Topic: Prometheus: Ridley Scott's Alien Prequel

[lionel_messias]

Have you banned yourself from watching it?

No. Have just seen it.

Fucking excellent. I am looking forward to this film more than Dark Knight Rises so far. The visuals look amazing.

I'm hoping they will go for a "R" rating in the States which could translate to a 15 here. I doubt Ridley Scott can get the intensity or the horror he's after in a 12a film. There is a big market for proper sci-fi horror so I hope they realise they can get $300 million domestic without watering it down too much.

Watching this is 3D IMAX--------------blimey, Charlie. Eyegasms.

[Redcap]

Well Scott is saying that the film "shares DNA" with Alien. Read into that what you will but it sounds like nods, winks, a few elements and ideas from the same universe but not much more and when you read that synopsis I'm not sure we're getting what has previously been sold to us. The trailer does look incredible, at least aesthetically speaking, but I fear that we might all have been hoodwinked re the original word that this was going to be an Alien prequel/reboot. Quite clever marketing I suppose, he's basically got his whole army of Alien worshippers wetting their pants in anticipation of this mostly new film. This thread might be better titled Prometheus: Ridley Scott's new sci-fi film that has elements of Alien thrown into it. But how much or how little it has to do with the original is not my big fear anyway to be honest, I just want to see a mindblowing sci-fi film. My worry now is that this is going to be a bit of a turkey story wise.

I don't see the problem with anything you're saying there though? Scott himself has said that it's not exactly a prequel to the original series, but that it is set in the same universe and is sort of a predecessor to Alien. I think all the fanboys will be pretty aware of all of this, being fanboys. I don't think anyone is anticipating this movie to have all the answers to the Alien universe. Just the fact that it's set in the same universe itself, is enough to get people plenty excited. Besides, I think the marketing team were relatively fair- the movie doesn't even have the word "Alien" in its title.

As for sci-fi films that blow your mind.. I personally do not believe any of the original Alien movies are the same type of sci-fi movie as 2001, Blade Runner or Planet of the Apes anyway. They're all (or at least Alien and Aliens were) essentially incredibly good genre films that have created a universe which lends itself to cult following and fetishizing. I think Prometheus, at its best, will be more of the same, and nothing more. And that's more than good enough for me.

[Haemogoblin]

One thing, though: just watching some daft crap earlier on tonight in Spielberg's War of the Worlds, I really hope Scott doesn't 'overdirect' this, if you know what I mean. It's gona be 3D, Imax, the whole shebang, but I really, really hope the elaborate, painstakingly-constructed Giger sets, characters, physical sfx, etc. do far more talking than styslised camera trickery and CGI.
How deeply and intelligently the central premise is explored will decide whether it sinks or swims as a 'pure' sci-fi flick, but even if that impresses enough, unnecessary bits of auteur showing off (of which I feel Scott has been guilty at times since his incredible first few features) would spoil things a little for me. Thankfully, Russell Crowe isn't in this one. 

Trailers for these kinds of highly-anticipated blockbusters are always gona be almost-parodically flashy and pumped-up, but I'd welcome a return to the late-70s-early-80s Ridley Scott in terms of perfect pacing and tightly handled artistic flair, rather than the one who looked in danger of nearly turning into Tony Scott at one point. Also, considering a few big names he worked with in the earlier days have been quite critical of his direction of actors (Harrison Ford's definitely one of them), and he's supposed to have greatly improved his treatment of cast members since that time, I reckon he summoned some utterly brilliant performances out of those more tense, difficult relationships he reportedly had back then. I'm not so much into the modern-day, cigar-chomping movie mogul Ridley, to be honest. I'm sure the vision and talent's still there within that mind though.

[J-Mc-]

One thing I don't like the look of is that they seem to be going head to head against the 'observer' in this, with very little actual footage of the facehuggers or the aliens.

Hope they don't do some shite ending were we see a chest burster then it just ends.

[NOTBORNIN1982]

Trailers for these kinds of highly-anticipated blockbusters are always gona be almost-parodically flashy and pumped-up, but I'd welcome a return to the late-70s-early-80s Ridley Scott in terms of perfect pacing and tightly handled artistic flair, rather than the one who looked in danger of nearly turning into Tony Scott at one point. Also, considering a few big names he worked with in the earlier days have been quite critical of his direction of actors (Harrison Ford's definitely one of them), and he's supposed to have greatly improved his treatment of cast members since that time, I reckon he summoned some utterly brilliant performances out of those more tense, difficult relationships he reportedly had back then. I'm not so much into the modern-day, cigar-chomping movie mogul Ridley, to be honest. I'm sure the vision and talent's still there within that mind though.

