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Made in us
Secret Force Behind the Rise of the Tau




USA

generalgrog wrote:
Spoiler:
one thing that did pop into my head was...what if David purposefully sabatoged the encounter with the engineer. He was supposedly the only guy that speak their language. The ebngineer was pretty calm until David spoke to him. This is when he went berserk. David may have told him something, possibly a lie to get the engineer worked up? Also he may have told the engineer where the last survivor was in order to send him after her?


GG


Spoiler:
Yeah I really want to know David's motives for his actions at the end. He knew the Engineers wanted us dead, so why would he wake one up? It just seems really inadvisable, especially since what Weyland wanted from them was silly and unlikely to ever be acquired. Did he do all that cause Weyland told him to, or did he secretly have some agenda he was trying to achieve on his own, cause I felt throughout the movie that he was up to something that never got out in the open.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/06/18 15:08:37


   
Made in au
Devestating Grey Knight Dreadknight





Australia

Re: The biologist.

"Hey dude, we've got an off world job for you. We can't tell you what it is, but the money is good. You keen?"

"Sure"

*finds himself in an alien facility filled with the corpses of huge freaky aliens. Wigs out, decides to head back to the ship.*

*gets lost. Encounters alien worm*

"Okay, I'm pretty goddam freaked out right now, but this creature looks more like something I'm used to. If I can make some sort of contact with it perhaps I can regain some control of the situation / perhaps I can take some samples from it / perhaps I can distract myself with some observations / perhaps I can impress the geologist with my fearlessness"

The character is scared and out of his depth and makes a stupid mistake. This makes perfect sense to me.

I didn't think audiences were so slowed they needed that spelled out for them.

Apparently I was wrong.

"Did you ever notice how in the Bible, when ever God needed to punish someone, or make an example, or whenever God needed a killing, he sent an angel? Did you ever wonder what a creature like that must be like? A whole existence spent praising your God, but always with one wing dipped in blood. Would you ever really want to see an angel?" 
   
Made in us
Secret Force Behind the Rise of the Tau




USA

Kaldor wrote:I didn't think audiences were so slowed they needed that spelled out for them.

Apparently I was wrong.


You're not. An audience will fill in the blanks often to make sense of things.

Doesn't mean it wasn't bad writing. Audiences can cope with quite a fair amount of bad writing through the power of imagination.

   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





Oklahoma City, Ok.

I'm just going to throw out there I'm in the "I liked it" camp.

Anyone else have any thoughts on the first ship looking and being different than the buried ship?
It could be the first was a "seed" ship(kind of looked like one), and the other was just a cargo/transport
ship. But I wonder if there's more to it. Someone in the first couple of pages mentions that there could
be factions or splits in the Engineers. The seed ship went around doing it's Vodoo, the second group is out
to correct their mistakes.

And on the discusion of characters. I think one of the reason we don't see the "best of the best of the best,sir",
is due to the fact the whole expedition was a sham. They went under the illusion of research, but it was all actually
so Weyland could ask God for eternal youth. He only got the best in Shaw because it was her and Halloway that
found God's address, as it were.

But don't let me stop you guys yelling at each other! As you were!

"But i'm more than just a little curious, how you're planning to go about making your amends, to the dead?" -The Noose-APC

"Little angel go away
Come again some other day
The devil has my ear today
I'll never hear a word you say" Weak and Powerless - APC

 
   
Made in gb
Bane Knight




Inverness, Scotland.

I noticed during the film that the "pyramid" looked rather like some HR Giger artwork for an abandoned Dune movie. Turns out that the discarded script eventually became Alien, and the art was used for Prometheus.
Spoiler:
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





Oklahoma City, Ok.

RossDas wrote:I noticed during the film that the "pyramid" looked rather like some HR Giger artwork for an abandoned Dune movie. Turns out that the discarded script eventually became Alien, and the art was used for Prometheus.
Spoiler:


I don't see how a Dune movie could morph into a Alien movie?
Not trying to argue, just seems odd.

"But i'm more than just a little curious, how you're planning to go about making your amends, to the dead?" -The Noose-APC

"Little angel go away
Come again some other day
The devil has my ear today
I'll never hear a word you say" Weak and Powerless - APC

 
   
Made in gb
Stealthy Warhound Titan Princeps





South Wales

That's just Baron Harkonnen taking a nap.

