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By the time basic plant life evolved animal life was pretty well developed. Grasses specifically are a very recent type of plant.

Maybe they only made humans then? Apes and such being sort of "corrupted" or malfunctions in it.

Maybe they were too lazy to shop out all the grass.

I guess when you think about it, when you terraform or find a planet that is capable of sustaining your own species, why bother trying to transport a large amount when you could transfer a few to build it up then create new members of your species. Still would be part of the same empire and probably requires a lot fewer resources if you had the technology. Like sea monkeys in a way.

Yeah, then maybe life was already present, but humans/intelligent life was what the Engineers seeded. The same question is invited, then, about whether they were actually seeding the primates which evolved into us, or what.

What I found really odd was the only time you see the whole crew together was the briefing. As the situation deteriorated there was no lets all get together and figuer out what to do scene, everything got bizarrely lesse fair and no one seemed at all concerned about ice queen murdering buddy. It was also odd that few people knew eachother and there was somehow no time for introductions before they all went into criosleep or whatever it is, I mean I get the whole "The pay is good, I won't ask questions" vibe but is wayland yutani like looking for people on craigslist for a freakin trillion dollar exploration team? Also, Charlize Theron was supposed to be the control freak ice queen corporate bitch and yet no one seemed to listen to her. Wayland seems surprised that she was there, I would think the head of a massive corporation would be a bit of a control freak himself. I did enjoy it, it still had some really bizarre plot holes though.

I do agree that it doesn't make a lot of sense to have people be strangers on a mission like this, and not have the team be coached, coordinated, and compatible. Going back at least as far as Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, the importance of having a balanced and psychologically-healthy team capable of getting along and working together (especially when far from any assistance) has been recognized by Sci-Fi authors. That being said, it's consistent with how the Company operated in Aliens.

You could say of course that it's for better operational security and confidentiality by keeping the team in the dark, but then, they could have done the introductions and getting to know each other after they had departed and were no longer in range to communicate back to Earth and leak secrets. Of course, logistically the effect is similar- you've got the potential for personality clashes after the team has passed the point of no return. But you'd have more time to get over them. Of course, it's much more dramatic and effective in a story for that to be happening at the same time as arriving at the destination, as opposed to splitting the two up on either side of the trip & cryo-sleep.

The stuff you've raised about Vickers is legit, too. It gives me the impression that she had the authority to attach herself to the mission, but not really to commandeer it. Part of the ambiguity here is no doubt that the movie intentially leaves is in the dark about much of the larger context, which enhances mystery and actually makes the world feel a bit more realistic. OTOH part of it is probably what someone else said- the film being edited down and some exposition having been lost.

I was dissapointed.

1. As a sci-fi fan I am always hopeful each "next big thing" sci-fi movie might be a new "classic" of the genre: a movie that can elevate the genre and reward the faithful.

This movie failed in this regard. Performances and acting ranged from cliched and forgetable to cliched and painful. Characters were forgettable and you cared nothing for them.

Visually I felt I had seen everything before.

Plot was predictable and preachy.

They didnt want to give us classic Geiger Aliens so instead they bored us with Tentacle/penis aliens... yawn:

2. As a prequel/tie-in to the Alien series it looked too removed and suffered from the same visual dilema that plagued episodes 1-3 of the Star Wars franchise: how do you do a prequel decades later and not make it look too hi-tech and removed from what defined the originals visually? I think current movie-making technology makes everything look to flashy and samey. This movie was supposed to be what 20-30 years before Alien and it's lived in universe? Yet it looked like took place on Naboo... Too detached visually.

It was nice to see the Architecht ship and the Geiger inspired imagery, but it was too little to late...

Sad.

Don't listen to CT Gamer if you haven't seen it, it's amazing!

If you haven't seen the film WTH are you doing in the thread?! I didn't even open this thread until after I saw the film. Spoilers, hello!

I don't think Naboo is a legitimate comparison. I thought the visuals were fine. Bear in mind that in Alien it was a beat-up, older working ship. In Prometheus a new, task-dedicated one. It's always tough with the computer displays, though. The mismatch there is the one that you really notice.

In general I can accept the criticism about a lack of character development, but there's never really been that in this franchise. Ripley only gets a bit over multiple films.

