Prometheus

[Ozymandias]

Good film that could have been great.I had very high hopes for this one, I didn't expect ALIEN(1979) class, but I did expect an excellent film and this one didn't do it, it missed the mark.Maybe it was the editing, maybe it was just plain bad story telling, but this one had some serious cracks in it, if I am to believe that this group has some of the top people on earth, smart, honest, the cream of the crop so-to-speak, then how the hell does a man who is scared to death suddenly see an alien creature, walk over to it, find it to be acting aggressive, and then reach out to pet it? Idiot! How does a woman running from a giant falling ship continue to run in a straight line instead of turning left or right? Moron! Another get's infected yet says nothing, on and on, I can go with a lot of stuff but those 3 were just too much.On the plus side, I like some of the ideas in this film, I like the different Xeno's, Fassbender was perfect as David, and the SFX were top notch, I didn't mind some of the open questions left for another film, but when u make a teaser trailer that is an exact knock-off of the classic ALIEN film (the trailers were great for this), you better make a great film, good won't cut it, maybe the extended Blu-ray cut will be.7/10

Character decisions are one thing(though I wasn't expecting any of them to be as smart or smarter than Spock/Data, especially when the true purpose of the mission was being kept secret from them, they were all pretty much there for different, and in some cases, selfish reasons). Prometheus was a 2001 Kubrick style scifi film with a touch of Lovecraft and existential nihilism. Much of the movie was a ambiguous fuck fest and it was left it up to the viewer to figure out whats actually happening. The first time I saw the film there was indeed a lot of shit that felt "throwaway without meaning" but that changed for me the 2nd and 3rd time I saw it. Even Vicker's true identity was left up for speculation, so much so that it even made it on to IMDB's FAQ section on Prometheus. http://www.imdb.com/...e/tt1446714/faq (Take your pick lol, its a long read). This isn't in there, but she doesn't even have the same last name as Weylend which I think is the biggest hint that she was actually an android.In an interview Lindelof gave not too long ago, he said that Ridley Scott canned the Alien prequel because he became obsessed with ambiguity due to the fact that he felt there were no more "true" original ideas in scifi anymore and that he took a lot of his inspiration from 2001. Ridley Scott is on record saying that he believes 2001 is the "unbeatable" scifi film. Some people really hate 2001 though so I think Prometheus was destined to be a film that wasn't gonna please everyone from the get-go.The Blu-ray should be interesting... apparently the runtime of all the bonus material is longer than the film itself.(almost 3 hours). Edited July 13, 2012 by Shpongle

[RichWS]

How does the crew not know a thing about the mission until they're an hour from landing? Whose idea was it to hire Fifield anyway? How do the two scientists get lost? Why does Holloway go from being a reasonable guy to whiny bitch in an instant? Who cares if Weyland is still on-board? Who cares if Vickers is his daughter? Why doesn't anybody do anything when they see Shaw enter the room bloodied? What about the frozen alien? Why does no one bat an eye when Vickers sets Fifield on fire? How does Janek determine that the goo is a bio-weapon gone amok? Why does Vickers escape only to be killed a minute later? Why does the Engineer become Michael Myers and hunt down Shaw?I don't give a shit about ambiguity when nothing makes sense in the first place. Certain scenes work on their own but there are no consequences to any of them and that's my problem.

[mattmav45]

I enjoyed it to an extent, but there really isn't that much depth to the ambiguity. More "you know this, but don't you WISH you knew this?" As Gopher said earlier, the ambiguity is frustrating because it's not really lending itself to deep philosophical discussions. This ambiguity is more.......you're either frustrated with knowing nothing, or you like the open-ended aspect. In all honesty, in order for there to be deep discussion about ambiguity in regards to Prometheus they simply would have had to tell you more of the story.You can only find depth in the movie by filling in a ton of blanks and going in your own direction. Compare it to one of those teenage novels where you can pick different plot points and endings based on what decisions you WANT the characters to do. In many ways, it really does feel like an incomplete film.

[Deep Wang]

I enjoyed it to an extent, but there really isn't that much depth to the ambiguity. More "you know this, but don't you WISH you knew this?" As Gopher said earlier, the ambiguity is frustrating because it's not really lending itself to deep philosophical discussions. This ambiguity is more.......you're either frustrated with knowing nothing, or you like the open-ended aspect. In all honesty, in order for there to be deep discussion about ambiguity in regards to Prometheus they simply would have had to tell you more of the story.You can only find depth in the movie by filling in a ton of blanks and going in your own direction. Compare it to one of those teenage novels where you can pick different plot points and endings based on what decisions you WANT the characters to do. In many ways, it really does feel like an incomplete film.

