It is probably just me but the bridge between both was so close.
Every moment of Prometheus reminded me of AVP for some reasons and some of AVP-R with a twist ala Edwin in PREDATORS.
Here is a bit of explanation full of spoiler so don't read it if you haven't seen it.
Even if both beginning are completely opposite it features kinda the same thematic that was firstly awesomely done in 2001: A Space Odyssey which means bringing the Science Fiction not to our present time or in the future but actually in the past.
This serves as a key to launch a chain of event and some may say "What, we haven't seen anything in AVP?" but that was cut off. I remind you it was suppose to show predators hunting during Mayan civilization and there were this idea that the Predator were Prometheus by giving humans knowledge.
Ok but this is bitchin really, I know it's not in anyway related (and I can already feel the attack pointing at this haha).
Ok so what have AVP and Prometheus in common?
[1]Both features in the beginning a discovery.
AVP: A Pyramid in the ice.
PROMETHEUS: A planet with this giant aliens.
Well some could say it's the same with Alien but I will disagree because this was done in a very intelligent way involving dialogs and development in an early stage while both AVP and Prometheus throw us this stupid interpretation that "we discovered something on earth".
Earth, you'll notice that in both AVP and Prometheus it is at the center of the story for a god damn reason that may be religious or whatever but PLEASE NO!
What AVP actually Managed to do was to explain the purpose of the expedition and create links between character in a realistic settings.
You don't go in expedition without knowing WHY or with WHO.
It's the dumbest thing to do unless you're only interested in money just like Fifield but even tho you can understand the risks that no one is telling you a damn thing about this mission.
[2]The character development
AVP: Verheinden (Dunno if wrote well, don't wanna check) & Miller have a scene which kinda make them distant one from another (about that ratz thing)
PROMETHEUS: Millburn wanna meet Fifield but the guy is repulsive and kinda act exactly like Verheinden.
The difference in this scenes is that AVP made the two characters interact more between each other giving more character development and a good excuse to have this repulsive action. (If I may say good excuse... at least it sounds a bit more realistic than the excuse of being in Cryo sent to the prometheus and discovered later who is on board).
[3]Weyland
If I'm guessing right, the purpose to bring Weyland in PROMETHEUS was to say that AVP got it wrong.
Then I want to know why they build the exact same type of man and make it even more blurry and even a threat to everyone.
Charles & Peter Weyland are both going to die. It is said at some point in both movie, the difference is that in AVP it takes time to explain why through a dialog and in Prometheus it is just David saying "He has only two days to remain".
What an explanation and of course this kind of mysteries never gets answered because it is just irrelevant.
You know it is because he's old but... that is weak and lack of development.
But it is more than just this.
They are both superstitious and want to make mankind progress.
They want to make the discovery of the century and meet first civilization / people who engineered them.
They both die by facing the creators in a way (Predator / Engineer).
The difference again play against Prometheus IMO because the spectator is very well aware of the threat the engineer is during the whole film and yet Peter Weyland admire it, want to communicate while it is clear that the engineer is going to kill everyone!
What's the point of trying to build suspense if the audience can't believe it? Seriously?
[4]The sacrifice
It's a common thing in Hollywood I guess.
In AVP Weyland give his life to slow down the Predator.
In Prometheus, Cpt. Janek give his life with his two copilots to stop the derelict.
What does make sense in AVP is that he's sick and going to die anyway so the sacrifice is justified in a manner (well not so much if I really give it a second thought because it ain't normal for a stranger to give his life for other strangers but okay, let's just assume it can be).
What doesn't make sense in Prometheus is WHY are the two copilots staying on board of the ship?
Janek tell them to get off and they both say no and decide to remain with a cheesy suicide roar scene.
Who honestly would give his life freely just for the pleasure of dieing?
And Janek could have piloted the ship ALONE otherwise he wouldn't have asked them to leave.
[5]Verheinden & Miller get stuck together and it is a funny thing because they are kinda the guy that wouldn't like to get stuck with each other.
Funny thing, same thing happens to Millburn and Fifield.
What's the difference again?
Miller & V discuss and get friendly through a natural dialog that is for sure nothing relevant or great but okay, that's maybe what a human being could say in such situation. Why not.
BUT Millburn and Fifield get no attach, they don't communicate much, they just leave because this place freak the hell out of them.
Seriously? Which scientists would leave a room full of mysteries that can be the most advanced discoveries in human history?
You may understand both situation make them encounters bad creatures and they die.
Though AVP tried to expand a bit their lifetime to get more development when they are in the hive while Millburn and Fifield are just DEAD and will server as the beginning of chain reaction.
[6]The human activate in both circumstances the trigger.
Yeah in Alien too they go for the eggs but here it is related to the place itself and the dude in Alien was no scientists. The only one was ASH and he was a conspirator and had no way anyway to warn them from his distance.
in AVP they have the stupid idea to take off the shoulder canon while the science guy says to not touch it (that was weak).
But in Prometheus that is DAVID that does not calculates the risks it has to open the door while the science team tell him to not do this (I think that can be seen in a clip that has just been released).
Yes I understand that Weyland may have tell david to do so but the guy isn't even aware of what is inside.
It's like Weyland give the order to david to open every door he'll see and one of this has a thing written which says "DON'T OPEN THERE IS A 20 METERS MONSTER BEHIND" and because weyland say so David opens it.
For an android it is miscalculating the risks especially when you know that this could simply kill the engineer for example.
You never know the risks you're taking when doing such things.
If we would do this then the Russian would have opened since decade the Lake Vostock in Antarctica.
That makes no sense in both movie and it is absolutely similar. Someone warns the character to not do that but he does this with a smile to then realize a second / minute later that he has trigger a chain of event and f**ked up the place.
