Prometheus

[Totenkindly]

Yes, Prometheus was so good that we're talking in its thread about a non-scifi movie made 50 years before it.

 

[Zarathustra]

I'm a massive Alien fan and I thought Prometheus was shit. For various reasons:
A lack of likeable characters, the most relatable being Fassbender and he was playing an emotionless robot, which says something.
Not saying Noomi Rapace is a bad actress, but she was crap. It's probably tough delivering lines in a foreign language though.
Lack of plot consistency. One minute the mercenary biologist dude is freaking out about seeing an ancient hologram of someone dying in the alien relic, 100's of years ago for all he knows, and running back to the ship, the next minute he's had a random change of heart and decided to stay there and wander round poking things.
The film lost me really early and never regained my confidence. Terrible script, poor story structure. I don't really care about the cinematography or themes, if you can't get the dialogue and plot right you won't engage me. I just sat the whole way through thinking "I could do this better". And the whole point of paying for a movie is to see something you couldn't come up with yourself.

This is actually pretty fair criticism, imo.

I disagree about Noomi Rapace being shit (I thought she was great in the c-section scene), but I agree that some of the dialogue was trash, and that there were some ridiculous inconsistencies, especially around the obnoxious geologist/map guy and the biologist guy. I take that a bit as just being horror convention, but, honestly, it pissed me off enough that I was thinking, "Did they really think it was the right move to go here? Was this really necessary? Didn't they realize the movie would be better if this were adjusted just a bit?" As you suggested, when he approached the snake/worm xenomorph thing like it was a cute little kitten, I couldn't damp down my internal grumbling.

That being said, I just disagree about the cinematography, and, more importantly, the themes. All of these are different elements of the storytelling, and these particular elements were strong. Those other elements were not. It could've been better, but there was some really interesting stuff about it too.

 

[tommyc]

Fair nuff, I guess we just find different stuff important. Yeah Noomi was quite good in the c-section scene, but then her acting was pretty much just being overly hysterical. Not much nuance.
I just felt the whole movie was a bit flat. Maybe from an objective standpoint I can appreciate some of its qualities, but as a simple movie-goer I wasn't sucked in. I didn't care about the characters or where the story was going.
But then we're all engaged by different films. I love Event Horizon which is by most accounts B-movie trash.

 

[Totenkindly]

I love Event Horizon which is by most accounts B-movie trash.

Totally agree -- on the second part. Watched it once, and even laughing hysterically at how bad it was I barely made it through...

I generally agree with you and Zara's comments about Prom.

 

[Zarathustra]

Fair nuff, I guess we just find different stuff important. Yeah Noomi was quite good in the c-section scene, but then her acting was pretty much just being overly hysterical. Not much nuance.

Ok, I won't lie.

I'm incredibly attracted to Noomi Rapace, and, throughout that whole scene, I kept thinking to myself, "Why is this scene making me want to fuck her even more? Is there something wrong with me??" *instinctual mind kicks back in* "Whatever, she's hot."

I just felt the whole movie was a bit flat. Maybe from an objective standpoint I can appreciate some of its qualities, but as a simple movie-goer I wasn't sucked in. I didn't care about the characters or where the story was going.

Tbh, this is where I actually agree with you.

I just found it unfortunate, cuz I thought the themes explored and the cinematography were awesome.

If it had hit on that cylinder, I think it could've been worth a 9/10, but, because it didn't, I think about a 7 is fair.

But then we're all engaged by different films. I love Event Horizon which is by most accounts B-movie trash.

lol...

Is this the second time I'm going to say "Liberate tutemae ex inferis..." in this thread?

 

[tommyc]

Event Horizon is the shit!! If it had been made in the 40's I swear it would be on Afi's 100 greatest movies or something (maybe...). Lawrence Fishburne + Spaceship + Portal to Hell = film perfection.

Yeah Noomi's not bad. I've not seen her in anything where she's not hugely mentally damaged though. Bit of a turn off.

 

[Totenkindly]

Event Horizon is the shit!!

Wait, I think that word "the" is a typo?

If it had been made in the 40's I swear it would be on Afi's 100 greatest movies or something (maybe...). Lawrence Fishburne + Spaceship + Portal to Hell = film perfection.

