Prometheus (Alien prequel)

[Ghostrider]

The bridge of this enterprise looks vastly more 'High-Tec' than the bridge in the original series.

Of course, and I must say it's one of the few things I didn't like. It looks too well lighted and too "fragile". The design from ST-II TWOK was great, with its night vision-friendly lighting and its rugged look. It's supposed to be a battleship after all...

 

[Ragtag]

It's one of the things we pretend not to notice. Back in 1979 the Nostromo was high-tech looking, now it would look like a retrotech museum. The Sulaco which was supposed to sport tech from half a century later had stuff that looked high-tech in 1986. Technology marches on, and zeerust would be distracting.

I read that the prequel takes place 50 years before Alien but that my have changed.
Here is how I look at it.
The Nostromo was the equivalent of a tramp steamer. It was never indicated in the movie that it was a top of the line spacecraft. The suits as well as other tech was just what the "company" was willing to spend on these long range mining ships and their tugs.

The Sulaco was a military ship and all we really saw was some limited military hardware. We never saw the bridge or any other tech other than what was needed for the mission. We also don't know where they fell in the military. They may have been a bunch of losers or weekend warrior reserves. In the US the reserves generally don't get the top of the line equipment. Again the terraforming base may also have been older equipment that was good enough for the task at hand and it was mentioned that the terraforming machine was fully automated so the "colony" may have been just a rag tag group of prospectors making due with what they could afford.

In the third move, (spit), took place on a backwater prison planet were the resident inmates live like some sort of monks that shunned civilization.

The forth movie only showed the Betty which was a smuggler ship run by basically criminals that were dealing with a possibility rouge military guy on a mostly abandoned old military station. The whole cloning angle and labs hinted at much more advanced tech.

Think about it like Firefly. The Serenity was an old ship and didn't really show the true advanced tech of the Alliance. The core planets had floating estates and other pretty advanced systems as seen when the doc used an Alliance facility to scan his sister.

OK. On to the new movie.
The tech looks more advanced because it is a well funded expedition using some state of the art tech. My son had a problem with the little ball sensor the guy threw into the cave/ship but was the really all that advanced because at the beginning of Aliens you see a similar sensor being used to scan the interior of the shuttle. Sure it's on an arm and bigger but again you were looking at a bunch of guys on salvage ship searching for space junk to sell and it's doubtful they had top of the line equipment.

So I can come up with a rational that at least satisfies me for the higher tech equipment. Even if it doesn't convince my son.

 

[jedidia]

now it would look like a retrotech museum.

Which I would love sooooo much! :lol:

In the third move, (spit),

Don't you dare!

 

[Andy44]

AS far as tech discrepancies, remember that in 2001: ASO the Discovery had flat-panel computer displays, and 9 movie years (and 18 real years) later along comes the sequel, and the Leonov with her CRT displays. Which we all willingly forgave because it was awesome to see HAL in action again.

 

[jedidia]

and the Leonov with her CRT displays.

piece of pie: The russians were a bit behind with their monitors :lol:

 

[Ragtag]

piece of pie: The russians were a bit behind with their monitors :lol:

heh. I was going to post that but didn't want to start anything.

 

[orbekler]

Of course, and I must say it's one of the few things I didn't like. It looks too well lighted and too "fragile". The design from ST-II TWOK was great, with its night vision-friendly lighting and its rugged look. It's supposed to be a battleship after all...

That's one of the main reasons why Scott's Alien has to be considered a SF milestone. The Nostromo resembles a REAL ship, with its steamy, pulsating and filthy environments, but also the dinner and hypersleep snow-white bumped rooms have a somewhat uncomfortable feeling.

...Nobody has commented on how much more high tech the prequel to Alien looks. Will it fail for that reason alone? My son thinks it's a no go just for that reason. They show technology far in advance of tech shown years in the future. The spacesuits also look way more advanced then the ones seen in Alien.

Well, at the time, Moebius, who was inspired by medieval japanese armours, didn't think to enhance Weaver's body, but today it will add a certain appeal, mostly with Theron and Rapace. :lol:

It's unclear if in 1979 Alien the Wayland/Yutani ship was able to perform FTL travel, but maybe in Prometheus it could be a well tested tech, so it must have been available for Nostromo too.

To me, the biggest doubt is the absence of microgravity in any episode of Alien saga.

 

[80mileshigh]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but 2011 had almost no proper sci-fi movies.

Whilst not sci-fi by any stretch, Terrence Malick's Tree of Life had the most beautiful, and powerful, space imagery I've seen in a film in a very long time.

He has a sequence where in exploring the meaning of life he visualises the birth of the universe and the solar system with images from NASA and ESA robotic missions.

I thought it was the best film and the most moving film I'd seen in years.

Sorry for the off-topic digression.

 

[orbekler]

A bit of Space jockey background.

