Starmap: NOT an invitation - so what is it?

[180924609]

The atmosphere on LV223 isnt breathable for humans or Engineers since their DNA matches ours and they are only mortal after all, according to David.

Thats ANOTHER story goof right there, because Space Hippy Holloway said that the system had a sun like ours and had a planet that could sustain life. Eh?!

So then - the 'reception party' must be in the pyramid/domes, yes?

But wait a minute, the inside of these domes is essentially a gigantic sewer network of tunnels, shafts and helixes that somehow makes breathable air? Furthermore, deep within these tunnels is a room that contains a hideous bioweapon that they are apparently loading into Juggernauts, destined for 'naughty planets' that need the black-goo treatment. But the bioweapon is 'activated' and bursts from its container on contact with a breathable atmosphere - like the scene at the waterfall. This is surely the dumbest aspect of this story - why would they store such volatile containers within an atmosphere generator?!

So...why exactly did multiple ancient astronauts bother to meticulously describe a star configuration in the sky to many different primitive civilizations so that they could draw it into artefacts or cave walls? Heck, the primitive folks couldnt even see it in the night sky!

[Zenzucht]

In screenwriting, it's called "inciting incident".

[Aceburster]

  Id just like to point out that the concept that "breathable air" triggering the goo waking up makes no sense because the door to that urn chamber was open... so it could close on the Engineers head. Nothing should have changed in that room due to atmosphere 2000 years later since it was the same air in the same situation and the same complex.

In screenwriting, its called a "plot hole".

[180924609]

  Id just like to point out that the concept that "breathable air" triggering the goo waking up makes no sense because the door to that urn chamber was open... so it could close on the Engineers head. Nothing should have changed in that room due to atmosphere 2000 years later since it was the same air in the same situation and the same complex.

In screenwriting, its called a "plot hole".

But the engineers were all wearing 'Jockey Suits' with breathing apparatus during the hologram sequence when the ampule room door was open?

[Aceburster]

Yea they were, but then who came in and started blowing breathable air into the complex after everyone was dead?

[HenryEllis]

180924609 I feel your dissapointment and frustration but really its time to let go, its a shit movie that looks nice, there are no answers to your many questions, those who like the movie in spite of all the points you have posited are more willing to suspend disbelief than you are, than I am.  Ridley scott is a self declared Fox News Corporation Tool now with an impressive resume (in terms of dollars) and an eye for detail.    This doesn't mean you have to like his movies and everyone is entitled to their own subjective experience for better or worse when it comes to art.  Needless to say I don't think Prometheus will be inspiring James Cameron to write a sequel, this isn't a turning point in cinematic history, and frankly Star Wars (OT)  isn't as good as everyone thinks it is/thought it was.  Hype and hope surrounding the first one may have just set you up to be let down but its just a movie, a great work of art maybe, but at the end of the day its just another thing you can buy at a store and life is about more than that, or less than that, depending on how you wanna look at it.

[BANE]

The atmosphere on LV223 isnt breathable for humans or Engineers since their DNA matches ours and they are only mortal after all, according to David.

Thats ANOTHER story goof right there, because Space Hippy Holloway said that the system had a sun like ours and had a planet that could sustain life. Eh?!

So? There's life on earth that doesn't require the same atmospheric conditions to live as us.

You're letting your dislike of the movie hinder yourself from thinking.

So then - the 'reception party' must be in the pyramid/domes, yes?

But wait a minute, the inside of these domes is essentially a gigantic sewer network of tunnels, shafts and helixes that somehow makes breathable air?

I don't see what the issue is here...there's tech in the structure that is creating a breathable atmosphere.

Oh my god, I only see tunnels and ladders in submarines in The Hunt for Red October...how silly. Somehow these ladders are making breathable air! Sweet Jesus, screenwritiers, get your acts together!

Furthermore, deep within these tunnels is a room that contains a hideous bioweapon that they are apparently loading into Juggernauts, destined for 'naughty planets' that need the black-goo treatment. But the bioweapon is 'activated' and bursts from its container on contact with a breathable atmosphere - like the scene at the waterfall.

No, the goo never bursts forth at the beginning, the guy opens the mini-wok, drinks the goo, and is disintegrated, his DNA broken down and rebuilt, cellular life begins anew, etc...

And it's clearly NOT bursting forth in contact with a breathable atmosphere, because the entire place has a breathable atmosphere, including the room where thousands of them have been stored, just outside the hologram room. And yet none of those "burst forth".

This is surely the dumbest aspect of this story - why would they store such volatile containers within an atmosphere generator?!

Because it's obviously activated by something else, besides the air, or they would have leaked millenia ago. Human presence, perhaps, which would be suitable seeing as they were purposed for human destruction. There was obviously some sort of connection with the facility, because the murals began to move around before activation. Thus explaining the lack of bursting forth when David brings the single vial to the ship.

So...why exactly did multiple ancient astronauts bother to meticulously describe a star configuration in the sky to many different primitive civilizations so that they could draw it into artefacts or cave walls? Heck, the primitive folks couldnt even see it in the night sky!

I don't know.

Maybe a 'you were made here' sort of thing? Or perhaps a sign of the coming apocalypse, like many christian paintings displaying the apocalypse? Or perhaps it was a sign showing the location of the secret of life, and they only stopped being painted after we pissed them off enough for them not to want to show us?