Okay. I admit it -- it could give Plan 9 a run for the big money!

Yeah Noomi's not bad. I've not seen her in anything where she's not hugely mentally damaged though. Bit of a turn off.

I like Noomi. I didn't think she was bad here; I just felt she had nothing to work with. They had some real top-notch actors and just didn't have the script for them to do something. Fassbender was stellar anyway, but it felt rather wasted; he deserved much better for that performance.

 

[Poindexter Arachnid]

I love Event Horizon which is by most accounts B-movie trash.

Oh, it's a trash film (no doubt) but I love it, anyway.
Larry Fishburne, Jason Isaacs and Sam Neill hamming it up? Genuinely horrifying visuals?

Cinematic perfection for the subgenre.

And it is the only watchable Paul W.S. Anderson movie (Mortal Kombat, notwithstanding).

Yes, Prometheus was so good that we're talking in its thread about a non-scifi movie made 50 years before it.

Smarty pants.

Lawrence of Arabia was featured in Prometheus.
In fact, Fassbender imitated Peter O'Toole for his David character.

Now that I think of it, the snippets of that picture in IMAX 3D were probably the highlight.

 

[Totenkindly]

Smarty pants.

Lawrence of Arabia was featured in Prometheus.
In fact, Fassbender imitated Peter O'Toole for his David character.

Now that I think of it, the snippets of that picture in IMAX 3D were probably the highlight.

Hmmm. You're right. I actually forgot that, but I'm glad you tied it together for me.
And I was going to make the same quip, but you beat me to the punch.

 

[tommyc]

Fassbender was stellar anyway, but it felt rather wasted; he deserved much better for that performance.

Yeah, imo Fassbender was one of the few people who worked on that film who could go away with any credit. Maybe the SFX guys as well. Everyone else had a bit of an off day.

Speaking of sci-fi movies I just saw a trailer for 'Looper' which looks excellent! Bruce Willis + time travel is usually a good combination.

 

[Totenkindly]

Speaking of sci-fi movies I just saw a trailer for 'Looper' which looks excellent! Bruce Willis + time travel is usually a good combination.

Oh yes, saw the early trailers, I thought it looked really interesting. Word on the street is that it is excellent, but I'm not sure if that is real feedback or just spin. Anyway, I have my eye on it.

 

[Lith]

LOL, Prometheus. I remember that marketing campaign. I think there was a movie too.

 

[Totenkindly]

Finally, some of the missing footage is being released -- there's supposed to be a good 25-30 minutes of scenes that were cut from the movie.

here's one of them. Well, look at that -- suddenly the scene with the Engineer clubbing Wayland to death makes sense, now that we see the footage of what Wayland says to him. We also get a clearer understanding of Wayland's logic and why he thinks he deserves what he is asking for... which then the alien directly answers, and perfectly, by his response.

Depending on the rest of the released footage, we could potentially be looking at yet another instance of "Death by Studio Committee" for a motion picture. I've heard the Extended/Director's Cut of Kingdom of Heaven is pretty decent too, btw, in comparison to the theatrical release.

 

[Totenkindly]

Here's part of the opening scene:

Plus a link to a list of all deleted scenes, with links to where they were referenced (in interviews, etc.)

http://www.prometheusnews.net/movie/deleted-alternate-scenes/


Also, here looks to be 14 minutes of the deleted footage, compiled into one video -- it's the second video down (right under the youtube one):
http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3194600/get-a-taste-of-the-deleted-opening-scene-from-prometheus/

I'm having trouble recalling what was in the original theatrical release, but one of the clips here has material right before the clip I posted above (where Wayland talks to the engineer), and it has Shaw trying to cut Wayland off and ask all the important questions -- why did they come? Why do they hate us? Why are they now out to get us? And Wayland cuts her off and demands immortality instead, claiming he deserves it.... If that didn't appear in the movie, it's a shame. It's a good scene, and it leaves you wondering if Wayland hadn't been there, if Shaw would have gotten some actual answers.

 

[swordpath]

Will there be an extended edition of the film released on video?

 

[Totenkindly]

Will there be an extended edition of the film released on video?

It's not clear.

