Moviedweeb Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Yup, I know not everyone agrees(especially the fanboy culture that the sequel ALIENS created) and I'm cool with that, but I think Scott is basically saving ALIEN by having made Prometheus. A prequel that defies canonicity in the extreme, so much so that you almost wonder if Ridley Scott was saying "Fuck you" to that culture. "I created Alien." I love ALIENS(for what it was) as much as the next guy, its one of my all time favorites, but that movie opened the door to most of the poorly thought-out shit that came after that cheapened the Alien and made it very mundane and generic.Take the last scene in the movie for an example. I think it both fits with the meta-heavy readings of the film, and it is a direct response to how the iconic Xenomorph has been portrayed following the original Alien film(ALIENS, ALIEN 3, ALIEN RESURRECTION) by Ridley Scott himself.Each character in the film got what they wanted/expected but with an ironic twist. For example, Shaw wanted to become pregnant, but she ended up impregnated with a nightmarish monster fetus. David wanted to be free from Weylend, but it came with the price of his head getting ripped off, so now he's "limited" again. Weyland wanted to literally meet his maker, but instead he "met his maker". And so on etc...Well, the built-in "fanboy" audience of the movie also got what they wanted (a direct Alien prequel/remake) but not the way they wanted it. There is a point in the film where everything almost aligns to be a direct prequel to Alien, but then that possibility is snatched away. Then for the last shot of the movie (after the screen has already faded to black) we are finally shown the iconic Alien, but its not quite right. Its weirdly underdeveloped, lacking the most famous aspects of the original design (details, the biomechanics, penis head, life-cycle). That scene is a glorious subversion of the audience's expectations.Secondly the power of the original Alien design comes from a simple fact... this is a being that should not exist in any literal or biological reality. Its a creature straight from the most perverse Freudian/Lovecraftian nightmare (actually H.R. Giger's signature style came from his real life struggles with ceaseless nightmares). Later entries in the franchise made the Xenomorph creature into a simple beast; a species of giant ants that were often treated as mere cannon fodder. But what Prometheus' final shot did was return the Xenomorph to its rightful place as a thing that SHOULD NOT EXIST. It became a perverse nightmare creature born from a barren woman's abortion in a ridiculous sequence of events that ended with the surprise sex and death of a god. The creature we see in the final shot of the film is no dumb space-ant, but the embodiment of horror that Alien so masterfully captured.Now Prometheus wasn't exactly a truely scary film, its more of a introduction and commentary on that teases on big ideas. But if it gets a sequel I'm sure it will be a scary as fuck film now that Ridley Scott has reset the franchise.Great post and point about Aliens. Prometheus is definitely Ridley Scott taking back the franchise that was massacred before his eyes (I know he was bitter about not being selected to do Aliens). Prometheus also brilliantly defies expectation which is why it is so damn good! None of the other films came close to addressing the fundamental questions that Ridley was asking in the first one or the implications of what was being shown on screen. I know it sounds arrogant but it just irks me so much when people say that Prometheus had so many plot holes or that it didn't make any sense. Prometheus is one of the most deep and thoughtful films I have seen and Ridley went beyond saving the Alien franchise; I just wish more people agreed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJohn Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 TransformersAvengers stuff (includes Iron Man, Thor, etc)BatmanTitans :ph34r:Hunger GamesResident Evil :ph34r:Ice AgeSherlock HolmesBetween many, many more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozymandias Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 Pretty much any mindless zombie flick.Also, I'm down for another The Thing movie, even though the 2011 prequel wasn't in the same realm as the original.And I'm cool with more Underworld movies. I think its one of the best popcorn series out there. Underworld Awakening was a very entertaining movie and Kate Beckinsale looked just as hot as she did 10 years ago in the first movie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilmac Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Lucas can mess around all he wants with 10 more special editions and I'd forgive him because this is the man who brought me ANH, ESB, ROTJ, and ROTS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moviedweeb Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Lucas can mess around all he wants with 10 more special editions and I'd forgive him because this is the man who brought me ANH, ESB, ROTJ, and ROTS.When did you watch ROTS last? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilmac Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 When did you watch ROTS last?Several months ago. It stands the test of time as do the classics IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
