Promethius 'Alien' Question *Spoilers Here*

killswitch, Xenomorph, 12 years ago

Am I correct in thinking that the black fluid somehow reverse engineers the genetic construction of a life form? This designed potentially as a bio-weapon, but also intuitively used by the engineers to seed earth with the building blocks of life.

So of course having sex with someone who's infected with a virus, which is breaking down their DNA produces ............ an alien fetus. Do you guys not think this was a slightly hamfisted piece of writing to introduce our more primitive, younger 'xenomorph' relations in such a way.

Loved the film, cracking cinematic experience. But I just felt it was a bit of a hurdle getting over that particular clanger.

daveberg, Xenomorph, 12 years ago

The script itself could have been much better, a lot of changes and cuts were made, this, I'm almost certain, would be thanks to the scrotum squeezing of 20th Century fox, who clearly wanted to capitalise on the beginning of a possible fresh franchise, instead of leading the film directly to alien.

Why go to all the trouble of including a ship almost identical to the derelict, and also the inclusion of a chestbursted Jockey if you're not going to have those events on LV-426?

All about the money and the future profit Fox can make from further films that can branch out from Prometheus.

Sorry, I know it's not quite related to your thoughts, Killz, It just led me to this small rant of mine....

jaguargod, Xenomorph, 12 years ago

I truly thought that Ridley Scott had the professional integrity not to tolerate the studio meddeling with the film. I guess I was wrong. Either keep it a separate film, or make it a proper sequel from the beginning, and write the script as such, rather than shoving some disjointed Alien references in as an afterthought. I'm not saying this from experience, as I haven't seen it; just making an observation based on what I have heard.

daveberg, Xenomorph, 12 years ago

The black substance form the urns was a head scratcher. At one point, as Killz mentioned, it showed the ability to deconstruct DNA, giving the Engineer at the start of the film, the ability to seed Earth with life form his broken down body - Later in the film, it showed the properties of completely altering DNA and mutating standard 'earth' worms into 3ft 'cobra huggers' as they are dubbed. Not to mention the mutation of Fifield.

I think portions of this film were purposefully left unexplained as to leave room for expansion in a sequel. Fox has been gunning for one all along.

This film does suffer with a state of confusion as to whether it wants to be an alien prequel or a stand alone piece, there's a healthy mix of both in there.

Don't be worried though, in my opinion, this was a very, very good film, and a welcome addition to the alien universe. Much more class than either of the AVP movies, and far more intelligent than Resurrection thought it was.

killswitch, Xenomorph, 12 years ago

True guys. It's important to remember that this film was an amazing watch, any little quirks I had with the film are primarily fan boy issues pertaining to the fine details of how the film slots into the Alien universe. I guess deep down I have to admit, I sort of wanted an Alien prequel. They were forthcoming about the fact this wasn't going to be the case from day 1, I always believed that this was a form of misdirection.

As Dave just mentioned, including the derelict that wasn't the version on lv426 was certainly an issue. I felt a little dissatisfaction when I realized this. When David entered the control room of the ship and we got to see that infamous shot, my spine was tingling. But it was made more special by the belief that Dallas, Bret, Kane and Lambert would be entering this thing some 31 years later unaware what they were about to bring back out with them.

Jaguargod - I'm not so sure it's a case of professional integrity. I'm think if Ridley Scott could have his own way, hes the sort of guy that would snap that privilege up in an instant. Remember Vickers spiel about how Weyland funded the trillion dollars required for the venture. Fox have the rite to do what they want (unfortunately) with their money. Not even the involvement of the great Sir Ridley Scott can change the fact that in the film industry, everyone thinks they know whats best for the film. Distributors and pen pushers are the worst for deciding they should be in charge, especially in the edit room when the directors creative grip on the film is usually loosened. If you want to read about some fascinating examples of this kind of thing, read up on Harvey 'scissor hands' Weisnstein during the 90's at Mirrirmax.

Side Note.*
How to you guys feel about Alien Rez now? Has Prometheus changed even small notions you held about the film. Cloning, Hybrids, creation, bio-weapons. I often criticized these concepts for existing so brashly in the fourth installment of the Alien Universe. (Of course these concepts existed from the first film in a fascinating and terrifying manner, but they took a back seat to the simplistic focus and drive of Alien, Aliens and Alien 3) But I can't help but feel like Prometheus has almost validated some of this stuff which appeared in Rez. When you look at the way the Aliens were contained and studied and 'trained' before it all went pair shaped... remind you of anything. Not sure how you guys feel. Obviously the film was still executed poorly with random inclusions of comedy, poor acting and what I deem to be a lack of respect to the alien creature, but maybe there's slightly more to take from it now.

daveberg, Xenomorph, 12 years ago

More importantly to me, a complete lack of respect for Ripley in Alien Resurrection.

I still can't get past my general disdain for Alien Resurrection. It had potential to be something great, or at the least, a film that could ride the coat tails of Alien 3. It had some interesting ideas and notions but ones that were poorly executed via a weak script and even weaker actors.

Prometheus has definitely raised the bar for me, in terms of films in the alien universe. I haven't enjoyed an 'alien' flick that much since Alien 3. Was totally gripped from start to finish, even with a few minor gripes here and there, they weren't enough to stop me being satisfied.

I can forsee a LOT of backlash over the final 30 seconds of the film, it's really going to split the fan base I think, and perhaps be the cause of some heated debates!

And Killz, I totally agree about the first time we see the 'Pilot' chamber and the interior of the Jockey ship, was complete fan boy glee, a great wave of Nostalgia hitting me in 3D!

killswitch, Xenomorph, 12 years ago

That moment was awesome. I saw a midnight screening in regular 3-D last Wednesday. First group of screenings in the UK filled with all the fan boys and such. There was an eruption from the audience when David entered that chamber. That mutual acknowledgement among the cinema goers that this is why we're all here was epic.

