New Ridley Scott Sci-Fi Film Due Out June 8 - PROMETHEUS

[Hardrock69]

[Seshmeister]

I hope it's a return to form because he's had a pretty shitty last 10 years, especially by his standards.


Robin Hood, A Good Year , Kingdom of Heaven?

I literally fell asleep during American Gangster although maybe that was my fault as it did get some good reviews.

[Hardrock69]

Yeah....last thing by him that really interested me was Gladiator. Robber Hood? Come ON! Been done to death. Like a shit hot band that throws a cover song onto a new album, he could have filmed something that was original instead of rehashing Robber Hood and his cast of fuckups.

Poor peasant, walking through Sherwood Forest. Man dressed in green jumps out of a tree and lands on the path in front of him.

"Ho there, my good man, I am Robber Hood! I steal from the rich, and give to the poor! Here, have this bag of gold!"

Poor peasant: "Blimey! I'm RICH!"

Robber Hood: "Stick 'em up!"

[twonabomber]

I literally fell asleep during American Gangster although maybe that was my fault as it did get some good reviews.

really? i like that one, and i am not a big Russell Crowe fan.

[Seshmeister]

I usually like my gangster movies too, big Godfather/Goodfellas/Sopranos fan.

Maybe I was just exhausted and should give it another go, it did seem a bit slow at the start.

Crowe in real life annoys me, a horrible combination of 'alpha male' and pretentious actor twat but I can usually overlook that in his movies.

[DONNIEP]

I could care less about any of the Alien sequels - they all sucked IMO. But I've been checking out the trailers for this prequel for a while now and it looks like it's got all the right elements. Well, at least from what you can tell by watching minute long clips. I can't wait to see this one.

[vandeleur]

I thought aliens rocked .. the rest were shite ....

[Hardrock69]

Despite the fact it is a RS film, which means visually it will be lush and well photographed, I can predict what most of the film will be.

Astronauts creeping around some dead planet/spaceship/whatever, and aliens attacking them, and so it is just futuristic version of some poor medieval twaddle creeping through the halls of a dark European castle at night during a thunderstorm, and being suddenly attacked by vampirs, ghouls, ghosts, demons, or whatever.

I surely hope Ridley can make this formula original somehow as the Aliens vs. Predator series has generally bored me. Humans encounter aliens or predators or both, all the humans die, the only real unknown is who is going to be the sole surviving human?

[Terry]

Despite the fact it is a RS film, which means visually it will be lush and well photographed, I can predict what most of the film will be.

Astronauts creeping around some dead planet/spaceship/whatever, and aliens attacking them, and so it is just futuristic version of some poor medieval twaddle creeping through the halls of a dark European castle at night during a thunderstorm, and being suddenly attacked by vampirs, ghouls, ghosts, demons, or whatever.

I surely hope Ridley can make this formula original somehow as the Aliens vs. Predator series has generally bored me. Humans encounter aliens or predators or both, all the humans die, the only real unknown is who is going to be the sole surviving human?

I suppose I'll end up going, if just to see how Scott tackles the origins of the Aliens.

Agreed it will be highly competent from a cinematographic angle, but I'd also agree that as a concept and franchise Alien ran outta gas a long time ago; the most I can hope for is that Scott can make a great-looking, slightly interesting film considering it's an Alien flick. All that being said, he doesn't have to perform miracles to be miles above anything that's been released post Alien3.

[Seshmeister]

[DONNIEP]

I like that clip a lot - kinda reminiscent of HAL.

[Nickdfresh]

I love the two crystal skulls in the background of the interview...

"I can carry out directives that my human counterparts might find...distressing or unethical".

How many companies today would order this thing today, without question?

[Coyote]

Yeah....last thing by him that really interested me was Gladiator. Robber Hood? Come ON! Been done to death. Like a shit hot band that throws a cover song onto a new album, he could have filmed something that was original instead of rehashing Robber Hood and his cast of fuckups.

Poor peasant, walking through Sherwood Forest. Man dressed in green jumps out of a tree and lands on the path in front of him.

"Ho there, my good man, I am Robber Hood! I steal from the rich, and give to the poor! Here, have this bag of gold!"

