Murals and green stone

I think the murals speak for themselves. There was someone on this board a while back who found the original images used to make those murals and they clearly show an Engineer playing a dominant role over an unknown creature. It just shows the superiority of Engineers over their creations. Engineer are pretty vain I think (giant Engineer face says it all). As for the green stone, it lays on a table right next to a Xenomorph in the wall, so I'm guessing it plays a role in sacrificing an Engineer in order to create a Xenomorph - the ultimate killer, or just 'death'. It's in contrast to the opening sequence when a 'pure' Engineer drinks something out of a cup and dissolves into water to create life.

The mural does not show a "dominant" engineer, but the mythical figure Prometheus who got his liver eaten by this strange creature. According to the ancient Greek myth, Zeus tied up Prometheus on Caucasus because the last one gave fire to mankind and an eagle (symbol of Zeus) was eating every day Prometheu's liver. The martyr was endless since Prometheu's liver was being self healed the next day, until Hercules freed him.

It just would have been interesting to hear their thoughts on these items. I kind of feel that the green stone holds the original DNA of the Xeno who's image is on the wall/door.

@thegoodtimes: oh yeah... i notced that. the writers and ridley (moreso the writers. Ridley, being the director, focused primarily on the visual aesthetic of the film) deliberately bypassed the visual clues housed within the ampule room. I imagine that was all intentional. Some of the biggest clues concerning the bio-chronology of the "alien universe" are shown to us in the ampule room. I imagine they dont want to spoil things for people.

They have said things will move further away from its ties to Alien in Prometheus 2. Who knows if any of these questions will be addressed.

oh no. i dont mean that they dont want to spoil sequels for people. I meant that they dont want to spoil the fun of digging through the film and finding the clues for onesself. I agree. i think (and hope) that the sequel to prometheus will veer further away from the alien/xeno etc. Having said that, i think we can start pinning down the various events/time-line/bio-chronology ourselves. There is a good bit of info. when you combine Alien, Prometheus, the commentaries, and the Blu rays. The ampule room shows us 4 pieces of artistic expression (to my knowledge). 2 different frescos on the ceiling, the bas relief that charlie comments on, and the big engineer head sculpture in the center of the room. I just want to mention the second fresco because i havent seen it mentioned in this thead and its quite informative. This fresco depicts a traditional egg/spore (analogous to the ones seen in Alien) and the hand of a traditional alien/xeno (again, its the same hand we see in Alien (1979)). lovely bit of information this fresco is.

Much as I LOVE the film, I find it pretty annoying that in order to properly see those murals we need to go online and search for stills. Yes it's clever and excites people's interest and even spurs us on to seeing the film gain and again... but it means that the film doesn't fully function without the support of other media.

Regarding the ceiling murals I recall one of them being visible. The one with the creature kneeling before the engineer. Now I have seen the egg mural you are talking about in the art of Prometheus book. Not saying its not in the movie though I might pop in the blu ray and see if I can see it.

And the way I see it if its not in the movie its not cannon.

I find it odd also that there is no commentary on it....the only one to have commented on it was Holloway in the film. He said "It's a tomb" Or otherwise meaning they are all doomed! Yet no explanation to why he felt that place was a tomb...there were no other bodies in there? From this point the pace of the film changed

@thegoodtimes: yeah. the original piece is shown, unobstructed, in the art of prometheus book. the piece is also shown in the film (ampule room). Right around the time shaw notes that they have affected the atmosphere, we get a shot of the fresco depicting the alien/xeno hand and the egg. Its partially dissolved by the time we see it, but the egg and the xeno hand are still clearly visible. Throw in the blu ray and pause. you'll see it. I agree with you in the sense that...if its not in the film, its not canon. The fresco in question is in the film. I enjoy this kind of stuff!

I'm only certain of one thing... this film will drive people to insanity.

I was just gonna mention what was mentioned above, if you pause the blu ray or digital copy you can see it nicely... Also I love the idea that they did not comment on these or speculate the purpose of either in the movie or commentaries. Finding my own conclusions on these is what makes this movie/experience so enjoyable for me. I believe the green stone is an energy source for the ship and this is the technology that would change mankind even further much as Prometheus did when giving the fire to man. Opening the door and the atmosphere changing has activated a natural defense mechanism, leading to the mural depicting death/defense. I only hope more people start to enjoy this film for what it is and not dislike it for what is not.

Okay so I just popped it in and I saw it. Though its not very clear and I wonder if I had not seen it first in the art of Prometheus book would I have come to the same concuslion that it was a egg.

@Lee Haram: [i]"start to enjoy this film for what it is and not dislike it for what is not."[/i] Well said. Your pithy little sentence has a resonance with me because over the months I've found it desperately annoying when people time and again find mistakes that aren't there, don't enjoy their own imagination, or lack the patience to see how this wonderful genre will expand.

[u]goodtimes[/u]: You wrote: "I'm only certain of one thing... this film will drive people to insanity." Truer words have never been written. On this past Tuesday I bought the 4 disc Blu Ray version of "Prometheus" and on Thursday night I sat down and watched all of the deleted/alternate scenes. I watched those scenes with the mind that what I was seeing was not canon. That said, I felt dumbfounded by the scene in which Vickers suggests that Weyland "look at the thing squirming in the next room" and also by the scene when Janek talks about there being seismic activity coming from "one click out". How much footage exactly did Fox hold back? So, was there a scene in which David and/or Vickers became aware of Shaw's "abortion"? Or was there another alien life form on the Prometheus (e.g. Milburn's baby Hammerpedes)? And what's the deal with the seismic activity? Then there's the mystery of the green crystal. I won't even bother to list some of the other mysteries contained in the film that are still unanaswered. I love this film and it has and will continue to drive me crazy!

@geopap: Yeah thanks for that info I already knew about, and no that mural doesn't show Prometheus. This is what it shows: [img]http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/8058/prometheusi.jpg[/img] Which is this: [img]http://www.desktopjazz.co.uk/wallpaper/Giger/albums/hr_giger_pII_the_primitive_creature_p9_1280x1024.jpg[/img] So it is a mural of an Engineer putting his arm over a kneeling inferior creature. Pretty obvious sign of Engineers power.

To all What I find very hard to believe is that there is no ectended / cut scenes for the cargo hold , orrery and ampule room scenes with the exception of the engineer speaking . And as the OP indicates no commentary either. coincidence ?

I don't want people to get me wrong I love Prometheus. I guess part of me wanted to hear them comment on the murals and the stone just to justify all the time I've spent analysing it. What if we were wrong, so wrong!?

People need to google alien mutual Prometheus and look at the detailed one created that has the 2 men stood in front of it. It shows in the bottom left hand corner an engineer looking up at the alien in the crucifix pose an in the bottom right corner a face hugger . Wonder if this means the typical or perfect alien xeno comes from the hugger and engineer DNA .