Nolan gave us an incredible and very ambiguous ending with Inception. The movie gave us everything we needed to know and everyone is able to come up with their conclusion as to if he was dreaming or not. I remember having very different interpretations of that ending that many of my friends did.Lindeloff and Scott just left stuff out of the movie on purpose. That isn't being ambiguous, that's being disingenuous. There is a clear cut answer they have, the just wanted to leave it out. So all the "discussions" you have on this film are moot, because they know what happened, and that is that.

[mattmav45]

Inception's ending was solid, but I wasn't blown away with it as it seems most are. I started thinking midway through the movie that the whole "was it all just a dream?" angle could be used.It's a good ending, but I didn't really see it as mindblowing. I even thought Inception's ending was a cop-out in some aspects, but I didn't like the film as much as most, so take my comments for what they're worth.

[Ozymandias]

Inception's ending was solid, but I wasn't blown away with it as it seems most are. I started thinking midway through the movie that the whole "was it all just a dream?" angle could be used.It's a good ending, but I didn't really see it as mindblowing. I even thought Inception's ending was a cop-out in some aspects, but I didn't like the film as much as most, so take my comments for what they're worth.

I didn't find Inception's ending ambiguous at all. The whole movie was clearly a dream that Cobb was having, it couldn't have been any more clear. It was a "gotcha" ending. Edited July 13, 2012 by Shpongle

[RichWS]

I didn't find Inception's ending ambiguous at all. The whole movie was clearly a dream that Cobb was having, it couldn't have been any more clear. It was a "gotcha" ending.

And the other half of the audience didn't think it was a dream. Are they wrong?

[Deep Wang]

I didn't find Inception's ending ambiguous at all. The whole movie was clearly a dream that Cobb was having, it couldn't have been any more clear. It was a "gotcha" ending.

While that may be the case for what you believe, there are plenty of people that view it as the opposite. That is what I am talking about, you made up your mind based on everything you were presented, and it works. I could come up with plenty of reasons why it was all real and it too wouldn't be wrong.Remember in Memento, when Leonard is looking through the files to search for clues? There are tons of stuff blacked-out. He made it that way so that he would have a mystery to solve.That is what Prometheus feels like to me. Then add on all the extra crappy characters and all that jazz and I am left with a hollow experience. I am sincerely jealous of you being able to overlook what I can't and find something to like in this movie.

[Ozymandias]

While that may be the case for what you believe, there are plenty of people that view it as the opposite. That is what I am talking about, you made up your mind based on everything you were presented, and it works. I could come up with plenty of reasons why it was all real and it too wouldn't be wrong.Remember in Memento, when Leonard is looking through the files to search for clues? There are tons of stuff blacked-out. He made it that way so that he would have a mystery to solve.That is what Prometheus feels like to me. Then add on all the extra crappy characters and all that jazz and I am left with a hollow experience. I am sincerely jealous of you being able to overlook what I can't and find something to like in this movie.

There is nothing ambiguous about Inception's ending, or the film at all. People that think the movie wasn't a dream that Cobb was having are really over analyzing the film based on shit that isn't there because they think it couldn't have possibly been that simple after being forced to pay really close attention for 2 hours. Nolan ended the movie like that because it perfectly fit the whole point of the movie. "Dreams feel real while we're dreaming, its only when we wake up we realize something was actually strange." I'm sorry you got suckered by the most overrated director working today. Not even Nolan would just arbitrarily end Inception like that for no logical reason. And I'm also sorry you're comparing a clever film to an ambiguous film. A copy of Webster's is on its way. Edited July 14, 2012 by Shpongle

[tommycruise]

Saw this like over a month but was too lazy too review it till now :DI have to say that the acting and visuals were top notch, and it had some brilliant ideas(that weren't really explored) that kept me interested in the film till the end. But after seeing the awesome trailers it made you expect much more(which it seems they are saving for the sequel). It's good while it lasts but once its over and you start to dissect it and you realize how many plot holes there and how weak the story was you realize it wasn't even that good at all.B- yes the story sucks but I'll give it high marks for acting and visuals and for at least keeping me interested and entertained for 2 hours

[dignam]

Saw the movie 2 days ago, it was awesome. Great visuals, great 3D, and i loved the story :D9.5/10

[CDK]

I watched this again and I did like it more the 2nd time, the silly thing's that some of these smart people do still bug me but overall what I liked the 1st time I liked more, I would raise my grade from a 7/10 to 8/10, I really can't wait to see what they do next time.

[IndustriousAngel]

Finally saw this, in 3D too.

First and foremost, Ridley Scott has an eye for spectacular scenery and here he shows it again. This film is simply beautiful, the landscapes, the interior, the ships ... nearly perfect. The only thing not perfect from a visual pov is Guy Pearce's makeup, I mean wtf why didn't they simply cast an old actor?!

Apart from Pearce, the cast was ok or good; Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender were outstanding - everybody else had only side roles which was a bit sad in some cases. Charlize Theron was underused; she played a very one-dimensional bitch - not her fault but the script's I think.

