[movie] Prometheus (previously Alien the Prequel)

[PR_GMR]

To Leo:

Spoiler for Hiden:

But they did illustrate that they are creators of life in the very opening scene.  So they have the power to create and destroy.  I think it's implied that they creates the xenomorph sludge, but who knows, maybe they are just stockpiling it.

Spoiler for Hiden:

I take your interpretation of the opening sequence one step further: What you're seeing there isn't the creation of life. It's the creation of the 'monster DNA' that eventually becomes the xenomorphs. The engineer seen in the scene is either experimenting with it.. or giving its life to create it.. or the creation of the DNA was accidental in that very moment. The engineer who dies may not have known what he was tampering with. His dead body falls down the waterfall and you see the DNA reconfiguring itself--that's the birth of the xenomorph right there! It's not our birth that sequence is portraying. It's the birth of the 'Alien' species!

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Spoiler for Hiden:

Hep, you've to keep in mind that the engineers see human as significantly inferior to them. The engineer's killer reaction is unsurprising considering this. They see humans in the same way we see our pets, or even worse, insects. You can't float your expectations of what a 'superior' alien species would do into the movie.

Spoiler for Hiden:

At no point in my life have I ever felt compelled to pursue any insect or animal to the point of endangering myself just to extract vengeance.  I stick by my assertion that the engineer's reactions towards the end of the film were, in my opinion, incongruous with the rest of the film's narrative.

Spoiler for Hiden:

And I have yet to meet a pet or an insect that can speak to me in my own language.

Of course, part of the problem here is that we have no idea what David said to the engineer. Maybe he told him a your mamma joke and the engineer didn't have a sense of humor.

[hepcat]

And...

Spoiler for Hiden:

Our alien creators leave a sign post leading us to their...weapons research facility?    icon_confused

Why did they cast Guy Pearce as an elderly man?  We still haven't advanced enough in film to the point where makeup creates an effective illusion of advanced age.  You've got hundreds of great, older actors out there, for god's sake. 

The last surviving Engineer on the planet is reduced to acting like Jason Vorhees when his ship gets shot down?

If they'd cut out the whole alien pregnacy thing, including the final battle between Space Squid and the Engineer, I wouldn't have minded.  It just seemed tacked on.  Plus, every time Rapace's character ran a quarter mile or so in a full spacesuit after having had major invasive surgery, it just took me out of the film with its goofiness.

Like I said earlier, I enjoyed it, but it did leave me a bit disappointed.

Spoiler for Hiden:

Feel compelled to respond to these. First, all previous 'Alien' films have been hinting that the xenomorphs were bio-weapons. I wasn't surprised in the least that 'Prometheus' confirmed that theory. The human expedition flies all the way out there hoping to discover our ideal 'creator' species. As Dr. Shaw exclaims in the movie: 'We were so wrong'. They weren't creators. They were destroyers. Intergalactic weapon dealers. I like that twist just fine. Apparently, you were expecting some Spielberg 'goody goody' aliens. That's a completely different movie.

There's nothing wrong with Guy Pearce's performance. There had been plenty of great performances by younger actors as their older selves. Dustin Hoffman in 'Little Big Man' for example. There's no hard rule of casting that requires you to cast an old actor here.

It wouldn't be a horror film without some sort of final battle. That's how the genre works.

Spoiler for Hiden:

I wasn't expecting a "goody goody" alien film.  I just wasn't expecting Halloween in Space.  And they weren't "just" destroyers.  They were actually gardeners.  Hence the opening scenes of the film.

I never said there was anything wrong with Guy's performance.  I'm a big fan.  I just thought the makeup wasn't up to the task.

You can have a horror film that's original and doesn't have to use tired tropes that everyone else uses.  Being a horror film is not a limiting factor for some.

[leo8877]

To Leo:

Spoiler for Hiden:

But they did illustrate that they are creators of life in the very opening scene.  So they have the power to create and destroy.  I think it's implied that they creates the xenomorph sludge, but who knows, maybe they are just stockpiling it.

