Prometheus

[Snidely Whiplash]

I just found this on I09,
One Theory That Finally Explains What's Going on in Prometheus

 

[trainedobserver]

ohhh kay.

Are you telling me you didn't see that flashed on the screen in subliminal subtitles?

 

[Goggs Mackay]

Really? I had no idea there was a director's cut of The Abyss - to be honest it might be the only version I've ever seen; The ending of The Abyss seemed to make sense to me!

Regarding Prometheus however, I doubt that footage 'left on the cutting-room floor' would give us anything to fill the gaps in knowledge we would all be seeking, there may be more scenes that will go in a director's cut, maybe not, but either way they wont change the story at all because if they did it would have to contradict several other things present in the movie.

These are my own thoughts on the matter and as always I reserve the right to be wrong!

 

[Goggs Mackay]

I think one of the main points is the absurdity of looking for meaning from outside of the self. That the motivations, intent, or purposes of the beings, forces, or natural laws responsible for our existence is irrelevant to the individual as there may not be (and perhaps logically would not be) any motivation, intent, or purpose that fits into our frame of reference. Worse yet, any purpose we may appear to serve may simply be a convenience or a motivation supplied to achieve an unrelated end. I like bananas. Do I like them because that is just me liking the flavor or am I responding to a deeper and unconscious need of my organism (the larger self) for potassium? That isn't the best example but I think it gets across the point.

I definitely saw something flash on the screen and I knew from experience that there was an even chance it was a deliberate attempt to show a subliminal message. Probably just as some kind of joke, nothing sinister in any way. Due to the fact I was using Windows' player and it isn't the best for going straight to an exact point in time with some footage - more luck if you can stop on one or two frame's worth of time.
So I ended up not pausing the image to look at it and I'd forgotten until I read the above. I seem to remember the whole screen maybe being white or very light, but only for a 'frame' and it was really a blink-and-you'll-miss-it!

 

[Wade]

Did anybody who saw the movie have any insight on the movie's theme, or what the lesson was ? By that I mean there was probably a reason why the ship was called prometheus and I saw that viral video w/guy pearce where he was before a gathering and spoke of the mission and explained the legend of prometheus (which I understand was not in the movie.) Was ridley trying to make a point with this mythological tale? Like you don't steal fire from the gods or you're going to get burned...or your liver pecked out...which would come as no surprise to anyone who read chris's book

 

[Sean Elifritz]

Did anybody who saw the movie have any insight on the movie's theme, or what the lesson was ? By that I mean there was probably a reason why the ship was called prometheus and I saw that viral video w/guy pearce where he was before a gathering and spoke of the mission and explained the legend of prometheus (which I understand was not in the movie.) Was ridley trying to make a point with this mythological tale? Like you don't steal fire from the gods or you're going to get burned...or your liver pecked out...which would come as no surprise to anyone who read chris's book

I don't know. I really haven't given the title of the ship any thought. I've tried to avoid talking about the plot too much so I don't ruin it for people. A few things I'll add is that it probably has less action in it than any film in the Alien franchise, maybe even less so than the first one. And I suppose that may bother some people but it didn't me. And there are a couple of times where I thought characters did some pretty dumb things that in reality they likely wouldn't do. But again, the good outweighs the bad... or so I thought. Because it's a Ridley Scott sci-fi film people are judging it differently... they want a masterpiece or they're disappointed. It's not the classic that Alien or Blade Runner were (Although I feel it could be if a sequel comes along to flesh it out) but it's good.

 

[Snidely Whiplash]

thought this was very funny,

 

[Goggs Mackay]

@Sean - I can tell that a couple of things irked you that probably are the same things that irked me.
I suppose the biggest of these and the root of many is the plain un-scientific way they went about doing things. Utter disregard for protocols that surely would exist about going to a new planet and encountering new life forms. For instance, just because they read a breathable atmosphere inside the building, does not mean that you take your bloody helmet off!!
Also, the first guys to get hit by an alien form - the cobra looking things - well, they just asked for it. Why on earth would you move closer to an alien creature you know nothing about? At the very least you should assume something is highly dangerous until proved otherwise, not the other way round!! They totally deserved to get killed!

Really, to send a 'team' to another solar system and have them behave in such a selfish, dangerous and unscientific way really makes me question the ability of the person who decided on the personnel for the trip! At one point I almost cried out in the cinema cos I was so disappointed with the way some characters were behaving. For instance, inside the structure two of them first come across the viper-like creature in the black goo and bearing in mind BRAND NEW SPECIES NEW PLANET/SYSTEM NOT A FUCKING CLUE and what does the guy do? Treat it like a tame cat! AAAAARRRGH!

