ALIEN / PROMETHEUS / COVENANT / ROMULUS - SPOILERS INBOUND!!

[Silent Member]

Alien isn't even that scary nowadays. And David is a more interesting character than anyone in Alien. I mean Ripley risks everything to save a cat... can anyone explain why you would risk being killed by a more intelligent/advanced penis face eating alien to save a cat? Auxien you make some valid points and unfortunately they will just be brushed aside as minor, while the same kind of criticisms will be exaggerated against Prometheus because very few people here want to engage in a deeper conversation about it. Yet they continue to repeat the same things over and over about why the film was bad. As if anyone even cares. And that is why this film trolled some of you in my opinion. You approach the film like the humans approach the Engineers. Wanting answers neatly wrapped in a box.... or something like Alien that isn't even about the same thing. Scott dangles the possibility of finding out the reason and origins of human life right in front of your eyes for the whole film... and then as a motif towards death he shows you how meaningless it all was and how a human is just another animal or alien when put up against a corner. The humans in Prometheus shift from seeing the Engineers as our Gods to our Enemies once we understand their plan. If we go back to the first Alien, the Alien isn't evil. He is trying to survive after awaking on a foreign craft with people screaming and then searching around trying to kill it. Its the exact same sequence and relationship the Engineers have with us. But because this film doesnt wrap everything up in a nice bow for our consumption or doesn't play it safer and attempt to replicate the first Alien, we don't like it. Why? Because we can't put our finger on it! We can't touch it... its foreign and alien to our cultural needs.

 

i don't want answers neatly wrapped in a box. i just want supposedly human characters to act like real humans would in a similar situation.

 

but wait! maybe that's actually a CLUE to the real meaning of the film! maybe the "humans" are all androids and that's why they're gloriously retarded. maybe the entire setting of the movie is a lie crafted by david. maybe everything in the film takes place in a computer projection run by david as they're traveling to the planet, but he didn't have enough processing power to make AI that could pass for human (it was a trade-off for the pretty graphics), so all the "characters" are one-dimensional twats. david is the hero of the story (naturally). even dream-weyland says david is like a son to him. maybe it's an allegory for pinocchio.

 

 

or maybe the movie was a combined failure of writers, directors and actors. idk, i think the computer simulation theory is the most plausible imo.

 

In regards to the humans not acting like humans and auxien point about the Alien crew being more relatable or good... I don't think the crew for Prometheus and Alien are comparable. Alien deals with a crew that could be considered lower class, blue collar... while Prometheus is hired by a trillion dollar CEO, who wants to put on a show for Shaw so that she can have her rightful attempt at meeting the Engineers. So I understand the impression that many on the crew were a bit soulless, I'm not sure thats a writing flaw. We are supposed to feel empathy towards the Alien crew because its meant to be scary and what happens to them is forced onto them. The Prometheus crew goes on the mission because they want $$$ aside from Shaw and David. Everyone else is in it for fame and money. This continues to tie well into the motif of our culture currently and how wealth doesn't give you any kind of profound end.

They wanted fame? How did you come to this conclusion? They didn't even know what the mission was. The impression I got from the film was that Weyland hired the very best crew money could buy, and then they go around acting like idiots who don't know what the fuck they're supposed to do. That's what annoyed me about them, that and their complete lack of personality.

[azatoth]

Although, just to play devil's advocate (and having not even seen the film!), given that people have now seen everything possible in films, games, and on the internet, would we still react the same as people in the 70s? It's sort of funny how mentally well-prepared we are for aliens now, I think. We'd just be all "goatse xenomorph at 11 o' clock, pffft what an unoriginal design, someone get the flamethrower"

 

It's an interesting thought. In the context of movies we are pretty jaded but I think if we ever bumped into a xenomorph after grocery shopping we might react differently.

[danshoebridge]

As far as Alien / Prometheus comparisons go, there were repeated moments in Prometheus where the characters acted in such a 'what-the-fuck' manner, it bought me way out of the movie.

 

I can't think of anything like that in Alien - maybe if straight after the alien bursts out of Kane's chest Dallas lent in to give it a stroke going 'hello there, little fella' you'd have a point. One of the joys of Alien is watching this fairly disparate group of co-workers trying to get to grips with this awful situation - I'm not sure they make the right choices (NO FUCKING WAY would I have gone into those tunnels with a home-made flamethrower), but their reactions, and the way they try to deal with this threat are consistent and believable, it makes all the difference.

 

Some people are able to look past the fact that all the characters in Prometheus are inconsistent cyphers, goofing around like 12-year olds in space and behaving in utterly bizarre ways just to move the plot forward - good for them, there's some great stuff in that movie and I'm glad they can enjoy it. It's a deal-breaker for me I'm afraid.