Spoiler for Hiden:

I take your interpretation of the opening sequence one step further: What you're seeing there isn't the creation of life. It's the creation of the 'monster DNA' that eventually becomes the xenomorphs. The engineer seen in the scene is either experimenting with it.. or giving its life to create it.. or the creation of the DNA was accidental in that very moment. The engineer who dies may not have known what he was tampering with. His dead body falls down the waterfall and you see the DNA reconfiguring itself--that's the birth of the xenomorph right there! It's not our birth that sequence is portraying. It's the birth of the 'Alien' species!

To PR_GMR

Spoiler for Hiden:

An interesting theory but I took it as showing how they "seed" life on planets.  Along with the cave paintings it seems to imply directly that the Engineers were responsible for our creation and cultivation.

[hepcat]

Spoiler for Hiden:

Hep, you've to keep in mind that the engineers see human as significantly inferior to them. The engineer's killer reaction is unsurprising considering this. They see humans in the same way we see our pets, or even worse, insects. You can't float your expectations of what a 'superior' alien species would do into the movie.

Spoiler for Hiden:

At no point in my life have I ever felt compelled to pursue any insect or animal to the point of endangering myself just to extract vengeance.  I stick by my assertion that the engineer's reactions towards the end of the film were, in my opinion, incongruous with the rest of the film's narrative.

Spoiler for Hiden:

And I have yet to meet a pet or an insect that can speak to me in my own language.

Of course, part of the problem here is that we have no idea what David said to the engineer. Maybe he told him a your mamma joke and the engineer didn't have a sense of humor.

 

[PR_GMR]

To hepcat:

Spoiler for Hiden:

At no point in my life have I ever felt compelled to pursue any insect or animal to the point of endangering myself just to extract vengeance.  I stick by my assertion that the engineer's reactions towards the end of the film were, in my opinion, incongruous with the rest of the film's narrative.

Spoiler for Hiden:

So you never swatted at a fly bothering or a mosquito biting you? Because that's how that engineer saw the humans at that very moment. That's the reaction right there! The engineer saw David and Weyland as insects bothering his awakening and him carrying out his mission

[Ralph-Wiggum]

To Leo:

Spoiler for Hiden:

But they did illustrate that they are creators of life in the very opening scene.  So they have the power to create and destroy.  I think it's implied that they creates the xenomorph sludge, but who knows, maybe they are just stockpiling it.

Spoiler for Hiden:

I take your interpretation of the opening sequence one step further: What you're seeing there isn't the creation of life. It's the creation of the 'monster DNA' that eventually becomes the xenomorphs. The engineer seen in the scene is either experimenting with it.. or giving its life to create it.. or the creation of the DNA was accidental in that very moment. The engineer who dies may not have known what he was tampering with. His dead body falls down the waterfall and you see the DNA reconfiguring itself--that's the birth of the xenomorph right there! It's not our birth that sequence is portraying. It's the birth of the 'Alien' species!

Spoiler for Hiden:

That interpretation seems at odds with the rest of the movie. After all, one of the big reveals was that humans and the engineers share the same DNA. I think we're supposed to conclude from that that the opening shot shows us an engineer seeding a planet (whether it's earth or not is irrelevant). And the myth of Prometheus is about a titan who is the creator of man.

[PR_GMR]

To Ralph Wiggum:

Spoiler for Hiden:

And I have yet to meet a pet or an insect that can speak to me in my own language.

Of course, part of the problem here is that we have no idea what David said to the engineer. Maybe he told him a your mamma joke and the engineer didn't have a sense of humor.

Spoiler for Hiden:

Remember, David only says he 'thought' he could speak their language. He may not have delivered the right message.

[PR_GMR]

To Ralph Wiggum:

Spoiler for Hiden:

That interpretation seems at odds with the rest of the movie. After all, one of the big reveals was that humans and the engineers share the same DNA. I think we're supposed to conclude from that that the opening shot shows us an engineer seeding a planet (whether it's earth or not is irrelevant). And the myth of Prometheus is about a titan who is the creator of man.

Spoiler for Hiden:

Could be. But it could also be that the 'creator' of our species was one.. and only one.. engineer.. that saw fit to sacrifice himself to 'seed' a children species in our planet to counter what the engineers were doing in their home planet. Perhaps we were created as a respond to the xenomorph DNA. That could be another interpretation of the opening sequence.