Blade Runner - Greatest Sci-Fi movie ever made. Let's hope Scott can get somewhere close in terms of overall quality... big ask.

And while we're  on the subject of sci-fi, when's somebody gonna remake Metropolis?

[something awful]

One thing I don't like the look of is that they seem to be going head to head against the 'observer' in this, with very little actual footage of the facehuggers or the aliens.

Hope they don't do some shite ending were we see a chest burster then it just ends.

I don't think the original ones will be in it.

[lionel_messias]

One thing, though: just watching some daft crap earlier on tonight in Spielberg's War of the Worlds, I really hope Scott doesn't 'overdirect' this, if you know what I mean. It's gona be 3D, Imax, the whole shebang, but I really, really hope the elaborate, painstakingly-constructed Giger sets, characters, physical sfx, etc. do far more talking than styslised camera trickery and CGI.
How deeply and intelligently the central premise is explored will decide whether it sinks or swims as a 'pure' sci-fi flick, but even if that impresses enough, unnecessary bits of auteur showing off (of which I feel Scott has been guilty at times since his incredible first few features) would spoil things a little for me. Thankfully, Russell Crowe isn't in this one. 

Trailers for these kinds of highly-anticipated blockbusters are always gona be almost-parodically flashy and pumped-up, but I'd welcome a return to the late-70s-early-80s Ridley Scott in terms of perfect pacing and tightly handled artistic flair, rather than the one who looked in danger of nearly turning into Tony Scott at one point. Also, considering a few big names he worked with in the earlier days have been quite critical of his direction of actors (Harrison Ford's definitely one of them), and he's supposed to have greatly improved his treatment of cast members since that time, I reckon he summoned some utterly brilliant performances out of those more tense, difficult relationships he reportedly had back then. I'm not so much into the modern-day, cigar-chomping movie mogul Ridley, to be honest. I'm sure the vision and talent's still there within that mind though.

Good post, hope you are right too. A return to a Blade Runner type intelligence and pace would be most welcome. Signs are hopeful, I do think this was a script that he has been sitting on and developing for a long time. In terms of visuals and 3D Imax gubbins we go back to the Avatar question: you can have the best looking film in the world but the story is always that thing that people take away. The story is always the reason you will watch a film a second time. With Avatar I just couldn't be bothered to do that, despite how shiny it looked. That said, this movie looks like it could be outrageous in IMAX.

[J-Mc-]

I don't think the original ones will be in it.

Based on LV426, Facehuggers obviously in it, quick shot of what looks to be an alien queen in one of the trailers.

Safe to say they'll be in it, but hope they're not tacked on right at the end.

[cornelius]

Well you are always going to have difficulty being knocked off your feet by a film the older and more stuff you see.

It's possible they could do something quite strong in horror terms without going beyond a 15, if they did want a 'proper' theatrical release - depends whether the classification board are a bunch of pussies about frights that aren't particularly gory. Psychological horror, suggestion and all that. Doubt there'll be much sexy stuff going on it, although some gratuitous Theron/Rapace nudity is never unwelcome.

Loads of truly great adult-oriented films, with heart-stoppingly brutal cinematic moments, have a 15 rating. If it got a 'U', I'd start worrying. But of course, the tried and trusted pull-in-the-hoi-polloi-at-the-box-office-and-then-milk-the-proper-fans-with-dvd-special-editions system probably carries the least 'risk'. Really wish the studios'd take more risks these days - the original was an X-rating, for fuck's sake; that didn't do too badly. I know it was pretty low-budget in comparison, but still.
The 'fanboy' comment is totally unfair - no one's seen the film yet, they're just getting excited about it, naturally. We can't tell how good or bad the finer points of the plot are until we've seen it. And if you're demanding a timeless masterpiece like 2001 and Blade Runner, you're just setting yourself up for a disappointment, mate. Those films just came together beautifully, and were perfect for their time and audience. You can't expect that going in.

Why worry until you see it? If it's a let-down, it's a let-down - you can't do anything about it.

True enough but as I've already said, this is Ridley Scott, doing a sci-fi, with elements of the alien universe...and a $150m budget. Naturally expectations are more than just a bit high, especially when they are marketing the film this aggressively. It HAS to be good frankly otherwise they'll thoroughly deserve a good kicking for getting our hopes up. And I suppose we shouldn't get hung up on the certificate too much, Star Wars was a U after all, but the thought of it not being the director's intended vision and maybe having to wait to see that really pisses me off.

[SP]

Safe to say they'll be in it, but hope they're not tacked on right at the end.

I want to see very little of an Alien Queen. All of her best moments were off camera / in the shadows. When she steps into the light she morphs from an object of terror to another natty piece of CGI.