Poor peasant: "Blimey! I'm RICH!"

Robber Hood: "Stick 'em up!"

Mel Brooks made a good sendup, IMO...

[ODShowtime]

Well this film looks incredible. Hopefully it will be incredible. How about a cool mind blowing sci-fi horror film? Maybe it will be cool.

[Seshmeister]

Reviews have been a bit mixed.

[Nickdfresh]

The ones I've read are mostly positive, and even the negative ones aren't that bad....

[DONNIEP]

Regardless of the reviews, I plan to see this movie this weekend. Just like God intended - with a huge bucket of over-priced popcorn and the biggest goddamn Diet Coke they have. I absolutley loved Alien and I've absolutely hated every sequel. I can't wait to see this movie and if it sucks ass I'll be the first to say so. But from what I've seen so far...I can't imagine it will. We'll see.

[Hardrock69]

It was filmed with the new RED EPIC 3D camera and this will be the first ever film to be shot using it. it's using the most advanced state of the art camera. Even Imax camera's dont come close.

That said, I am going to wake up early Friday (early for me being before noon, lol) and go see it..

This is gonna fucking rool!

http://www.totalfilm.com/news/ridley...-prometheus-3d

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/3D-Or...ket-31278.html

[gbranton]

I thought aliens rocked .. the rest were shite ....

Yup. Aliens is one of the best action movies ever made. As for American Gangster, it was good but kind of slow moving throughout, an interesting movie overall.

I usually never go to the movies to see anything, but I am thinking that Prometheus is going to be the rare exception. I am pretty excited about it.

Whereas Prometheus is sort of a pseudo-prequel, there IS an officially sanctioned SEQUEL out there being developed, allbeit not in the traditional format.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliens:_Colonial_Marines

STORY:

Described as a true sequel to James Cameron's film, the story of Aliens: Colonial Marines takes place after the events of the third film, Alien 3. At PAX East 2012, Gearbox Software's Community Manager confirmed that the game is considered an official part of the Alien franchise's canon by 20th Century Fox. Much of the main plot was written by Battlestar Galactica writers Bradley Thompson and David Weddle. The story is told through the eyes of Corporal Christopher Winter, a Colonial Marine that is part of a search and rescue team sent to investigate the U.S.S. Sulaco in search of Ellen Ripley, Corporal Dwayne Hicks, and the rest of the missing marines who were dispatched to LV-426. The Sulaco, and the derelict alien spacecraft from Alien as well as LV-426 itself will all serve as environments in the game, as well as other locations yet to be detailed.

Gearbox has stated that they were invited to speak with Ridley Scott and view the script for his Alien prequel Prometheus, insinuating that there may be connections or references to the events of Prometheus in Aliens: Colonial Marines.

[Hardrock69]

Here is the one thing that irritates the crap out of me.

This was why after only one season I quit watching the sci-fi TV series Babylon 5:

The Militarization Of Space

Part of it is sheer laziness on the part of scriptwriters.

If you can take Captain Horation Hornblower and put him in the 23rd-century, like Gene Roddenberry did, then it is easy as hell to write a whole raft of stories.....but it is always about the MILITARY being the "explorers".

Sure, Star Trek had nifty looking uniforms, but they kept going on about how they were all about love and peace and universal harmony, while blasting the "enemy" with their phasers.

Alien was about a corporate-funded exploration......

Aliens was about "HEY LET'S SEND IN THE SPACE MARINES!!!"

It gives the screenwriters an excuse to have lotsa machine-gun fire, big fiery explosions, chases, monsters, boogey-men, etc.

Babylon 5 started out interestingly enough...but by the end of the first season I realized that the show had been increasingly militarized.....all the characters would have been right at home on a battleship in the Persian Gulf....Battlestar Galactica was like that.....Starship Troopers was a spoof of that sorta thing. Like taking the John Wayne film Iwo Jima and putting it on an alien world fighting "bugs".

So the above-mentioned game "Aliens - Colonial Marines" is just more of the same.

