Secret of Prometheus

zioburosky13

Vault Senior Citizen
There is an upcoming sci-fi movie, directed by Ridley Scott, which is said to shared the same DNA with 'Alien' the movie. You know the little bugger than crawls into your throat, mature and burst from your chest? :)

Well, there is a sneak peek of 12 minutes of footage from the movie and some things have been clarify.

Major Spoilers

1. Prometheus is an Alien prequel. Make no bones about it – Scott has frequently said that there are direct connections in the last eight minutes of the film, but for Alien fans, Prometheus will have Easter eggs galore. For example, we learned that the planet on which much of the action takes place is designated LV-223. Just a stone’s throw, astronomically speaking, from LV-426, home of Alien and Aliens.

2. Another connection comes in the subtitles informing us about the Prometheus, as Scott did with the Nostromo. It has a crew of 17 (ten more than the Nostromo), it is very, very far from Earth (if we recall correctly, 32x1014 km from Earth, which is approximately 32 HUNDRED TRILLION kilometres from our home planet. Quite a way to go.). It is December 21, 2091. Its destination is unknown.

3. But we start in 2089, on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, as Noomi Rapace’s Elizabeth Shaw and her scientific partner (in more ways than one, fnar fnar), Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) uncover evidence of an ancient civilization that worshipped giant beings. A cave painting shows one of the giant figures pointing to five balls hanging in the sky…

4. Which, as it turns out, represent the exact configuration of a solar system a long way from Earth (about 32 hundred trillion kilometres, as it turns out). Holloway and Shaw have been studying similar cave paintings from different civilisations, none of which could have known each other, and have discovered that they are, in fact, a map to the aforementioned solar system, which has a sun much like ours, and a moon orbiting a gas giant that is capable of sustaining life. So, with some heavy-hitting financial backing, away they go.

5. In 2089, camping equipment and clothing hasn’t changed that much. Holloway and Shaw still look like they’ve just shopped at Millets.

6. On Prometheus, Holloway favours flip-flops.

7. Prometheus also feels like an Alien movie, down to the hustle bustle of activity on the Prometheus as the crew come out of cryo-stasis. There’s even a brief moment where some people are eating dinner around a table – but there’s no fear of a chestburster here. At least, not yet.



8. Speaking of chestbursters, Scott and Rapace were asked if there was a moment on set that rivaled the chestburster scene – where Scott, famously, didn’t tell his actors the exact specifics of what was about to happen, hence their genuinely shocked expressions. They said no, but Scott confirmed that there is a scene, involving Rapace’s Elizabeth Shaw, that might rival it for visceral impact. Rapace added that it was hard to get the horrific images of that scene out of her head for a while after filming.

9. The film, thanks largely to Scott’s insistence on shooting much of it practically on giant sets, feels real and lived-in, although it doesn’t have the grimy, claustrophobic feel of Alien. Prometheus is a state-of-the-art flagship, unlike the Nostromo, and its bells and whistles reflect that. Prometheus, the film, feels more pristine and lush to look at than Alien. But we expect things are going to get dark and spooky very soon indeed.

10. The opening spacescape shot – a silent canvas of awe-inspiring stars across which the Prometheus moves at a fair old lick, creating a light-wake behind it – is stunning. In space, no-one can hear your jaw drop.

11. Guy Pearce was confirmed as Peter Weyland, head of the Weyland Corp and the man whose mega-millions fund the Prometheus expedition, in that TED viral that came out a couple of months ago. That, however, took place in 2023, a full sixty years before the events of this movie, and saw Pearce play Weyland in his forties, unencumbered by make-up.

Today, though, confirmed our theory that Pearce also plays Weyland in old age make-up. As Prometheus comes out of orbit, its assembled crew are treated to a holographic lecture from Pearce (accompanied by his playful dog, who rolls over at one point), who informs them that he is: a) their employer, b) dead now and c) the ‘father’ of Michael Fassbender’s David, the ship’s android. Unfortunately, David has no soul and so cannot appreciate the gifts that Weyland has bestowed upon him.