Hey - still a great movie tho!

 

[Snidely Whiplash]

ok thought this was funny also,
Prometheus makes much more sense when you watch a Weyland science training session

 

[Polterwurst]

OK, so I went to see it in the cinema yesterday. While I liked the looks and the FX very much, I thought the story really was kinda pretty bad. I mean, to me this whole nephilim-ancient-astronauts-seeding-us thing leads to one clear question: why is it that we share 99 % of our DNA with chimps? Did these nephilim space jockeys seed apes and monkeys too? Even mice (whom we still have lots of DNA in common with)? That kind of question wasn't even hinted at in the movie.

Well maybe in the director's cut.

I'm guessing that the movie will make a little more sense when we get to see the full version. For example, I saw this "viral video" with Guy Pearce playing a much younger version of Peter Weyland, where he is talking to a big audience about his goals. That scene would have made clear why he plays the older Weyland later on. So maybe it's in the extended DVD version and maybe there's some more explanations in that too (which obviously nowadays is part of the planning anyways, so you can sell the movie twice).

Still, there's lots of holes in the story. The unscientific approach to first contact (why weren'these guys even trained for their mission but told about it only after they arrived?), the woman running about the ship after some nasty self-surgery. I wonder how that story made it past Scott.

IMO there seems to be some unfortunate tendency of directors destroying or at least dumbing down their own franchise lately. Maybe they think nobody can do it better than themselves and end up (partially) writing their own scripts and don't recognize good scripts because of their own prejudices how these stories should be done.

The new Star Wars movies (okay, the old ones weren't that well written too, but this really belongs in the kid's channels), Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull (IMO there have been Indiana Jones video games with better stories and more interesting characters), the "X Files I want to believe" movie written mainly by Chris Carter himself (man the guy had such good script writers in the first seasons).

Hm. Maybe the script writer's strike has to do with this, too. I guess it was Gene who said that the "rise of the reality show" on TV had at least some roots there, so maybe that has had it's toll on movie franchises too.

 

[Goggs Mackay]

Yeah Polter - the fact that scientists who would stupidly approach an unknown lifeform on a new planet without even wearing a helmet! That was the opposite of correctly carried out scientific data gathering. The guys were complete jokes. How would idiots like that get chosen to travel so far on such an important mission?
I am not even going to bother with the plot holes. You know what too? Only a few minor corrections to the script and it could have been an awesome prequel. As it is, it is just a good sci-fi movie not worth the association with the original 'Alien' which is without doubt a top-3 of all-time sci fi/horror movie. It's almost perfect. I don't know if Ridely is to blame or script writers but surely he must have known Alien fans would be annoyed with the plot? Every single person I have talked to on the matter is in agreement over the stupid plot.

 

[Polterwurst]

Yeah Polter - the fact that scientists who would stupidly approach an unknown lifeform on a new planet without even wearing a helmet! That was the opposite of correctly carried out scientific data gathering. The guys were complete jokes.

I guess one could interpret that as a warning what might happen if space exploration was to be handed over entirely to corporate and private interests. Still, it's a real stretch.

Only a few minor corrections to the script and it could have been an awesome prequel.

Absolutely. That's why I wondered how it got past Scott. I like most of his films, but lately...

Warning: major spoilers ahead. Stop reading now if you haven't watched the movie yet.

As it is, it is just a good sci-fi movie not worth the association with the original 'Alien' which is without doubt a top-3 of all-time sci fi/horror movie..

That's nearly exactly what I thought when the end credits were rolling. Still, you have to give Prometheus that it does explain the only logical problem in the original movie: why was the Alien seemingly adapted to human-like life forms (the face hugger targets the face and the mouth, the egg has no problems with human biology, is not repelled etc.). Well of course, because it's been invented as a weapon against (and other seeded forms like) us. Good to know. At the same time, we now have a bunch off new questions, mainly, what happened that they first invited us back and then want to destroy us. I guess they are just a bunch of tribal warfare crazies who like to build things to destroy them afterwards. Like father, like son.

I wonder if they are going to tell us what happened to that female scientist (forgot her name) and David the decapitated Android in the next movie. Maybe then there will be a few real answers. Well, obviously that would be the next stept, but wether that movie gets made will probably depend on the success of this one.

All in all, I'm afraid it's just my own geekiness getting in the way to enjoying a bit of random scifi entertainment here.