Prestor Jon wrote:
Because children don't have any legal rights until they're adults. A minor is the responsiblity of the parent and has no legal rights except through his/her legal guardian or parent.
 
   
Made in gb
Bane Knight




Inverness, Scotland.

alarmingrick wrote:
RossDas wrote:I noticed during the film that the "pyramid" looked rather like some HR Giger artwork for an abandoned Dune movie. Turns out that the discarded script eventually became Alien, and the art was used for Prometheus.
Spoiler:


I don't see how a Dune movie could morph into a Alien movie?
Not trying to argue, just seems odd.

It certainly is odd, considering that they would have been using Frank Herbert's novel (at least I presume they would) as a framework - and Dune has little resemblance in terms of plot and characters to Alien.
I think the version of Dune in question was to feature Salvador Dali as the emperor, and have a soundtrack by Pink Floyd.

Edit: Just had a wee dig and it looks like there was a transfer of talent from the collapsed Dune to the then new project Alien.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/06/18 16:53:00


 
   
Made in us
5th God of Chaos! (Yea'rly!)




The Great State of Texas

Kaldor wrote:Re: The biologist.

"Hey dude, we've got an off world job for you. We can't tell you what it is, but the money is good. You keen?"

"Sure"

*finds himself in an alien facility filled with the corpses of huge freaky aliens. Wigs out, decides to head back to the ship.*

*gets lost. Encounters alien worm*

"Okay, I'm pretty goddam freaked out right now, but this creature looks more like something I'm used to. If I can make some sort of contact with it perhaps I can regain some control of the situation / perhaps I can take some samples from it / perhaps I can distract myself with some observations / perhaps I can impress the geologist with my fearlessness"

The character is scared and out of his depth and makes a stupid mistake. This makes perfect sense to me.

I didn't think audiences were so slowed they needed that spelled out for them.

Apparently I was wrong.


Thats not sensical, because its not rational.
-I'm a biologist. I know creepy crawlies can kill me.
-I'm on an alien world. We're not in Kansas any more and I didn't skip all those those 20th century Tri-D flicks like apparently everyone else on this ship did.
-I just saw a hologram of giants running from something. What makes giants run? Oh look there's a bunch against a wall like they were trapped and then slaughtered.
-Oh here's a tentacle thing. I think I'll give a French kiss. What could go wrong?

Thats nonsensical unless he's a gibbering idiot.

-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
 
   
Made in au
Devestating Grey Knight Dreadknight





Australia

Frazzled wrote:
Kaldor wrote:Re: The biologist.

"Hey dude, we've got an off world job for you. We can't tell you what it is, but the money is good. You keen?"

"Sure"

*finds himself in an alien facility filled with the corpses of huge freaky aliens. Wigs out, decides to head back to the ship.*

*gets lost. Encounters alien worm*

"Okay, I'm pretty goddam freaked out right now, but this creature looks more like something I'm used to. If I can make some sort of contact with it perhaps I can regain some control of the situation / perhaps I can take some samples from it / perhaps I can distract myself with some observations / perhaps I can impress the geologist with my fearlessness"

The character is scared and out of his depth and makes a stupid mistake. This makes perfect sense to me.

I didn't think audiences were so slowed they needed that spelled out for them.

Apparently I was wrong.


Thats not sensical, because its not rational.
-I'm a biologist. I know creepy crawlies can kill me.
-I'm on an alien world. We're not in Kansas any more and I didn't skip all those those 20th century Tri-D flicks like apparently everyone else on this ship did.
-I just saw a hologram of giants running from something. What makes giants run? Oh look there's a bunch against a wall like they were trapped and then slaughtered.
-Oh here's a tentacle thing. I think I'll give a French kiss. What could go wrong?

Thats nonsensical unless he's a gibbering idiot.


The character was scared, unnerved, under trained, under prepared, exhausted, and he made a mistake. Honestly, it would have taken an unrealistically stoic and heroic character to remain calm and collected in that situation.

"Did you ever notice how in the Bible, when ever God needed to punish someone, or make an example, or whenever God needed a killing, he sent an angel? Did you ever wonder what a creature like that must be like? A whole existence spent praising your God, but always with one wing dipped in blood. Would you ever really want to see an angel?" 
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




Swindon, Wiltshire, UK

Scared, unnerved people do not try to kiss killer alien snakes.
   
