I know Scott said he wouldn't be releasing a director's cut of this movie, but this would go in an all time top 5 list for me of "Movies that Would VASTLY Improve from a Director's Cut". Scott has already proven his director cuts often turn bad or mediocre theatrical releases into anything from great movies to full blown masterpieces by refining the nuances, adding critical details, and smoothing over the rough edges (I'm talking anything from Kingdom of Heaven to Blade Runner). I like Prometheus a lot but I do agree there are many script problems that I think could be fixed with a new cut. I would argue this is a good movie with a great movie somewhere in there.
they'll need to reshoot some of the extras maybe or at least edit them, but putting it all together as a directors cut would make it a classic. all the things ppl are puzzled by are already in the film tbh even why they were going to wipe out mankind constant references to religion and the bio-disaster happened around the time of Christianity's uprising (Kingdom of Heaven). you know that because of the dating of the headless chap and the year it was set in
The Original Script "Alien Engineers" by John Sphaits features more or less the same story. I consider this an early Draft for Prometheus. Some names are changed, there are some extra details in Scenes and Lines. Many the Points championed by Critics are explained in full in this Draft, however it is clear that when the Script was rewritten to remove and add certain things, some of this explanation is also omitted from the Finished Script. This can happen with Multiple writers, nobody's fault.
Agree with all those who thought those scenes should not have been deleted. They help explain quite a few of the more "What!?" moments in the theatrical cut and it annoys me that they had the material to make a better film but didn't use it. The director's cut would not be a perfect movie, but it would be a damn sight better.
first viewing I loves it. and then watched and rewatched many times since then. I did laugh at the scene when running from the crashing Juggernaut tho.. who wouldn't?
The extras are interesting in an other way: the first writer gets a great attention. He describes the basic plot and we get the idea, "yeah this poor guy weren't enough for Ridley Scott". Then came Lindelof with his deep ideas. And after that Ridley changed a lot of things on shooting. So it has plotholes and it is completely different than the expectations but still: it has so many great artworks, ideas, and visuals and has it's own mood. What was the Avatar's mood? Saturation?
@kermodeandmayo I don't know if Dr K is aware of this already but it has come to light that there is an easter egg on the blu-ray release of the film (from the point of view of Weyland) that highly suggests that the worlds of Alien and Blade Runner are one and the same - possibly hinting at a crossover film. I think we'd all love to hear his thoughts on that!
Epic Review: Prometheus. - FULL 45 min Documentary. I caught the above review/explanation/ of Prometheus when browsing today. By coincidence the movie was showing tonight on Sky. I hated the film when I first saw it for the same reasons we all did. It wasn't Alien. But I am now sold, it is a brilliant film. After the intricacies of the plot and storyline are explained, you appreciate it as you would a work of art. It is a great story by a superb writer. I can't wait for the whole series. The same happened to me many years ago when I first saw 2001 a space odyssey , I thought it was incomprehensible rubbish, but after reading the book and catching the film again I could then see why it is a classic.
Definitely. And they didn't behave how I think people on this sort of expedition would. In Aliens, it made sense for the protagonists to land and head straight into abandoned buildings- they were on a rescue mission. It made no sense for the team in Prometheus to rush into the structures, and David's actions were just silly, looking back.
I liked Prometheus and Matrix 2 & 3, in fact I am working on my own fan edit of both those films. I haven't seen the deleted scenes of Prometheus, but I could imagine that you could make a various different cuts.
Ironically whilst 3d at the time came and went I did watch the bluray in 3d and the visuals were superb. The film still leaves me underwhelmed, as many have said the script was shaky at best and there were just too many annoyances I couldn't overlook. In saying that I watch Prometheus annually and its not quite annoying now as it was on release although my own love affair with Alien and Aliens likely has something to do with it. I live in hope Ridley can make a final film and finally answer the engineer back story. His intentional steering away from the xenomorph is actually OK for me, but I do want to see a last and final instalment with a true proper ending to a story that has meandered.
i think the point is you are meant to feel bewildered the opening and final scenes with the engineer in particular have more mystery left as they were, you're supposed to end the movie wanting to know what the hell just happened much like the main protagonist the outtakes are really good which confuses people but i understand why their place is as extras
This is a strange one, I loved it, but it did leave a somewhat bitter or confusing taste in my mouth. on second viewing, ( blu ray ) I loved it even more, and have become somewhat of an obsessed loon with the Scott/Cameron universe, Cannot wait for the sequal(s)
mY problem with this movie has nothing to do with the plot. It is that action movies today are all plot and no story. This I suspect is because science fiction films have come full circle with gaming, were now the storytelling style in computer games influence movies rather then visa versa. I can not play out the story on the movie screen as one of the characters, thereby creating the emotion needed to draw me into the experience. As an observer and not a player I need to be drawn in. I was not.