They didnt want to give us classic Geiger Aliens so instead they bored us with Tentacle/penis aliens... yawn:

Ridley said its overdone. When its turned into a cheap scare for things such as Alien Wars-type attractions, or AVP, AVP-R etc...you know the creature just isn't scary any more. When the last genuine attempt with incredible promise (A:R) failed due to poor shooting...that was the final nail in the coffin.

We need new Gigerish horrors and that is what Prometheus is introducing...a hint of what is to come.

Even examining the final scene of Prometheus...that was more grotesque than even the first chestburster scene in Alien. The Prometheus trilogy (Ridley has hinted to plans for this) may prove to be even more Lovecraftian than the Alien series.

I agree with Mr. Hyena on something! Except that last bit. The chestburster scene is a classic, unlikely to be equaled.

Mannahnin wrote:I agree with Mr. Hyena on something! Except that last bit. The chestburster scene is a classic, unlikely to be equaled.

I didn't say it was bad. It IS a classic. But the final scene in Prometheus is the only actual chestbursting scene that made me feel queasy...that gave me any sort of revulsion.

The past scenes were all just a lot of blood. But when I seen the Goblin-Alien's birth...you could 'hear' the innards pouring out and hitting the ground. This coupled with the complete lack of sound the Jockey made while this was happening, means it could be considered as the most eerie alien birthing seen within the series (including expanded universe). Only the Runner's birth in Alien 3 comes close.

What's the planet code from Alien (also in Aliens)? In the movie (Prometheus) the planet they go to is coded LV-226 (if I remember correctly), as present in the briefing scene towards the beginning of the film.

According ti wiki it's LV-426 for the planet in alien and aliens.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Mannahnin wrote:Yeah, then maybe life was already present, but humans/intelligent life was what the Engineers seeded. The same question is invited, then, about whether they were actually seeding the primates which evolved into us, or what.

What I found really odd was the only time you see the whole crew together was the briefing. As the situation deteriorated there was no lets all get together and figuer out what to do scene, everything got bizarrely lesse fair and no one seemed at all concerned about ice queen murdering buddy. It was also odd that few people knew eachother and there was somehow no time for introductions before they all went into criosleep or whatever it is, I mean I get the whole "The pay is good, I won't ask questions" vibe but is wayland yutani like looking for people on craigslist for a freakin trillion dollar exploration team? Also, Charlize Theron was supposed to be the control freak ice queen corporate bitch and yet no one seemed to listen to her. Wayland seems surprised that she was there, I would think the head of a massive corporation would be a bit of a control freak himself. I did enjoy it, it still had some really bizarre plot holes though.

I do agree that it doesn't make a lot of sense to have people be strangers on a mission like this, and not have the team be coached, coordinated, and compatible. Going back at least as far as Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, the importance of having a balanced and psychologically-healthy team capable of getting along and working together (especially when far from any assistance) has been recognized by Sci-Fi authors. That being said, it's consistent with how the Company operated in Aliens.

You could say of course that it's for better operational security and confidentiality by keeping the team in the dark, but then, they could have done the introductions and getting to know each other after they had departed and were no longer in range to communicate back to Earth and leak secrets. Of course, logistically the effect is similar- you've got the potential for personality clashes after the team has passed the point of no return. But you'd have more time to get over them. Of course, it's much more dramatic and effective in a story for that to be happening at the same time as arriving at the destination, as opposed to splitting the two up on either side of the trip & cryo-sleep.

The stuff you've raised about Vickers is legit, too. It gives me the impression that she had the authority to attach herself to the mission, but not really to commandeer it. Part of the ambiguity here is no doubt that the movie intentially leaves is in the dark about much of the larger context, which enhances mystery and actually makes the world feel a bit more realistic. OTOH part of it is probably what someone else said- the film being edited down and some exposition having been lost.

Yeah part of me is really hoping for a directors cut. The directors cut of both bladerunner and kingdom of heaven are like night and day to the originals. They're both so much better.

Just saw it and I enjoyed it. It did have flaws, but what movie doesn't? We're all super jaded and extremely demanding and hard to impress as a society today.

