Prometheus (Sci Fi film from Ridley Scott)

No one looked especially excited when we left the cinema...

Just got back from seeing it twice, which judging by some of the comments might get me a bit of stick but I did really enjoy it!

I think the problem these days is that no film will ever be considered a success unless that success is translated into box office dollars, rather than it's merits as a piece of artwork (for example, Blade Runner is pretty much my favourite film of all time yet wasn't a box office success and wasn't really appreciated for the great film it is until later on). For that reason, every single film will be hyped up to such an extent that it can only fail to live up to peoples' expectations, and this was hyped up more than most. It had to appeal to the fans, but also to a wider audience and I think it tried to make itself appear a space horror and an explanation to Alien/s to the fans, and a sci-fi action film to the wider audience. The reality it was neither.

I do think it was what Scott intended it to be - a sci-fi akin to 2001 etc that sought to offer an explanation to life on Earth and ask some deep and meaningful questions. I honestly think the decision to make it a prequel to Alien perhaps came after the initial idea, possibly something Scott always wanted to do or maybe just to guarantee those box office dollars that could transform it into that all sought after franchise. As much as I welcomed some kind of back story to the Alien films, I don't think the film necessarily needed it. I'm trying to think whether I would have enjoyed the film minus the Alien references and to be honest I think the story and the fundamental philosophical questions it raised would have been strong enough on their own.

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my thoughts are the first scene was the one guy making earth, he took the black stuff as he was either A: caught by the others in the space ship, or :B he was dropped off to start the planet with his DNA

yeah?

SPOILER TAGS please BOB2oo9.

Just got back from seeing this. As a 3D luddite this was the best implementation I've seen so far - it actually adds something and goes beyond the end-of-the-pier-pokey-stick-gag, though the problems inherent to the polarised stereoscopic trickery are not resolved in any way.

Worth seeing in any number of dimensions. Don't expect it to be as scary as Alien, though.

edit: though some of the sciencey bollocks was cringe-making - I think that's par for the course, but I was still a wee bit disappointed. the biologists in the room will know of which i speak

I don't think the film needed it, but it definitely helped provide an interesting dummy punch! Sort of a twist middle.

Went to see it yesterday.......well worth it, loved it !

on the 3D, it was very good, and one of the best 3D experinces I've seen. If only the characters and plot had had as much depth.

Misread as rudeboy Guy Pierce - I couldn't really think of a more unconvincing character to that.

I thought the 3D add-ons weren't all that. And whoever left the 3D thing on for the credits should be shot. That being said, I rather liked the movie. It wasn't Alien, but I wasn't expecting that. I do admit I left the theatre feeling there should have been something more.

Of course, that will all be covered in the sequel

Ah but that's what everyone thought about the Matrix sequel! If there is the appetite for (and by that I mean it made enough money and enough interest) a sequel, and considering Lost's Damon Lindelof is the writer, expect the sequel to be nothing more than a two hour prick tease with plenty left open at the end of the final installment of the trilogy!

how long is this? are we talking over 2 hours running time?

That is the problem with the film. There was an interesting moment in the beginning of the film where the alien took the potion on the waterfall. Very mysterious and alien in the sense of not our kind of humanity.

However the film turned into an action movie in outer space. It did not follow up on the very alien other race of "engineers".

A lot of the plot was a re run of the original Alien movie.

imo the film is a failure. Its not Bladerunner. Nor is it equal to 2001.

If you want to see a good philosophical sci fi film see Solaris ( the original one)

Ridley Scott is excellant at reinvigorating tired genres. Gladiator for instance and the original Alien. When he tries to do something more meaningful he is not up to it.

I dunno I think it had enough info on the Engineers to work out what they were up to and how that related to the original Alien film (for me, two separate issues that didn't necessarily have to be in the same film, altho I was looking forward to that). I think where the film was more successful was all the issues surrounding David and AI (helped by the excellent portrayal by Fassbender) which to be fair could've been in any film.

You mean the first part of Alien where they find the eggs?

Not being Bladerunner or 2001's equal doesn't necessarily make it a failure! Sure, it didn't live up to the hype and could've have gone a lot further were it not for the desire to achieve 'franchise status' but I think it was good enough.

All the way through there were references to the original Alien film.

The ship crew were similar.
The egg scene.
The 2 guys who get killed first.
The alien in stomach.
The survival pod fight scene near end of film very much like similar scene in original film
The Ripley character

In fact as I watched this film it got me to remember bits of the original Alien I had forgotten.

The best bit of film was Fassbender excellant performance.

Also Charlize Theron doing press ups and walking around in tight outfits. She is great as sexy Ice Maiden

Yea Charlize doing her sweaty press ups was pretty cool. I'm hoping the "my room, 10 minutes" is included in the deleted scenes!

If you listen to sir riddles' DVD commentary of Alien there are a lot of themes that were missed out of that film brought into this one. I can't help feeling the Lost guy as scriptwriter didn't help... I still like it as a piece of epic Sci Fi horror, there hasn't been anything out as good as this in that genre for ages.

So relentlessly bad it's unreal.

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Terrible conspiraloon friendly premise, wobbles along for an hour until there's a spot of sexual harassment which bitches love really and from then on it's one big health and safety nightmare punctuated with plot holes and rubbishness.

At no point does Fassbender look at the camera and say 'and now for the sciencey bit!' but maybe he should have.

Seen twice now. I really liked it more second time. I think the main criticism is that it tries to cover a very deep topic but chucks in some ridiculous bits too. I worry about prequel/sequel films attached to 'classics' but (like Alien Resurrection) you can ignore if you wish

Liken it to Alien3 which I generally prefer as a stand alone film rather than the third installment.

The 3D is great (and I am not a big fan) and it is worth seeing on the big screen.

I didn't enjoy this at all. There simply wasn't enough substance to be a thinking mans' sci-fi nor enough action to hold the attention much.

I also thought the 3D was vastly underused and I saw it at the IMAX.

Had high hopes too so was a bit gutted.

It certainly didn't match the hype, I would've loved to have seen the film the trailers hinted at. Same old same old 5/10

Fair point. I see few 'blockbuster' billed films that match the hype sadly. My love of Alien meant I was going to be disappointed (regardless of the trailers, which I largely ignored) by any follow up. Will hang on for the directors cut

this is the sort of filum that generally appeals to me.

i wil probably go see it over the weekend so will report back as to how mr"generally cant be arsed but likes lasers, monsters and space type shit" percieved it.

Off to see it on Saturday.

Another massively hyped fillum which didn't live up to it. Gonna file this along with Inception and Avatar in the could-have-been-great-but-weren't pile.

Wouldn't watch again.

I really liked Inception & Avatar so looking forward to it.

This is going to blow your mind with awesomeness.