[hepcat]

To hepcat:

Spoiler for Hiden:

At no point in my life have I ever felt compelled to pursue any insect or animal to the point of endangering myself just to extract vengeance.  I stick by my assertion that the engineer's reactions towards the end of the film were, in my opinion, incongruous with the rest of the film's narrative.

Spoiler for Hiden:

So you never swatted at a fly bothering or a mosquito biting you? Because that's how that engineer saw the humans at that very moment. That's the reaction right there! The engineer saw David and Weyland as insects bothering his awakening and him carrying out his mission

Spoiler for Hiden:

Yes, but I've never then got into my car and then drove around town trying to find said fly if he escapes my initial swat.

Spoiler for Hiden:

Could be. But it could also be that the 'creator' of our species was one.. and only one.. engineer.. that saw fit to sacrifice himself to 'seed' a children species in our planet to counter what the engineers were doing in their home planet. Perhaps we were created as a respond to the xenomorph DNA. That could be another interpretation of the opening sequence.

Spoiler for Hiden:

I'm sorry, but you're really reaching on this one.  

[TiLT]

PR_GMR, while your ideas are interesting, they seem to conflict with the vision Ridley Scott has for the movie's theme, which is that of

Spoiler for Hiden:

a benevolent creator race that nurtures humanity towards its peak, then gets cold feet when we start dabbling with things we shouldn't. This isn't the origin story of the Alien. It's the origin story of humanity, though it isn't complete yet.

[hepcat]

THAT'S the story I wanted and I felt it was there, but was ultimately diluted with some annoying horror film standards that felt tacked on for the crowds that would've initially lambasted Blade Runner for being too cerebral.

[PR_GMR]

To Tilt:

Spoiler for Hiden:

a benevolent creator race that nurtures humanity towards its peak, then gets cold feet when we start dabbling with things we shouldn't. This isn't the origin story of the Alien. It's the origin story of humanity, though it isn't complete yet.

Spoiler for Hiden:

Interesting. So let's say that the opening sequence is about humanity being seeded in primordial earth. It's one helluva scary sequence. We see an engineer that takes on a substance which literally rots him in a matter of seconds. It's a frightful sight? This is our beginning? If the engineer had the ability to seed a new species based on his own DNA, wouldn't he just throw a vial with said DNA sequence on the water and keep going on this merry way? This is why I think the opening sequence is about the creation of the 'monster DNA'.. and not our humanity.

But, here's another read. To go back to what I posted earlier: The engineer creates us as a response to the monster DNA. As a last ditch desperate attempt to right what his fellows were doing wrong at their home planet facility. He was a 'true believer' engineer--their equivalent of Dr. Shaw--and he flies himself to a primordial planet and immolates himself to create a new benevolent species.

Cut to two thousand years ago (the beginning of our species?), and the other engineers find out what this rogue had done and they were about to embark on a destroy mission of earth.. when their own killer DNA backfired on them. Everything that Shaw and expedition discovers on the 'Pyramid' points out that the engineers destructive creation turned on themselves. So.. they never got to leave their planet to come to ours and destroy us.

[leo8877]

To Tilt:

Spoiler for Hiden:

a benevolent creator race that nurtures humanity towards its peak, then gets cold feet when we start dabbling with things we shouldn't. This isn't the origin story of the Alien. It's the origin story of humanity, though it isn't complete yet.

Spoiler for Hiden:

Interesting. So let's say that the opening sequence is about humanity being seeded in primordial earth. It's one helluva scary sequence. We see an engineer that takes on a substance which literally rots him in a matter of seconds. It's a frightful sight? This is our beginning? If the engineer had the ability to seed a new species based on his own DNA, wouldn't he just throw a vial with said DNA sequence on the water and keep going on this merry way? This is why I think the opening sequence is about the creation of the 'monster DNA'.. and not our humanity.

But, here's another read. To go back to what I posted earlier: The engineer creates us as a response to the monster DNA. As a last ditch desperate attempt to right what his fellows were doing wrong at their home planet facility. He was a 'true believer' engineer--their equivalent of Dr. Shaw--and he flies himself to a primordial planet and immolates himself to create a new benevolent species.