Made in us
Posts with Authority






Corpsesarefun wrote:Scared, unnerved people do not try to kiss killer alien snakes.


Well, not twice anyways.
   
Made in ca
Zealous Sin-Eater




Montreal

Corpsesarefun wrote:Scared, unnerved people do not try to kiss killer alien snakes.


We all try to look badass, but in the end, when we're kneeling before Slaanesh, we're always a little nervous at first


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Kaldor wrote:Re: The biologist.

"Hey dude, we've got an off world job for you. We can't tell you what it is, but the money is good. You keen?"

"Sure"

*finds himself in an alien facility filled with the corpses of huge freaky aliens. Wigs out, decides to head back to the ship.*

*gets lost. Encounters alien worm*

"Okay, I'm pretty goddam freaked out right now, but this creature looks more like something I'm used to. If I can make some sort of contact with it perhaps I can regain some control of the situation / perhaps I can take some samples from it / perhaps I can distract myself with some observations / perhaps I can impress the geologist with my fearlessness"

The character is scared and out of his depth and makes a stupid mistake. This makes perfect sense to me.

I didn't think audiences were so slowed they needed that spelled out for them.

Apparently I was wrong.


The real problem is that this is basically all there is to know about this dude in the show. We have nothing else to go with this dumbassery, so it looks as ridiculous as those kids in horror flicks that always end up splitting up. I also don't understand something : why was it necessary to have him (and the geologist) be such a dumbass? I mean, there could've been 20 other ways to arrange their deaths so that it isn't so goddamn annoying.

Overall, I'd say that it's an 'okay' movie, and potentially a very good movie, that suffers from a hack job at the editing stage.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2012/06/18 22:26:36


[...] for conflict is the great teacher, and pain, the perfect educator.  
   
Made in us
5th God of Chaos! (Yea'rly!)




The Great State of Texas

Corpsesarefun wrote:Scared, unnerved people do not try to kiss killer alien snakes.


Exactly. Would you pet this on an alien ship?

protip: don't.

-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
 
   
Made in gb
Fixture of Dakka






Sheffield, UK

Corpsesarefun wrote:Scared, unnerved people do not try to kiss killer alien snakes.
Not just any snake but an eyeless albino penis snake that opens up into a cobra headed thing.

Overall I enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to the directors cut version that makes sense. There's just too much missing from the characters for this to be everything.

Spain in Flames: Flames of War (Spanish Civil War 1936-39) Flames of War: Czechs and Slovaks (WWI & WWII) Sheffield & Rotherham Wargames Club

"I'm cancelling you, I'm cancelling you out of shame like my subscription to White Dwarf." - Mark Corrigan: Peep Show
 
   
Made in au
The Dread Evil Lord Varlak





Kaldor wrote:You seem mad. Is it because you can't handle being wrong?

It happens. Try getting some sleep and re-reading your posts, It might help you realise where you've gone wrong.



That's what you've got huh? Can't support any of your claims so you just say 'nuh uh you're wrong'. Well it looks like you're going to be a great addition to dakka.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
generalgrog wrote:
LordofHats wrote:Presumably they're saving that reveal for the sequel GG.


My thoughts...
Spoiler:
one thing that did pop into my head was...what if David purposefully sabatoged the encounter with the engineer. He was supposedly the only guy that speak their language. The ebngineer was pretty calm until David spoke to him. This is when he went berserk. David may have told him something, possibly a lie to get the engineer worked up? Also he may have told the engineer where the last survivor was in order to send him after her?


GG



Spoiler:
The writer said there is something specific for what was said, and a decision was made late in the process that what David said wouldn't be subtitled. In the same interview the writer said there was no reason to believe David was anything but honestly repeating Weyland. The creators seem to be expecting us to accept as face value that the ship was intended to bio-bomb Earth, and that the Engineer was really pissed that humans had turned up at their planet.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Kaldor wrote:The character is scared and out of his depth and makes a stupid mistake. This makes perfect sense to me.

I didn't think audiences were so slowed they needed that spelled out for them.

Apparently I was wrong.


You're confusing "I can invent fanwank to justify away this decision" with "everyone should be expected to accept that there is some fanwank possible to justify this action, therefore its perfectly okay"

Everything can be explained away with fanwank. That doesn't make it good writing.

