Great article. It never would have occurred to me to look at all these different angles, particularly seemingly innocuous lines of dialog like "mud in your eye", etc. Fascinating read - thank you for posting that.
It all comes down to personal preference, IMO. If you liked the characters in Alien more than Prometheus, you feel their characterization was stronger. I personally don't see any real difference between the two films in terms of characterization. There were a few compelling characters in both films, and a lot of alien fodder. Yeah. I was pretty young when Alien 3 came out, and even though I saw it in the theater I don't remember having any strong feelings either way. I think I was disappointed that it didn't have the same level of action as Aliens, but liked that the characters found a way of disposing of the alien in a manner that didn't involve flushing it out into space. When I rented Alien Resurrection sometime in the late 90's, I was more disgusted with the film than angered.
Speaking of funny nitpicks and gaffes last night on the Stephen Colbert show he spoofed Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson pointing out that in dialog they say in the film they've traveled xx number of millions of miles and in another scene saying they traveled several light years - the first estimate putting the Prometheus at about Saturn's orbit. Colbert
Well, the only person who says "half a billion miles" is Charlize's character and she could have been simply talking colloquially rather than literally.
It's just my impressions based on a first viewing. One point which stood out most to me is the fact the Engineer pilot was not in the control seat - remember that is where the Nostromo crew finds him. Here he dies in, I believe, the 'canister room', after the crash. I wonder why the Nostromo never detected remains of the Prometheus or its crew? In case it's been overlooked, this was at the credits end: http://www.weylandindustries.com/timeline Concerning 10/11/12 it says;
The world in Prometheus is the moon of a different planet from the one in Alien as Scott and Lindleoff have both stated.
How dare I have too much of a life to follow everything film producers say to explain issues in their films! ;-) But, thanks for the info.
Yeah, that gets annoying. Please state information like this IN the film. It doesn't hurt anyone. They did it back then, why can't you do it today?
One of my mates missed it too but I thought it was mentioned in the film. The planet Prometheus went to was labelled LV-223 on the star map. In Alien/Aliens, it was LV-426 if I remember correctly
I don't quite remember (after only one viewing), but did the ship in this movie ultimately crash down on it's side like the ship we see in Alien? Or is it still standing up like a giant "U" after rolling over and smooshing Vickers?
Yes, it crashed onto it's side, nearly smashing Shaw as well. Regarding the two planets being different, that makes sense to me. If I recall correctly, the planet from the first Alien was rather rocky, with jutting outcrops of rock surrounding the ship.
It was on its belly in the first two films, mostly horizontal, not vertical - but up at a slight angle. Definitely the same design, though.
From http://io9.com/5917448/all-of-your-lingering-prometheus-questions-answered according to Lindelof: The same or similar design, but not the same ship.
From memory both LV-223 and LV-426 orbit ringed worlds. Coiencidence or is just ring worlds look cool.
Half in the Bag has four minutes of spoiler-y issues... [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x1YuvUQFJ0&feature=g-all-u[/yt] This video was plugged by Roger Ebert!
Just got back from it, so I'll throw my two cents in. It certainly wasn't as bad as all these reviews made me think it would be...or maybe they just allowed me to lower my expectations. I was entertained, but honestly, it felt rushed. It was almost like they wrote a rough outline and never went back to fill in the holes. None of the characters got any kind of development. As for the plot, I've got to agree with Dr. Shaw...I want answers. Why did the Aliens draw a map to a star system if the only thing there was a weapon intended to destroy us? I enjoy "ancient alien" stories, but they need to make a little more sense. I personally hope we do get a sequel because I want to see what Shaw discovers. Too bad Vickers died, though; I would have enjoyed seeing her and Shaw together in a sequel.
You know those cave paintings could be interpreted another way. Holloway and Shaw interpret them as, "Come visit us here." It could just as easily mean, "Don't go there. There, bad."