Cut to two thousand years ago (the beginning of our species?), and the other engineers find out what this rogue had done and they were about to embark on a destroy mission of earth.. when their own killer DNA backfired on them. Everything that Shaw and expedition discovers on the 'Pyramid' points out that the engineers destructive creation turned on themselves. So.. they never got to leave their planet to come to ours and destroy us.

To PR_GMR:

Spoiler for Hiden:

I thought at first that maybe he was a rogue too, but if that was so then why are there multiple cave paintings that show a benevolent being for worship?  The previously linked article that touches on the concept of self sacrifice to create (beginning dude) seems like a more fitting scenario (at least to me).

[hepcat]

To Tilt:

Spoiler for Hiden:

Interesting. So let's say that the opening sequence is about humanity being seeded in primordial earth. It's one helluva scary sequence. We see an engineer that takes on a substance which literally rots him in a matter of seconds. It's a frightful sight? This is our beginning? If the engineer had the ability to seed a new species based on his own DNA, wouldn't he just throw a vial with said DNA sequence on the water and keep going on this merry way?

Spoiler for Hiden:

The act is very ceremonial in nature.  The robes, the solemnity of his sacrifice, the ship's slow and almost salutatory departure...they all seem to point to an almost religious reason behind his sacrifice.  I don't think the Engineer's would've been all that mysterious and fascinating a race if we just got a quick shot of one of them holding up a copy of PlayEngineer while jacking it into a lake...although I probably would've laughed had they done so.  

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Spoiler for Hiden:

The cave paintings were dated to 35,000 BC (well after the origin of Homo sapiens but about as ancient as we find any art). Then we have Egyptian and Sumerian art likely dating from 3,000 BC - 0 AD showing the same thing. So the engineers were clearly around for a good long while.

[PR_GMR]

To Leo:

Spoiler for Hiden:

I thought at first that maybe he was a rogue too, but if that was so then why are there multiple cave paintings that show a benevolent being for worship?  The previously linked article that touches on the concept of self sacrifice to create (beginning dude) seems like a more fitting scenario (at least to me).

Spoiler for Hiden:

Good point. The more I think about it, I think you guys are right about the opening sequence being the creation of man. Yet, I'm bothered because of the movie's ideas being based on the myth of Prometheus. Prometheus stole fire from the Gods and gave it to Man, for this he paid dearly by being chained to a rock and have an eagle eat his liver which grows back each and every day. So is the engineer in the opening sequence a Prometheus figure? He seeds man? Or did he steal DNA from his fellow engineers to create man? All the cave and archaeological paintings and carvings suggest that the engineers must've have an ongoing relationship with mankind during its early days. A relationship that eventually broke. What broke it? Scott is quoted on article as saying that Jesus may have been an alien.. a fellow engineer.. and we killed him. Perhaps this is what turned the engineers against humans and made them undertake the mission to destroy us.

Here's another read as to why that engineer goes Jason Vorhees on the crew: Perhaps Elizabeth Shaw was the one that let loose the alien killer DNA upon the engineers two thousand years before the beginning of the film. Dr. Shaw leaves the planet at the end with David, goes forward to the engineers home planet.. but then hops back in time to the Pyramid and she's the one that infects the engineers.. thus why the one engineer goes murder crazy. It's all very 'Planet Of The Apes', but we'll need a sequel to confirm this. hehehehe.

[leo8877]

To Leo:

Spoiler for Hiden:

I thought at first that maybe he was a rogue too, but if that was so then why are there multiple cave paintings that show a benevolent being for worship?  The previously linked article that touches on the concept of self sacrifice to create (beginning dude) seems like a more fitting scenario (at least to me).

Spoiler for Hiden:

Good point. The more I think about it, I think you guys are right about the opening sequence being the creation of man. Yet, I'm bothered because of the movie's ideas being based on the myth of Prometheus. Prometheus stole fire from the Gods and gave it to Man, for this he paid dearly by being chained to a rock and have an eagle eat his liver which grows back each and every day. So is the engineer in the opening sequence a Prometheus figure? He seeds man? Or did he steal DNA from his fellow engineers to create man? All the cave and archaeological paintings and carvings suggest that the engineers must've have an ongoing relationship with mankind during its early days. A relationship that eventually broke. What broke it? Scott is quoted on article as saying that Jesus may have been an alien.. a fellow engineer.. and we killed him. Perhaps this is what turned the engineers against humans and made them undertake the mission to destroy us.

