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This topic comprises 4 pages: 1 2 3 4
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Author
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Topic: Prometheus
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Kurt Zupin
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 989
From: Maricopa, Arizona
Registered: Oct 2004
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posted 06-13-2012 03:26 PM
I went in to Prometheus with out ever seeing a single Alien film, aside from the horrible AvP films. I knew what the basics were and what the Aliens were and who Ripley was. I honestly though do not understand the hate for this film, the this doesn't make sense why wasn't I spoon fed answers. Every single person is entitled to their opinion on the fact, whether some people want to accept that others liked the film or not is up to each person.
I agree with pretty much everything Stu said, a lot of the "Answers" people want are in the film. There may not be a Neon Sign pointing out everyone of them but most are there. Sure there are some unexplained things and maybe some will be answered in future installments or they wont.
The opening to this film is not some giant mystery that isn't explained. The engineer sacrifices himself to start life on this planet. You see his body become DNA which in turn becomes cells. Is that really that hard to grasp?
It's made very clear that Vickers wasn't supposed to be on the flight, when important person shows up he makes that very clear. Her "Life boat" was not intended for her, hence the advanced medical bed was there for one person. Not there for the entire crew to use when needed.
I'm going to catch major flack I can already tell for what I'm about to say, however last night I watched the first Alien. While I love the entire cast, the movie is not some grand epic. It has a bare as bones plot. The sheer stupidity of the crew on the Nostromo is laughable, logic left the door as soon as they landed on LV-426. But those are the things you expect when your inside a Slasher film, which is all that Alien really is. A slasher film in space. Also, don't get me started on what the hell the Alien is doing at the end when its just stretched out to take a nap on the escape pod.
It was a good movie, but it also wasn't the be all end all that some people would make it out to be. In the end this is a series that is about make believe aliens, people that are not the brightest thinking they are way smarter then they are.
Just my 2 cents, flame away.
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Stu Jamieson
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 524
From: Buccan, Qld, Australia
Registered: Jan 2008
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posted 06-13-2012 07:43 PM
quote: Manny
The Australian version was clearly different. [Wink]
Maybe it's just that we have minds to match our wide open spaces. ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
quote: Sam
Care to use your considerable analytical and writing skills to take a shot at explaining why most of us were disappointed?
I can only speculate on the answer to that, Sam, but I can think of 2 possibilities:
1. Perhaps the audience was expecting an Alien™ movie in which case they would inevitably be disappointed. Significant publicity efforts were made to separate this film from the franchise but it appears it was all for nought. I guess people really really wanted an Alien™ movie. I think in hindsight it would have been better if the film had not been publicly connected to Alien at all - the final scene would have been quite a reveal in that case - but I suspect this proposition would have been wholly unacceptable to Fox.
2.The film is heavily themed toward Christian theology and Greek mythology and maybe the wider population isn't so interested in this? I'm not a religious person but I'm very interested in it so there's a lot in the movie for me to chew over. The references to religion and Greek myth are everywhere!
Friends of mine have bemoaned the fact that the film doesn't answer the question, "why do the Engineers want to kill us?". Christian folk among us can no doubt answer that question because the answer resides in the Bible and the "Engineers" in the film are merely stand-ins for God (remember the Genesis scene?). It's significant that this question is verbalised in the film by Shaw and is clearly intended as an indication of her faith being shaken - it's the first step to Godlessness - which, no doubt, frightens her more than the xenomorph and leads directly to her determination in the end to find the answer. In the end it turns out that Shaw and David are kindred spirits - they're both searching for answers and are willing to sacrifice everything to get it.
The question also reflects the other major theme of subservience to higher castes which relates directly to the Prometheus myth and operates at EVERY level throughout the film. It's beautifully illustrated in the first scene between Vickers and Shaw where Shaw dares to assume equal standing in the mission with Vickers. The result is Vickers sharply putting Shaw in her place! Indeed Shaw ends up suffering a similar fate to Prometheus in the med pod (Prometheus' penance was to have his organs plucked out by an eagle).
The theme occurs again when David and Weyland confront the Engineer. The Engineer is so affronted at being addressed by, not only his creation (Weyland), but his creation's creation (David) that he kills them immediately. Indeed David addressing the Engineer in his own language is analogous to Man presenting Zeus with fire and is the ultimate affront. (This theme, you'll recall, was also heavily featured in Blade Runner).
Now I imagine that if you go into this movie expecting Alien™ then stuff like this will probably pass you by but if you take the time to "look" at it, I think you'll find there's plenty depth to explore.
EDIT: I just thought of a third possibility:
3. I'm not a big fan of Blade Runner. I can appreciate it (and understand why people like it and acknowledge its influentialness) but it just doesn't hit me on an emotional level - something to do with its tone, perhaps. Maybe this somewhat explains others' nonchalance towards (or derision of) Prometheus??
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