He once again invokes the Prometheus myth, in which the Titan Prometheus stole fire from the Gods to bestow to man, triggering our evolution. He was roundly punished for this, but Weyland appears to be ignoring that part, and is placing great importance and significance on this mission, hoping that it will yield a giant step for mankind that can see them stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the mysterious race that ‘invited’ them.

12. However, if Pearce’s Weyland is dead, then who’s that old man who can clearly be seen on board the Prometheus in the trailers? Is Weyland secretly stowing away aboard his own ship? If so, who knows about it: his direct employee, Vickers (Charlize Theron)? Fassbender’s David? And why is he there? Could he be looking for the secret of eternal life? Might this explain why Scott chose an actor in his 40s, rather than someone in his 90s? Will we see Weyland ‘de-age’ at some point?



13. Theron’s Vickers is – at least at first – cold as liquid nitrogen, and hard as nails. While all other crew members have to be forcibly awoken from cryo-stasis, and then spend most of their time heaving their guts into a space-bucket while their bodies adjust, Fassbender’s David – who, as an android, doesn’t go into cryo-stasis, bustling about the ship on his lonesome during the two-and-a-half year journey – finds that she has roused herself from cyber-slumber. Following a trail of wet footprints, David finds Vickers in her chambers. Rather than being violently sick, she’s already doing push-ups, while dripping with viscous fluid (which explains the shot of a stressed-looking Theron lowering herself onto something from the trailer).

She then barks orders at David – “Robe!” – and demands a status update from him. “Were there any casualties?” “No, ma’am, everyone’s fine,” replies David. “Well, then, wake ‘em up,” she orders. It’s clear that, while they’re both technically Weyland employees, Vickers wears the trousers around here.

14. David, meanwhile, is a calm and fastidious presence. He is the first character we meet on board the Prometheus, wandering its corridors while waiting for the ship to reach its destination. At one point, the ship is jolted by something, and rocks slightly (in a nice touch, futuristic pool balls slide around a table as the ship tilts to the right), but David just waits, calmly, for the situation to be rectified before carrying on with what we reckon is his daily routine.

David’s interaction with the other characters is going to be fascinating. “How far will you go for your answers?” he asks an unseen character in the climactic montage. “What are you willing to do?” Will David be an Ash-like hindrance as his human masters, whom he so desperately wants to be like, face unending horrors, or a Bishop-like help? Either way, Fassbender and Scott said that they would like the character to be somewhat comedic. Fassbender said that Scott’s best piece of direction was that David’s prissy manner should make other characters think one thing: “Is he taking the piss?”

15. Idris Elba’s Captain Janek has a Southern lilt, and a quirky character, unveiling a Christmas tree, much to Vickers’ disgust. His crew includes Benedict Wong and Game Of Thrones’ Emun Elliott.



16. The sequence finishes with Prometheus landing on LV-223, and then cut to a montage of terrors yet to come. This sequence was largely identical to the recent trailer, but with a few new shots, including:

– A shot of the besuited scientific crew in the docking bay of Prometheus, with the planet’s rocky, windswept landscape glimpsed behind them.

– A shot of a solemn Vickers, intoning, ‘if you go down there, you’ll die.’ She may not be wrong.

– An extended shot of something – a microscopic worm – wriggling into Holloway’s eye, back on board Prometheus. Does he become infected by something?

– And the piece de resistance, a brief shot of a living organism – a tiny thing which, true to form for this franchise, has a mouth that is redolent of female genitalia – rearing up, presumably while the Prometheus crew is completing their first sweep of the planet. What does this mean? It’s not a facehugger, or an Alien, but something else entirely. Is it about to attack someone? Will it end well? I think we all know the answer to that.

17. The issue of certification was brought up once again during the Q&A. Scott, who was on fine, funny form throughout, said that his preferred certificate is “Whatever guarantees me the biggest box office possible”, and demanded that the MPAA get their act together. Sounds like this one is going to be a PG-13 in the States, but could well be a 15 over here.