Here's another read as to why that engineer goes Jason Vorhees on the crew: Perhaps Elizabeth Shaw was the one that let loose the alien killer DNA upon the engineers two thousand years before the beginning of the film. Dr. Shaw leaves the planet at the end with David, goes forward to the engineers home planet.. but then hops back in time to the Pyramid and she's the one that infects the engineers.. thus why the one engineer goes murder crazy. It's all very 'Planet Of The Apes', but we'll need a sequel to confirm this. hehehehe.

To PR_GMR:

Spoiler for Hiden:

One thing that Ridley Scott said was the beginning doesn't necessarily need to be Earth.  I think it means that it can just show how they seed life.

[hepcat]

To Leo:

Spoiler for Hiden:

Here's another read as to why that engineer goes Jason Vorhees on the crew: Perhaps Elizabeth Shaw was the one that let loose the alien killer DNA upon the engineers two thousand years before the beginning of the film. Dr. Shaw leaves the planet at the end with David, goes forward to the engineers home planet.. but then hops back in time to the Pyramid and she's the one that infects the engineers.. thus why the one engineer goes murder crazy. It's all very 'Planet Of The Apes', but we'll need a sequel to confirm this. hehehehe.

Nah, I think we can safely go ahead and just discount THAT theory without one.   

[PR_GMR]

To Leo:

Spoiler for Hiden:

Here's another read as to why that engineer goes Jason Vorhees on the crew: Perhaps Elizabeth Shaw was the one that let loose the alien killer DNA upon the engineers two thousand years before the beginning of the film. Dr. Shaw leaves the planet at the end with David, goes forward to the engineers home planet.. but then hops back in time to the Pyramid and she's the one that infects the engineers.. thus why the one engineer goes murder crazy. It's all very 'Planet Of The Apes', but we'll need a sequel to confirm this. hehehehe.

Nah, I think we can safely go ahead and just discount THAT theory without one.   

Hey.. That would be the sequel I would make!!  You brain would explode.

[hepcat]

Just to reiterate, I didn't hate the film and I ultimately enjoyed it.  I just thought it fell apart towards the end.  It held such promise as a great sci fi film I just became disappointed in the staid and unoriginal execution of the horror elements.  I hope there's a director's cut available someday that shows us a different take on the film, just as there's one for Blade Runner.  I can't help but wonder if the piss poor horror aspects were forced on Scott by studio execs at some point.

[leo8877]

Just to reiterate, I didn't hate the film and I ultimately enjoyed it.  I just thought it fell apart towards the end.  It held such promise as a great sci fi film I just became disappointed in the staid and unoriginal execution of the horror elements.  I hope there's a director's cut available someday that shows us a different take on the film, just as there's one for Blade Runner.  I can't help but wonder if the piss poor horror aspects were forced on Scott by studio execs at some point.

I haven't looked for the quote, but I seem to recall Scott saying this version is the director's cut, or something like that.

[PR_GMR]

Just to reiterate, I didn't hate the film and I ultimately enjoyed it.  I just thought it fell apart towards the end.  It held such promise as a great sci fi film I just became disappointed in the staid and unoriginal execution of the horror elements.  I hope there's a director's cut available someday that shows us a different take on the film, just as there's one for Blade Runner.  I can't help but wonder if the piss poor horror aspects were forced on Scott by studio execs at some point.

I haven't looked for the quote, but I seem to recall Scott saying this version is the director's cut, or something like that.

A friend on my FB feed just posted earlier that the film will have 30mins of extra material when it's released on DVD. And, from my perspective, the second half of the film felt like they cut stuff out of it. Just a filmmaker's hunch.

[TiLT]

According to an interview with Ridley Scott I read a few days ago, there will NOT be a director's cut of Prometheus. Instead you'll get access to deleted scenes from the main menu of the DVD/Blu-ray.

[hepcat]

I'm guessing that will change when the studio decides to double dip a year from now with the "Ultra Special Blu Ray Edition".

