Prometheus (WARNING: SPOILERS)

  • Thread starter fonz
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In summary, the film is about a group of scientists who go to a distant planet to study an alien spacecraft. They find out that the spacecraft is from a different planet and that the aliens on the planet are trying to create life. There are different versions of the same creature in the film, and the end of the film has the scientists trying to stop the aliens from creating life.
  • #1
fonz
151
5
Saw this film earlier this evening and I'm confused. There's a few things I can't get my head around, perhaps somebody could explain.

Also, don't read any further if you haven't seen the film.

What is that stuff the engineer drinks and why does he drink it? I get that it's to create life but it still doesn't make a lot of sense.

Where do all these different xenomorph's come from. The 'facehuggers' obviously come from the worms. That big tentacled thing comes from the offspring of humans and the alien comes from the engineer. In the original Alien the alien creature comes from a human, you see the confusion.

Also, what was it that attacked the engineers, where did it come from and where did it go?
 
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  • #2


I thought this movie came out next week??

Man I need to get to the theater!
 
  • #3


Hollywood releases films abroad before the US.
 
  • #4


I am really looking forward to seeing this movie.

And am definitely not looking at those spoilers!
 
  • #5


SHISHKABOB said:
I am really looking forward to seeing this movie.
Me too!

SHISHKABOB said:
And am definitely not looking at those spoilers!
I think you can view them without spoiling the movie for yourself. They're just questions about certain details, prior knowledge of which might actually contribute to your enjoyment of the movie.

If you've seen the trailers and read some of the commentary, then you're probably already aware of what will be revealed to you (in viewing it) as the movie's basic premise. Being aware of some details in advance sometimes enhances one's enjoyment of films like this (a large part of which, imo, is the cgi spectacle).

Apparently, the events in Prometheus are occurring long before the events in Alien. The planet that the human spacecraft Prometheus lands on is not the same planet that Nostromo landed on. The alien spacecraft in Prometheus isn't the same alien spacecraft in Alien. And the 'space jockey' in Prometheus (the apparent pilot of the alien spacecraft ) isn't the same 'space jockey' as in Alien.

But the 'space jockey' alien race, and their goal(s), is the key to the conflict in the plot of Prometheus.
 
  • #6


I am can't wait to see this movie! It's already out?
 
  • #7


It's been out in Australia for several days.

From the trailers, I was really looking forward to seeing it next weekend - that is, until I just saw it got 2 out of 5 stars from reviewers I consider reliable.
 
  • #8


I've heard not good things about it.
 
  • #9


Besides leaving a lot of questions unanswered it's actually a great film. Some of the dialogue is slightly weak but believe me it is definitely worth watching.

Actually I would consider it one of the better science fiction films I have seen in recent years.
 
  • #10


Rumor has it it is this film that potentially ruins 'At the Mountains of Madness' from coming to the screen, we shall see.
 
  • #11


It's got an 8.1 at IMBD so far.
 
  • #12


I watched a pirated Russian version. Fantastic visual spectacle. Lots of cool action. Can't wait to see it on the big screen. In English. It will be well worth 10 to 12 bucks imo. Bring your own snacks.
 
  • #13
I saw it last week, very good (even though most people can't act and the technobabble is a bit on the weird side). As to the questions:
fonz said:
Saw this film earlier this evening and I'm confused. There's a few things I can't get my head around, perhaps somebody could explain.

Also, don't read any further if you haven't seen the film.

What is that stuff the engineer drinks and why does he drink it? I get that it's to create life but it still doesn't make a lot of sense.
As far as I could make out it was something that was meant to break him up into a primordial soup. Why he had to commit suicide rather than just dump a bunch of chemicals and bacteria (or even just dump a dead body) is one of those plot devices meant to add drama and perhaps make these blue guys seem more badass.

What really confused me is exactly what he was trying to achieve vs what was actually achieved. It's implied that he is on a primordial Earth and that by dissolving himself into an ancient sea he created life on Earth. But then it doesn't make any sense that humans then just happened to evolve half a billion years later and that is what they wanted originally (this makes doubly less sense when they say that humans and these aliens have identical DNA when clearly they are very different and like the one biologist points out how the hell does that square with all the evidence, particularly genetic, for evolution on Earth?). It would have made far more sense and been a better plot piece IMO if they had taken the 2001: Space Odyssey approach and had one of these aliens approach a group of ancient primates and tinker with them.
fonz said:
Where do all these different xenomorph's come from. The 'facehuggers' obviously come from the worms. That big tentacled thing comes from the offspring of humans and the alien comes from the engineer. In the original Alien the alien creature comes from a human, you see the confusion.
Perhaps I missed something but I didn't hear anyone refer to them as "xenomorphs". As has been said above this isn't really a direct prequel to alien, we're not even sure if this is the same planet as found at the start of Alien (largely it wouldn't make sense that it was because in Alien and Aliens the various companies on Earth no nothing about it).