The unforms are different....perhaps they shoot "laser bullets" or whatever instead of .30 caliber copper-jacketed smokeless brass cartridge ammo.....hey but a machinegun is a machinegun is a machinegun.....all means the same.....dead....for anyone who is standing in front of one when they go off.....


Star Wars was militarized as well...though the main story was sort of about rebelling against that sort of culture....

[Seshmeister]

Without the military aspect though do these scenarios really work?

For example in Star Trek NG in a world with holodecks where you can live out your fantasies and machines that can instantly make any food or drink you want, what sort of a crazy fuck is going to apply for a job as a barman on the Enterprise??

If these things are on a spaceship then imagine the crazy good stuff that must be on Earth. Why would you ever want to spend your life behind a bar serving soft drinks to a precocious child who is made officer because of his parents waiting at any point to be vaporized by some space creature that you won't even know is being dealt with by the bridge crew?

[Hardrock69]

Actually I agree.

In the entire history of mankind, what other great stories are there besides military conquest?

Just gets tiring, that's all.

I at least would have more fun if the "military" were more like Samurai......adds a great level of unpredictability to things...where they all walked around with swords......so if Mr. Spock, for instance, made a minor error in some calculation, say .0000000000000560000045454000454 off, he would have dishonored his entire ancestry and be forced to commit hari kiri on the bridge.

Or if Nurse Chapel could not live with the shame of being ignored by him, she would commit seppuku.


Or if some lowly crewman looked the wrong way at Scotty, Scotty would remove the dude's neck.

Or if one of the Red Shirts fucks something up down on the planet, Kirk would take out a sword and make him one hat too many.



Otherwise it is just the same old minions following orders and wearing the same old drab uniform shit.

At least Gene Roddenberry had the right idea, and hired a costume designer that would show a lotta skin on the ladies!

[Seshmeister]

The sad thing is if you compare military spending with science spending.

Fortunately there were military applications for space technology otherwise we wouldn't even have got as far as we have.

[Nickdfresh]

'Prometheus': A master work from Ridley Scott

By Jeff Simon

Arts Editor

Published:June 8, 2012, 12:00 AM

Michael Fassbender, front, stars in Ridley Scott's eagerly awaited sci-fi film,


Updated: June 8, 2012, 8:42 AM

You almost always know. And it seldom takes long. It took less than five minutes, at most, to know in Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” that one of the great living film directors was in charge. It takes even less than that in Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus,” which is destined, in all final aesthetic accountings, to be one of the great summer films of 2012.

In its opening, we are both puzzled and bedazzled. We’re in a visual world we’ve never quite seen before — a spaceship hovers over a raging cataract, strikingly filmed in desaturated color. Then we see a humanoid creature and what seems to be its DNA splitting apart.

You know in only a little more time than contestants on “American Idol” and “Dancing With the Stars” get to ingratiate themselves, that the visual world in front of you was created by a master—and one who knows he’s a master, too. If he’s showing you a stunning image, he’s in no neurotic hurry to rush off to show you another. He always leaves room for a little low-level awe.

But then a lot of us suspected that would be true about Sir Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus” before we even sat down. Here was one of the two most eagerly awaited films of the movie summer (the other is Christopher Nolan’s upcoming “Batman” film, “The Dark Knight Rises”). If, as I did, you only know that the film you’re going to see is something of a “prequel” to Scott’s 1979 modern space horror classic “Alien” ( “In Space No One Can Hear You Scream” was the hypemeisters’ contribution to the merriment of encountering a masterpiece), you are soon reassured that at the age of 74, Scott has lost absolutely nothing.

He’s still a visionary, able to put sights on screen you’ve never quite seen before. And he’s still a badass, who will gladly put the audience through discomforts far beyond those of more timid mortals. Those who remember the inimitable combination of frisson and stomach churn when the monster gorily exploded from John Hurt’s stomach in the original “Alien” should know that “Prometheus” does a wildly creative variation on that in a medical procedure that is destined to be a classic sequence in movie history. (A request to this critic not to explain it in detail was relayed after the screening. I’m being, quite frankly, sketchy about it because I believe that encountered in relative ignorance, it becomes that much more harrowing and, therefore, that much more remarkable. It has already been revealed in other reviews around the world. And asking critics not to reveal things in the age of Twitter, Facebook and the Internet, is not only close to impossible, it’s foolish when you’re keeping filmgoers from the information that your film contains one of the more memorable scenes they’ll see all year.)

