"It was assured to me that he was programmed evil"
By who? I didn't get that at all.
It seemed to me that he has complete independence of thought and, learning from his environment like a child would, he thinks that it's normal to hate your father (based on the behaviour of his 'step-sister'). He is fairly baffled by the idea of being excited about meeting your creators since he's surrounded by the race that created him, sees very little reason to be excited about them and in fact holds them in contempt.
but without having seen Alien I don't know if it was even answered there
I really don't think it is.
There were weak if any motives for character's actions and you had to suspend rather a lot of disbelief to go along with it.
Where did you have to suspend disbelief? She's in line to inherit the company from her father, but he wants immortality and treats a robot as his "heir" rather than her. In an operation she should be in charge of, she is kept out of the loop and her father will only confide in the robot. I was a little surprised when she treated the robot like a slave when first waking from hypersleep, but as the film goes on it becomes clear why she hates David so much.
Also, why that part at the beginning of the movie? What did that add to the film at all?
I don't think the film would make sense without that. The aliens produce life through a process of self-sacrifice. As such, when they are greeted by an old man who wants them to make him live forever (something they would never expect for themselves) they become extremely angry. Without that first scene, we miss a vital part of the culture of the "Engineers".
Prometheus doesn't add anything to Alien and I don't think it's intended to. The final scene of Prometheus makes more concrete the tie with Alien, but doesn't match things up terribly well yet. That final scene is not intended to lead into Alien, but to encourage people to beg for a sequel.
Just one last thing, I don't think the term "slasher" really fits this film. To be a slasher, the crew would need to be stalked (like they are in "Alien"), but that's not what happens here. I'll admit there's a similar over-arching creepy feeling like there was in Carpenter's "The Thing" (where the characters WERE being stalked), but in Prometheus the horror that could strike from anywhere in any way is not a singular stalking entity.
The movie "Sunshine" seems to deserve the "Star Trek mixed with slasher" label rather more. But yes, Prometheus is a horror movie of sorts and does have a sense of impending doom. There's even a Star Trek element too, since they are, after all, seeking out and exploring a new civilisation. I'd question the label of "slasher" though.
Interesting. I guess I feel that by the time I was given the information to grasp a lot of the things you've explained here, I possibly no longer cared or the information came so briefly and there was a need for so much of it that it all felt very passed over.
I looked it up and you're right, Prometheus is not meant to be exactly on the same plotline as Alien, which is good to know, but also made this movie make less sense to me. I kind of feel disappointed to know that I can't figure it out by seeing the Alien series.
I use the term Slasher because watching this film was sort of the same experience as watching a Slasher flick. No, there is no stalking element, but not all slasher flicks involve stalking either. It was more the experience of sudden unexpected but graphic violence. Also I would argue that the moments of suspense very much followed a typical slasher plot, they just didn't carry through the movie as a single theme. Maybe slasher isn't the right word, but that was exactly the experience I had with the movie. Do you think there's a better genre to compare this to? Maybe just calling it a Thriller?
Along the same line, I compared it to Star Trek because that was a strong vibe I had while watching it, but really it's sort of a typical sci-fi exploring movie, yes? Would generalizing it be more fair? Really I'm just trying to overlay terms to give people a sense of what they're going into.
I haven't seen Sunshine. Can I assume that anyone who liked it would also like Prometheus or visa-versa?
Interesting. I guess I feel that by the time I was given the information to grasp a lot of the things you've explained here, I possibly no longer cared or the information came so briefly and there was a need for so much of it that it all felt very passed over.
While I'm sure you have probably had enough of explanations of the movie, I have to recommend this LJ article from cavalorn whose studies into paganism (being a pagan himself) produced some interesting ideas. Worryingly though, his conclusion is that 'space Jesus' is the reason the Engineers are coming to destroy the human race. (I think you'll need to read the article to understand that point, though trust me, Cavalorn has a pretty thorough argument in place.) If you are at all intrigued, check out the article here. (It's quite entertaining.): http://cavalorn.livejournal.com/584135.html
Maybe slasher isn't the right word, but that was exactly the experience I had with the movie. Do you think there's a better genre to compare this to? Maybe just calling it a Thriller?
Personally I'd just say it's a horror movie. Though oddly a comparison coming to mind right now is "Black Swan" where there's that same sense of underlying doom all the way through, but there's no precise villain. It's just that the protagonist is surrounded by horrible stuff and horrible people in general.
Along the same line, I compared it to Star Trek because that was a strong vibe I had while watching it, but really it's sort of a typical sci-fi exploring movie, yes?
Yeah, I suppose in that sense it's more like the Star Trek series than the Star Trek movies. If they'd been responding to an urgent distress call with a greal deal at stake then it might be more like the Star Trek movies. (Then again, they do end up trying to stop a spaceship from flying to Earth to kill the human race, so that's pretty damn urgent, albeit late in the plot.)
I haven't seen Sunshine. Can I assume that anyone who liked it would also like Prometheus or vice-versa?
Well, personally I didn't like Sunshine at all. I've heard some people make the comparison because there's a religious allegory element to it and (according to the reviewer) they both go downhill in the second half. The problem with Sunshine was that it started off as a movie about a scientific team trying to re-ignite the sun that is dying, with these interesting ideas about sun worship in the background enhanced by some neat visual touches. However, towards the end it just turns into a full-on slasher movie where the crew is hunted down by some kind of space crazy lunatic.