As to what the aliens are and how they link to others one of the characters guesses that the planet is a military research centre for developing biological weapons. From that perspective there could be other planets where the more conventional aliens can be found or they could be on other parts of this planet.
fonz said:
Also, what was it that attacked the engineers, where did it come from and where did it go?
I thought it was a given that some of these experiments got out of hand and turned on the engineers. A stranger plot point is why the aliens in the ship went into stasis rather than leaving.
 
  • #14
Is Sir Ridley Scott going senile?

Mod note: Threads merged. Ryan_m_b

How COULD he lend his name to the dreadful Prometheus movie??

I saw it tonight, and we were NOT amused. :mad:
 
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  • #15


arildno said:
How COULD he lend his name to the dreadful Prometheus movie??

I saw it tonight, and we were NOT amused. :mad:
Really? I thought it was great ... and I've only seen it dubbed in Russian, which I'm not fluent in. :smile:
 
  • #16


ThomasT said:
Really? I thought it was great ... and I've only seen it dubbed in Russian, which I'm not fluent in. :smile:

Hmm..let's see, for STARTERS:
1. What was the relevance of the opening scene and the portentious drinking from a cup? No eplanation was given.

2. What was the relevance of Daddy Shaw dying from the Ebola virus?? OR Dr. Shaw's childhood memories in general?

3. Why did the android infect Dr. Holloway with some blood drop?

4. How, and on what basis, did the captain suddenly realize that everything was a military installation and factory for producing biological weapons?

5. How did a tiny tentacle creep, securely locked in a room without access to food suddenly grow into gargantuan proportions??

6. Why did a military installation "hide" a spaceship beneath a big mound shaped like a head?? Why not just as some unobstrusive boulder?

7. How did the geologist become imbued with superman powers after infection, while the biologist just died?? Why didn't Holloway develop superman powers?

8. Didn't Prometheus even have metal detectors to find out that the whole ground was a huge launching pad, or something??
 
  • #17


Hellooo? Spoiler alert!
 
  • #18


KiwiKid said:
Hellooo? Spoiler alert!

Indeed! Thus, you need not see this multiply used diaper of a movie. :approve:
 
  • #19


arildno said:
Indeed! Thus, you need not see this multiply used diaper of a movie. :approve:

I actually stopped reading after 'for starters' when my brain realized you were going to provide a list of details. Luckily, I can still watch the movie and (likely) enjoy it. :smile:
 
  • #20


And,
9. How the heck can a self-medicated sedative used during vivesection&operation suddenly turn into an energizer of Dr. Shaw's body??

There she was, running happily about, only minutes after having sawed out a tentacle thing from her abdomen...
 
  • #21


KiwiKid said:
Hellooo? Spoiler alert!

Uh. Yuh. Plus 1.
 
  • #22


That bad huh? I knew this was going to be a film obsessed w special fx and cgi w a thin plot. Just goes to show that no matter how much you spend, if your script stinks your movie will too.
 
  • #23


DaveC426913 said:
Uh. Yuh. Plus 1.
And one more:

10. Why was the design so un-Alien??
In the four previous movies, with generally deteriorating quality, the directors at least kept the spooky elegance intact throughout in how structures looked like.

Not so in this film, where the sets was broken apart, each with its own mini-design, and no overall feel to them.

the only thing faintly reminiscent of the old Alien environment was the control room in the old spaceship.
 
  • #24


Is this another Alien sequal?
 
  • #25


zoobyshoe said:
Is this another Alien sequal?

It is an Alien prequel, or tries to be. It seek to prove darwinism wrong (we were spliced together by an alien master race, who later on decided to kill us off by creating monsters. The monsters turned on the masers).
A cross seems to be important, too
 
  • #26


arildno said:
It is an Alien prequel, or tries to be. It seek to prove darwinism wrong (we were spliced together by an alien master race, who later on decided to kill us off by creating monsters. The monsters turned on the masers).
A cross seems to be important, too

Yeah, that sounds nice and pointless.
 
  • #27


Furthermore, the movie was etremely boring. It had a very low gore content, but that could have been a great advantage if the portrayals of the interpersonal relationships had been absorbing.
they were not. The dialogue was stiff and bad, motivations and intrigues without any depths, sudden friendships sprung up for no reason, seemingly age old friendships were suddenly assumed, but had never been developed and then all of a sudden, without any developing sense of necessity, the remaining crew decided to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.

The movie is a stinky old diaper.
 