Just accept that a movie you liked happened to have a weakness with some characters. It's okay. It doesn't mean you are wrong for liking the movie. You don't have to defend every little thing about the film.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
alarmingrick wrote:I don't see how a Dune movie could morph into a Alien movie?
Not trying to argue, just seems odd.


Don't think about Dune the book, and not about the movie we finally got in the 1980s. Think about the rights to Dune being owned by some very strange French people, who signed on one of the most bizarre of all surrealist film makers, Alejandro Jodorowsky, who promptly signed on Salvador Dali to play the Emperor (at $100,000 an hour, no less) and Orson Welles to play the Baron Harkonnen. The music was to be written by Pink Floyd. The artistic design of the film was to be handled Jean Giraud and HR Giger.

Not surprisingly, that whole production collapsed when someone realised the whole thing was completely bonkers. It managed to make giving Dune to David Lynch and having the music written by Toto make a lot more sense.

Taking that Dune production and turning it into Alien is basically just a process of throwing out all the really weird and camp stuff, keeping the stuff from Jean Giraud and HR Giger and voila.

This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2012/06/19 03:41:20


“We may observe that the government in a civilized country is much more expensive than in a barbarous one; and when we say that one government is more expensive than another, it is the same as if we said that that one country is farther advanced in improvement than another. To say that the government is expensive and the people not oppressed is to say that the people are rich.”

Adam Smith, who must have been some kind of leftie or something. 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





Oklahoma City, Ok.

sebster wrote:
Spoiler:
The writer said there is something specific for what was said, and a decision was made late in the process that what David said wouldn't be subtitled. In the same interview the writer said there was no reason to believe David was anything but honestly repeating Weyland. The creators seem to be expecting us to accept as face value that the ship was intended to bio-bomb Earth, and that the Engineer was really pissed that humans had turned up at their planet.


Spoiler:
But I have a problem with that. David never seemed to miss an opportunity to be creepy (spying on Shaw in stasis), or even downright evil (poisoning Halloway). What I've seen of his character makes it perfectly
reasonable to believe he said "you mama wears combat boots".



sebster wrote:
alarmingrick wrote:I don't see how a Dune movie could morph into a Alien movie?
Not trying to argue, just seems odd.


Don't think about Dune the book, and not about the movie we finally got in the 1980s. Think about the rights to Dune being owned by some very strange French people, who signed on one of the most bizarre of all surrealist film makers, Alejandro Jodorowsky, who promptly signed on Salvador Dali to play the Emperor (at $100,000 an hour, no less) and Orson Welles to play the Baron Harkonnen. The music was to be written by Pink Floyd. The artistic design of the film was to be handled Jean Giraud and HR Giger.

Not surprisingly, that whole production collapsed when someone realised the whole thing was completely bonkers. It managed to make giving Dune to David Lynch and having the music written by Toto make a lot more sense.

Taking that Dune production and turning it into Alien is basically just a process of throwing out all the really weird and camp stuff, keeping the stuff from Jean Giraud and HR Giger and voila.


Wow. I'm speechless. Although the soundtrack and art work would have been awesome, not sure how the rest could've, would've been watchable.
Although I do consider the 80's one a guilty peasure movie. It came out right after I had finished reading Dune, Chilren of Dune and God Emperor of Dune books.
I think it was the first time I realized how impossible it is to make a movie true to a book unless you serialize it, multipart it or spread it out over several movies. And
even then so much is lost in translation.

"But i'm more than just a little curious, how you're planning to go about making your amends, to the dead?" -The Noose-APC

"Little angel go away
Come again some other day
The devil has my ear today
I'll never hear a word you say" Weak and Powerless - APC

 
   
Made in au
The Dread Evil Lord Varlak





alarmingrick wrote:
Spoiler:
But I have a problem with that. David never seemed to miss an opportunity to be creepy (spying on Shaw in stasis), or even downright evil (poisoning Halloway). What I've seen of his character makes it perfectly
reasonable to believe he said "you mama wears combat boots".


Sure. I mean I never thought about it much at the time, and figured it was just meant to be unknowable, but after reading that interview I thought it was interesting to hear that David was straight up telling the truth. The author is dead and all that, so I'm not saying you can't think something different to what the author predicted, though.

That said, there's a few arguments in the film that suggest David said exactly what he was supposed to.

