'Prometheus' offers oozing sci-fi spectacle, early reviews say...

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  • #61
    Re: 'Prometheus' offers oozing sci-fi spectacle, early reviews say...

    One of the things I've always found frustrating about people complaining about character choices/motivations, is how so many people are absolutely unable to understand (or refuse to) a decision outside of what they themselves would of done, or how they would of acted. Or they say, that character wouldn't of done that. That's a movie, someone doing something they never would of done before.
    It's the eye of the Tiger, it's the thrill of the fight

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    • #62
      Re: 'Prometheus' offers oozing sci-fi spectacle, early reviews say...

      It's the filmmaker's obligation to make a character's actions understandable to the audience. You can't have a character running around the catacombs acting all girly in fear, then [SPOILER] stop all the sudden to try and pet a slimy space snake.[END SPOILER]
      "Forget it, Jake. It's Hollywood."

      My YouTube channel.

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      • #63
        Re: 'Prometheus' offers oozing sci-fi spectacle, early reviews say...

        SPOILERS

        So let me get this straight...

        The superhumans, they made the black ooze to kill off mankind, but something went wrong and it killed them.

        But one of them intentionally drank the stuff in the opening scene because... why? ("Hey look, our poison bio weapon, om nom nom.")

        And this black ooze... It disintigrates the superhumans who made it... but it turns normal humans into homicidal, flame-retardant zombies who, if they have sex, will impregnate a woman with... a baby squid... and then, if the squid eats one of the superhumans... you get an alien? What is this, anime?

        And why did Fassbender drug the male scientist? If he was Weylan's, didn't Weylan's like him? Then he pulls a very creepy villain routine to Shaw during the decontamination... and then he's her buddy again at the end?

        And this movie really did build to a point where it promised answers. I don't ask for answers in all films, but when you spend the entire movie with this huge setup, then you deny us the payoff...
        Last edited by Left Hand; 06-09-2012, 06:56 PM.
        "I'm tired of these mother@#%&in' snakes on this mother@#%&in' plane!" - Will Smith, Indiana Jones and the Chamber of Secrets

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        • #64
          Re: 'Prometheus' offers oozing sci-fi spectacle, early reviews say...

          Originally posted by Mortal_Remains View Post

          Weylan: His make-up was fookin horrible... Get an old actor to play an old man. Why would that be so hard?
          THANK YOU!
          "I'm tired of these mother@#%&in' snakes on this mother@#%&in' plane!" - Will Smith, Indiana Jones and the Chamber of Secrets

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          • #65
            Re: 'Prometheus' offers oozing sci-fi spectacle, early reviews say...

            Originally posted by Jules View Post
            ....unable to understand (or refuse to) a decision outside of what they themselves would of done, or how they would of acted. Or they say, that character wouldn't of done that. That's a movie, someone doing something they never would of done before.
            This is not about what we'd do, but what's believable given the character portrayed and the situation. Two great examples are:

            Aliens - The Lieutenant freezes and f**ks up big time when the Marines are attacked in the Alien hive. This is totally believable because Cameron has set up the Lieutenant's character adequately. We know that the guy has practically no experience, is making questionable calls and has issues projecting authority. So when he falls to pieces it makes complete sense. In fact we're prepped for it.

            Alien - Ripley wants to enforce quarantine but is over ridden and abused for doing so. Again this reaction to Ripley's reasonable action makes sense because O'Bannon has prepped the characters well. We know these guys are just blue collar Joes. We know their primary concern is getting home and paid. We don't expect them to be self sacrificing heroes. We also know that Ripley has issues establishing her authority. So when Ripley makes her call we know she's gonna cop some crap over it.

            The other thing is that the Characters in both Alien and Aliens make complete sense given the mission, the job, the plot. That helps lend authenticity to the films, especially critical in a genre that strays so far from reality.

            Then there's Prometheus, where a trillion dollar ship, going where no dude has gone before, is crewed by rejects from Walmart.

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            • #66
              Re: 'Prometheus' offers oozing sci-fi spectacle, early reviews say...

              We are also led to believe that none of the crew knew each other prior to the mission.

              The geologist guy not wanting to make friends was literally the only amount of character building we got out of him.

              I would have loved a scene where someone opens up about taking the mission because they love the great unknown... They have no family ties back home... etc... Maybe another guy has a picture of their child back home... And keeps it on him at all times... etc... Maybe some of this sounds cliched... but anything would have been better than what we got.
              http://www.mortalremainsthemovie.com/

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              • #67
                Re: 'Prometheus' offers oozing sci-fi spectacle, early reviews say...

                The Great Movie Ride at Disney World is better than this.

                A thought: The engineers were "stopped" about 2,000 years ago (isn't that the carbon date of the head?) from going back to Earth. Events on Earth about 2,000 years ago might be a clue to the reason why.
                "I am the story itself; its source, its voice, its music."
                - Clive Barker, Galilee

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                • #68
                  Re: 'Prometheus' offers oozing sci-fi spectacle, early reviews say...

                  Originally posted by TwoBrad Bradley View Post

                  A thought: The engineers were "stopped" about 2,000 years ago (isn't that the carbon date of the head?) from going back to Earth. Events on Earth about 2,000 years ago might be a clue to the reason why.




                  Scott confirmed that.
                  The question is : Do you work in the business?

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                  • #69
                    Re: 'Prometheus' offers oozing sci-fi spectacle, early reviews say...

                    Wow...this is strange. At first my expectations for "Prometheus" were incredibly high. Then I read this thread (and a lot of other hate) and my expectations subsequently plummeted. Tonight I saw "Prometheus" and ended up being pleasantly surprised. It wasn't great, but I enjoyed it (I'd give it a B-). Fassbender was incredible (I find myself saying that a lot lately), and there were some genuine tense moments.