  • #28


arildno said:
1. What was the relevance of the opening scene and the portentious drinking from a cup? No eplanation was given.
Agreed, though I stated my ideas above.
arildno said:
2. What was the relevance of Daddy Shaw dying from the Ebola virus?? OR Dr. Shaw's childhood memories in general?
As far as I could see it was an attempt to lay down some background for the character. You might want to also add to the list the fact that she couldn't get pregnant which is brought up once and never again.
arildno said:
3. Why did the android infect Dr. Holloway with some blood drop?
To see what would happen. David's behaviour in general seems to be towards studying the aliens and bringing them home (probably for profit).
arildno said:
4. How, and on what basis, did the captain suddenly realize that everything was a military installation and factory for producing biological weapons?
Well it was more of a hunch than anything and to be fair I thought that at one point before he said it.
arildno said:
5. How did a tiny tentacle creep, securely locked in a room without access to food suddenly grow into gargantuan proportions??
This annoyed me too. I consolled mysdself by assuming it ate the chair.
arildno said:
6. Why did a military installation "hide" a spaceship beneath a big mound shaped like a head?? Why not just as some unobstrusive boulder?
It wasn't hidden was it? I thought it was parked.
arildno said:
7. How did the geologist become imbued with superman powers after infection, while the biologist just died?? Why didn't Holloway develop superman powers?
Didn't the biologist got killed by the snake whereas the other two were infected by the black stuff? Holloway was burnt before he could fully change as well.
arildno said:
8. Didn't Prometheus even have metal detectors to find out that the whole ground was a huge launching pad, or something??
I was less impressed by their flying probes. Other than scanning the wall proportions they didn't seem to do anything. They didn't even have cameras.
arildno said:
9. How the heck can a self-medicated sedative used during vivesection&operation suddenly turn into an energizer of Dr. Shaw's body??
I didn't notice this.
arildno said:
There she was, running happily about, only minutes after having sawed out a tentacle thing from her abdomen...
The medical cabinet thing could have been done better (also I don't understand why it was just programmed for men if the person who owned it is a woman), it's meant to be used by one (presumably sick) person so you'd hope the machine could medicate by itself. It was sort of implied that the surgery was using quite advanced technology by sealing her tissue before stapling it but that's not really gone over.

As for her running about, I did wonder if people would find that less believable than the stereotypical male protagonist of most action films who regularly gets battered, bruised and shot but still manages to fight and survive will little more than a limp.
arildno said:
10. Why was the design so un-Alien??
In the four previous movies, with generally deteriorating quality, the directors at least kept the spooky elegance intact throughout in how structures looked like.

Not so in this film, where the sets was broken apart, each with its own mini-design, and no overall feel to them.

the only thing faintly reminiscent of the old Alien environment was the control room in the old spaceship.
I've read in multiple interviews that it wasn't meant to be alien, It's meant to be it's own thing loosely linked.
 
  • #29
The movie starts tomorrow in Fort Lauderdale at the IMAX theater downtown. It's in 3D. We'll probably wait until this weekend or next week to see it ... to avoid the early crowds.
 
  • #30


Ryan_m_b said:
I've read in multiple interviews that it wasn't meant to be alien, It's meant to be it's own thing loosely linked.

That was their downfall. There is so much content in the Alien universe. I've read many of the spin off books and they would make fantastic movies. Alien was one of the best sci fi creatures of all time, why invent something else? Dang I was really looking forward to this. Hollywood is so trash.
 
  • #31
We have tickets for Tuesday afternoon at the local IMAX. I'll post my impression(s), any lingering (for me) questions/confusions, and any answers/resolutions (imo) following my viewing and discussion of the film with my fellow viewers.
 
  • #32
I saw it this afternoon. Then I came home and watched Alien Resurrection (arguably the worst of the films, excluding that wretched Aliens v. Predators thing). My impression? Meh

The visual effects of the Prometheus craft were great, but basically everything taking place off the ship was boring. The plot has too many holes, especially when compared to the lore of the original films, but, even overlooking that, the plot by itself makes little sense.

Summary:
People follow star-map from cave paintings to meet god-race, only to find out they were planning on sending a virus/alien back to Earth for some reason.

I just don't get it. It didn't feel like anyone in the film would have had the motivation to do any of the things they did. They just acted randomly through the whole film.

There also wasn't nearly enough of that spaceship ambient "engines idling" sound that I love so much.
 
  • #33
QuarkCharmer said:
I saw it this afternoon. Then I came home and watched Alien Resurrection (arguably the worst of the films, excluding that wretched Aliens v. Predators thing). My impression? Meh
I thought Alien Resurrection was cool (I liked it better than Aliens and Alien III), though imo Dan Hedaya was miscast and Freeman's and Dourif's characterizations a bit ... overdone. I thought AvP was more realistic/believable, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Of course the best were the original Alien and Predator films, because of their originality.