18. When asked about his first foray into 3D, Scott was also hilariously blunt. In short: he found it almost ridiculously easy. The 3D, by the way, looks excellent: the space sequences have a wonderful depth of field, and we can’t wait to see what happens later in the film, when all manner of nastiness is unleashed.

19. June 1 can’t get here soon enough.

I am too excited now. :ugly:
 
lets hope not ... the less connections it actually has to xenomorphs the less they can fuck up. Really. Prequel? Fuck that! The Alien franchise has been screwed to many times that I stay "calm" and in "hope".

A good Sci Fi movie? I hope it will be. At least he isn't doing everything in CGI compared to someone else we know (YES I TALK WITH YOU LUCAS-DO-ALL-IN-CGI-CRAP-SW-MOVIE-MAKER!).

anyway. Enough ramblings. I really REALLY hope they don't go on this bandwagon of "solving" all mysteries. Particularly around the aliens or the space jockeys. No movie ever established any real connection between those and the xenomorphs, the books give a bit more informations but they describe them as scientists, explorers which had the misfortune to stumble over the xenomorphs and out of curiousity picked some up.

AvP really does not count as its crap basically. Those AvP movies did more damage then I don't know ... only a Star Wars vs Aliens vs Predators could do more damage. Yes with a chest bursting scene including Han and Chewbaca fighting a Predator over meat.

I think answers are nice. But actually that the xenomorphs have so many mysteries and the movies as whole gives them actually this great ambience. So I hope they don't come up with things like bio-engineered by Jockeys as weapons or anything like that. Maybe its just me but that would totally ruin it for me.
 
I don't know. Personally I like to pretend that there are no more movies on the franchise other than "Alien" and "Aliens". "Alien 3"'s beginning was a total insult to "Aliens" ending, and tho is not terrible it doesn't hold out to the other two. From then on it just kept getting worse. Alien resurrection made me puke, it was the final insult, and the others, well, to varying degrees they're, especially some of them, terrible movies, the one with aliens on earth reaching B class horror movie levels of shittiness.

But with Ridley Scott, the original creator of "Alien" and who has brought us some really good movies in the past, such as "Blade Runner", I'm hoping this would finally be a redemption to the butchering of the franchise.

If I'm wrong then nothing happens, just another disappointment, the franchise cannot go any lower from where it already is. If not, then it will be wonderful to see the franchise redeemed.
 
Gonzalez said:
If I'm wrong then nothing happens, just another disappointment, the franchise cannot go any lower from where it already is. If not, then it will be wonderful to see the franchise redeemed.
True. Not much left to lose at this point.
 
It sounds like they're aiming for a PG-13 rating, as well. Apologists are making the argument "but PG-13 today can be pushed much further than derp derp derpa derp crap out of my mouth". The fact is if the original Alien was done as anything less than R they'd have to cut the entire chestburster scene. That's one of the most iconic scenes in movie history and could have been lost if maximizing ticket sales was Ridley Scott's top priority.
 
This isn't Alien. The fear of alien rape probably won't play such a large part of the horror (at least not in the same way). And if you take away that scene then there's not a whole lot of splatter.
 
first, alien was not about the splatter or the creature even though many think that. The alien is no actor. Its just part of the movie. The actors really made the difference here which gave the whole situation a very realistic look. And that is what made the "horror" of Alien so intense. The same was true for Alien 2. To go with one example. The beginning of the movie was the last filmed scene on the set. The intention was to give the crew time to get to know each other and thus give a much more realistic acting on the friendship which you would see in a group. And it works very well. Cameron also allowed every actor to work on his armor to customize it the way he want it to look like.

The creature for it self is very fascinating of course. But as seen with AvP and AvP2 even the best creature design can not make out of a "crap" movie suddenly a "good" one if you don't have the actors. With Predator it have been the over the top elite soldiers of which all have been really great actors. Not just Schwarzenegger but his crew as whole.