Here an early sketch of the Space Jockey (by Ron Cobb):

Here a discarded Pyramid in Acheron (by Ron Cobb):

Here the internal of the Pyramid, with the Alien reproduction cycle hieroglyphics, and the shrine containing the Alien eggs (by Ron Cobb):

Here an highly sophisticated hieroglyphics of the Alien reproducting cycle (by Giger):

Here an early project (by Giger) of a Dome (it resembles...oh...), discarded in Alien, but, undoubtedly returned to life for "Prometheus" (see the Official Full Trailer ath 1:02 ):

Last, but not least, the picture that triggered Scott's mind about how should be his Alien (by Giger - from Necronomicon):

 

[80mileshigh]

New Trailer:

Official viral videos:

Peter Weyland TED Talk 2023

This one has some spoiler content on Fassbender's character.

Release dates:

FR and CH (French) May 30
UK June 1
AU June 7
US June 8
DE and CH (German) Aug 9
IT and CH (Italian) September 14

There are advance screenings in the days before these release dates. The film is showing in 3D and at IMAX.

 

[Keatah]

Will it be available in 2D ?

 

[80mileshigh]

Will it be available in 2D ?

Yep, 2D screenings alongside the 3D ones, take your pick.

 

[Codz]

Probably.

 

[orbekler]

...FR and CH (French) May 30
UK June 1
AU June 7
US June 8
DE and CH (German) Aug 9
IT and CH (Italian) September 14
...

From my point of view it's a terrible mistake having a gap so huge from the first release date, at least in the internet age.

Hope they've done well their estimation.

 

[80mileshigh]

From my point of view it's a terrible mistake having a gap so huge from the first release date, at least in the internet age.

Yes, it's completely crazy.

One of the big internet providers here just won a court case against the film studios; afterwards they pointed to precisely this problem of delayed releases as motivating torrent piracy.

Just personally, I know how you feel. I really wanted to see Red Tails (I realise it's probably not very good) , I was following the production of it for two years and then ... no Australian release at all.

Maybe you can get a cheap airfare to the UK? (I mean movie ticket = 20 Euro, Popcorn = 100 Euro, airfare = ?)

 

[80mileshigh]

I've just come back from seeing Prometheus. I'll try not to give anything away in this post but if you're about to see the film you may want to pass my comments by until later.

The good news is this is not Scott's Phantom Menace - if you're a fan of Alien you will probably enjoy it. It looks great and it does give a solid backstory to the events of Alien - though it may not be the backstory you want. I'm not sure it's the back story I wanted!

It's really well paced, it never feels overlong and the ending is satisfying - except for the last 20 seconds which seemed totally unnecessary to me.
I saw it in 3D but I really only noticed the effect in a couple of scenes.

I found myself thinking how cleverly the trailers had been edited, they really haven't given much away and much of the plot speculation amongst fans has been off the mark. (Edit: I should point out I stopped reading online plot speculations last year so as not to get spoiled so what I'm referring to here may be outdated).

There are some problems with the film too, from the standpoint of film criticism ie. some poor character and plot development, much of the latter owing to stuff with Fassbender's character. The kind of class-conscious anti-corporate politics of Alien are retained but in a more ham-fisted way than in that film: inserted as blatant reminders rather than setting a background tone.

I also think this is going to date faster than Alien, in part because of the emphasis on exploiting the CGI of the day and in part because of a certain hipness that all the characters are made to exude.

But I don't mean to be too critical - It's so rare that a sci-fi film with this much creative effort put in to it comes out - and this may be the most significant film of its type so far this century.

 

[orbekler]

As I stated before, the problem with such a gap between releases is that a movie can be destroyed by critics, praised or pirated just a pair of days after the first release.

And the biggest problem of all is that the plot can be easily revealed, as happened for Prometheus.

I know the plot (not much different from what I had in mind), as anyone who owns a pc connected to internet (if he/she wishes).

The had very good ideas on marketing, but very bad distribution strategy.
20th Century Fox shoud upgrade to 21, or 22th Century.

 

[80mileshigh]

The had very good ideas on marketing, but very bad distribution strategy.20th Century Fox shoud upgrade to 21, or 22th Century.

Agreed. Hopefully they'll have to change to survive.

By the way this was the opening night at a suburban megaplex in a city of 5million - and I'd estimate there were about 20 people in the audience. They'll get bigger crowds on the weekend, but it made me think the whole idea of a cinema experience is losing relevance.

I know the plot (not much different from what I had in mind).

I was surprised, and it changed part of the meaning for me, in relation to the space jockey.

 

[Mister Kite]

There are some problems with the film too, from the standpoint of film criticism ie. some poor character and plot development, much of the latter owing to stuff with Fassbender's character. The kind of class-conscious anti-corporate politics of Alien are retained but in a more ham-fisted way than in that film: inserted as blatant reminders rather than setting a background tone.

Knowing Ridley Scott there's bound to be a directors cut.
The difference, for instance, between Kingdom of heaven TR and DC is significant.
I give the TR a 7 out of 10 but the DC a 9.

Prometheus?
I call it poètic horror.
Loved it.

 

[Suzy]

Is it worth seeing in 3d? I am planning on seeing it this week, but can't decide between 2d or 3d! (I already wear glasses, which is an annoyance for 3d)