Prometheus (Alien prequel)
| release date | June 8 2012 |
| studio | 20th Century Fox |
| director | Ridley Scott |
| writer | Damon Lindelof, Jon Spaihts |
| starring | Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Sean Harris, Guy Pearce, Kate Dickie, Rafe Spall, Logan Marshall-Green, Benedict Wong, Emun Elliott, Patrick Wilson, Ian Whyte |
| rating | R |
| tagline | The search for our beginning, could lead to our end... |
| trailer 1 | Trailer #1 |
12 Comments
great sci blockbuster, epic ideas, amazing effects and 3D, some of the best acting in a genre film ever, could of done with more ‘horror’ but the best sic-fi for years.
I want to be able to put 4.5 skulls, but I don’t have that option. I’m still gathering my thoughts on this movie. I’ll definitely be seeing it again.
First thing’s first, the cast in this film was phenomenal; specifically Michael Fassbender and Noomi Rapace. I’ve read a lot of BD’s reviews, and they all sound pretty similar in that everyone here believes it’s good, but not the astounding production they were expecting. I feel the exact opposite. Prometheus delivered everything I was hoping for, and more.
A lot of the times, when a planned trilogy (which, I didn’t even know about until a couple days ago) is started, the first movie is a big set-up. I think whatever you think Prometheus is missing will change once you see the rest of the series (hence the missing half a skull), whenever that may be.
So, knowing that, I can’t really judge this movie solely on plot and events. It’s relation to the Alien series is most certainly more than just “DNA,” but it will definitely hold its own ground when it comes to being separate from that quadrilogy.
Prometheus also easily ranks in my top “shot” films. It’s up there with Lady Vengeance and 2001: A Space Odyssey, in terms of photography. It really is a beautiful movie, both in its visual presentation (the opening shots make it almost difficult to believe that they came from our planet), and its subtext (which, I won’t go too far into, considering I don’t want to give much away in the opening weekend).
Prometheus also managed to revisit not just the Alien franchise, but a few of the themes Ridley Scott laid out in Blade Runner. It’s questions in our origin are both asked and slightly answered very well. Its allegory (I guess?) on the relationships of creator-vs-created, life-vs-lifeless, creation-vs-destruction, are all – and I don’t say this lightly – MASTERFULLY exemplified throughout.
If you have the capability, see it in iMax 3D. Normally, I don’t much care for 3D films, but it works perfectly for this one; especially in those opening shots I was talking about earlier.
Anyone who is a fan of the Alien series, and desires a little more from that ethos, or even just enjoys a good SciFi flick every now and then will be thoroughly entertained. And, if you don’t fall into either of those categories, see it anyway. It really is just that good.
Amazing Film Beautifully shot one of the best show films I have seen ever in a long time.
Do not go into this expecting Alien and complain there isn’t allot of alien in it its a prequel and does an amazing job as such.
Ridley has set the bar high and done well with this first in a new trilogy of prequel films to predate the alien movies I think this will truly be his legacy and life work when he is done.
I suggest going in with an open mind take in the beautiful cinematography and amazing story and enjoy the ride.
I for one will be seeing it more then once and will be looking forward to the next two films.
The film was amazing. Such a breath of fresh air for Sci-Fi/Horror fans. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, it sometimes felt like it was juggling too many ideas causing much needed character development to placed on the back-burner. Many people complain that it didn’t spell it all out for them, but I find that to be its charm; I like having those discussions with friends. I felt it revealed just enough to satisfy most ‘Alien’ fans. The visuals were striking and the story was definitely original. I had a blast.
This film is absolutely gorgeous to begin with. I found it to be visually stunning, along with 3D that was good and didn’t try to cheesily throw things out of the screen but played smart and gave you a sense of being in the film. The story is quite original and pursuits the bridge between Scott’s original Alien film with the new masterpiece. Another thing I found about this film is that it will keep people talking. When leaving the theater for this film people who didn’t even look like hardcore horror or sci fi fans were discussing the film heavily, in a good way. Heck if I remember correctly everybody was talking about this film. I am still talking about it myself and films like this and Cabin are truly bringing back hollywoods horror with a good name.