[Crusis]

Just to reiterate, I didn't hate the film and I ultimately enjoyed it.  I just thought it fell apart towards the end.  It held such promise as a great sci fi film I just became disappointed in the staid and unoriginal execution of the horror elements.  I hope there's a director's cut available someday that shows us a different take on the film, just as there's one for Blade Runner.  I can't help but wonder if the piss poor horror aspects were forced on Scott by studio execs at some point.

I'm with you on this one. Great film up until the 3rd act then the idiotic cliched character choices took over. Two thoughts:

Spoiler for Hiden:

I'm pretty sure the engineer went apeshit because he was pissed at humans for creating a life form. Take that puny humans, rips off David's head and beats the old guy to death with it. Poetic and one of my favorite scenes.

The horror scenes seemed so out of place and what was with the red shirt crew? They introduced 7 or 8 characters and then killed them all off. The only cool thing about all the death was the yoga-zombie. That guy was badass.

Speaking of the yoga-zombie, was he the idiot geologist that got lost AFTER they'd mapped out the interior? Good think they didn't think to bring along a smart guy to play that role. One minute he's terrified of the pile of corpses, the next he's trying to pet an alien life form on another world. "Here pretty pretty ... AHHHHHH!"

Anyway, I liked most of the movie but the tacked on horror elements made it a shallow experience. Honestly, after watching this movie I wanted to go watch Pandorum again.

[PR_GMR]

To Crusis:

Spoiler for Hiden:

Speaking of the yoga-zombie, was he the idiot geologist that got lost AFTER they'd mapped out the interior? Good think they didn't think to bring along a smart guy to play that role. One minute he's terrified of the pile of corpses, the next he's trying to pet an alien life form on another world. "Here pretty pretty ... AHHHHHH!"

Spoiler for Hiden:

Yes, 'yoga zombie' was the geologist. The guy who pet the alien life form was a biologist. They were both written rather idiotic. The geologist's bad attitude was bad enough not to have included him in the mission (though maybe he was hired by Miss Vickers, who was one calculating bitch). I'm still trying to figure out why the geologist was resurrected after he was more or less death inside the pyramid. They took too much liberty there with the effects of the Alien DNA, in my opinion. That one's not easily explainable.

[leo8877]

Some answers from an interview with the writer.  SPOILERS of course.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1687022/prometheus-secrets-damon-lindelof.jhtml

[hepcat]

Lindelof should probably not try his hand at comedy anytime soon.

Honestly, that interview made me think less of the film.

[farley2k]

Another spoilery interview.  This time from i09

http://io9.com/5917448/all-of-your-lingering-prometheus-questions-answered

[Blackjack]

fwiw, my brother and nephew saw this over the weekend and "loved" it. They didn't come out with a laundry list of questions/gripes etc. like me and several others here.

I don't know whether to "blame" (if you didn't like it) the movie on Lindelof. I get the impression he was trying to tug the movie towards...

Spoiler for Hiden:

A thoughtful sci-fil film and less of a "BOOO!" gotcha slimefest. I doubt that he had a whole lot to do with the Monster Massacre finale of the movie. However, now I keep reading that the original screenwriter's work had all that "who created humanity?" stuff, and Lindelof just tried to emphasize it. Something like that.

If you think about Alien, what was scary about it? It wasn't FX or a rubber suit (you only see that at the very end, and some were disappointed with that part), it was glimpses, peeks, very short, tight views of the Alien's face where you were sort of imagining what the full creature was like.

There are some sequences like that in the caves. I like when the probe detects a "life form" but we're left guessing at what that is. It seemed to harken back to Alien's sequence when Dallas (Tom Skeritt) is crawling through the air shaft tunnels with his flamethrower and can't get a bead on the Alien that's closing in on him. And you just got one brief glimpse of what Dallas sees before his signal disappears.

But Prometheus is more of a digital FX extravaganza. I guess that's required today but I was kind of hoping Ridley would return to his Alien roots and give us more of that type of suspense and claustrophobia.

[leo8877]

Another spoilery interview.  This time from i09

http://io9.com/5917448/all-of-your-lingering-prometheus-questions-answered

Some good stuff!