OR, many people where just genuinely let down. I avoided all "public chatter" surrounding this film until I actually watched it. Surprise, surprise, I came away feeling similar to the "bandwagon" folks. Watch Alien, watch Aliens, and then watch Prometheus. Was it horrible? Not at all; but some of you are way too sensitive about films you have zero investment in, and you take criticism of something you like poorly. Criticism is good.
When you see a film, you can only judge it by what is included in the film itself and not unseen extras included in the DVD/Blueray later. My main gripe with Prometheus was not the plot; it was the rubbish characters. I felt like I was watching one of those generic two-parter episodes of Doctor Who set on a space station/spaceship/remote mining facility/whatever, peopled by actors whose soul purpose was just to get picked off. Only Der Fassbender provided any entertainment.
The lady who comments re: them “running in path of the crashing ship, instead of sideways”, is doing so in a comfy theater seat, and not under the effects of an adrenaline ‘super bomb’ to her nervous system. Acting irrationally during fight or flight, is actually more realistic for someone who has not been trained to deal with or has experienced such an extreme adrenaline dump. Tunnel vision, changes in perception of time, loss of fine motor skills etc. are just a couple of the effects of “Tachypsychia”. This survival mechanism, though designed for self preservation, can actually cause behavior that is instead, fatal. This especially in those untrained in dealing with it. When you look at the two female characters, though more than strong and able, there is little to suggest that they ever had any formal high stress or tactical training. One a scientist/archeologist and the other an entitled child of a rich parent, making a power grab.....
What really gets me annoyed is that there is no need at all for this story to be connected to the alien franchise at all except to use the cool Giger styled skull base and the cool looking spaceship. It ignores so much of what we know of the xenomorphs from the previous films that it may as well have just borrowed the few ideas it did use and coat it over with it's own mythos and setting.
The film has so much potential, just failed to bring some closure to the whole franchised. The script was horrible. But this leaves open the possibilities to close plot holes in the sequel as David says-"To create, some times one must destroy." Now there was so much destruction in audience faith about a decent sequel. Reviews sound like the reviews for the film 2001.
Rubbish characters and a terrible script makes a bad film. A navigator who gets lost after begging to get back on the ship before the scientists. A lead character who spends a billion dollars and flys for however long to an alien planet without any evidence or, apparently, any data for what might be waiting for them says "Don't open the door, we don't know what's behind there." I could go on...
I think really, only the fans of this movie are claiming the critics didn't *understand* this movie. The critics (such as myself) just saw Prometheus as a bad movie.
Prometheus is a Ridley Scott Film..Alien & Bladerunner & Legend had the very same bad response when the first came out..it is only later that people really appreciate them..Ridley Scotts sci-fi is an artist artist film.
Execution? Execution was excellent. There were a few dodgy bits (the crew members turning into a zombies) but overall the production values were excellent.
It was a fantastic idea that was executed terribly - very bad script - speights version was actually better though not amazing. Far far too many mistakes...
It was a bad idea from the beginning. Not only was the film rubbish but it spread the stench to the original Alien as well. The first film spent a good hour patiently setting everything up to create an air of mystery, then these idiots barge in 30 years later to bugger it all with their pointless attempts to explain what didn't need to be explained.