The visuals and sounds and atmosphere of the movie were all solid. It was beautifully shot and they did a good job of rendering an alien planet. The ship looked cool and I hope they make a scale model kit of it someday! The costumes and props were all excellent.

The characters were fairly disposable and I can't even remember their names. The main character and her boyfriend were fairly unbelievable, he seemed far too urban and probably had spinner hubs on his car while she seemed like the type who would read Shakespeare sipping brandy. The rest of the crew were generic cookie cutter throwaways. The android guy was by far the best performance.

The creature effects were extremely well done and revolting, especially the c-section scene.

All in all, I'll be looking forward to more of these movies, as it definitely had a good hook and the end for a follow up.

I think this movie would have been better if the focus had been on the space exploration and discovery aspect, rather than the blood n guts. But, it wouldn't be an Alien movie without copious amounts of gore.

Kanluwen wrote:

blood reaper wrote:

Kovnik Obama wrote:What the hell dude. I have no clue what your complaining about. Could you rephrase? Are you mad because it's an Alien rip-off, or because it's an Alien prequel? Because it's been known since 2009 that it would take place in the same universe, but as it's own mythology...

I'm annoyed because the film is poor, borrows from Alien, ruins established canon and has a mess of a plot.

"Borrows from Alien"?

Borrows from Alien?!?!?

You do understand the importance of Ridley Scott returning to start playing again in the universe which he created right? Right?!

No , that is NOT what he meant.

He was talking about filming techniques, artistic directions, things that made Alien.... Alien
Just because Ridley did something right before, it doesnt mean he can only parrot the said techniques over and over again.
Because, then it makes the difference between a Genius ( which he is known for )
compared to this.....

Flashman wrote:It isn't awful and is perfectly watchable in its own way, it just isn't in the league of Alien/Aliens, hence the disappointment. You should still have a decent night out

Saw it Saturday night, and while the film had some excellent elements, overall I think it was a fairly weak film.

The strengths were definitely in the production values, the effects and sets were just fantastic, and the action scenes were all well done. And I did enjoy the ambition of the film and it's willingness to try and tie science fiction and mythology together (I absolutely loved how the opening sequence tied these two things together).

But a lot of the script really, really let this movie down. As others have noted, most characters were pretty sketchily drawn, and the second half of the movie basically collapsed into a mess of subplots that didn't really tie together*. But ultimately, the biggest problem I had with the movie was the tone of the piece. This is a film about discovering our origins, and learning about an alien civilisation, and the people discovering these things are scientists who've jetted as far as anyone's ever gone, and yet most of the crew are very, very uninterested in this ancient race. This is not only jarring because it's frankly ludicrous**, it also really hurt the central theme of the movie - the dual nature of discovery - we were supposed to get a feeling of wonder, and in turn dread... but if half the crew barely cared about this wondrous species then why should we the audience?



*Noomi Rapace assaulted a medical team, escaped quarantine, performed surgery on herself, and then rejoined the crew and no-one seemed to care about any of that one bit. They even left the squid thing alone to grow in the medical lab. Near as I could tell the doctor she assaulted was never seen again in the movie.

**The geologist says he likes rocks and only rocks, and if people are just going to look at aliens who could very well be the ancient species who created us, then he's just going to go back to the ship. This is one of the silliest things I think I've ever seen someone try to put into a movie.


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dogma wrote:It also explains...

Spoiler:

...why they're trying to kill us now. The first guy was an exile, and now the Jockeys are coming to kill his progeny.

That's just speculation, though.

That's what I assumed, and thought it was a pretty cool idea just left in the background of the movie.


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Pacific wrote:What I was going to say...

Perhaps the only criticism I would have levelled at it, is that it suffers from Scott's usual problem of having films cut back drastically for the theatrical release.

Honestly I think it suffered from the same problem as most of Scott's more recent movies - he just throws more and more stuff at the screen, either visual effects, themes or character elements, and doesn't seem to make any effort to control these ideas or meld them into a greater whole. As a result most films he's made in at least the last ten years have cases where the sum of the individual parts is much greater than the movie as a whole.

Wasn't as bad as some have said, wasn't exactly good either. Fassbender proved once again what a great actor he is, thought Idris Elba did the best he could with the character he was given too. If it is going to be a trilogy they really need to step up the writing. But who knows, maybe, as has been mentioned, the directors cut will redeem it.