[beerwolf]

We'd just be all "goatse xenomorph at 11 o' clock, pffft what an unoriginal design, someone get the flamethrower"

 

Brilliant lol

[kaen]

/b/tards in space

 

i want to see this happen

[Guest Jimmy McMessageboard]

I saw this last night. I really enjoyed it. Yes, a lot of the criticisms in this thread are valid, but in the end I don't care. It looked fucking amazing. Had lots of interesting ideas. Kept my eyes wide open, and waiting to see were it all went.

 

agreed its a fun film to watch. has it not gone down in your estimation since you thought about it afterwards though?

 

 

same with the sleeping alien, you see it and you immediately think "oh, he's like in hibernation or some shit", and then forget about it and continue experiencing the tense moment.

 

 

nope

 

I do have to say though, the flute bugged me.

 

me too. but thinking about it now it makes some sense. you want something that is difficult to do, or at least not just pressing a 'on' button. david can activate it as he can learn quickly AND he saw the hologram thing. a dumbass human would struggle, unless they knew music. right? but even saying that a flute is dumb, just have a PASSWORD!

Edited June 19, 2012 by Jimmy McMessageboard

[Atop]

page 70

 

"Can't we all just get along?!?! *gargle* *drown*"

 

 

I have come to the realization that I despise most human drama and love watching them get eaten by monsters, especially when they are acting ridiculous.

 

You guys hating on this film because of the despicable human interaction within it will find a giant squid monster in your closet this evening.

 

 

Has anyone here worked retail?

 

I see stupidity every day, much worse than In Prometheus.

 

 

Sleep tight.

[Guest Jimmy McMessageboard]

 

I can't think of anything like that in Alien - maybe if straight after the alien bursts out of Kane's chest Dallas lent in to give it a stroke going 'hello there, little fella' you'd have a point. One of the joys of Alien is watching this fairly disparate group of co-workers trying to get to grips with this awful situation - I'm not sure they make the right choices (NO FUCKING WAY would I have gone into those tunnels with a home-made flamethrower), but their reactions, and the way they try to deal with this threat are consistent and believable, it makes all the difference.

 

 

one thing i noticed in alien recently is that when they discover aliens you have no idea if this culture has known about other alien life before. they don't mention it being first contact i don't think. so you have no idea if this is blowing their minds or just another slightly different alien. correct me if i'm wrong there

[Cryptowen]

one thing i noticed in alien recently is that when they discover aliens you have no idea if this culture has known about other alien life before. they don't mention it being first contact i don't think. so you have no idea if this is blowing their minds or just another slightly different alien. correct me if i'm wrong there

Noticed that too. I watched the entire quadrilogy recently & can't remember any point at which someone mentioned known extraterrestrial lifeforms, or alternatively was all like HOLY SHIT IT'S AN ALIEN

[Blir]

one thing i noticed in alien recently is that when they discover aliens you have no idea if this culture has known about other alien life before. they don't mention it being first contact i don't think. so you have no idea if this is blowing their minds or just another slightly different alien. correct me if i'm wrong there

Noticed that too. I watched the entire quadrilogy recently & can't remember any point at which someone mentioned known extraterrestrial lifeforms, or alternatively was all like HOLY SHIT IT'S AN ALIEN

 

There are two mentions of other species in Aliens.

[Alcofribas]

I have come to the realization that I despise most human drama and love watching them get eaten by monsters, especially when they are acting ridiculous.

 

Has anyone here worked retail?

 

I see stupidity every day, much worse than In Prometheus.

 

ha! now that's a reading of this film i can appreciate. I work TWO retail jobs, would love some giant squid presence in both of them.

[awepittance]

one thing i noticed in alien recently is that when they discover aliens you have no idea if this culture has known about other alien life before. they don't mention it being first contact i don't think. so you have no idea if this is blowing their minds or just another slightly different alien. correct me if i'm wrong there

Noticed that too. I watched the entire quadrilogy recently & can't remember any point at which someone mentioned known extraterrestrial lifeforms, or alternatively was all like HOLY SHIT IT'S AN ALIEN

 

There are two mentions of other species in Aliens.

 

what's the other reference besides 'bug hunt' ?

[patternoverlap]

Arturians

[Guest Jimmy McMessageboard]

I have come to the realization that I despise most human drama and love watching them get eaten by monsters, especially when they are acting ridiculous.

 

Has anyone here worked retail?

 

I see stupidity every day, much worse than In Prometheus.

 

ha! now that's a reading of this film i can appreciate. I work TWO retail jobs, would love some giant squid presence in both of them.

 

CUSTOMER: Do you sell [insert item from your retail job]?