I know Scott said he wouldn't be releasing a director's cut of this movie, but this would go in an all time top 5 list for me of "Movies that Would VASTLY Improve from a Director's Cut". Scott has already proven his director cuts often turn bad or mediocre theatrical releases into anything from great movies to full blown masterpieces by refining the nuances, adding critical details, and smoothing over the rough edges (I'm talking anything from Kingdom of Heaven to Blade Runner). I like Prometheus a lot but I do agree there are many script problems that I think could be fixed with a new cut. I would argue this is a good movie with a great movie somewhere in there.
they'll need to reshoot some of the extras maybe or at least edit them, but putting it all together as a directors cut would make it a classic. all the things ppl are puzzled by are already in the film tbh even why they were going to wipe out mankind constant references to religion and the bio-disaster happened around the time of Christianity's uprising (Kingdom of Heaven). you know that because of the dating of the headless chap and the year it was set in
The Original Script "Alien Engineers" by John Sphaits features more or less the same story. I consider this an early Draft for Prometheus. Some names are changed, there are some extra details in Scenes and Lines.
Many the Points championed by Critics are explained in full in this Draft, however it is clear that when the Script was rewritten to remove and add certain things, some of this explanation is also omitted from the Finished Script.
This can happen with Multiple writers, nobody's fault.
Agree with all those who thought those scenes should not have been deleted. They help explain quite a few of the more "What!?" moments in the theatrical cut and it annoys me that they had the material to make a better film but didn't use it. The director's cut would not be a perfect movie, but it would be a damn sight better.
first viewing I loves it. and then watched and rewatched many times since then. I did laugh at the scene when running from the crashing Juggernaut tho.. who wouldn't?
I love this movie!! I honestly can't understand why people have a problem with it. It's easily the best Alien move since Aliens.
The extras are interesting in an other way: the first writer gets a great attention. He describes the basic plot and we get the idea, "yeah this poor guy weren't enough for Ridley Scott". Then came Lindelof with his deep ideas. And after that Ridley changed a lot of things on shooting.
So it has plotholes and it is completely different than the expectations but still: it has so many great artworks, ideas, and visuals and has it's own mood. What was the Avatar's mood? Saturation?
@kermodeandmayo I don't know if Dr K is aware of this already but it has come to light that there is an easter egg on the blu-ray release of the film (from the point of view of Weyland) that highly suggests that the worlds of Alien and Blade Runner are one and the same - possibly hinting at a crossover film. I think we'd all love to hear his thoughts on that!
Epic Review: Prometheus. - FULL 45 min Documentary.
I caught the above review/explanation/ of Prometheus when browsing today. By coincidence the movie was showing tonight on Sky. I hated the film when I first saw it for the same reasons we all did. It wasn't Alien. But I am now sold, it is a brilliant film. After the intricacies of the plot and storyline are explained, you appreciate it as you would a work of art. It is a great story by a superb writer. I can't wait for the whole series.
The same happened to me many years ago when I first saw 2001 a space odyssey , I thought it was incomprehensible rubbish, but after reading the book and catching the film again I could then see why it is a classic.
Definitely. And they didn't behave how I think people on this sort of expedition would. In Aliens, it made sense for the protagonists to land and head straight into abandoned buildings- they were on a rescue mission. It made no sense for the team in Prometheus to rush into the structures, and David's actions were just silly, looking back.
I liked Prometheus and Matrix 2 & 3, in fact I am working on my own fan edit of both those films. I haven't seen the deleted scenes of Prometheus, but I could imagine that you could make a various different cuts.
Ironically whilst 3d at the time came and went I did watch the bluray in 3d and the visuals were superb. The film still leaves me underwhelmed, as many have said the script was shaky at best and there were just too many annoyances I couldn't overlook. In saying that I watch Prometheus annually and its not quite annoying now as it was on release although my own love affair with Alien and Aliens likely has something to do with it. I live in hope Ridley can make a final film and finally answer the engineer back story. His intentional steering away from the xenomorph is actually OK for me, but I do want to see a last and final instalment with a true proper ending to a story that has meandered.
i think the point is you are meant to feel bewildered the opening and final scenes with the engineer in particular have more mystery left as they were, you're supposed to end the movie wanting to know what the hell just happened much like the main protagonist
the outtakes are really good which confuses people but i understand why their place is as extras
This is a strange one, I loved it, but it did leave a somewhat bitter or confusing taste in my mouth. on second viewing, ( blu ray ) I loved it even more, and have become somewhat of an obsessed loon with the Scott/Cameron universe, Cannot wait for the sequal(s)
mY problem with this movie has nothing to do with the plot. It is that action movies today are all plot and no story. This I suspect is because science fiction films have come full circle with gaming, were now the storytelling style in computer games influence movies rather then visa versa. I can not play out the story on the movie screen as one of the characters, thereby creating the emotion needed to draw me into the experience. As an observer and not a player I need to be drawn in. I was not.