Spoiler:
The biggest reason is that it's a straight up reading of the events shown, the Engineers hate us and want to bio-bomb us, and when told we're humans, the Engineers keeps on hating us, kill the people present and then proceed to go back to trying to bio-bomb Earth. And yeah, David was a dick to most everyone else, but he was never seen disobeying Weyland, there's every reason to expect the guy who created him to have hardwired David to obey him. That doesn't mean David couldn't have been obeying Weyland and said what he was supposed to, while knowing full well what the response would be.


Wow. I'm speechless. Although the soundtrack and art work would have been awesome, not sure how the rest could've, would've been watchable.
Although I do consider the 80's one a guilty peasure movie. It came out right after I had finished reading Dune, Chilren of Dune and God Emperor of Dune books.
I think it was the first time I realized how impossible it is to make a movie true to a book unless you serialize it, multipart it or spread it out over several movies. And
even then so much is lost in translation.


The 70s were a weird time. The old studio system came apart and until Star Wars and Jaws no-one could figure out what audiences wanted anymore. We got some really amazing stuff because of it, but also some really dreadful crap. Kind of a shame it never got made, because like you say the music would have been awesome.

I agree with Dune being unfilmable. Once we finally got the serialised version... well it was accurate but it still didn't work. Having someone standing there emoting while a monologue voices their thoughts just doesn't work on screen. Best to just accept Dune was a great book, and leave it at that, I reckon.

“We may observe that the government in a civilized country is much more expensive than in a barbarous one; and when we say that one government is more expensive than another, it is the same as if we said that that one country is farther advanced in improvement than another. To say that the government is expensive and the people not oppressed is to say that the people are rich.”

Adam Smith, who must have been some kind of leftie or something. 
   
Made in au
Devestating Grey Knight Dreadknight





Australia

sebster wrote:That's what you've got huh? Can't support any of your claims so you just say 'nuh uh you're wrong'. Well it looks like you're going to be a great addition to dakka.


What claims? My only claim is that you're wrong. The characters motivations make total sense, no 'fanwank' required.

Feel free to prove me wrong, however.

Oh right. You can't.

Thanks for playing, Sweetheart.

"Did you ever notice how in the Bible, when ever God needed to punish someone, or make an example, or whenever God needed a killing, he sent an angel? Did you ever wonder what a creature like that must be like? A whole existence spent praising your God, but always with one wing dipped in blood. Would you ever really want to see an angel?" 
   
Made in gb
Fixture of Dakka






Sheffield, UK

sebster wrote:Don't think about Dune the book, and not about the movie we finally got in the 1980s. Think about the rights to Dune being owned by some very strange French people, who signed on one of the most bizarre of all surrealist film makers, Alejandro Jodorowsky, who promptly signed on Salvador Dali to play the Emperor (at $100,000 an hour, no less) and Orson Welles to play the Baron Harkonnen. The music was to be written by Pink Floyd. The artistic design of the film was to be handled Jean Giraud and HR Giger.

Not surprisingly, that whole production collapsed when someone realised the whole thing was completely bonkers. It managed to make giving Dune to David Lynch and having the music written by Toto make a lot more sense.
This other Dune sounds amazing. Baron Harkonnen having the voice of Unicron is the icing on the cake.

Spain in Flames: Flames of War (Spanish Civil War 1936-39) Flames of War: Czechs and Slovaks (WWI & WWII) Sheffield & Rotherham Wargames Club

"I'm cancelling you, I'm cancelling you out of shame like my subscription to White Dwarf." - Mark Corrigan: Peep Show
 
   
Made in gb
Joined the Military for Authentic Experience





On an Express Elevator to Hell!!

alarmingrick wrote:
sebster wrote:
Spoiler:
The writer said there is something specific for what was said, and a decision was made late in the process that what David said wouldn't be subtitled. In the same interview the writer said there was no reason to believe David was anything but honestly repeating Weyland. The creators seem to be expecting us to accept as face value that the ship was intended to bio-bomb Earth, and that the Engineer was really pissed that humans had turned up at their planet.


Spoiler:
But I have a problem with that. David never seemed to miss an opportunity to be creepy (spying on Shaw in stasis), or even downright evil (poisoning Halloway). What I've seen of his character makes it perfectly
reasonable to believe he said "you mama wears combat boots".