Just saw it and liked it a lot.
It is not Alien, but shares its DNA.
It is a prequil to the series, as promised.

Just got back from seeing it in Imax, absolutely loved it. A few things here and there, but I can reason out most of the plotholes, I believe.

sebster wrote:
But a lot of the script really, really let this movie down. As others have noted, most characters were pretty sketchily drawn, and the second half of the movie basically collapsed into a mess of subplots that didn't really tie together*. But ultimately, the biggest problem I had with the movie was the tone of the piece. This is a film about discovering our origins, and learning about an alien civilisation, and the people discovering these things are scientists who've jetted as far as anyone's ever gone, and yet most of the crew are very, very uninterested in this ancient race. This is not only jarring because it's frankly ludicrous**, it also really hurt the central theme of the movie - the dual nature of discovery - we were supposed to get a feeling of wonder, and in turn dread... but if half the crew barely cared about this wondrous species then why should we the audience?

**The geologist says he likes rocks and only rocks, and if people are just going to look at aliens who could very well be the ancient species who created us, then he's just going to go back to the ship. This is one of the silliest things I think I've ever seen someone try to put into a movie.

Actually, I think I can answer this bit. As the crew is assembling, you get the two pilots betting on what the nature of their mission is. As it turns out, most of the crew - certainly most of the scientists, if not the Corporation employees - had no idea what they'd really signed up for. As far as they knew, it was a scientific experiment and, if what the one pilot said is to be taken as a sort of 'norm', most likely a terrforming project.

When they're told they're here to fine aliens, they're understandably skeptical. And when they find the remains of one of the Engineers, the 'tough guy' ironically chickens out. I liked that bit. He didn't sign up for finding ancient alien civilizations that may have created humans. He just wanted to check out some cool alien rocks.

Oh! And as for the squid-alien-cesarean scene (which, ok, I gagged at a little). I could have sworn I heard either David or another attendant say something along the lines of 'You should see it, it's beautiful'. Now, either he was talking about the ship (more likely) or the alien (less likely, but it would explain why they'd let it grow). It could also be reasoned that, hey, Weyland's awake, listen to him. And as the selfish corporate exec he turns out to be, his first and only thought is to get to that remaining Engineer and somehow gain immortality. Bugger the chick and her squid baby.

sebster wrote:

Flashman wrote:It isn't awful and is perfectly watchable in its own way, it just isn't in the league of Alien/Aliens, hence the disappointment. You should still have a decent night out

Saw it Saturday night, and while the film had some excellent elements, overall I think it was a fairly weak film.

The strengths were definitely in the production values, the effects and sets were just fantastic, and the action scenes were all well done. And I did enjoy the ambition of the film and it's willingness to try and tie science fiction and mythology together (I absolutely loved how the opening sequence tied these two things together).

But a lot of the script really, really let this movie down. As others have noted, most characters were pretty sketchily drawn, and the second half of the movie basically collapsed into a mess of subplots that didn't really tie together*. But ultimately, the biggest problem I had with the movie was the tone of the piece. This is a film about discovering our origins, and learning about an alien civilisation, and the people discovering these things are scientists who've jetted as far as anyone's ever gone, and yet most of the crew are very, very uninterested in this ancient race. This is not only jarring because it's frankly ludicrous**, it also really hurt the central theme of the movie - the dual nature of discovery - we were supposed to get a feeling of wonder, and in turn dread... but if half the crew barely cared about this wondrous species then why should we the audience?



*Noomi Rapace assaulted a medical team, escaped quarantine, performed surgery on herself, and then rejoined the crew and no-one seemed to care about any of that one bit. They even left the squid thing alone to grow in the medical lab. Near as I could tell the doctor she assaulted was never seen again in the movie.

**The geologist says he likes rocks and only rocks, and if people are just going to look at aliens who could very well be the ancient species who created us, then he's just going to go back to the ship. This is one of the silliest things I think I've ever seen someone try to put into a movie.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

dogma wrote:It also explains...

Spoiler:

...why they're trying to kill us now. The first guy was an exile, and now the Jockeys are coming to kill his progeny.

That's just speculation, though.