Weak...
[7]The ending run.
In AVP Lex and Scar run while the ground collapse but they have no real choice since the Nuke make a blast radius so it is logical for them to run straight.
In Prometheus Vickers & Shaw run... straight BUT fortunately shaw fall on the ground and decide then to go on either left or right side and survives.
WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?
?? WHY RUNNING STRAIGHT? WHY?
As one of my friend explained which made me laugh: "Even if Prometheus wanted to say kinda different about the way we evolved in the end they give it credit. I mean she is blond so she get killed in a stupid way" and that pretty much sums up the scene for me even if I hate to say such things.
[8]The ending is open and announce a sequel.
Oh yeah I see it coming from you: AVP doesn't announce a sequel!
Probably not but it gave birth to an awful sequence and prometheus features an alien bursting from a SJ.
And notice SJ because in AVP it is Predator and I haven't stop to relate both since the beginning.
It couldn't have born from a human obviously.
[9]The twist.
Edwin wasn't a smart move IMO in Predators and was a total no sense.
But with Prometheus, WTF is this Vickers / Weyland scene with "father"?
What is the purpose?
Why do they have a so bad relation?
Why Vickers would go with her father?
It's just a twist. Vickers started a bit bad but ended up to be nicely build up with an awesome scene I thought between Janek and her (At least it made me nicely laugh) but why to then go through this, just give us that informations and then leave it to see Weyland and Vickers killed a minute after like they needed to get a rid of them?
[10]The Concepts.
Just like AVP-R with the concept of breading through the mouth thing PROMETHEUS had concept.
I was not against the AVP-R concept and I remembered it was even suppose to be something thought of for ALIEN.
I mean it makes sense since everything related to Alien is mostly through the Oral voice and even Prometheus went this way.
But in both cases it was so terribly executed that it just went in the line of a poor slasher where every concepts that features interesting things failed because of the way they are put on screen.
[11]The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Remember AVP when Lex got caught by a Predator who were about to kill her (what a stupid thing, an unarmed human ready to be killed by a Predator) well Prometheus had kinda the same thing.
Ok so let's admit the SJ is the Predator and it is about to kill SHAW.
What element could possibly stop this? Free the octopus so it would go after the Engineer obviously.
Different scene and yet similar purpose. Déjà vu.
[12]Team up
It is in a manner weird that in both movie, the Protagonist and Antagonist teams up after all they've been through.
Lex team up with Scar by giving her the famous Shoulder Canon and ask him for his help.
This doesn't sounds right at all since Scar killed several of her friend during the entire movie.
Same happens in Prometheus, the Protagonist Shaw team up in the end with the Antagonist David (don't tell me it's the SJ, he appears only at the end and the result of the deaths are caused by David and somehow Weyland who could have possibly ordered him to do so but it still sounds a bit weird).
It doesn't feel right at all. David killed Holloway and honestly if someone kill my love I would never ever team up with him / it even if this means I'm going to die.
Again another similitude that sounds very dumb and that pissed off many when it was in AVP.
I'm surprised it shocked no one in Prometheus.
[13]The great mistake.
Both Prometheus and AVP deal with the same problem that made somehow extinct both peace in both race.
In AVP it is explicitly explained that something happened with the Alien that overrun humans Civilization and Predator had to sacrifice to make sure they don't spread to the whole world.
In Prometheus there's also the mention of an accident that is likely to be old and has wiped out many Engineer making them take measure to ensure that won't happen again. The difference is here that it is implicit and only serves the story to go one by making them discover the head room.
Also You can notice that part of the story are in both case written on walls as painting and sculpture.
Unlike Alien who landed us on a world of mystery that didn't try to be explained at all because that wasn't the purpose and it would anyway remain a mystery.
[14]The Security
In both AVP & Prometheus, there are people hired to ensure the security of Weyland.
I honestly wonder how they could know that something bad were going to happen by bringing weapons.
Couldn't they just do as every man who has security with him > bodyguards?
It's unlikely that a scientist team would be ready to obey military when it concerns a scientific expedition.
And bring weapons is even more unlikely unless they go in some very hostile territories like in the desert where they could be kidnapped by a branch of Al-Kaida. But otherwise there's strictly no reason.
[15]The Small Object
It's only after some other thoughts on minor details that I start to see more and more the bridge between both.
In AVP we get the Pepsi cola item. It serves a minor purpose in the film and it's one of the object that open some dialogs and that characters get attached. It's not full of symbolism as Paul can't really dig deeper into meaning.
But Prometheus goes also this way this time with a cross. This small items serve somehow the same purpose by opening some dialog and is viewed as an important object for our characters. The difference here is it has some Symbolism vibe with all the religious stuff related.
In both case those small object appears and pretty much serve the same purpose.
[16]The Speech
In AVP, Charles Bishop Weyland introduces himself to the whole team and explain them the purpose of the expedition right inside the Piper Maru using big screen to show them some research.
Same in Prometheus, Peter Weyland introduces himself and explain them the purpose of the expedition. The major difference is that Peter isn't present withing the crew during the speech but appears as an hologram on a what seems to be a huge screen.
Again, same story.
Don't think that I'm trying to defend AVP, AVP-R and PREDATORS.
I disliked this movie.I'm just forced to see the similitudes and this is why I'm making this thread.
The funny thing is, the more I think about it, the more I see the bridge between both.
It's like John Spaith / Lindelof directly got inspiration from the first AVP in terms of contents and characters.
And from what I understood, Prometheus was aimed to kill AVP.
Ridley just gave it 100% credits...
Hopefully an extended version will explain some plot hole as the development between Millburn and Fifield.