EMPLOYEE: *opens sliding door*

CUSTOMER: *impregnated*

Scott: BRILLIANT.

Edited June 19, 2012 by Jimmy McMessageboard

[azatoth]

Arturians

 

Arcturians. As in Arcturian poontang.

 

/nerd

[Cryptowen]

I'm assuming that any aliens they might have encountered were of the hideous insectoid monster variety because most societal development seems to have come from human scientific progress & EXTREME HARDCORE capitalism

[Alcofribas]

I have come to the realization that I despise most human drama and love watching them get eaten by monsters, especially when they are acting ridiculous.

 

Has anyone here worked retail?

 

I see stupidity every day, much worse than In Prometheus.

 

ha! now that's a reading of this film i can appreciate. I work TWO retail jobs, would love some giant squid presence in both of them.

 

CUSTOMER: Do you sell [insert item from your retail job]?

EMPLOYEE: *opens sliding door*

CUSTOMER: *impregnated*

Scott: BRILLIANT.

 

BOSS: *enters*

ME: *sends alien species to boss' planet of origin to eradicate entire species*

SCOTT: dude, you need to get a better job

[kcinsu]

 

agreed its a fun film to watch. has it not gone down in your estimation since you thought about it afterwards though?

 

me too. but thinking about it now it makes some sense. you want something that is difficult to do, or at least not just pressing a 'on' button. david can activate it as he can learn quickly AND he saw the hologram thing. a dumbass human would struggle, unless they knew music. right? but even saying that a flute is dumb, just have a PASSWORD!

 

Nope, if anything I like it more that I think about it, and read peoples interpretations etc. It's just a movie.

 

And yeah, the flute didn't ruin the film for me or anything, it just seemed off. It could have been some awesome hologram interface that was an instrument, and they could have done a simon says type thing, enter the right pattern/melody. It just would have seemed more appropriate seeing as there were all of these holograms and crazy green electricity energy waves etc. What happens if the engineer lost the flute whilst sitting around a campfire getting high?

[Guest Jimmy McMessageboard]

agreed its a fun film to watch. has it not gone down in your estimation since you thought about it afterwards though?

 

me too. but thinking about it now it makes some sense. you want something that is difficult to do, or at least not just pressing a 'on' button. david can activate it as he can learn quickly AND he saw the hologram thing. a dumbass human would struggle, unless they knew music. right? but even saying that a flute is dumb, just have a PASSWORD!

 

Nope, if anything I like it more that I think about it, and read peoples interpretations etc. It's just a movie.

 

 

someone else said the same. for me i guess i switched my logical brain off for the length of the movie but afterwards it started bothering me.

 

as bad as some of the problems are I'd watch it again right now. the Cesarean scene was awesome.

[Guest zaphod]

the cesarean scene was lame. people were laughing at my screening. when that claw came down i thought it would pull one of these guys out:

 

 

movie gets more retarded the more i think about it

[syd syside]

lol

[awepittance]

just learned the movie was shot in real 3d with red cameras, im quite shocked actually since it looked very 'dialed down' to me. The live action scenes compared to James Cameron 3d photography looked super weak in comparison. Compare something like Aliens of the Deep to Prometheus and youll see what i mean. I feel like it's very unfortunate that people making films in 3d are afraid to do 'pop out' style depth, and instead opt for the 'looking through a window' feel. I dont know about you but when i pay $7 extra for a movie i dont want some half assed 3d designed to be comfortable for people with impaired vision or heart conditions

 

i feel the same way with movie sound now too, maybe its for liability reasons? The only movies i can recall in recent memory that jarred me with sound and were actually very intense (audio wise) were Drag me to hell and spiderman 3, probably because sam raimi made his sound mix louder on purpose.

Edited June 19, 2012 by Awepittance

[syd syside]

Prometheus is punk science fiction. The film is agnostic with its approach towards religion. It doesn't bring into question of if there is a God necessarily, but it does question the relative means to knowing through historical artifacts what God is like if you do think he exists.

Edited June 19, 2012 by compson

[syd syside]

Also David not being a divine being is also significant. Christians believe that if a baby is formed in a lab, it is not divine (I believe). The abortion scene is also interesting. Maybe making the argument if the xenos are the perfect species... than aborting it without hesitation shows a lack of commitment to faith.

Edited June 19, 2012 by compson

[syd syside]

The reason why I think I enjoyed Prometheus is I thought its method for story telling to be interesting. Instead of these ideas being wrapped in a nice bow and presented more traditionally we get something way more sub-conscious and therefore powerful. Anything that outright denies someones beliefs will be forgotten as someones "agenda," in todays fast moving times. But the subconscious rarely forgets.

Edited June 19, 2012 by compson