PROMETHEUS - Grade and Discuss

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Roshi, May 30, 2012.

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Prometheus - Poll

Poll closed May 30, 2013.
  1. A +

    6.9%
  2. A

    11.6%
  3. A -

    13.8%
  4. B +

    18.5%
  5. B

    14.2%
  6. B -

    9.1%
  7. C +

    8.2%
  8. C

    3.4%
  9. C -

    6.5%
  10. D

    5.2%
  11. F

    2.6%
  1. Nightowl1701

    Nightowl1701 Commodore Commodore

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    Yeah, come on Set. :rolleyes: :thumbdown: Ridley may have lost a step over the years, but George Lucas he is not. And after K.W. Jeter's ridiculous three book "sequels" (excuse me - :barf:), I can't see Ridley doing any worse. Certainly not enough to ruin the first film.
     
  2. Mach5

    Mach5 Admiral Admiral

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    [​IMG]
     
  3. Locutus of Bored

    Locutus of Bored Yo, Dawg! I Heard You Like Avatars... In Memoriam

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    I'm not sure why you think that mercenaries who run like scared children at the sight of a 2,000 year old dead body, get lost while in possession of mapping robots and an active comlink, and play pull my finger with space cobras is somehow a significant improvement. You've just substituted two people who really suck at their jobs and behave irrationally with two more people who really suck at their jobs and behave irrationally, with the added suckiness of them now leaving the very people they were supposed to protect or observe if they were mercs.

    Also, Prometheus had armed security personnel (mercenaries) who identified themselves as such and were going to accompany the scientists into the temple with guns until Drs. Shaw and Holloway gave the order not to. They were the guys who were shooting at zombie Fifield later on in the movie. So, why do Shaggy and Scooby need to be mercenaries too?

    The Blunder Twins (Millburn and Fifield) didn't know they were dealing with ancient astronauts until they had already arrived at LV-223. It played no part in their decision to go on the mission, and in Fifield's case, he explicitly said he was in it for the money.

    I also would think that recruiting competent scientists for what is at this point a revolutionary space mission to another world -- even if you leave aside the whole alien aspect -- should be no trouble at all. Realistically, people would be jumping at the chance.

    None of this makes sense when you have the CEO of the company who is a true believer along for the ride. You don't choose psychologically unstable incompetents for key positions on the extremely risky and groundbreaking mission you are also going on. They tend to hire experienced personnel and then rigorously test for these kinds of psychological problems with endless simulation, medical testing, and psych profiles. Can people slip through the cracks? Sure, but that's extremely rare.

    As far as the hibernation goes, that's a possibility, but it just seems like you keep grasping at straws to try and explain what were really just terribly written characters.

    [​IMG]

    Even with my disappointment with Prometheus and Scott's rather lackluster films of the past several years, I'm still looking forward to seeing what he plans to do with the new Blade Runner movie (although I won't get my hopes up so much like I did this time). I know some people feel that disappointing sequels/prequels/remakes take away from the source material, but that stuff doesn't diminish my enjoyment of the originals. I still love the Star Wars OT (pre-alteration versions) just as much as I did before the Prequels came along. And for all its many faults, I do appreciate the amount of new material and discussion Prometheus has infused the Alien universe with. I've done more reading and theorizing on the Alien franchise since Prometheus came out than I've done in twenty years.
     
    Last edited: Jul 8, 2012
  4. Mach5

    Mach5 Admiral Admiral

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    Body of Lies and American Gangster were pretty good, IMO. I even liked A Good Year. That movie had some undeniable charm. And Russel Crowe was pretty damn awesome in all three of these. Robin Hood was crap, though.
     
  5. JarodRussell

    JarodRussell Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Let's just face it, the stupid script is not Ridley's fault.
     
  6. Mach5

    Mach5 Admiral Admiral

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    But not recognizing that script for a piece of shit that it was most certainly is his fault.
     
  7. JarodRussell

    JarodRussell Vice Admiral Admiral

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    The question is whether he had any choice or not.
     
  8. Mach5

    Mach5 Admiral Admiral

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    This is Ridley fucking Scott were talking about.
     