“Prometheus” was rated R for good reason. Scott has given the space movie back to grownups—and the teens who aren’t afraid to think like grownups. But he’s also given the grownups the shivers and thrills of teen film matinees and midnight rides.

It isn’t as if “Prometheus” —or “Alien” for that matter— comes to us entirely unrelated to every other sci-fi journey into outer space. Scott’s debt to Stanley Kubrick’s “2001” is obvious in “Prometheus.”

Michael Fassbender plays an extremely polite blond robot named David who might well be the brother of Kubrick’s Hal made (robot) flesh. The vast empty spaces of the spaceship Prometheus which David wanders around bouncing a basketball are reminiscent of Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood alone in Kubrick’s chilly space vessel. The human crew of the Prometheus is just about ready to awaken after a two-year sleep to begin exploration of a planet in another galaxy two scientists are convinced contained those who created human life on earth. The two scientists—played by Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green — call their creators “The Engineers.” They happened on the far planet’s existence by finding on Earth the same primitive cave and rock space maps in various cultures around the world. Surely, the prehistoric humans were showing us where they came from, they deduce. “I think they want us to come and find them,” say the scientists.

Or not.

The leader of a vast megabucks corporation is convinced they’re on to something so he funds the project and leaves his aged, dying self in a hologram to bless their mission.

Charlize Theron is the company representative, the officious, frosty overseer of the crew and the first human to awaken. She cheerfully tells her crew, “It’s my job to make sure you do yours.” Considering that Charlize Theron is already sucking the youth and beauty out of medieval women as the evil queen in “Snow White and the Huntsman,” she’s also revealing that she knows what most other major film actors know: you should play as many villains as you can. The movie world does love its villains. (Hannibal Lecter would probably be invited to more parties than Clarice Starling, though you might have trouble figuring out who would be left at evening’s end.)

It takes an hour and 15 minutes for the first horrific death in “Prometheus.” Until then, you’re taken by the hand through Scott’s visionary gifts, as the crew suits up in costumes you’ve never seen before and wanders planetary landscapes you’ve never imagined before (except in Scott films) and unveils techno toys you’ve not quite seen before either.

That, if you think about it, is an amazing achievement. We have had so much sci-fi since George Lucas’ “Star Wars” in 1977 that you need a filmmaker as extraordinary as Scott to take you someplace a little new and different. If you’re in a bigger hurry to get to the slime and the monsters, that, frankly, is your problem, not the movie’s. It may be that your taste has expired as your appetite for gore has increased from overuse in invidious causes. It’s not Scott’s ability to tell a story that has gone past its freshness date, believe me. His movie is just fine, thank you, fine. And when the creatures start coming and heads begin exploding inside helmets, Sir Ridley The Badass will remind you why the original “Alien” is one of the movies that is firmly lodged in a lot of people’s primal cinematic memories.

And then, of course, there is that little matter of medical procedures in the year 2093 to give you a serious topic on the car ride home.

There are plot questions to be answered: Who were “The Engineers?” What were they “engineering?” Who engineered them?

Some questions are answered. And some are theological. And some are left open for subsequent journeys.

And anyone who has seen “Alien” will have no difficulty figuring out who’s going to survive and why.

What we have here is a master going back to the first summit of his film mastery to show us another and different view of it. It is, as was the 1979 movie, a great film—not quite as visually arresting as James Cameron’s “Avatar,” perhaps, but far more memorable.

Very few Scott movies are bad, but not that many of them are truly great either (see the adjoining list). Only five or six, maybe.

“Prometheus” is now one of them.

BuffaloNews

[Hardrock69]

Good movie. Interesting addition to the Aliens franchise. I don't see it as destined to be a massive success, but definitely a good solid quality Ridley Scott film.