Spoiler:
Someone over on IMDB reckoned they had translated the language he spoke, and that it came out as 'put the seed of life into my master' or something similar.

My personal idea is that he did say that or at least something similar. For all of his complete lack of morality - poisoning Holloway (although checking that it was what he really wanted first!) and then leaving Shaw the resulting baby-slime inside her, ultimately he was just following the orders of Wayland. There is a complete lack of emotional or moral resonance within him, no sense of right and wrong beyond what he has been told to do.

I think that the Engineers are highly altruistic, perpetrators of life and re-birth - it is seen at the very first seen, where the engineer gives his life so that it can develop on Earth. Then later, the discussions between Weyland and his daughter - 'the king must make way for the next generation' - it is a theme that runs throughout the movie. So then, after Shaw has been shouting at the engineer when he wakes up, "why do you want to kill us, you bastard, what did we do" or something similar (from the look on it's face, I think it understands). Then suddenly, Shaw gets a rifle butt in the stomach for her troubles, and the Engineer is presented with the 'Ambassador' for earth. And the first thing this Ambassador says, the best that humanity can choose to represent them after so many thousands of years, and when presented with the idea that his species is in mortal danger, is "save me". So, this has stretched the Engineer's own ideas of what is 'correct', that life is a cycle of re-birth, beyond breaking point. In a rage he rips David's head off, then ironically batters Weyland to death with it. Weyland says, "there is nothing..", and David somewhat cryptically replies, "I know.. have a good journey sir.." Now is this a quote from Lawrence of Arabia, or is David alluding to the fact that their own philosophy - of attempting eternal life, a halting of the 'wheel', has been flawed? Humankind have proven themselves to be broken beyond saving (as they were thousands of years previously apparently, if Shaw's idea that the engineer ship was on its way to earth to destroy life is correct). Even when the toasted Engineer grabs shaw at the end of the movie, after the crash, his face looks to say "what have you done!" And was the captain flying the Prometheus' self sacrifice, so that the next generations can live, representative of some kind of forgiveness for humankind as a species?

Of course, this could all be complete nonsense, but who knows? I would have loved the movie to end with Shaw dying on the planet, her oxygen exhausted, and those mysteries remaining. But, with talk of another 2 movies planned it seems we will likely know one way or another.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/06/19 12:45:00


Epic 30K&40K! A new players guide, contributors welcome https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/751316.page
 
   
Made in gb
Insect-Infested Nurgle Chaos Lord







The constant little piece of uplifting music that would play during certain scenes really pissed me off. Infact the whole score was terrible.

Black Goo causes Engineers to degenerate.
Black Goo causes worms to become more xenomorph like. Where do the worms come from?
Black Goo mutates humans, but we never see the final transformation so could be a missing piece of the puzzle.
Proto/Giant facehugger thing struggles to overpower the Engineer despite being around the same size as the Engineer. This could be because its design hasn't been refined down to the compact facehugger we know and love.
Proto Alien has no resemblance to any Xenomorph, where are the Biomechanical elements?

Another good question, why did they ignore the green egg at the front of the first black goo chamber room?

Why is everybody a complete ass hole to David for no reason?

'Hey Shaw, what happened to that alien foetus that you had when we were going to freeze you before you flipped out on us?'

'It's in Vickers life boat.'

'Good enough for me, lets roll out.'


Even if they didn't know beforehand, they would know when she came back with her stomach stitched closed. So what do they do? They leave the ship with this thing on board and nobody seems to care?

What really annoys me about this film is that it doesn't explain anything relating to Alien. Why was the Engineer ship in ALIEN full of xenomorph eggs? Why was that engineer Fossilised?



   
Made in us
Hangin' with Gork & Mork






Medium of Death wrote:What really annoys me about this film is that it doesn't explain anything relating to Alien. Why was the Engineer ship in ALIEN full of xenomorph eggs? Why was that engineer Fossilised?


Scott has been saying for some time this was the case, inasmuch as this isn't a direct prequel to Alien.

References to T. E. Lawrence in the film, some more oblique than others, and possibly just incidental:

David patterns his look after him.

David paints a miniature of Lawrence.

David quotes Lawrence of Arabia several times throughout the movie.
- Big things have small beginnings
- There is nothing in the desert and no man needs nothing

Lawrence also went by the surname "Shaw"

Vickers was a machine gun that Lawrence helped supply the Arabs with in WWI.