  9. Locutus of Bored

    Locutus of Bored Yo, Dawg! I Heard You Like Avatars... In Memoriam

    Joined:
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    Because of his clout Scott largely had final approval on what went on screen (plus control of the editing) and was involved in the initial script with Spaihts and the rewrite process along with Lindelof. He writes extremely detailed storyboards with elaborate drawings of what he wants to see onscreen and dialogue and plot ideas which were incorporated into the script. He was the one who came up with the whole Space Jesus idea and some of the other mythology. He was as much responsible for the script as they were, since this was his baby; his pet project. To absolve him of responsibility for the poor quality of the characters and plot and dump it entirely in Lindelof's lap is inaccurate and unfair. He knew what was happening as he filmed it, and if there was a problem in his eyes he could have ordered a change to the script.
     
  10. Shazam!

    Shazam! Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Clint Eastwood is still knocking them out in his 80s.
     
  11. JarodRussell

    JarodRussell Vice Admiral Admiral

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    But money limits everything and everyone.
     
  12. Sci

    Sci Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    It wouldn't have cost more money to have made sure the characters in Prometheus didn't resemble Abbot and Costello when writing the first draft.
     
  13. stj

    stj Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    The fetish for the director as the supposed main creator causes some of these problems. Scott, as we know from his notorious non-comprehension of Blade Runner, is not the sharpest tool in the box. So if he takes too many liberties, the thinking gets screwed up. Another part of the problem is the idea that because movies are visual media (forgetting they are audiovisual,) and one picture is a thousand words, that means the creation of pictures (as in storyboards) is the key to creating a movie. Unfortunately, by a perversion of math, a thousand words is worth more than a million pictures when it comes to communicating ideas.
     
  14. Professor Zoom

    Professor Zoom Admiral Admiral

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    Feature filmmaking is the realm of the Director. He has final say on a script.

    They also say a script is written three times. 1. By the writer. 2. On set. 3. In the editing room. Scott has control of 2 of 3 of those. (And a great deal of control over #1.)

    It is absolutely his fault. It's not like he was some hired hand. It's HIS movie. HIS vision.
     
  15. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    I really want to see the Special features and Commentary on the disc release as much as seeing the film again on BluRay.
     
  16. Agenda

    Agenda Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Jul 28, 2009
    If there was any sense in this world, Lindelof would have difficulties finding employment in Hollywood after this. This was a potentially great movie that was single-handedly ruined by a terrible script.
     
  17. Set Harth

    Set Harth Vice Admiral Admiral

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    In other words, it's smooth sailing for Lindelof.
     
  18. JarodRussell

    JarodRussell Vice Admiral Admiral

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    If that's true, it shows that Lindelof was pretty much imposed on Scott and that Scott didn't have the final word in this production. Those who have the money call the shots.
     
  19. DWF

    DWF Admiral Admiral

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    As director I'm sure that Ridley Scott had a say in the cut of the movie that hit the theater, so I do think it's possible that the deleted scenes and/or director's cut on the DVDs could make more sense of the movie.
     
  20. jefferiestubes8

    jefferiestubes8 Commodore Commodore

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    Location:
    New York City
    I saw it in 3-D this week and really enjoyed the film.
    I think the 3-D only added a lot to about 20% of the film. Maybe I'll see it again at the cinema in 2-D.
    The production design and spacesuits, ships, transport machines were great. The autonomous flying mapping machines were awesome. Great technology that we almost have today with drones flying with MS Kinect strapped to them to map an interior autonomously. Great 3-D model they created.
    All the visual effects were state of the art and amazing. Great scifi on the big screen. finally. it's been a long time. I'm glad it wasn't all lasers and guns and shooting.
    Iceland made a great planet location.

    Very modern and not too much throwback to tech of Alien film on the ship itself.

    I thought I saw LV-422 on the view screen when I thought in Alien and Aliens the planet colony was LV-426. Did anyone else notice this?
    Noomi Rapace was the real standout. Just an amazing performance. Ridley Scott was generous with her screentime. Charlize Theron was great as well but given much less screentime. Still she made good use of it.

    Great Fassbender as the android. Reminded me of Moon for the first 10 minutes of the film.
    Here's a great 2 minute video of how they did the ship landing sequence
    PROMETHEUS: LANDING SEQUENCE & CRASH

    Do I need to see it in 3-D again? no. do i need to see another 20 minutes of deleted scenes for a director's cut? sure. Will I buy the blu-ray? Probably.

    Edit: i see it's actually LV-223
    http://www.prometheusforum.net/discussion/1331/prometheus-backstory/p1
     
    Last edited: Jul 8, 2012