The Alien origin. Origins of mankind. Visiting that moon, seeing links to so many little Alien questions. Pure brilliance. My brain is chewing on it like bubble gum and my eyes cant forget what they saw. I feel like I went with everyone on the ship. Blown away. (9.5)
I have to say that I like, as a fan of the Original ALIEN, that there seems to be this tension between my wanted to like the film and my recognition of the films problems. So the obvious thing for me to do is pros and cons.
CONS:
1. The film expects for us to be more welcoming of the product of the film not being what it was expected to be, by simply saying “It only shares the DNA of the original film” the same way all 8 million of the previous 12 years of horror films were “Re-Imagining” and not a remake.
2. Some of the elements aren’t consistent. For example, am I the only person who got that the black goo the engineer drank was the same thing in the canisters??? The same goo that cause those little worms to turn into snakes, turn Fifield into a Zombie, and got Shaw pregnant with a face hugger.
3. These characters all seem to be robots like David. You expect me to believe that nobody on the ship new that Shaw had the alien baby inside, and had a C-Section, but they quarantined her? Or the fact that no one knew exactly how Shaw and her husband got infected and werent concerned for there own skin? Or why Shaw’s husband didnt try to run tests on himself to see what if anything he could do to not die? WHO THE FUCK ARE THESE PEOPLE.
4. Every has come to the conclusion that the engineers were planning to come and destroy earth with the black goo, but it was so inconsistent as to what the goo actually did, that it would be hard to logically come to that conclusion without further information. LIKE, what the hell made them so spooked that one got his head cut off, and what burst of the chests of the other ones. And what was in the other temples.
5. When people started dying why was there still no sense of urgency to leave or run test on the Zombie body? Its like everybody arrive to this planet with the expectation that they werent leaving alive, cause they sure as hell didnt give a fuck about survival.
6. Why the hell did it require three people to pilot the PROMETHEUS into the alien ship. The most impressive and expensive piece of hardware in the galaxy and it went out like that, with no tears, no reluctancy, no attempts to find and alternate solution.
7. If the planet they were on supported life, where was it? Or did the engineers not create life on the planet they were inhabiting?
8. How difficult is it to out maneuver basically a large when rolling towards you, when you have a ample distance between you and the wheel.
9. How the fuck did shaw for get about the alien baby thing and how in the fuck was the engineer not injured in the crash and why is he still hellbent on killing Shaw. And why the fuck is she still searching for answers instead of going home to mourn the loss of her husband, unborn alien kid, and getting far away from homicidal giant aliens?
10. I refuse to believe that this is not the same planet from the first 2 ALIEN films. Anybody that believe that is fucking retarded. You expect people to actually believe that there just happens to be 2 planets with engineers that have crashed there spaceship and are lying on the ground in the same format as each other that look relatively similar on the inside?
Pros:
1. Beautifully shot.
2. Great score.
3. Good acting.
4. Great ideas about life, creation, and death.
And thats about it. I honestly would have liked the film better if they just did what everyone expected. and made it clever and still kept the general ideas the same. But of course they couldnt, that would actually make sense. I mean if this really is a prequel to a movie that the same director made, why the hell splinter off into a different direction. I mean it would never have made sense for Leather-face to be killed in the 2006 chainsaw movie if he’s alive and kicking in the 2003 one that takes place after the events in the 2006 one. And even with all that said, if this wasnt a prequel, the film still wouldnt work for half of the reasons mentioned above.
Lastly, for this movie to have any type of continuity from this point on, the Alien at the end that comes out of the engineer has to be an ALIEN queen otherwise there seriously was no point in ever tying this into the Alien universe. I mean at this point, I feel as though it would have been better if they never used anything from the original and just did there own unique sci-fi/horror space movie like EVEN HORIZON or SUPERNOVA.
Yeah I dont think it was the same planet. I believe it was LV-422 and I believe it was LV-426 in the first two movies.