This release, it looks like they just put a bunch of the deleted clips on as supplements. In the past Scott has given contradictory answers as far as an "official" extended/director's cut, where they incorporate all the footage right into the movie.

 

[swordpath]

I hope they do. I still haven't seen this movie, and I'd like for there to be more content that provides better context when I do see it.

 

[INTP]

it was good, but i hate it when movies end like that. they should had showed what happens with what they started at the end

 

[Totenkindly]

I was planning to watch the entire movie again tonight but got wayland, err, waylaid, so I'll finish it tomorrow:

One reason I got slowed down is because the movie can sync up with your smartphone, especially easily if you've got a home wifi. So playing the movie on my PS3, with my phone running off my home network, every 1-4 minutes the movie was triggering something to play on my cell. (The movie would automatically pause while the video on my cell would kick off; and once the video finished, the phone would stop and the movie would continue.) It's kind of cool, actually.

The other reason is that I watched the 36 minutes of alternate/deleted footage.

My opinion is that Prometheus was damaged (maybe not fatally, but badly) through overzealous editing. I can't say the material was "crucial" in the sense that not having both of your lungs removed is crucial to your survival, but basically it really disrupted the thought process and foreshadowing of the film which made some of it difficult to follow and also made some of the character behavior seem non-sensible. My opinion is that about 75% of the material, reinserted back into the movie, would have made it a much better experience. I suppose length is a problem for some, but nowadays we've had blockbusters that are still yet longer than the 2:25 the movie might have been, so... if it makes the movie more enjoyable?

Some comments here:

1. The opening scene with the giant actually has a bunch of other giants as well. It's a ritual, not a stealth seeding -- that point was ambiguous in the theater release. So he was considered an "official sacrifice" to seed the planet (unlike the original Prometheus, who brought fire clandestinely), it's clarified with this clip.

2. When they get into the chamber with the fluid in it, the one guy finds a large worm and puts it in a container while the others are nervous at first, and is all excited because they've finally found life. I think a common bitch about the TR was that the two guys treat a potentially deadly animal as if it's a toy/pet and how stupid that seemed; but this scene actually sets a precedent where their reaction might make more sense... they watched another similar animal be harmlessly captured earlier, but here they just happen to be waaaay wrong because the creature has been tainted at this point.

3. The scene with Vickers and Wayland where she utters some of her best lines ("A king reigns and then he dies") is expanded upon. Great scene -- she starts by apologizing for some past issue and he forgives her, so you think all is well, and then she comes in, says that to him, and the scene just becomes worse and worse until you realize she actually has nothing for him but contempt and cannot wait until his last breath is wrung from his body, in order to correct his breaking of the natural way of things. So it also makes sense when he dies and she watches on viewfinder and says, "Okay, let's go home." This scene also just really gives one the impression she's not an android (which some viewers kept trying to suggest she was).

4. The original take on the hookup scene between Holloway and Shaw is much more violent, I think... he's drunk and he really cuts her down to size where they argue about her need to believe and find humanity's roots, and he credits it (in a nasty way) to guilt over her mom's death and disillusionment over her dad's, so she slaps him hard twice and they have a wrestling match that results in him apologizing profusely (because he realizes what a dick he just was) and followed by hot makeup sex. This scene I felt was more powerful in the raw energy of it as well as what is driving her to find the Engineers....but it is lacking the nice side point of her being unable to bear children, which then makes the latter scene in the movie more horrific.

5. The prolonged scene with Wayland's speech to the Engineer, whereupon he is beaten to death with David's head -- it just makes more sense and is easier to follow when we get to hear what Wayland is thinking and why he thinks he deserves immortality.

6. Longer fight with Shaw and the Engineer, and she's taking an axe to him.

7. Nice scene with the captain and Vickers, in her private quarters, where he shares a relevant anecdote with her.

8. Alternate take with CGI effects of the "transformed crew member attacks people in the bay until fried to death" scene. Scott went with the human pre-CGI shots; I thought the CGI looked a bit cooler, actually.

more discussion about Shaw's faith and why it's important, and the different between her faith and her hubby's science. I think these scenes really would have helped the movie in terms of adding more depth to the discussion.

I forget what other clips there were, but those are some of the highlights.

 

[Mal12345]

But did you find out why Meredith Vickers can only run in a straight line?