That's what I assumed, and thought it was a pretty cool idea just left in the background of the movie.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Pacific wrote:What I was going to say...

Perhaps the only criticism I would have levelled at it, is that it suffers from Scott's usual problem of having films cut back drastically for the theatrical release.

Honestly I think it suffered from the same problem as most of Scott's more recent movies - he just throws more and more stuff at the screen, either visual effects, themes or character elements, and doesn't seem to make any effort to control these ideas or meld them into a greater whole. As a result most films he's made in at least the last ten years have cases where the sum of the individual parts is much greater than the movie as a whole.

I agree with a lot of what you've said. Especially the whole assaults a medical team, performs surgery and then rejoins the crew like its all good. The sub plots just float around willy nilly and it's really hard to guage time the way its edited, it just kinda jumps around. Even though it wasn't a military mission, the lack of any sort of command or organizational structure was really hard to ignore. In most crisis situations, there's usually that point where everyone gets together and decides on a course of action and in this everyone is either indifferent or incredibly calm considering all the circumstances. I like idris elba's character but he seemed way too calm and collected and towards the end, him and the two pilots accepted death way too quickly. I have no doubt that level of heroism and selflessness exists but it rarely comes in 3's. I really really hope that there's like 40 minutes more on the dvd and it fills all those plot holes and helps flesh out characters a bit.

sebster wrote:

dogma wrote:It also explains...

Spoiler:

...why they're trying to kill us now. The first guy was an exile, and now the Jockeys are coming to kill his progeny.

That's just speculation, though.

That or we are a failed experiment. Just because they are more advanced doesn't mean they are perfect in everything they do. Apparently they built a weapon even they couldn't really control, after all.

1. Why did it seem like David knew way more then he should have? He just walked in and started pressing buttons like it was just a normal day. Even studying ancient languages shouldn't give that quick of an insight. He also just grabbed a bottle of goo, ran it back to the ship, and used it an another crew member like he knew what it was. It was pretty hostile to everything else that came near it so how was he able to do it without being dissolved/infected?

2. What were the Engineers running from in that 'video'? If it were other engineers that found out they were making genitic goo bombs it adds to dogma's theory. If they weren't what was it?

3. So they seed the planet then come back much later when humans have evolved just to show them the way to the weapon repository? Seems a bit of a strange thing to show everyone.

4. Maybe they were trying to find a better way to reproduce? I didn't see any female Engineers, and we do share dna with them and we have females. Plus there was a lot of penis/vagina imagery/creatures/references going on throughout.

5. We know the alien at the end that pops out isn't the first because we see it plastered on the wall inside the temple/ship. Is it the first to come from an Engineer I wonder? Even if it isn't I imagine it is the first to come from a facehugger spawned by passing from a human male to a female and then being 'born'.

Part of me wishes they had left out the proto-alien at the end. It sort of felt tacked on, and to a degree I wonder if I would have liked it better if it weren't trying to also be a tie in film.

Someone mentioned earlier that the ships looked different. Discounting limitations due to technology at the time we must remember that the original took place on a cargo ship. They were space truckers. This was a top of the line ship designed and built for this mission.

I hate to keep adding but I came across this and thought it was funny.

infinite_array wrote:Actually, I think I can answer this bit. As the crew is assembling, you get the two pilots betting on what the nature of their mission is. As it turns out, most of the crew - certainly most of the scientists, if not the Corporation employees - had no idea what they'd really signed up for. As far as they knew, it was a scientific experiment and, if what the one pilot said is to be taken as a sort of 'norm', most likely a terrforming project.

So it would make sense that we'd get a combination of fear and dread. But added to that we get a whole lot of disinterest. It just felt completely false, I just kept thinking to myself 'people don't act like that'.

When they're told they're here to fine aliens, they're understandably skeptical. And when they find the remains of one of the Engineers, the 'tough guy' ironically chickens out. I liked that bit. He didn't sign up for finding ancient alien civilizations that may have created humans. He just wanted to check out some cool alien rocks.

The biologist wandered off with him. The biologist. When they discovered an alien species the geologist freaked out and the biologist wandered off with him. Then a couple of scenes later the biologist is happily playing with a completely new form of life, and is entirely indifferent to the possibility that this thing could be dangerous.

