockey was heading to Earth to destroy it? Pretty big assumption from a couple of punches thrown.

because of the many containers it had (military bio-weapons testing facility) + the holographic trajectory - the flute part was ridiculous, not to mention how the robot managed to figure-out the language/symbols so fast (that just doesn't happen)

12. How does David know the Space Jockey is heading to kill Shaw on the Medical Bay?

plot hole, though he did try killing everyone else around (robot intuition? hehe)

13. How does Shaw know her baby will attack the Jockey?

female intuition?
was expecting for the jokey to give a better fight, but pretty much all scenes with him were sub-par, we expect something interesting from such characters, duh!

14. i was really amazed that Shaw has this 'baby' but fails to mention the horrific and super extraordinary situation she had just been through. ''oh hey guys, ha ha, nearly forgot. FYI, you won't believe what just happened to me on the way here''....''i just gave birth to an alien..'' ''yeah, i know CRAZY right, considering i had sex only 10 BLOODY HRS AGO!!''

she barely survived, its hardly a story-telling time + there was another shock in seeing the 'boss' on-board

15. -The whole Vickers' Star Wars 'Father' line...

children are so insecure these days, the robot had a cynical remark like that too (about killing their parents & being free)

16. -The 'bet' between the co-pilots was cringe-worthy

whatever

17. HUGE ONE…How the hell does Shaw walk after abdominal surgery? If abdominal muscle is cut you can NOT walk, the muscle needs to be sewn back…But no, a few staples and she is good to go…

not only walk (run, fall, roll-around, handle heavy objects, you name it) and no blood on the stapled! area, huge fail indeed

18. Why does the tentacle creature have tentacles from the evil Planet X?

even worse, how the hell does it grow so large & strong from nothing (no food), but the same problem plagued alien as well (little food)

19. Why do the space jockeys allow any old tramp to walk in an use their security systems?

coz' they are a superior race, or so they thought hehe

20. Why does the space jockey want to kill, kill and kill…You'd think an advanced race would be a little civilised?

exactly (could be a theme in the sequel), though military personnel isn't exactly known for their manners

21. What was the point of Guy Pearce as Weyland? Why was he even there? So he just assumed this temple would contain a fountain of life…..right….I guess he 'chose to believe' too…f**k me…

he didn't have a better option as he was dying, it was basically a one man's quest for life-extension (or better if possible), deciphering human origins was secondary

[SealLion]

@ slik: I do agree with you on the idea this movie brings on that human origins are of ET origins being immature and not very well or thoroughly thought out on. I also agree on the cgi effects. Those were good. But is it just the expedition into the unknown aspect of it that you liked along with the occasional thrilling ride of adventure?? Or were there other elements?? What did you think of the cgi of the aliens that they showed?? I thought that, that part was well made. Other than that and a few other portions of the film, I myself didn't really care all that much for the so called rushed science part of it.

[slikrapid]

But is it just the expedition into the unknown aspect of it that you liked along with the occasional thrilling ride of adventure?? Or were there other elements?? What did you think of the cgi of the aliens that they showed?? I thought that, that part was well made. Other than that and a few other portions of the film, I myself didn't really care all that much for the so called rushed science part of it

i liked the overall feeling it had during the, lets say, first 2/3 of the movie, it reminded me slightly of the first alien (atmosphere-wise), it was futuristic enough, wasn't hell-bent on action, had a good flow and a sense of mystery, delivered on several thrilling/'gory' occasions, but it wasn't polished or well crafted enough to be called a masterpiece, there wasn't a sense of competent inspiration at work, guess ridley is not in his prime but still has some juice left inside

regarding the alien cgi the quality varied, the bald-headed ones were mostly average, the 'monsters' were better, decent enough i suppose

other good stuff of perhaps minor relevance includes things like:
- pretty good-looking & subdued/menacing presence of charlize theron
- funny moments between her and the captain
- good acting effort on showing painful survival attempts by the 'shaw' character (especially during & post-op)
- robot's posture & 'narcissism' lol

[Instab]

i loved it
for any fan of the franchise it's just a must. the info it gives on the whole alien story alone is essential. or for example the irony of the birth of the first alien the way we know them ...

overanalyzing and whatnot might not lead to much. it's just a movie that should make for two nice hours and that it dös for sure

[yoco]

Anyone knows if we can expect any "extended" edition?

[slikrapid]

we might since greedy studios & directors with enormous ego's are interested in extending & re-igniting the hype around their products for as long as possible

currently there is a blu-ray 'extras' leak (alternate intro/outro, deleted scenes, some other videos) floating around, so it seems the actual extended cut might arrive later on (aka double dipping)

[yoco]

Yea, I already downloaded these extras and deleted scenes. Will watch it later.
But I did watch the movie last night. And what a disappointment it was for me. OMG!!!
I love first two alien movies, and even thou I knew this was a prequel I still expected to be much better. The plot was so badly done, not to mention the ending!