[CeeKay]

According to an interview with Ridley Scott I read a few days ago, there will NOT be a director's cut of Prometheus. Instead you'll get access to deleted scenes from the main menu of the DVD/Blu-ray.

from yesterday:

Spoiler for Hiden:

http://collider.com/ridley-scott-prometheus-deleted-scenes-interview/172202/

[rittchard]

I really enjoyed it but felt like there were too many questions left unanswered.  Sometimes I'm OK with that kind of an ending, other times I'm not.  Most of my questions were addressed (though not necessarily answered) in the posts above and the Lindelof interview.  I'm still confused/frustrated with:

Spoiler for Hiden:

The robot's (or more specifically Weyland's) "motivation" to spiking the one guy's drink and getting Noomi preggers.  Did that really serve any purpose for him (Weyland) and was he so confident that nothing would go wrong with such a risk?  For a guy that wanted longer life or immortality, it seemed like a pretty stupid risk to take.  Or were we supposed to assume/guess that David was pulling a Data and actually had emotions and some sort of hidden agenda?  Or maybe I just missed something.

Whatever else is said about the movie, I have to say it was worth watching for just one scene, which I found absolutely riveting.

Spoiler for Hiden:

The self-surgery/cesarian birth sequence was flat out awesome.  Go Noomi!

[PR_GMR]

Spoiler for Hiden:

The self-surgery/cesarian birth sequence was flat out awesome.  Go Noomi!

Agreed. That was basically this movie's tribute to the 'Alien' chestbursting sequence. It was terrific!

[hepcat]

Unfortunately she then proceeds to run 12 miles, jump like an Olympic medalist and dead lift three times her weight.  It was ridiculous at that point.

[TiLT]

According to an interview with Ridley Scott I read a few days ago, there will NOT be a director's cut of Prometheus. Instead you'll get access to deleted scenes from the main menu of the DVD/Blu-ray.

from yesterday:

Spoiler for Hiden:

http://collider.com/ridley-scott-prometheus-deleted-scenes-interview/172202/

Yes, that's exactly what I was saying, except in the interview I read Ridley Scott made it clear that these would be accessible only from the menus. Deleted scenes != Director's Cut.

[TiLT]

Unfortunately she then proceeds to run 12 miles, jump like an Olympic medalist and dead lift three times her weight.  It was ridiculous at that point.

Spoiler for Hiden:

I got the impression that she was sprayed with some kind of tissue regeneration substance at the end of the procedure. While I could see the stitches later, I saw no signs of a scar or a wound.

[faide]

I think one of the problems I'm having with this flick is that nothing is presented in the film that actually seems to answer a lot of the questions about motivations of characters and such.  I'm all for a little ambiguity in a flick and drawing my own conclusions, but there just didn't seem to be very clear indicators in the movie that would lead me to the conclusions the writers obviously had for the flick.  Reading the interviews after the fact is interesting and sheds a nice light on the story, but I shouldn't have to do that to understand the movie.

I really want to see it again now , though, to see if maybe this stuff was a little more clearly laid out and I just missed it. 

[Blackjack]

I really want to see it again now , though, to see if maybe this stuff was a little more clearly laid out and I just missed it.  

No, I'm pretty sure it's just Damon Lindelof doing his impression of a Magic 8-ball. i.e., I guess he's built his whole career on making people maddeningly mystified and not quite answering the questions.

Prometheus does make me worry about Star Trek 2, which Lindelof is writing. Is he going to make Kirk, Spock, McCoy and company do various things that we don't understand without reading a post-release interview and watching deleted scenes? Is he going to pepper ST2 with various inscrutable mysteries, and make us wait two more movies to understand it all? The mind reels...  

I was chatting with a co-worker about it yesterday, and she mentioned being puzzled by the same things I was. When I mentioned what I'd read in interviews, she chimed in with "shouldn't the movie be designed so you can figure that out from watching it?" Exactly. I dunno. Maybe it's by design. Maybe they think it's going to coerce you to see it a couple more times in hopes of having some "ah ha!" and "Eureka!" moments.

Me? I think I'll save my $13.50 (3D) and see something else next weekend.   I also need to check my DVD collection to see if I have Alien in it (Aliens was -- along with The Sixth Sense, which I've since lost -- one of my first two DVDs I ever bought).