Which leads me to the script: Now there were some major disappointments. I don't want to dissect this but there were many many very questionable decisions, be it character-wise or plot-wise. I'm a voracious SF reader and still liked Prometheus a lot, but it's not exactly new territory here - most themes in Prometheus are standard SF tropes and as such were done again and again with varying success by different writers, and my point is: They WERE done. There are dozens of perfect examples for stories about the origins of humanity, about extinct alien races, about powerful artifacts and alien ships, about bio-weapons, about adapting humanity, about androids, about religion in a spacefaring context ... so it's beyond me why they had to take the easy way, why they went for the most simple solution in nearly every instance (as the Space Jockey being just a suit?! - sorry guys, just read a bit more SF, there are better solutions to this).

The sound is good, reminded me of "Alien" which is a good thing since Alien uses sounds to perfection. The music was mediocre; the main theme a bit too portentous especially in contrast to the shallow story unfolding.

Not a bad film at all, even spectacular in many parts, but as an SF-fan (who else would watch this? Horror it's not) I'm a bit pissed off about all the missed opportunities in Prometheus. Actually, more than a bit pissed off. But I'll buy the BluRay and hope for a more ambitious sequel. Pleeeease hire some real SF writers, at least for story development!

B

[Ozymandias]

Finally saw this, in 3D too.

First and foremost, Ridley Scott has an eye for spectacular scenery and here he shows it again. This film is simply beautiful, the landscapes, the interior, the ships ... nearly perfect. The only thing not perfect from a visual pov is Guy Pearce's makeup, I mean wtf why didn't they simply cast an old actor?!

Apart from Pearce, the cast was ok or good; Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender were outstanding - everybody else had only side roles which was a bit sad in some cases. Charlize Theron was underused; she played a very one-dimensional bitch - not her fault but the script's I think.

Which leads me to the script: Now there were some major disappointments. I don't want to dissect this but there were many many very questionable decisions, be it character-wise or plot-wise. I'm a voracious SF reader and still liked Prometheus a lot, but it's not exactly new territory here - most themes in Prometheus are standard SF tropes and as such were done again and again with varying success by different writers, and my point is: They WERE done. There are dozens of perfect examples for stories about the origins of humanity, about extinct alien races, about powerful artifacts and alien ships, about bio-weapons, about adapting humanity, about androids, about religion in a spacefaring context ... so it's beyond me why they had to take the easy way, why they went for the most simple solution in nearly every instance (as the Space Jockey being just a suit?! - sorry guys, just read a bit more SF, there are better solutions to this).

The sound is good, reminded me of "Alien" which is a good thing since Alien uses sounds to perfection. The music was mediocre; the main theme a bit too portentous especially in contrast to the shallow story unfolding.

Not a bad film at all, even spectacular in many parts, but as an SF-fan (who else would watch this? Horror it's not) I'm a bit pissed off about all the missed opportunities in Prometheus. Actually, more than a bit pissed off. But I'll buy the BluRay and hope for a more ambitious sequel. Pleeeease hire some real SF writers, at least for story development!

B

Great 20 minute review set to Elevator music with some great added comedy. I think the last 5 minutes is the best. There are a few small things I disagree with him on though. The medpod was set for male because it was for Weylend who was staying in Cryo in Vicker's section of the ship(where we first see Weylend). Scott even confirmed that. Also, the cthulu looking facehugger and the Xeno at the end weren't the first since their was a sculpture of one on a wall earlier in the film.

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7CChfYoO_I&feature=related

Edited August 22, 2012 by Shpongle

[acsc1312]

SO MUCH HAAAAAATE!!!!!!!!!! Boo on you all

[DAR]

I have from Direct TV one of those hey you've been a good customer here's a movie on us type of coupons so I think I may use that on this.

[baumer]

Still a silly film. The lack of logic in this from some of the script to the decisions that people make keep this at a 6/10.

[Gopher]

These are the smartest scientists in the wor-OH LOOK THERE'S A LITTLE ALIEN I WANNA TOUCH IT

[baumer]

These people ostensibly meet each other for the first time when they meet in the meeting room. But with a mission like this, wouldn't they have to meet and get to know each? I mean each one comes with a very particular set of skills that needs to be used on this mission, so wouldn't they need to get to know each other a little bit first?And if those two bozos left the group because they were afraid of the dead bodies, wouldn't it be in the back of their mind that anything could have caused those bodies to be dead? And if that is the case, then why try to pet an alien creature you have never seen before? Why try to call it over like its a puppy?

[Ozymandias]

Am I the only that noticed that Vickers said she did the hiring of the crew? In the film its very clear she thought the mission was a hilarious bullshit wild goose chase by her Dad whom she thought was a crazy supersticious old man looking for God because he can't handle the thought of dying. So why would she go out of her way to hire a top of the line crew? Details are your friends. Thats how the 2 amatuers and the Steve Irwin snake petter accidently got hired, she was reckless.

Edited October 10, 2012 by Shpongle