What are your personal feeling on the last shots of the film as someone who's obviously crazy about the original films?

ash, Xenomorph, 12 years ago

I have a slight question of this egg that was with this Alien at the end, could it be the beginning of the first Alien Queen? the squid hugger created by a human and then made through a space jockey, this also to me explains why the Alien is much larger than a human, it was originally from a Space Jockey which is much taller than a human yes?

daveberg, Xenomorph, 12 years ago

Last shot wasn't a problem for me. The creature was different, yet oh so similar. I think the inclusion was perhaps nothing more than fan boy service, to keep die hards at bay, yet from the backlash it's getting around the web, I think maybe Scott wishes he had dropped that scene.

My only issue is the fact that it almost plays out the entire events from what we would assume happened on LV-426 BEFORE Alien, so why go to all that trouble then claim it all happened on another planet, but not just any other planet, one in the same DAMN system as LV-426. No to me, that's a cop out and a complete money making scheme on the part of Fox.

killswitch, Xenomorph, 12 years ago

Exactly, from a story telling point of view the sequence has no business being in the film atol. The movie essentially ends with Shaw's epilogue. Therefore it's impossible to deny that it's existence of that scene is for the fan boys, who ironically seem to have completely rejected the scene for various reasons.

That's interesting, although I don't see how Fox stood to gain more inflow from backing this particular adaption of the script. Though you could be on to something since there's no denying that John Spaihts initial draft of the script which was a direct Alien prequel featuring 426, Aliens, facehuggers etc was redrafted for very specific reasons.

daveberg, Xenomorph, 12 years ago

Way I see it, Fox sat back and clearly acknowledged that if they went with the original draft, then they had no-where to go with the franchise after Prometheus. All events lead directly into Alien, which in turn leads to the rest of the series as we know it. Which is why they chose to veer away from it and focus on the Jockeys with a sprinkle of Alien nods and winks thrown in.

I think overall, the film is a solid addition to the pack. Sure, there's things to be negative about, we're all fan boys looking for that perfect film to capture the essence of Alien and Aliens again, but the key is to accept the fact we already have those two masterpieces, let Prometheus BE Prometheus without the comparisons.

Deathdrop, Xenomorph, 12 years ago

Funny thing is, I think it would have worked better if it weren't so concerned with explaining where the Xenos came from. Could have tightened things up a bit.

PREDATORv2, Xenomorph, 12 years ago

I just got back from watching the movie and I have to agree with daveberg. I thought the entire thing was fucking amazing, honestly I can understand how people felt when they first watched alien. And the jockeys, or engineers are badass!


However, unlike most I went into this film wanting to learn more about the jockeys, I've known all I really need to about the aliens, its their creators that are the most interest to me. So this movie, really helped satisfy that urge to understand them, and to understand what they were doing. And how we played into it all. I mean we actually got to see their technology in action! Not just fossilized ruins!

Deathdrop, Xenomorph, 12 years ago

http://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/index.php?topic=44108.0

^ Here's a particularly fascinating theory.

PREDATORv2, Xenomorph, 12 years ago

That made things a hell of a lot clearer, thanks DD!

shockwave, Xenomorph, 11 years ago

what about alien and aliens, what happened to the queen that layed the eggs in there. duh. make a ***** sequel.

-Bloo-, Xenomorph, 11 years ago

Like I said, you don't need a sequel. You want confirmation of an event/creature's existence, which a canon compilation book would do finely.

I would buy the shit out of that book - production art, scripts, photographs, commentaries, etc. That would be a much more exciting (and even better) source of canon information pertaining to the films than another sequel, especially if your one reason for wanting a sequel is something so trivial.

AndyUK, Xenomorph, 11 years ago

About the black goo and its effects.... when David sneaks an urn on board Prometheus to examine it something occurred to me, what if the goo inside the urn is different from the goo inside the ampule David removes from it? One made to reconstruct DNA the other to deconstruct it! The worms in the Ampule room and Fifield are exposed to goo that LEAKED from inside the urns. This being the reconstructing goo because in both cases it turned them into something that could be construed as the next evolutionary step. Only Holloway is ever exposed to the ampule goo, which he unknowingly ingests and later seemed to be dissolving him, but perhaps in Shaw's case (because she is a woman) the intervention of Shaw and Holloway having sex had an effect on whatever was being was passed on. As for the Engineer at the beginning of the film, I believe the concoction he ingests was a mixture of both, therefore explaining his DNA breakdown (like Holloway) and his DNA's subsequent reconstruction within water, something where life ultimately begins. (like Shaw).

...just a thought anyway!

-Bloo-, Xenomorph, 11 years ago

Wow, the thought that there might be different types of liquids never occurred to me.

It was sort of implied that these were the same liquids, but nothing was set in stone. It's an interested theory.

Dronehive, Xenomorph, 11 years ago

There's always my theory.


The black liquid obviously serves as a method of creating the "perfect lifeform", allowing for thousands of years of DNA in a few hours. However, the black liquid needs a "base" to mutate off of. The liquid used to create humanity used the Jockeys DNA, leading to him dissolving. The Black liquid in the Urns contained Xeno DNA. Rather than the Xeno taking on its hosts information, the New creature is the perfect mix between Xeno and host. This would seem like a great idea. What if the Mala'kak were dying off? Perhaps mutating their DNA would save them. They eventually learned that it wasn't the hard way. Realizing the instability of their creations, they set off t destroy humanity and alll traces of the black liquid. When the Engineer woke up, it wasn't afraid of the black liquid, but rather what the humans would do with it.





Also, the 2 liquids theory is a big possibility.