Its sad that many see today only either the "Alien" or the "Predator" and forget about everything else thinking this is the whole thing. Just as like Star Wars is only about lightsabers and throwing people around with the force. I mean yeah. Ever heard those things are just the icing on the cake? I hope Prometheus will contain not just some kind of creature or "horror" effects but good acting.
 
Crni Vuk said:
So I hope they don't come up with things like bio-engineered by Jockeys as weapons or anything like that. Maybe its just me but that would totally ruin it for me.

Meh I don't mind this theory myself, the xenomorphs being a type of weapon or 'planet forming' organism the Jockeys send in to cleanse and prepare planets for colonization.

A while ago I read an article somewhere from a fan who looked at it from a biologist point of view and pointed out several reasons why the creature is more likely to have artificial origins than a natural one.
 
yeah, I know what you mean. But thats the part I am talking about. Explain it and it is loosing its "mystery". The fact that even after so many years people still talk about it what they could be is what makes it so interesting. Artificial or not? Weapons or not? Gives much room to interpretation and speculation. And yet. It always is a mystery. As soon something is "explained" to you and you don't have to think anymore its loosing a bit of its appeal and fascination. But that is my opinion.
 
34thcell said:
This isn't Alien. The fear of alien rape probably won't play such a large part of the horror (at least not in the same way). And if you take away that scene then there's not a whole lot of splatter.

Well duh. I was using that as an example, but obviously you missed the point. Cutting Prometheus for a PG-13 rating means they are sacrificing *something* in the process. If Alien was cut today for PG-13 one of the most memorable scenes in the past 100 years of film would never have been allowed in theaters. Now imagine the equivalent being lost because all they want is to sell a few more tickets to sniveling teenagers. Fans of Ridley Scott, the Alien series, scifi, horror, and movies in general are being robbed. Ultimately it's gonna bite the studio in the ass because more people will just wait for the DVD. Then you can kiss goodbye the revival of one of the best franchises ever and expect more half assed shit like AvP and Predators. I figured more people on this forum would understand that.
 
So Prometheus is spreading around the world like a cancer and based on viewer reactions it sounds equally as painful. Not going to waste a dollar on this mess.
 
well the acting certainly seems good. So I am watching this in cinema for sure. I like that viral-trailer.

Also:

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Mad Max RW said:
So Prometheus is spreading around the world like a cancer and based on viewer reactions it sounds equally as painful. Not going to waste a dollar on this mess.

Unfortunate its not a very good movie and not in the sense of "the audience doesn't understand it and therefore rate it low" good.

Compared to Alien the story isn't that well set up and some transitions between the various scenes are weird like the stuff that happens when [spoiler:8b582ab90c]Shaw leaves that medical pod after the removal of the octopus thing[/spoiler:8b582ab90c].
 
Dude that actor playing the android is a great actor and that trailer (only one I'll watch) really set a tone I can get into. I can't wait! Alien(s) are like my 2 favorite movies of all time. I could really give a shit about continuity or versimilitude whaterver that is as long as it has amazing non-cgi sets and sexy xenos IM DOWN! The first movies have always been an asthetic treat! So I am optimistic for more of that. As long as the CGI is not overdone. Im drunk.
 
yeah but to be honest the plot in Alien and Aliens was superb as well. If it really is THAT inconvenient like some say here ... then I am a bit worried about Prometheus. Still I am going to watch it in the cinema.
 
I don't know, the name of Ridley Scott alone, being back after so long, since the first movie. At least I have to give it a try. What I fear the worse is building up expectation and then being disappointed I guess. Like I've said, if it sucks, then it wouldn't be the first time I waste time in a bad movie. And if I get really disappointed then I'll have plenty of time to rant about it after i see it.
 
The whole ending just leaked online and good god almighty... It's like a cutesy version of the suit from MDK with a dolphin mouth. I'm beginning to think Ridley Scott is trolling the world with this bullshit.
 
So I am hearing mixed reviews so far. If what Dutch Ghost said is true then that is too bad. Not a big surprise though. With Ridley Scott being attached to this it was bound to fail to meet expectations.
 
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