[J-Mc-]

I want to see very little of an Alien Queen. All of her best moments were off camera / in the shadows. When she steps into the light she morphs from an object of terror to another natty piece of CGI.

Aye, I know what you mean mate.

From the trailers, it looks like there'll be some spectacular CGI, however it doesn't look like they're going over the top with it, with most shots probably be from inside Prometheus or the 'Observers' ship.

The shot of the alien queen looks to be a statue of it aswell, so hopefully it's a hint to some viewing of her somewhere in the film.

If they do have any of the Aliens in there, then I hope they don't go the way of AVP with the shite CGI ones and instead, bring back the xenomorph suits!

[ShatnersBassoon]

if theres any xenomorphs in it they will be an end reveal id guess... because in the 45 or so minutes ive seen theres no hint of them. theres some other creatures but ive seen nothing resembling the traditional 'alien'

[Beav]

I was under the impression that there were no aliens in it (xenomorphs).

[Ultimate Bromance]

Kinda hope those are the only 2 trailers they do, although they'll probably have one, maybe two more before June. A lot of trailers nowadays seem to try and tell you the entire story of the movie rather than just give you a taste. Besides, does a Ridley Scott sci-fi movie really need any promotion work or marketing?

[lionel_messias]

if theres any xenomorphs in it they will be an end reveal id guess... because in the 45 or so minutes ive seen theres no hint of them. theres some other creatures but ive seen nothing resembling the traditional 'alien'

I love how you dropped that in there, casually.  This film looks simply gorgeous, I'm hoping to stay away from speculation. Hoping to see the movie in May sometime. Would love to hear what Ridley Scott has to say about it, as I have not had the chance to see him in a press conference yet.

[ShatnersBassoon]

http://www.livestream.com/prometheus/video?clipId=pla_47130ff9-1ccd-40a8-966f-362b3dd35ccf&utm_source=lslibrary&utm_medium=ui-thumb

Q and A with ridley scott and damon lindelof

[Mouth]

Blade Runner - Greatest Sci-Fi movie ever made. Let's hope Scott can get somewhere close in terms of overall quality... big ask.

Worth remembering as well that Bladerunner was a massive epic flop at the cinema. I watched it again last night with a more critical eye and if you want there are massive problems with Bladerunner in terms of story, it shows you can do it with just about any film if you want to.

[Rusty Oysterburger]

I was under the impression that there were no aliens in it (xenomorphs).

There is this from the trailer though...



Not conclusive of course (looks like it could be a fossil?) but it defo looks like a Xeno. And there are Facehuggers in this which usually lead to Xeno's...

Also, dying to know what that thing is standing over Noomi Rapace at about 2:16 in the trailer

[Immoral King Brian Blessed]

At WonderCon Scott said he wants to make a sequel to this.

[J-Mc-]

There is this from the trailer though...



Not conclusive of course (looks like it could be a fossil?) but it defo looks like a Xeno. And there are Facehuggers in this which usually lead to Xeno's...

Also, dying to know what that thing is standing over Noomi Rapace at about 2:16 in the trailer

I think it's the 'observer' standing over her, although I don't know how that could work since he's a giant in the originals, or atleast his skeleton is.

That picture is what I (looked like mistakenly) took for the Alien Queen

[oddball]

....judging by what's popular these days I'm not sure anybody gives too much of a fuck about story anymore.

Absolutely bang on mate.

[Pyro]

really looking forward to this. not been to a cinema in years! wouldnt mind seeing it on the opening night in 3d. (not seen a movie at the cinemas in 3d since freddy's dead some 20 years ago) whats the experience in 3d like? i imagine i'd have to book tickets in advance?

[Immoral King Brian Blessed]

really looking forward to this. not been to a cinema in years! wouldnt mind seeing it on the opening night in 3d. (not seen a movie at the cinemas in 3d since freddy's dead some 20 years ago) whats the experience in 3d like? i imagine i'd have to book tickets in advance?

I would so, yeah. 3D is better now, but I still find it thoroughly distracting for at least the first 15 minutes of any film.

[Fighting Irishman]

Sweet Jesues, just watched the full trailer.....June 8th seems like YEARS away!!

[Beav]

There is this from the trailer though...



Not conclusive of course (looks like it could be a fossil?) but it defo looks like a Xeno. And there are Facehuggers in this which usually lead to Xeno's...

Also, dying to know what that thing is standing over Noomi Rapace at about 2:16 in the trailer

Definitely looks like a fossil or an elaborate carving, which could be one of the nods to the Alien film we were promised. Ill be over the moon if there are Xenos in it, but im not expecting any. If we get something similar (early facehuggers) or the like I will be happy.