I think it would be just as great on 2D. Ridley did not go overboard on throwing stuff at you from out of the screen, but there are a few scenes where it was pretty cool....and throughout the film I did enjoy the extra depth-of-field effect. So....I say the 3D is nice (is a definite 3D, not the crummy 2D to 3D conversion effect that is so lame), and personally I feel it should be seen in 3D...more immersive experience, but if you wanna save some cash, 2D is not going to be much less of an experience.

One thing about the review above....it is a film by a master craftsman. No cheesiness, in fact, pretty much no humor at all in the film...VERY serious, and you get drawn into the film immediately. Once it started, I ignored my surroundings for the entire 2 hours and 5 minutes. You know it is a good film when there is no fidgeting in your chair, lol.

So I am going to go home now and watch the first movie (Alien) on DVD.....as this prequel is a good solid prequel that explains how the Nostromo wound up going to that godforsaken planet in the first place!

[DONNIEP]

Went to see Prometheus today. First off, go ahead and pop for the 3D version. I didn't and here's why - I hate the damn glasses. I don't hate wearing them, but they fucking ruin the colors of every 3D movie I see. Maybe it's just my eyes, but for me, it's like watching a movie with sunglasses on. Which, yeah, you kinda are. But after reading a few reviews after seeing the movie (including HR's review) this doesn't seem to be an issue with this movie. The movie is spectacular in 2D and I may go back to see it in 3D just to see what I missed.

There are plenty of reviews out there you can read so I won't lay out the plot here. And the few that I checked out were pretty close to how I felt when I left the theatre. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie but...as much as I tried I couldn't help comparing it to Alien. And it came up short. But I honestly think that's more of a hangover from 33 years of watching Alien than any fault with this movie. Look, Alien came out in '79 and in my opinion it was so far ahead of its time that it still holds up today. But Prometheus is NOT Alien and no one should compare the two. Myself included. And don't believe the "this isn't exactly a prequel" bullshit. This is most definitely a prequel in every sense of the word. The movie takes place on the same planet from Alien, the same alien ship and about 30 years or so before the Nostromo touches down. It's a freaking prequel and I don't know why Scott has made such an effort to distance himself from that term. Regardless, it's a solid prequel that sets up the ONLY OTHER ALIEN MOVIE MADE - the original Alien (the rest suck balls).

The movie looks spectactular. The story is, for the most part, a reasonable explanation of how the aliens came to be on the planet in the first movie. But you'll be disappointed if you're looking for an Alien Vs Predator type of movie. I hated all of the Alien sequels, including Alien Vs Predator. But this movie was a little less than what I was hoping for but it truly sets up any sequels/remakes that may come along. Although, I don't really see a future in this franchise - but that's a totally selfish judgement on my part since I grew up with this movie and I know what's gonna happen when Nostromo sets down on the planet. The David character is, in my opinion, the stand-out in this movie. He has an agenda - but whose agenda it is and what it is I still don't quite understand.

So, if you're a fan of Alien, or even if you've never seen any of the Alien movies, you should check out this movie. Should you see it in the theatre or wait for DVD/Blueray? That depends on whether you can stomach the goddamn idiots who litter movie theatres these days. The theatre I saw it in was packed and even though I showed up early I wound up with two fat fuck 20 somethings who just had to sit beside me. They talked on their phones (probably to each other) nonstop through the previews. And when the movie started, the fat ass next to me called somebody and started talking. Right up until I told him to get the fuck up and get the fuck away from me or I was gonna take his fucking phone away from him. Amazing what a few words can do to motivate someone to get up and move. This was the first time I had to say anything to someone but I've just about had it with the lack of common decency and politeness in movie theatres. But that's no different than going to a football game and having some fat fucking kid dump hot chocolate all down your leg in the middle of December...yeah, that's happened to me too. So maybe I'm just unlucky.

Prometheus almost lives up to the hype. I'd be surprised if it doesn't make a ton of cash - the theatre I was in was packed. I think we're in for a major reboot of the whole franchise if this movie makes enough money. But...If they do reboot the franchise I hope they take it in a whole 'nother direction. Otherwise, us old timers are going to be watching a remake of a film that we've already seen at least 37 times.

[Hardrock69]

Well, there is a definite way for it to go in another direction. Won't say what it is (spoilers), but anyone who has seen it will know what I am talking about.


