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crookedbill
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 2:30 PMlong time lurker, first time poster. sorry to make my first post a negative one.
so the more i hear about prometheus and the more trailers/spots i see, the less enthusiastic i'm getting about his film. if you're a fan of "alien" or "aliens" i think you're going to be disappointed. here are my reasons:
1) it's a prequel, and like any prequel it's gonna be loaded with useless boring exposition. endless yapping and long-winded platitudes from the characters. just what we've seen already from the official trailers/spots has spoiled the movie and tries to "explain" too much! where's the mystery?
there won't be any.
2) what made "alien" great? it was a very basic horror/monster film - relatable and likeable characters (blue collar, in a grubby blue collar setting), no-name actors, mystery and atmosphere, very little exposition, very basic plot, a couple great shocking scenes, and you barely ever see the (absolutely weird, for the time, and expertly designed) monster. aka "jaws in space."
by contrast prometheus seems to have a bunch of cocky unlikeable characters (most of whom look like nameless monster fodder, though there are a number of "major" name stars vying for screen time and attention), ridiculous high-tech "future" environments, relatively little mystery, a LOT of exposition and over-explanation, cliche "high concept" plot, pseudo-science and shallow religious (likely anti-religious) themes, lots of "huge" eye-catching action sequences, and multiple monsters (humanoids, snakes and squids? lame) look like they get a lot of major screen time in brightly lit environments.
3) admit it, you're only onboard because you love "alien" (a horror movie) and/or "aliens" (a war movie). what was so cool about those films? the original giger monster/xenomorph! doesn't look like this movie will feature that at all. hope you're shocked by snakes and squids! this film won't be anything like either of the originals.
4) returning to classic beloved sci-fi franchises from the 70's and 80's has proven disastrous in the past decade. the star wars prequels? awful. the avp films? awful. the terminator 3 and salvation? awful. every single one of those films had me excited, but felt like a knife through the heart when i actually saw them. they could never live up to the originals, and neither will prometheus.
mark my words, prometheus will get ruthlessly panned by fans and film critics.
33 Replies
crookedbill
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 3:08 PMdon't get me wrong, i absolutely hope i'm wrong! i DO want to be surprised and blown away!
just for good measure, i'll list some things i'm digging about prometheus from what i've seen so far:
1) set design. very slick and sorta retro in a 60's space-age kind of way. glad they actually built most of those sets instead of relying on cgi.
2) i love charlize theron. she's ridiculously hot, a great actress and seems to play a fairly level headed ass kicker sort of roll here. currently my have character here. very ripley-esque if you ask me. rapace just looks so naive and cocky by comparison (don't get me started on holloway, who i'm hoping will die a quick death), but i'm guessing that's "the point" and she gets all "tough" by the end of the film.
3) idris elba. i hope this is another level headed blue collar ass kicker type character, though i'm not feeling his goofy "southern" accent.
4) i like "epic" sci-fi with lofty concepts, which looks like what this is aiming for, but i just don't think that meshes with the originals. like i said, the first was a basic horror film, and the second was a basic war film with a great little theme on "motherhood" (and who can't immediately relate to that?).
Xenophobia
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 2:36 PMWow!! You had me at " I'am a fan of Alien" guess there will we an extra seat available at the cinema by your account. I think ( respectfully of course ) THAT YOU SIR ARE WRONG!!
mango4739
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 2:41 PMI agree with Xenophobia.
I'm actually envious of you crookedbill because when you go and see Prometheus you will be extra amazed at how good it is!! :-)
B1-66ER
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 2:42 PMyou had me at "humanoids snakes and squids. Lame." 'cause frankly I agree with you 100%. though I love AvP, not for the movies themselves ('cause they do suck) but for the fact that they exist and I just love watching them kick the shit out of each other. Terminator 3 and 4 however were undoubtedly a knife through the heart with know redeeming entertainment value whatsoever.
CarefulWithThatAxeShaw
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 2:44 PMThat will make one more seat for us... Thanks. I'll cut off my dick if you're right though... lol
Ghaim Overman
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 2:47 PMConsider your words [i]marked[/i] crookedbill. Won't be long.
NoXWord
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 2:50 PMYou have a few reasonable points, but in my opinion half of the fun (or even more) comes from the anticipation and pointless discussion going on.
In the end the film might be good or bad: if it's good I'll be more than happy, if it's bad amen, my life won't change because of it. It would have been a great delusion in hindsight, but the time spent waiting for it has been worth it, because it has been decades since I felt like this for something this frivolous the last time, and it will hardly happen ever again to me.
Additionally, if it's very bad, there will be a new trend of funny Prometheus memes and new jokes to add to the AvP ones.
I see it as a win-win.
NOTE:
The BFCA gave Prometheus 90/100, so not all critics are going to pan it. We'll see what the fans will say (me included).
PS
You partly lost your credibility in my eyes when you used the x-word.... :D
Ridley Scott will eventually tell us how the Queen was born.
Right now we have the Deacon; coming soon the Mercury, the May and the Taylor.
.
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 3:03 PM... nice to see the other side still active as ever. Time will tell, but having such a negative attitude will just spoil it for you. Too bad, so sad... take your football and go home...
JunktownLibrary
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 3:10 PMI think it will be great no matter what. I guess our opinions are just different :I
DavidAuthentic
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 3:23 PMI think Fox is toying with us. We're like putty in their hands. What they have shown us from tv spots, trailers, viral marketing has an intended purpose. How can we possibly judge the final product until indeed that magical night on June 8th. I'm surprised by the sudden negative change in opinion regarding the movie in terms of "Cuddles" the squid and the "Cobra" snake creature. Nobody loves a Xeno more than I do. But did we really expect them to play a large part in Prometheus? As Mr. Scott has mentioned repeatedly the last minutes of Prometheus contain the "DNA" of the Alien we all know and love and thats good enough for me. I may be in the minority here but I'm ecstatic that were getting a whole new concept that is obviously set in the "Alien" universe AND finally an answer to the biggest mystery of all .... that damn Space Jockey from the original Alien. We've waited a very, very long time for that....isnt that enough? (This is my first post, be gentle)
Mostly
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 3:34 PMCrookedbill.