This is one question I don't know the answer to.

[180924609]

No, the goo never bursts forth at the beginning, the guy opens the mini-wok, drinks the goo, and is disintegrated, his DNA broken down and rebuilt, cellular life begins anew, etc...

Oh yes it does! The engineer opens 'the sacrificial bowl' to reveal a SEALED ramekin, like the urns, but then the surface starts to erode when exposed to The Planet's air atmosphere, thus exposing the black goo.


Did you not pay attention?

[Aceburster]

Plus, Shaw plainly states that the murals are reacting to the new atmosphere, which is the same time the goo starts leaking. Theres evidence to support that the stuff does wake up from hitting air, but it doesnt explain that giant gaping hole in logic associated with it.

[xii22loop]

180924609 I feel your dissapointment and frustration but really its time to let go, its a shit movie that looks nice, there are no answers to your many questions, those who like the movie in spite of all the points you have posited are more willing to suspend disbelief than you are, than I am.  Ridley scott is a self declared Fox News Corporation Tool now with an impressive resume (in terms of dollars) and an eye for detail.    This doesn't mean you have to like his movies and everyone is entitled to their own subjective experience for better or worse when it comes to art.  Needless to say I don't think Prometheus will be inspiring James Cameron to write a sequel, this isn't a turning point in cinematic history, and frankly Star Wars (OT)  isn't as good as everyone thinks it is/thought it was.  Hype and hope surrounding the first one may have just set you up to be let down but its just a movie, a great work of art maybe, but at the end of the day its just another thing you can buy at a store and life is about more than that, or less than that, depending on how you wanna look at it.

too bad this wonderfully written statement will go in one ear and out the other of most internet people unfortunately.

[Aceburster]

No, the goo never bursts forth at the beginning, the guy opens the mini-wok, drinks the goo, and is disintegrated, his DNA broken down and rebuilt, cellular life begins anew, etc...

Oh yes it does! The engineer opens 'the sacrificial bowl' to reveal a SEALED ramekin, like the urns, but then the surface starts to erode when exposed to The Planet's air atmosphere, thus exposing the black goo.


Did you not pay attention?

So? The surface erodes, but nothing 'bursts forth'. The black goo doesn't spill.

And even if I suspend all indicators to the opposite and accept your theory, why, then, didn't the goo burst forth in the Prometheus? Or on the way to the Prometheus? In the Fridge? New atmosphere with humans all around....

It had something to do with the ship itself, I would imagine. That room had something special about it. Otherwise, why didn't the goo spill forth when the crew (Weyland and Co.) went to awaken the Jockey, and passed through the room with thousands of jars of the stuff?

Plus, Shaw plainly states that the murals are reacting to the new atmosphere, which is the same time the goo starts leaking. Theres evidence to support that the stuff does wake up from hitting air, but it doesnt explain that giant gaping hole in logic associated with it.

I believe she said 'I think we've disturbed the atmosphere'. Which explains nothing.

No, im pretty sure it means they disturbed the atmosphere. U think someone ripped a fart and it contaminated the room enough to knock art off the walls?

[180924609]

I believe she said 'I think we've disturbed the atmosphere'. Which explains nothing.

Eh...NO. I believe it explains why the tops of the urns start to erode exposing the black-goo, just like the image of the previously sealed ramekin that the sacrificial engineer drank from at the start of the movie. They have both been exposed to an air atmosphere, which is presumably exactly how the Juggernaut bombing raid would deliver its payload.

Or are you seriously suggesting that there is no connection whatsoever between these two moments of exposition?!

[BANE]

I...

How the f**k am I misremembering things so badly? I did this with Ripley in the Alien hive, killing aliens, a year ago too.

f**k f**k f**k f**k f**k f**k f**k.

I apologize.

The ampule room makes no sense. I'll have to watch it and think it through again, see if there's any explanation. But as of now....
f**k.
I apologize.
I'm going to go for a run, and maybe get a CT scan to see if I have brain cancer.

[Blacklabel]

Theory: Judging by all the bioweapons scattered about the place....

the starmap was more of a "if you f**k with us your DOOM will come from this place."

2000 years ago, shit went down and they were getting ready to go and kill us.. but a xeno outbreak prevented them.
(sabotage? Someone released the xeno's on purpose? We'll see in the sequel. If they ever get around to make it. eh!)

Shaw is the one that says that the starmap is an invitation.. she's also the one that raises an eyebrow about the security guy taking flamethrowers on the expedition... the whole "it's an invitation" was just wishful thinking on her part.
The whole voyage is based on many "if's" and leaps of logic.. rightfully mocked by David and Fifield early on in the film.

[Aceburster]

  Well im basing the whole "its the atmosphere" thing, off of the fact she says it and since shes an archeologist (the one time it matters for her character) they have to deal with ruining artifacts and paintings and things due to fresh air getting in to old tombs, here in the real world. Its one of the few things in this movie I actually dont question...

  The goo is context sensitive thru the whole movie and doesnt play by any one set of rules, which is just bad but the atmosphere thing I dont question other than why does it work sometimes but not others.

  For a while I actually thought that the "mural" was actually an old hive that turned to dust complete with an Alien hiding in it. I know if I sawa Xeno took up residence in a chamber of holy goo that could be contaminated id prolly suicide right there too.