Really, the problem is that none of them acted like scientists at all. Including the ludicrous indifference to any kind of airborne danger - machine says we can

Oh! And as for the squid-alien-cesarean scene (which, ok, I gagged at a little). I could have sworn I heard either David or another attendant say something along the lines of 'You should see it, it's beautiful'. Now, either he was talking about the ship (more likely) or the alien (less likely, but it would explain why they'd let it grow). It could also be reasoned that, hey, Weyland's awake, listen to him. And as the selfish corporate exec he turns out to be, his first and only thought is to get to that remaining Engineer and somehow gain immortality. Bugger the chick and her squid baby.

Yeah, Weyland's actions, and therefore David and Charlize Theron's actions, were reasonable given how those characters had been developed. But the ship's crew was still alive, and so presumably was the doctor. Someone somewhere should have been thinking about quarantine, or at least about the recent assault, and to gaining some kind of control over the ship.

It's a shame, because the scene with the cesarean was really well done. And then just nothing. Moving on, we've got other sub-plots to throw into this movie. The last third really did feel like a conversation with a coke addict. Which I think possibly it might have been.


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Crablezworth wrote:I agree with a lot of what you've said. Especially the whole assaults a medical team, performs surgery and then rejoins the crew like its all good. The sub plots just float around willy nilly and it's really hard to guage time the way its edited, it just kinda jumps around. Even though it wasn't a military mission, the lack of any sort of command or organizational structure was really hard to ignore. In most crisis situations, there's usually that point where everyone gets together and decides on a course of action and in this everyone is either indifferent or incredibly calm considering all the circumstances. I like idris elba's character but he seemed way too calm and collected and towards the end, him and the two pilots accepted death way too quickly. I have no doubt that level of heroism and selflessness exists but it rarely comes in 3's. I really really hope that there's like 40 minutes more on the dvd and it fills all those plot holes and helps flesh out characters a bit.

Yeah, I actually liked the idea of the three of them deciding to heroically stop the alien ship, but they did it based on what? This woman yelling at them that there won't be an Earth, who they just believed. I think most people would need something a little more solid than that before unanimously deciding to sacrifice their lives.

It's just another thing that could have been worked out with a tighter script. Additional plot points earlier on, showing some kind of debate about the dangers of what is on the planet, with a sceptical captain coming to believe the girl's ideas about the danger, something like that.

Now now Ahtman.

At least they had an excuse a little.



The easier answer is it's a plot hole to kick it off and remove the semi-cannon fodder characters.

"Its like a company education video about how to not feth up.

Biologist tries to pet an alien species
Geologist gets lost in a cave
Captain leaves his post to have sex
Archaeologist gets pissed off and drunk after not finding exactly what he is looking for.
Not using a containment unit on an alien body until seconds before it blows up.
Not recording video feed from the two lost scientists who obviously don't get along, then wondering wth happened to them.
Infection a crewmate with a biological weapon with unknown qualities and not isolating him.

It just goes on and on! "

You know what, that's actually all a good example when you stack it up.

It also looked like the old guy tried to spend as little as possible hiring most of the crew. Though when you think about it.

The old guy didn't seem to think too much about anything.

sebster wrote:It just felt completely false, I just kept thinking to myself 'people don't act like that'.

I think that's the exact same problem I had. I can only suspend disbelief for so long. It's not easy having a big cast of characters and only a two hour run time but they packed so many different sub plots into it and did a really bad job of making it feel coherent. I also get the feeling that ridley scott didn't fight them on the 3d and probably agreed to cut it down if he could keep the R rating (they're trusting him with 120-130$ million and he knows damn well you don't do that unless you expect big returns and big returns means sequel). Kingdom of heaven had some really badly fleshed out stuff in the theatrical release, when I had a chance to watch the directors cut it was like a totally different movie, a way better one.

Ahtman wrote:That or we are a failed experiment. Just because they are more advanced doesn't mean they are perfect in everything they do. Apparently they built a weapon even they couldn't really control, after all.

That's also just as possible, given the scant amount of information we have. It's just that the alien being an exile or some kind of fallen ties in more with origin myths, particularly Cane & Abel.