I am a definite fan of Alien. I found myself watching this and actually hating Ridley Scott for making this movie. Why couldn’t he have made an actual prequel and not some 2001: A space oddessy knock off. And anything that actually ties into the original film (ie: the ship and alien) at the ending is merely there to loosely tie this abortion to a far superior movie that now has lost some of its shine thanks to this and two other not so good movie. Please stop ruining movies with terrible remakes, sequels, and prequels. And shame on these fans that praise laziness.
Prometheus is an expensive, visually arousing, thought provoking without a complete resolution, strongly acted, tense and slow burn misfire. Disappointment couldn’t be a better word for it. I should have known better that nothing could be better than the classic itself even if it’s bigger.
The performances were good as expected but like the movie itself the characters came off as cold and distant. I couldn’t connect with any one of them, so I didn’t care what the outcome was. If I had to choose the real breakthrough performance was from Noomi Rapace, who showed raw emotion here and you felt it. Everyone else just seemed to show up for the paycheck, though Michael Fassbender gave quite an interesting performance as a android.
Director Ridley Scott is clearly a master filmmaker and he paved the way for modern sci-fi films of today. Though the idea of doing a prequel of the best and most terrifying alien/horror classic ever, even if you were the creator, ended up being too ambitious after all. Visually it’s epic but without it the movie is nothing, it just had too many missing pieces to rise above the pack.
The story was a mess and didn’t really go anywhere exciting. There was just a continuous build-up of intensity and questions but no payoff. Where was the terror, suffocating suspense, mind blowing gory graphics, NOTHING!
This is not what I remember the Alien movies being like, sure they were ambitious wonder like this, but they knew what they were and didn’t try to do tons of things at once. The fact that you pretty much knew most of the outcome, it sucked the fun out of the film experience. What a low down dirty shame! Anticipation of something great to happen to no avail, shows that this movie squanders.
Overall, Prometheus is an extravagant, missed opportunity that uses great talent and dazzling effects to make people want to go out and see it. They missed the target as a whole on why people liked the Alien films in the first place and ended up getting lost in its own admiration and much too big ideas for one film to handle. This is more on par with the Predator reboot Predators than Alien. Watch the classic Alien and Aliens again and forget about this waste of time and potential.
5.5 out of 10
I enjoyed watching this, but I went in having heard mixed reviews and with lowered expectations. I rewatched Alien a couple days before seeing this at our local movie theatre, which really played up the similarities and differences between both flicks. Visually this is a striking movie, the imagery is wonderfully faithful to the franchise (the first time I saw the engineers I was pretty much squealing – its the crashed alien! Its the alien ship they explored! Noomi is a great casting choice and I love the continuation of the strong female lead. There were also some great, gory scenes, which I would love to see more of. I felt, though, that it didn’t have the tension of the first film. When I walked out of Alien, I still felt the tension and it took a while to shake off, even knowing what happens throughout. I didn’t get that emotional impact with Prometheus and I agree that its one of those good, but forgettable films. Will I watch another installation in the series if it comes along? Yes. Would I recommend this? Yes. But its not going to have a place in my canon of all time faves.
Amazing prequel! I loved this movie.
Love this movie! Whats with all the hate people have been giving it. This is the very beginning of a trilogy that will eventually connect to the planet in Alien. I think this is the advertisements fault for making it seem like this was going to be an Alien movie. Cause it isn’t really its the very beginning of what will connect to Alien. Not that this movie isn’t full of slim, blood, and quite a few new aliens. But the movie itself is full of amazing visuals, amazing actors, and a amazing story I found fascinating and original. And Ridley Scott did it and mad a new and possibly more shocking moment than his chest burster scene from Alien with the “C-Section” scene. Which will become a new famous moment in scifi-horror history. Great movie!
Love this Flick Best Sci-Fi since Event Horizon!
I think what most people didn’t like about the movie was how it said ”questions will be answered.” So when they saw it in theaters they felt the movie lied to them and only threw more questions at them. But there is going to be a sequel that I believe will help explain some of the events in the first movie more. People forget that this isn’t a direct prequel to Alien, it is more of the space jockey’s story. Anyway the creatures were all great looking and the acting was very well done. The movie also had some scary and creepy scenes to add to the atmosphere. Coming from a big Alien fan, I happily add this to the film universe.