OR, many people where just genuinely let down. I avoided all "public chatter" surrounding this film until I actually watched it. Surprise, surprise, I came away feeling similar to the "bandwagon" folks. Watch Alien, watch Aliens, and then watch Prometheus. Was it horrible? Not at all; but some of you are way too sensitive about films you have zero investment in, and you take criticism of something you like poorly. Criticism is good.
When you see a film, you can only judge it by what is included in the film itself and not unseen extras included in the DVD/Blueray later. My main gripe with Prometheus was not the plot; it was the rubbish characters. I felt like I was watching one of those generic two-parter episodes of Doctor Who set on a space station/spaceship/remote mining facility/whatever, peopled by actors whose soul purpose was just to get picked off. Only Der Fassbender provided any entertainment.
Tell me the truth, Mark Kermode and George Smiley...you never see 'em together do ya...?
The lady who comments re: them “running in path of the crashing ship, instead of sideways”, is doing so in a comfy theater seat, and not under the effects of an adrenaline ‘super bomb’ to her nervous system. Acting irrationally during fight or flight, is actually more realistic for someone who has not been trained to deal with or has experienced such an extreme adrenaline dump. Tunnel vision, changes in perception of time, loss of fine motor skills etc. are just a couple of the effects of “Tachypsychia”. This survival mechanism, though designed for self preservation, can actually cause behavior that is instead, fatal. This especially in those untrained in dealing with it. When you look at the two female characters, though more than strong and able, there is little to suggest that they ever had any formal high stress or tactical training. One a scientist/archeologist and the other an entitled child of a rich parent, making a power grab.....
What really gets me annoyed is that there is no need at all for this story to be connected to the alien franchise at all except to use the cool Giger styled skull base and the cool looking spaceship. It ignores so much of what we know of the xenomorphs from the previous films that it may as well have just borrowed the few ideas it did use and coat it over with it's own mythos and setting.
The film has so much potential, just failed to bring some closure to the whole franchised.
The script was horrible. But this leaves open the possibilities to close plot holes in the sequel as David says-"To create, some times one must destroy." Now there was so much destruction in audience faith about a decent sequel.
Reviews sound like the reviews for the film 2001.
Rubbish characters and a terrible script makes a bad film. A navigator who gets lost after begging to get back on the ship before the scientists. A lead character who spends a billion dollars and flys for however long to an alien planet without any evidence or, apparently, any data for what might be waiting for them says "Don't open the door, we don't know what's behind there." I could go on...
I think really, only the fans of this movie are claiming the critics didn't *understand* this movie. The critics (such as myself) just saw Prometheus as a bad movie.
your not the only one!
Prometheus is a Ridley Scott Film..Alien & Bladerunner & Legend had the very same bad response when the first came out..it is only later that people really appreciate them..Ridley Scotts sci-fi is an artist artist film.
This is like Blade Runner, people won't accept that it's great for 20 years.
So, what was that Guy Pearce stuff about? ... also the scene where the msn puts his face up to the cobra-like snakey thing was just ludicrous.
Execution? Execution was excellent. There were a few dodgy bits (the crew members turning into a zombies) but overall the production values were excellent.
Prometheus is genius
Anyone know of a decent fan-edit?
nope
saved it more like
AVP ALIEN 4 AVP2 ruined it
It was a fantastic idea that was executed terribly - very bad script - speights version was actually better though not amazing. Far far too many mistakes...
I know. It is quite east to grasp. But I still found it deeply flawed and frustrating to watch.
Mr Manhattan starred in this stinker ?
No, don’t believe so.
It was a bad idea from the beginning. Not only was the film rubbish but it spread the stench to the original Alien as well. The first film spent a good hour patiently setting everything up to create an air of mystery, then these idiots barge in 30 years later to bugger it all with their pointless attempts to explain what didn't need to be explained.
Damon Lindelof ruins another franchise.
Worst film ever