1. Why did it seem like David knew way more then he should have? He just walked in and started pressing buttons like it was just a normal day. Even studying ancient languages shouldn't give that quick of an insight. He also just grabbed a bottle of goo, ran it back to the ship, and used it an another crew member like he knew what it was. It was pretty hostile to everything else that came near it so how was he able to do it without being dissolved/infected?

I think it was just a contrivance. David studied the similarities in ancient languages (or something like that) and it meant he could figure out the alien language quickly. It doesn't really make sense, but neither does the 100% match with human DNA bit, but both things are close enough for a sci-fi movie.

2. What were the Engineers running from in that 'video'?

The goo escaped, and they were trying to get away from the infected.

3. So they seed the planet then come back much later when humans have evolved just to show them the way to the weapon repository? Seems a bit of a strange thing to show everyone.

That bit is pretty unclear. It's possible that planetary group could be part of our genetic memory.

4. Maybe they were trying to find a better way to reproduce? I didn't see any female Engineers, and we do share dna with them and we have females. Plus there was a lot of penis/vagina imagery/creatures/references going on throughout.

It's an aliens movie. There's always loads of penis/vagina/reproduction things going on

5. We know the alien at the end that pops out isn't the first because we see it plastered on the wall inside the temple/ship. Is it the first to come from an Engineer I wonder? Even if it isn't I imagine it is the first to come from a facehugger spawned by passing from a human male to a female and then being 'born'.

Part of me wishes they had left out the proto-alien at the end. It sort of felt tacked on, and to a degree I wonder if I would have liked it better if it weren't trying to also be a tie in film.

What really, really annoyed me is that they could have tied the whole thing back to Alien so easily, by having the Engineer struggle back to ship's chair in his suit, then have the alien burst from his chest. Instead we get this odd sort of ending that suggests Alien, but without actually ending up like Alien began.

Spoiler:

Biologist tries to pet an alien species
Geologist gets lost in a cave
Captain leaves his post to have sex
Archaeologist gets pissed off and drunk after not finding exactly what he is looking for.
Not using a containment unit on an alien body until seconds before it blows up.
Not recording video feed from the two lost scientists who obviously don't get along, then wondering wth happened to them.
Infection a crewmate with a biological weapon with unknown qualities and not isolating him.

Yes, exactly! None of them acted like their professions dictated they should. They were just the same collection of childish nincompoops you see in every slasher movie. Not a problem when it's about drunk college kids, but a big problem when they're supposed to be skilled, responsible professionals.


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Crablezworth wrote:I think that's the exact same problem I had. I can only suspend disbelief for so long. It's not easy having a big cast of characters and only a two hour run time but they packed so many different sub plots into it and did a really bad job of making it feel coherent. I also get the feeling that ridley scott didn't fight them on the 3d and probably agreed to cut it down if he could keep the R rating (they're trusting him with 120-130$ million and he knows damn well you don't do that unless you expect big returns and big returns means sequel). Kingdom of heaven had some really badly fleshed out stuff in the theatrical release, when I had a chance to watch the directors cut it was like a totally different movie, a way better one.

I don't think it was necessarily the running time, as it doesn't take any more screen time to have someone act like an adult with a brain. It's just an underwritten script, so we got these characters that felt unconvincing, and a mess of subplots. A tighter reign, and possibly just more time in pre-production could have produced a vastly superior movie.

For those looking for the t-shirt: http://www.redbubble.com/people/cunningmunki/works/8948412-weyland-corp-prometheus-red
Not perfect, but close.

Also, I really enjoyed several themes that were explored in the movie:
1)Humans searching for their creators, when David is already amongst them,
2)The paralells between creations and creators being resentful to their counterparts (David seems to intentionally to lead Weyland to his death, and the Engineer does not react well to humanity),
3)The juxtaposition of life and death,
4) The similarity of creations experimenting on their creators.

Finally, I couldn't help but shake the feeling that something bigger, and as yet unrevealed, was happening behind the scenes. Like Weyland's motives were only the tip of the iceberg...

The odd plothole aside, I really liked the move. It's different from Alien/s, and thats clearly disappointed a lot of people, but personally I'm glad it isn't genitically identical to the classic.

So... anyone take a guess at what David said to the Engineer?

This is Biff, he stole a time travelling delorean from the 1980s just to see you?