QuarkCharmer said:
I just don't get it. It didn't feel like anyone in the film would have had the motivation to do any of the things they did. They just acted randomly through the whole film.
Ok. I'm curious to see what my impression/reaction will be.

QuarkCharmer said:
There also wasn't nearly enough of that spaceship ambient "engines idling" sound that I love so much.
This seems like an extremely personal thing, the exploration of which is, imo, beyond the scope of the OP.
 
  • #34
Just came back from an afternoon 3d-screening. Absolutely no one else in the theatre.

Impression: absolute crap.

My most cringe-worthy moment was when Holloway said: "One small step for mankind" without apparent irony. Oh god...

I had not read this thread or any others on the internet to keep myself "unspoilered". I'd gone on the strength of a 74% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Guess what - I'm not trusting *that* website anymore. :rolleyes:
 
  • #35
After watching that film, I cannot help but think in my wild imagination that Craig Venter will be the founding Father of the future 'Engineers' whom created new life and spread it across the Universe...so that in many light years time a 'Prometheus' will come back to Earth to look for their creators (Craig and his Engineers in California.)
Indeed we could be the first intelligent species in the Universe considering that the Universe is very young and considering the estimated lifespan of same :-)...lol

(Of course the issue of who created Craig/Engineers/us still remains but that issue wasn't resolved in the film either :-))
 
<h2>What is the plot of Prometheus?</h2><p>The plot of Prometheus follows a team of scientists who embark on a journey to a distant moon in search of the origin of humanity. They discover a mysterious structure and encounter a powerful alien species known as the Engineers. As they uncover the truth about their own origins, they must battle for their survival and the fate of humanity.</p><h2>Who are the Engineers in Prometheus?</h2><p>The Engineers are an advanced alien species who are believed to be the creators of humanity. They are highly intelligent and possess advanced technology, but their motives and intentions towards humanity are unclear. Some speculate that they created humans as a biological weapon, while others believe they may have created humans out of love.</p><h2>What is the black goo in Prometheus?</h2><p>The black goo, also known as the "pathogen", is a substance created by the Engineers that has the power to create and destroy life. It is capable of mutating and altering DNA, and can be used as a weapon. In the film, it is responsible for creating the Xenomorphs and causing the downfall of the Engineers.</p><h2>Is Prometheus a prequel to Alien?</h2><p>Yes, Prometheus is considered a prequel to the Alien franchise. It is set in the same universe and explores the origins of the Xenomorphs and the Space Jockey creature seen in the original Alien film. However, it is not a direct prequel and has its own unique storyline.</p><h2>What is the meaning of the ending of Prometheus?</h2><p>The ending of Prometheus is open to interpretation, but it is believed to symbolize the cycle of life and death. The surviving characters, Elizabeth Shaw and the android David, leave the moon in search of the Engineers' home planet, hoping to find answers about humanity's origins. The final shot shows the birth of a new Xenomorph, hinting at the continuation of the cycle of creation and destruction.</p>

What is the plot of Prometheus?

The plot of Prometheus follows a team of scientists who embark on a journey to a distant moon in search of the origin of humanity. They discover a mysterious structure and encounter a powerful alien species known as the Engineers. As they uncover the truth about their own origins, they must battle for their survival and the fate of humanity.

Who are the Engineers in Prometheus?

The Engineers are an advanced alien species who are believed to be the creators of humanity. They are highly intelligent and possess advanced technology, but their motives and intentions towards humanity are unclear. Some speculate that they created humans as a biological weapon, while others believe they may have created humans out of love.

What is the black goo in Prometheus?

The black goo, also known as the "pathogen", is a substance created by the Engineers that has the power to create and destroy life. It is capable of mutating and altering DNA, and can be used as a weapon. In the film, it is responsible for creating the Xenomorphs and causing the downfall of the Engineers.

Is Prometheus a prequel to Alien?

Yes, Prometheus is considered a prequel to the Alien franchise. It is set in the same universe and explores the origins of the Xenomorphs and the Space Jockey creature seen in the original Alien film. However, it is not a direct prequel and has its own unique storyline.

What is the meaning of the ending of Prometheus?

The ending of Prometheus is open to interpretation, but it is believed to symbolize the cycle of life and death. The surviving characters, Elizabeth Shaw and the android David, leave the moon in search of the Engineers' home planet, hoping to find answers about humanity's origins. The final shot shows the birth of a new Xenomorph, hinting at the continuation of the cycle of creation and destruction.

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