I got out my remastered Alien DVD tonight and watched it for the first time in almost 10 years. Fucking kickass.

Was cool to see the Space Jockey this time, and know how he and his ship got there.

A very worthy addition to the Alien franchise.

[Hardrock69]

Well, there is a definite way for it to go in another direction. Won't say what it is (spoilers), but anyone who has seen it will know what I am talking about.


I got out my remastered Alien DVD tonight and watched it for the first time in almost 10 years. Fucking kickass.

Was cool to see the Space Jockey this time, and know how he and his ship got there.

A very worthy addition to the Alien franchise.

[sadaist]

Fuck ALIEN and fuck Ridley Scott with a rusty spoon.


1979 I was 8 years old. We were staying 2 weeks at our condo at Mammoth Lakes, CA for winter snow skiing. My older brother (16) wanted to walk about 2 miles to the local theater to see ALIEN. Mom tasked him with making sure to take me if he was going to go. Umm...8 year old seeing ALIEN with a crappy mean older brother who likes to scare me?

On the walk back about halfway home he disappeared behind some snowdrift in the midst of quiet late night streets and darkened unoccupied condos. I was lost & did not know my own way back to the condo. It was freezing cold, snow piled high on every side of the street and aliens were coming to get me!!!! He finally popped out with a snowball to my face at the point he could tell I was about to go critical.

I didn't have a stomach pang or pain for the next 7 years where I didn't think a creature was gonna pop outta my stomach. And I haven't walked in the snow in the dark since either.


That said, I have loved ALL of the Alien movies and look forward to seeing Prometheus to help put more parts of this glorious space story puzzle together.

[DONNIEP]

Was cool to see the Space Jockey this time, and know how he and his ship got there.

Totally. And finally I understand why he didn't look anything like the "aliens".

[Hardrock69]

YES!!

That was one of the surprising pieces of the story.

[BITEYOASS]

Here's the paper trailer:

[vandeleur]

That was very cool

[lesfunk]

I saw it. The cinematography was impressive. The film is beautifully shot but the characters.... and the story.... ugh. Not so much.

[Seshmeister]

So kind of like a band with brilliant musicians but shitty songs?

[Hardrock69]

No, more like the songs are good solid songs but don't blow your mind. It IS a fairly "dry" story.

If it had been the first Alien film instead of Alien, it would have made more of an impact.
But we have what, 4 other Aliens movies plus the AVP rubbish?

So Ridley did as well as he could considering we have certain "expectations".

The film is already classified in a certain way....a space version of what I call the "crawling through the medieval castle in the middle of the night being beset by demons and who knows what" genre.

I have to hand it to Ridley though. His visual sense is second to none. He has spawned legions of imitators in the film world, but his visuals are always the best....

Even though it is a dry story, I still can't say it is any less than a quality film. Still worth seeing.

Just like every chapter of a book is not going to be "amazingly kickass", or not every song on a Van Halen album is going to be absolutely incredible.


One other thing to consider. Once it leaves the theater, unless you have a 3D TV, you are not going to be able to see it in 3D again. Certainly not on a big screen.

When taking that into consideration, it is a must see in my book. But that is just me. I am a fan of sci-fi in general, a fan of Ridley Scott, and a fan of the Alien franchise.


And Sadaist.....man, that was mean of your brother.

[BITEYOASS]

No, more like the songs are good solid songs but don't blow your mind.

Oh, like a Journey album.

[Hardrock69]

[Seshmeister]

One other thing to consider. Once it leaves the theater, unless you have a 3D TV, you are not going to be able to see it in 3D again. Certainly not on a big screen.

Is that not a good thing?

I'm not a fan of this 3D crap usually, very rare that it makes a movie better especially since you lose about a third of the color wearing usually uncomfortable glasses.

[Terry]

I might end up seeing it next week, if it's still in theaters. Have been a bit on-the-fence about seeing this one for some reason, but if it's around next Monday (25th), I'll go catch a matinee. It looks like the size and scope of the cinematography would be better viewed on a theater-size screen. Particularly if Theron shows her titties.