Fifield was a publisher of Lawrence's writings

David, while also biblical, was also the name of the director of Lawrence of Arabia: David Lean*.

Lawrence was a clerk that came to prominence in the conflict between the Arabs and Turks. After the war he fought for Arabs to be fully independent.

Lawrence's was sent by the British to do diggings at sites, and also make detailed maps of water sources and so on for future British uses.

Much of the location shooting took place in Wadi, Jordan. This would have been some of Lawrence's stomping grounds during WWI.

WWI Gas Mask has similarities to the Engineers/Space Jockey's mask.

Spoiler:



*Other transitional Davids: Dave Bowman representing Mankind's ultimate evolutionary destination, and David from AI, both Stanley Kubrick Films.

Amidst the mists and coldest frosts he thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts.
 
   
Made in gb
Insect-Infested Nurgle Chaos Lord







That is quite strange/cool. Sounds like it's more of an Easter Egg for the observant, rather than linking any plot premise.

Guillermo del Toro's adaptation of 'At the Mountains of Madness' and how it had been canned due to it being very close to the plot of Prometheus was interesting enough that I sought out the relevant Lovecraft book.

Trying to link it to Prometheus has made me think that the Engineers are the Elder Things, Humans are the Shoggoths and that an Unknown Alien entity possibly represents the Great Old Gods.

In saying that the Humans/Black Goo share a role as the Shoggoths. Created by the Elder things to assist them but ultimately become their undoing.

There might be another force behind the Engineers, perhaps another Warring entity.

The main thing that doesn't make sense to me is that if the Engineer ship fossilised on Lv 426 contained Xenomorphs, why would the Engineers need the black goo? Unless creating Xenomorphs was not the major goal of the Engineers. The span of time is really hard to get my head around though, how could the Engineers still be messing about with the same stuff that created Xenomorphs hundreds of thousands years earlier and yet still hadn't figured out how to use it properly?


   
Made in gb
Fixture of Dakka






Sheffield, UK

The Engineers all looked alike, suggesting to me that they were clones. Also the space ship at the beginning is different to the other Engineer ships, it's a saucer rather than an 'Alien Space Jockey' ship.

I suspect a third, fourth if you count the Human AIs, race is involved.

Spain in Flames: Flames of War (Spanish Civil War 1936-39) Flames of War: Czechs and Slovaks (WWI & WWII) Sheffield & Rotherham Wargames Club

"I'm cancelling you, I'm cancelling you out of shame like my subscription to White Dwarf." - Mark Corrigan: Peep Show
 
   
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Zealous Sin-Eater




Montreal

Medium of Death wrote:
Guillermo del Toro's adaptation of 'At the Mountains of Madness' and how it had been canned due to it being very close to the plot of Prometheus was interesting enough that I sought out the relevant Lovecraft book.



I was not aware of a potential Lovecraft movie by Del Toro before your post. I just wikied it, and now I'm mad. Prometheus might have been a passable movie, but if that was at the cost of finally bringing Lovecraft to the big screen, then it wasn't worth it. Not a second.

RAAAAAAGE

[...] for conflict is the great teacher, and pain, the perfect educator.  
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





Oklahoma City, Ok.

Pacific wrote:
alarmingrick wrote:
sebster wrote:
Spoiler:
The writer said there is something specific for what was said, and a decision was made late in the process that what David said wouldn't be subtitled. In the same interview the writer said there was no reason to believe David was anything but honestly repeating Weyland. The creators seem to be expecting us to accept as face value that the ship was intended to bio-bomb Earth, and that the Engineer was really pissed that humans had turned up at their planet.


Spoiler:
But I have a problem with that. David never seemed to miss an opportunity to be creepy (spying on Shaw in stasis), or even downright evil (poisoning Halloway). What I've seen of his character makes it perfectly
reasonable to believe he said "you mama wears combat boots".



Spoiler:
Someone over on IMDB reckoned they had translated the language he spoke, and that it came out as 'put the seed of life into my master' or something similar.

My personal idea is that he did say that or at least something similar. For all of his complete lack of morality - poisoning Holloway (although checking that it was what he really wanted first!) and then leaving Shaw the resulting baby-slime inside her, ultimately he was just following the orders of Wayland. There is a complete lack of emotional or moral resonance within him, no sense of right and wrong beyond what he has been told to do.