[mart356]

if theres any xenomorphs in it they will be an end reveal id guess... because in the 45 or so minutes ive seen theres no hint of them. theres some other creatures but ive seen nothing resembling the traditional 'alien'

how have you managed to see it  was it a good 45 mins?

[coolbyrne]

Worth remembering as well that Bladerunner was a massive epic flop at the cinema. I watched it again last night with a more critical eye and if you want there are massive problems with Bladerunner in terms of story, it shows you can do it with just about any film if you want to.

Just as an aside, Mouth, for whatever reason, I see your avatar (Daniel Craig), think of Noomi Rapace in this movie, and somehow convince myself I saw Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with the two of them in it. LOL!

On topic, you can register with https://www.weylandindustries.com which I'm sure will eek out more and more information the closer we get to June.

(Edited to correct URL code.)

[Mouth]

Just as an aside, Mouth, for whatever reason, I see your avatar (Daniel Craig), think of Noomi Rapace in this movie, and somehow convince myself I saw Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with the two of them in it. LOL!

I know what you mean I've seen both versions as well and its easy to get them mixed up in your head.

Oh an just in case not everyone has seen them you can get wayland yutani t-shirts and caps from lastexittonowhere.com, I wouldnt be surprised if they are told to stop selling them though once this film comes out.

http://www.lastexittonowhere.com/shop/product/weyland-yutani-corp/

[The Jackal]

Worth remembering as well that Bladerunner was a massive epic flop at the cinema. I watched it again last night with a more critical eye and if you want there are massive problems with Bladerunner in terms of story, it shows you can do it with just about any film if you want to.

The reason it was a flop is because the studio released the cut down version with the cheesy voice over. I think everyone these days acknowledges that the Director's cut is the only version worth watching...

[Mouth]

The reason it was a flop is because the studio released the cut down version with the cheesy voice over. I think everyone these days acknowledges that the Director's cut is the only version worth watching...

I dont think so, not really, they did test screenings without the voice over and the audience didnt get it, the film makers didnt get it and they made it. Not the place for this though, so I'll leave off there is a BR thread if you want to dig it up. It was the final cut that I watched last night btw. Oh and it was also a flop because it got no publicity and didnt get put into enough theatres and so vanished without a trace, the studio basically killed it.

My point in saying so though was that even though this film might be a flop or maybe not work on first viewing, it might well go on to become a classic like Bladerunner, which at the time people did watch and ask what the fuck it meant, with each version those questions got larger and larger. Which is a theory, I agree with, that the likes of Terry Gilliam say is actually the mark of a great film really.

[something awful]

There is this from the trailer though...



Not conclusive of course (looks like it could be a fossil?) but it defo looks like a Xeno. And there are Facehuggers in this which usually lead to Xeno's...

Also, dying to know what that thing is standing over Noomi Rapace at about 2:16 in the trailer

Does that thing have a cock and balls going on?

[ShatnersBassoon]

how have you managed to see it  was it a good 45 mins?

im working on it its disjointed bits and pieces of the film and mostly action set pieces so ive no real idea about plot and that but everything i've seen looks great.

[lionel_messias]

im working on it its disjointed bits and pieces of the film and mostly action set pieces so ive no real idea about plot and that but everything i've seen looks great.

You're our stereographer friend, aren't you?

[ShatnersBassoon]

no i do visual fx

[Mouth]

no i do visual fx

Is it difficult to watch the end product when you have done work on it? Can you get into it the same way?

[dave 5516]

I dont think so, not really, they did test screenings without the voice over and the audience didnt get it, the film makers didnt get it and they made it. Not the place for this though, so I'll leave off there is a BR thread if you want to dig it up. It was the final cut that I watched last night btw. Oh and it was also a flop because it got no publicity and didnt get put into enough theatres and so vanished without a trace, the studio basically killed it.

My point in saying so though was that even though this film might be a flop or maybe not work on first viewing, it might well go on to become a classic like Bladerunner, which at the time people did watch and ask what the fuck it meant, with each version those questions got larger and larger. Which is a theory, I agree with, that the likes of Terry Gilliam say is actually the mark of a great film really.

Heaven's Gate.Cost $44 million,made less than $4 million,critically slaughtered,said to have killed a studio.Now rightly acclaimed as the classic it is.

[Andy @ Allerton]

Not often I'm this excited about a film. June. Years away

[dave 5516]

Not often I'm this excited about a film. June. Years away

I have'nt been to the cinema in year's,but I'll be going to see this.Probably more than once.

[Macphisto80]

no i do visual fx

What sort? CGI stuff, or another kind?

[ShatnersBassoon]

What sort? CGI stuff, or another kind?

yeah CGI. special fx is the real stuff...explosions etc. visual fx is computer based

it does generally kill excitement for films but this is the first one in years ive worked on id still actually pay to see.... put it that way