If you are a big fan of all Danny Boyle's stuff you might like Sunshine more than me, but personally I wouldn't put it on the same level as Prometheus.
By who? I didn't get that at all.
It seemed to me that he has complete independence of thought and, learning from his environment like a child would, he thinks that it's normal to hate your father (based on the behaviour of his 'step-sister'). He is fairly baffled by the idea of being excited about meeting your creators since he's surrounded by the race that created him, sees very little reason to be excited about them and in fact holds them in contempt.
but without having seen Alien I don't know if it was even answered there
I really don't think it is.
There were weak if any motives for character's actions and you had to suspend rather a lot of disbelief to go along with it.
Where did you have to suspend disbelief? She's in line to inherit the company from her father, but he wants immortality and treats a robot as his "heir" rather than her. In an operation she should be in charge of, she is kept out of the loop and her father will only confide in the robot. I was a little surprised when she treated the robot like a slave when first waking from hypersleep, but as the film goes on it becomes clear why she hates David so much.
Also, why that part at the beginning of the movie? What did that add to the film at all?
I don't think the film would make sense without that. The aliens produce life through a process of self-sacrifice. As such, when they are greeted by an old man who wants them to make him live forever (something they would never expect for themselves) they become extremely angry. Without that first scene, we miss a vital part of the culture of the "Engineers".
Prometheus doesn't add anything to Alien and I don't think it's intended to. The final scene of Prometheus makes more concrete the tie with Alien, but doesn't match things up terribly well yet. That final scene is not intended to lead into Alien, but to encourage people to beg for a sequel.
Just one last thing, I don't think the term "slasher" really fits this film. To be a slasher, the crew would need to be stalked (like they are in "Alien"), but that's not what happens here. I'll admit there's a similar over-arching creepy feeling like there was in Carpenter's "The Thing" (where the characters WERE being stalked), but in Prometheus the horror that could strike from anywhere in any way is not a singular stalking entity.
The movie "Sunshine" seems to deserve the "Star Trek mixed with slasher" label rather more. But yes, Prometheus is a horror movie of sorts and does have a sense of impending doom. There's even a Star Trek element too, since they are, after all, seeking out and exploring a new civilisation. I'd question the label of "slasher" though.
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I looked it up and you're right, Prometheus is not meant to be exactly on the same plotline as Alien, which is good to know, but also made this movie make less sense to me. I kind of feel disappointed to know that I can't figure it out by seeing the Alien series.
I use the term Slasher because watching this film was sort of the same experience as watching a Slasher flick. No, there is no stalking element, but not all slasher flicks involve stalking either. It was more the experience of sudden unexpected but graphic violence. Also I would argue that the moments of suspense very much followed a typical slasher plot, they just didn't carry through the movie as a single theme. Maybe slasher isn't the right word, but that was exactly the experience I had with the movie. Do you think there's a better genre to compare this to? Maybe just calling it a Thriller?
Along the same line, I compared it to Star Trek because that was a strong vibe I had while watching it, but really it's sort of a typical sci-fi exploring movie, yes? Would generalizing it be more fair? Really I'm just trying to overlay terms to give people a sense of what they're going into.
I haven't seen Sunshine. Can I assume that anyone who liked it would also like Prometheus or visa-versa?
Reply
While I'm sure you have probably had enough of explanations of the movie, I have to recommend this LJ article from cavalorn whose studies into paganism (being a pagan himself) produced some interesting ideas. Worryingly though, his conclusion is that 'space Jesus' is the reason the Engineers are coming to destroy the human race. (I think you'll need to read the article to understand that point, though trust me, Cavalorn has a pretty thorough argument in place.) If you are at all intrigued, check out the article here. (It's quite entertaining.):
http://cavalorn.livejournal.com/584135.html
Maybe slasher isn't the right word, but that was exactly the experience I had with the movie. Do you think there's a better genre to compare this to? Maybe just calling it a Thriller?
Personally I'd just say it's a horror movie. Though oddly a comparison coming to mind right now is "Black Swan" where there's that same sense of underlying doom all the way through, but there's no precise villain. It's just that the protagonist is surrounded by horrible stuff and horrible people in general.
Along the same line, I compared it to Star Trek because that was a strong vibe I had while watching it, but really it's sort of a typical sci-fi exploring movie, yes?
Yeah, I suppose in that sense it's more like the Star Trek series than the Star Trek movies. If they'd been responding to an urgent distress call with a greal deal at stake then it might be more like the Star Trek movies. (Then again, they do end up trying to stop a spaceship from flying to Earth to kill the human race, so that's pretty damn urgent, albeit late in the plot.)
I haven't seen Sunshine. Can I assume that anyone who liked it would also like Prometheus or vice-versa?
Well, personally I didn't like Sunshine at all. I've heard some people make the comparison because there's a religious allegory element to it and (according to the reviewer) they both go downhill in the second half. The problem with Sunshine was that it started off as a movie about a scientific team trying to re-ignite the sun that is dying, with these interesting ideas about sun worship in the background enhanced by some neat visual touches. However, towards the end it just turns into a full-on slasher movie where the crew is hunted down by some kind of space crazy lunatic.
If you are a big fan of all Danny Boyle's stuff you might like Sunshine more than me, but personally I wouldn't put it on the same level as Prometheus.
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