I think that the Engineers are highly altruistic, perpetrators of life and re-birth - it is seen at the very first seen, where the engineer gives his life so that it can develop on Earth. Then later, the discussions between Weyland and his daughter - 'the king must make way for the next generation' - it is a theme that runs throughout the movie. So then, after Shaw has been shouting at the engineer when he wakes up, "why do you want to kill us, you bastard, what did we do" or something similar (from the look on it's face, I think it understands). Then suddenly, Shaw gets a rifle butt in the stomach for her troubles, and the Engineer is presented with the 'Ambassador' for earth. And the first thing this Ambassador says, the best that humanity can choose to represent them after so many thousands of years, and when presented with the idea that his species is in mortal danger, is "save me". So, this has stretched the Engineer's own ideas of what is 'correct', that life is a cycle of re-birth, beyond breaking point. In a rage he rips David's head off, then ironically batters Weyland to death with it. Weyland says, "there is nothing..", and David somewhat cryptically replies, "I know.. have a good journey sir.." Now is this a quote from Lawrence of Arabia, or is David alluding to the fact that their own philosophy - of attempting eternal life, a halting of the 'wheel', has been flawed? Humankind have proven themselves to be broken beyond saving (as they were thousands of years previously apparently, if Shaw's idea that the engineer ship was on its way to earth to destroy life is correct). Even when the toasted Engineer grabs shaw at the end of the movie, after the crash, his face looks to say "what have you done!" And was the captain flying the Prometheus' self sacrifice, so that the next generations can live, representative of some kind of forgiveness for humankind as a species?

Of course, this could all be complete nonsense, but who knows? I would have loved the movie to end with Shaw dying on the planet, her oxygen exhausted, and those mysteries remaining. But, with talk of another 2 movies planned it seems we will likely know one way or another.


I say it was more of a justification than asking for permission with the Halloway scene.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Medium of Death wrote:The main thing that doesn't make sense to me is that if the Engineer ship fossilised on Lv 426 contained Xenomorphs, why would the Engineers need the black goo? Unless creating Xenomorphs was not the major goal of the Engineers. The span of time is really hard to get my head around though, how could the Engineers still be messing about with the same stuff that created Xenomorphs hundreds of thousands years earlier and yet still hadn't figured out how to use it properly?



I look at it like the Xenos were one group, or experiment.
We and the black goo are a different group, or experiment.

As for timelines, the setting of Prometheus was around 2000 yrs old.
Or I should say had been "dead" for about 2k years. There's no telling
how old the Space Jockey's ship from Alien is. Maybe it had been setting
there for around the same time span. The Engineers had burst chest wounds
like the SJ did. I would guess that we're supposed to think they are similar.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2012/06/19 18:16:40


"But i'm more than just a little curious, how you're planning to go about making your amends, to the dead?" -The Noose-APC

"Little angel go away
Come again some other day
The devil has my ear today
I'll never hear a word you say" Weak and Powerless - APC

 
   
Made in gb
Insect-Infested Nurgle Chaos Lord







The Only problem with that is that the SJ in ALIEN is fossilised so has to be well in excess of 2000 years old.


   
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Decrepit Dakkanaut




Swindon, Wiltshire, UK

Medium of Death wrote:The Only problem with that is that the SJ in ALIEN is fossilised so has to be well in excess of 2000 years old.



We don't know it's fossilised, we just know it had an outer layer with a mineral-esque composition which is easily explained by it being armour.
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





Oklahoma City, Ok.

Corpsesarefun wrote:
Medium of Death wrote:The Only problem with that is that the SJ in ALIEN is fossilised so has to be well in excess of 2000 years old.



We don't know it's fossilised, we just know it had an outer layer with a mineral-esque composition which is easily explained by it being armour.


That, and the environments are different. They could be from the same time, but due to different exposures of different air, chemicals, etc...could have a
vastly different appearance. As far as I know noone in the Aliens universe went back to the first ship and did any carbon dating or any other form of age
measurement.

"But i'm more than just a little curious, how you're planning to go about making your amends, to the dead?" -The Noose-APC

"Little angel go away
Come again some other day
The devil has my ear today
I'll never hear a word you say" Weak and Powerless - APC

 
   
 
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