                    The biggest issues for me were...

                    - The Biologist being so eager to touch the snake-creature.
                    - David "infecting" Charlie. (I suppose this could be chalked up to evolving emotions of bitterness, curiosity of what would happen to him, or a combination of both.)
                    - Shaw knocking out the guard and the woman, then them subsequently forgetting about her for 5 minutes (this one was pretty egregious).
                    - Having Guy Pearce play Weyland instead of an older actor (the makeup really was bad).
                    - The Hologram thing...still a little confused on how that worked.
                    - The squid creatures...why do they yield more squid creatures (albeit giant ones) when they enter/incubate in a human, but turn into an alien after entering the engineer?

                    There are definitely issues with the film, but I think the hate is a little over the top (and has to be in large part due to inflated expectations). I think it's enjoyable enough if for no other reasons than Fassbender's performance, the amazing visuals, and just enough scenes of interest.

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                    • #70
                      Re: 'Prometheus' offers oozing sci-fi spectacle, early reviews say...

                      My issues:

                      -The movie takes a while to get rolling. In ALIEN, the movie pretty much started with the crew waking up. In this film, that happens about 15 minutes in, violating the 'arrive late, leave early' rule.

                      -What was the point of Fassbender poisoning the one scientist dude? That subplot wasn't really explored at all.

                      -Also not sure of the purpose of having the alien baby. Rapace runs from everyone and nobody follows her. She cuts it out and is sore a bit afterward. What were the consequences of that entire sequence? Seemed pretty extraneous to me.

                      -Why would anyone run along the path of a giant rolling object instead of simply stepping aside? That was the dumbest thing I've seen in a movie in ages.

                      -There are a few interesting ideas about life and creation and purpose being tossed around, but they are never explored in any way. Characters just ask questions and then die. Like snuffing a match before it reaches the candle.

                      -Despite the movie's lofty ambitions, it feels very small. Not only geographically, but in a sense that not a whole lot happened...and what did happen usually had no significant consequence, which made it feel - ironically - pointless.

                      It looked cool, the cast was good, and the music was effective. Otherwise, it didn't accomplish much. I know the movie wanted me to think, but not about how it could have been better.

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                      • #71
                        Re: 'Prometheus' offers oozing sci-fi spectacle, early reviews say...

                        Originally posted by CthulhuRises View Post
                        There are definitely issues with the film, but I think the hate is a little over the top (and has to be in large part due to inflated expectations).
                        I had no inflated expectations. I'm not a huge fan of the franchise, or of Scott, but I expected competent narrative. I didn't get that. Now, the chassis looked great, but the motor sucked. A lot of great questions, but absolutely no interest in answering any of them.

                        Sad thing is that Scott spent $130,000,000 to continue cribbing from a low budget Italian movie made in the sixties. With a worse script. Which took some energy.

                        The script was shit. No amount of CGI sprinkles can cover that.
                        "Forget it, Jake. It's Hollywood."

                        My YouTube channel.

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                        • #72
                          Re: 'Prometheus' offers oozing sci-fi spectacle, early reviews say...

                          Originally posted by Signal30 View Post
                          The script was shit. No amount of CGI sprinkles can cover that.
                          Amen.

                          Can't believe garbage writing like this gets made. Where is quality control when you need it?

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                          • #73
                            Re: 'Prometheus' offers oozing sci-fi spectacle, early reviews say...

                            I think the trouble with these highly paid writers is that they worked their ass off on that one script which got them noticed. And then they're given two months to write something profound and ready to go into production and they settle on the first idea that pops into their tiny heads.

                            Every scene needs to be second guessed... You need to put yourself in the shoes of every critic and think. What are one of these douche bags going to say about this??

                            Prometheus felt like a first draft... But there were two writers who wrote the damn thing... Double trouble...
                            http://www.mortalremainsthemovie.com/

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                            • #74
                              Re: 'Prometheus' offers oozing sci-fi spectacle, early reviews say...

                              Originally posted by Mortal_Remains View Post
                              I think the trouble with these highly paid writers is that they worked their ass off on that one script which got them noticed. And then they're given two months to write something profound and ready to go into production and they settle on the first idea that pops into their tiny heads.

                              Every scene needs to be second guessed... You need to put yourself in the shoes of every critic and think. What are one of these douche bags going to say about this??

                              Prometheus felt like a first draft... But there were two writers who wrote the damn thing... Double trouble...
                              1) Excellent point -- instead of giving the writer 26 to 52 weeks to come up an effort that's been justly ruminated upon -- the typical contract as I've heard it explained is "First draft due in 12 weeks" and from there dumped into a "too many cooks" process.

                              2) The answer for the ambiguities, lapses in logic, etc. may be Ridley Scott himself per this tidbit from Anthony Pascale at the Star Trek site:

                              "While it's true Damon is no fan of spoon feeding answers (LOST), he told me that he considers his work on PROMETHEUS as "work for hire-...he was really following Ridley's lead. I think the first script was a straight up prequel, but this one was more ambiguous...which is what Scott apparently wanted. So if you come out with questions, that is what he wants...he wants you thinking about it instead of just feeding you answers. Right or wrong, that apparently was the plan."

                              3) So Spahts may have crafted a workmanship like prequel which Scott found too "spelled-out," brought Lindelof in and told him to give it more "unanswered" beats, and I want it in 4 weeks ... and that is what you, we're left with. A visual spectacle that illogically meanders all over the place????

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                              • #75
                                Re: 'Prometheus' offers oozing sci-fi spectacle, early reviews say...

                                Originally posted by YakMan View Post
                                A visual spectacle that illogically meanders all over the place...
                                Perfect summary.

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