Give us some context. What have you seen recently that you like? With out context your just a member of the negative band and the only song they know is disappointment with everything.
Right Said Brett
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 3:34 PMYou made some good points, crookedbill. However, I do have disagree with the notion the trailers and TV spots ruining the film. In my personal experience, I have never been able to completely judge a film on it's advertisements. And on many opening nights, I have been pleasantly surprised by the final product, which has never turned out as I thought it would.
A number of films have even used deleted scenes in portions of their trailersTV spots. And in doing so, I have been mislead in imagining how the story would unfold. I am familiar with RS's work enough to know that we have not even seen a drop in the bucket yet. On opening night, I have a feeling we will be surprised by what Scott is going to present to us in Prometheus.
Sky
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 3:43 PMWho cares if OP is right or wrong. It is just another movie and not some reality. As long as we;re entertained before doomsday, all is well. lol
Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.
whiskuz
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 4:06 PMWow if you think the only thing that was "so cool about those films" was the xenomorph, you missed a lot. Frankly I feel sorry for you, friend.
Sky
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 4:15 PMPrequel or not. We get to see panspermia and engineers, so my money is worth it. lol
Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.
It'sLikeAnAnthive
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 4:25 PMI disagree completely, and if you are right then I owe you an apology...
There was plenty that was interesting, unigue and made the Alien movies great to watch and think about. Yes, the xenomorph is one thing, but so was the plot, the actors, the planets, the ideas behind and yes the mystery. IMO I refuse to believe Ridley is going to spoil the mystery for us, he has to know that that is one of the main unique points of his movie, the mystery of where things came from, what this and that was etc etc.
If Prometheus is a 10/10 movie then terrific all the better. IF it's a horrible movie that shouldn't have been produced, then I'll do some searching and find at least a few things about it that I enjoy.
Not to mention not everyone is going to see because it has ALIEN in the trailer. If I wasn't into sci-fi movies I wouldn't have heard of it. However I hope we can both enjoy the movie.
artyoh
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 4:25 PMIt's become "fashionable" of late to diss Ridley Scott's more recent work, but the supposed justifications for it, are really pretty thin. On his worst day, he's still better than most directors. I didn't like some of the writing and editing on "Kingdom of Heaven," but that movie is unfairly maligned, IMO. It's a sweeping, historical epic, that isn't let down by its' [i]direction.[/i]
I think this movie is going to be much more creepy and frightening than some of us are apparently expecting it to be.
crookedbill
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 4:26 PMMostly,
some context - films i've seen recently that i liked?
drive - simple stylized revenge flick with a cool soundtrack and a couple good car-chase scenes.
elite squad: the enemy within - gritty brazilian cop action-drama.
money ball - not a huge brad pitt or baseball fan, but really enjoyed this movie.
50/50 - pretty touching and funny "bro-comedy."
i'm sure i'm missing a few. i've really enjoyed a lot of indie films and documentaries, but the "geek" franchise that has really impressed me in recent years is nolan's batman/dark knight series (i was a huge bat-fan growing up). those are films i followed closely from pre-production to release, and was still blown away by the finished product at the theater. i'm fully expecting to love "dark knight rises."
for the record my favorite films of all time are (more or less in order): aliens (yep, i like aliens more than alien), terminator 2, alien, blade runner, the dark knight, batman (the first burton one, sue me), terminator. throw the original star wars films in there for good measure. yep, i like my geek sci-fi.
It'sLikeAnAnthive
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 4:27 PM@artyoh I'd have to agree, even the worst of his movies are better then almost anything I've seen on tv, at the theatre or on the internet.
crookedbill
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 4:31 PMartyoh,
i love ridley scott btw. obviously loved alien, and blade runner, but gladiator, black hawk down, and most recently body of lies too.
th3rapy
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 5:01 PM30 years from now you´ll be talking about prometheus the same way nowadays we talk about alien.....morron
artyoh
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 5:14 PMEveryone is entitled to their opinion. Some people liked "Aliens" more than they liked "Alien." No harm, no foul.
They're wrong, of course, but like I said, no biggie. ;p
Not_my_intention
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 6:40 PMwhile i will agree that praising it before its even out is a mistake and we will be let down a little tinny bit, saying it will be really bad beforehand is just as bad if not worse. terminator 3, was kind of bad i will admit, but salvation was not that bad, idk why people hate it so much, not as good as 1 and 2 sure but still. avp was just a popcorn flick, avpr was.. well... yeah that was bad lol and star wars was only bad because it was made by George Lucas, that stupid bastard. also, real sets are not that hard to find these days lol, maybe in big sci fi movies it is a little rare but come on now, its not overused THAT much. and yeah, Prometheus looks great! you can kind of tell when something will be good.
John D.
MemberOvomorphMay-23-2012 6:30 PM@crookedbill
That sound you hear is the noise of irony being totally lost on somebody :)
Or perhaps we should say "Ironny?"
:P
Sorry, couldn't resist.
BigDave
MemberDeaconMay-24-2012 6:44 AMI think that a lot of stuff will not get explained....
Just have hints that guide us along a path to make better assumptions.
Thats Lindelof for you though.
R.I.P Sox 01/01/2006 - 11/10/2017
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