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Posted by whiterabbit
 - Jan 02, 2019, 11:16:37 PM
Quote from: SM on Dec 17, 2018, 08:09:21 PM
And I'm not sure where this "almost match" comes from with Engineer and human DNA.  The film just says "match".
It's just that, it's a match. We have the same DNA as them. They're no different than the difference between man and women, black and white; short, fat and hairy and tall, green and bald. If someone were to f**k one of them they'd be some off spring in the near future.

If evolution declared a green person was best adapted for survival we'd probably turn green.

That's how I read it.
Posted by Stitch
 - Jan 02, 2019, 04:00:57 PM
Could take this allll the way into fanwank territory and suggest that the black ooze was created by the predators or that predators are actually an offshoot of the engineers.

Note that I'm not suggesting I believe this, because it's stupid, but these options could easily be worked in.

Predators take DNA from creatures that they think will help them get bigger and badder? Bingo, dino DNA Alien DNA becomes black ooze. Engineers then just happen to come across this black ooze and use it for their science magic.

Or the other, weirder option. Engineer goes rogue and decides it wants to hunt things. Using its knowledge of DNA it upgrades itself and becomes a predator. Others follow and soon there's a whole faction of engineers who have become the predator race. This is how they know to upgrade themselves using a magic DNA altering goo - they've already been doing it for thousands of years!  :o


I hadn't realised just how similar the DNA serum in The Predator was to the black ooze until right now writing this post. And if I've thought of it, maybe Fox has (or whatever will become of Fox). Considering that they just released The Predator, maybe they're foolish enough to make this happen. Predators are Engineers, you heard it here first.
Posted by Frosty Venom
 - Dec 30, 2018, 10:51:29 PM
I've also had this same confusion behind the Prometheus creation story. I look at it like this though, The Engineer DNA in combination with this form of the Black Pathogen and Earth's primordial soup allowed for the probability of an Engineer like species to eventually evolve alongside whatever other life was to take hold on.

Relating to Predators and The Predator DNA upgrading, I guess some secretive scientific society of Bad Bloods use DNA from deadly Alien species to upgrade themselves and The Fugitive was either one of them experimenting with human DNA before betraying this society or was a captured traditional 'hunter' Predator who was being experimented on.   
Posted by Voodoo Magic
 - Dec 19, 2018, 02:13:29 AM
Quote from: SM on Dec 17, 2018, 08:09:21 PM
I got the impression from Predators that they were 'upgrading' themselves- possibly genetically - between hunts if one ever was defeated.

"Anyway, every once in a while, one of us kills one of them. And, let me tell you, that's when they get real interested. See, they learn quick. They adapt. They develop a whole new set of skills. They come back the next season in threes, always in threes. Their armor might've changed, or their weapons have changed, or their tactics have changed. It's amazing. So, it's like evolution. They're trying to make themselves into better killers."

Yep, that's exactly what it is. Everytime a Super Predator was bested by their prey, once it was finally killed, they studied the dead prey and would use their dna to genetically modify their own.  The script was even a little more on the nose about it.
Posted by The Old One
 - Dec 18, 2018, 01:03:02 PM
(Regarding Prometheus "DNA MATCH")

Because it has to be storytelling shorthand
in some fashion- perhaps for DNA structure.
As no two individuals,
nevermind species have identical DNA.
Posted by SM
 - Dec 17, 2018, 08:09:21 PM
I got the impression from Predators that they were 'upgrading' themselves- possibly genetically - between hunts if one ever was defeated.

"Anyway, every once in a while, one of us kills one of them. And, let me tell you, that's when they get real interested. See, they learn quick. They adapt. They develop a whole new set of skills. They come back the next season in threes, always in threes. Their armor might've changed, or their weapons have changed, or their tactics have changed. It's amazing. So, it's like evolution. They're trying to make themselves into better killers."

And I'm not sure where this "almost match" comes from with Engineer and human DNA.  The film just says "match".

Posted by The Kurgan
 - Dec 17, 2018, 12:53:30 PM
Quote from: Doctor Ash on Dec 17, 2018, 10:22:07 AM
Quote from: The Kurgan on Dec 17, 2018, 10:11:45 AM
Quote from: Doctor Ash on Dec 17, 2018, 10:04:41 AM
Strange that something illogical like engineers and humans having almost the same DNA while other species on earth especially primates, from which some were our ancestors, have much more biological difference in their DNA to us, gets much more acceptance than the DNA upgrading in the new Predator movie. Both are scientifically wrong but i think the Engineer seeding issue is even more so than than the science in Shane Black's Predator movie.

In The Predator they did basically the equivalent of me juicing up on tiger DNA and getting claws and striped fur after that.
That needs way more suspension of disbelieve to buy, than the seeding engineers. At least for me.
It's vice versa for me, because we don't know Predator biology well enough to come to conclusions and we also don't know anything about the technology used for the upgrading. Like how the liquid is made, and what it consists of, that they inject into their bodies.

I all comes down to personel preference were your limit is with movie science.

Sure, maybe the Predators have some magic liquid, that formed the body according to an upgraded DNA blueprint that incorporated desired traits from prey DNA. Engineers don't have a monopol on magic goo after all  ;)

I think most people, me included, didn't have a problem with the unrealistic science, but that the whole DNA upgrading did not fit with how the Predators were portrayed before. Or at least not how people imagined them.
Posted by Doctor Ash
 - Dec 17, 2018, 10:22:07 AM
Quote from: The Kurgan on Dec 17, 2018, 10:11:45 AM
Quote from: Doctor Ash on Dec 17, 2018, 10:04:41 AM
Strange that something illogical like engineers and humans having almost the same DNA while other species on earth especially primates, from which some were our ancestors, have much more biological difference in their DNA to us, gets much more acceptance than the DNA upgrading in the new Predator movie. Both are scientifically wrong but i think the Engineer seeding issue is even more so than than the science in Shane Black's Predator movie.

In The Predator they did basically the equivalent of me juicing up on tiger DNA and getting claws and striped fur after that.
That needs way more suspension of disbelieve to buy, than the seeding engineers. At least for me.
It's vice versa for me, because we don't know Predator biology well enough to come to conclusions and we also don't know anything about the technology used for the upgrading. Like how the liquid is made, and what it consists of, that they inject into their bodies.
Posted by The Kurgan
 - Dec 17, 2018, 10:11:45 AM
Quote from: Doctor Ash on Dec 17, 2018, 10:04:41 AM
Strange that something illogical like engineers and humans having almost the same DNA while other species on earth especially primates, from which some were our ancestors, have much more biological difference in their DNA to us, gets much more acceptance than the DNA upgrading in the new Predator movie. Both are scientifically wrong but i think the Engineer seeding issue is even more so than than the science in Shane Black's Predator movie.

In The Predator they did basically the equivalent of me juicing up on tiger DNA and getting claws and striped fur after that.
That needs way more suspension of disbelieve to buy, than the seeding engineers. At least for me. Also I think there is not much difference in our DNA makeup and that of modern apes.
Posted by Doctor Ash
 - Dec 17, 2018, 10:04:41 AM
Strange that something illogical like engineers and humans having almost the same DNA while other species on earth especially primates, from which some were our ancestors, have much more biological difference in their DNA to us, gets much more acceptance than the DNA upgrading in the new Predator movie. Both are scientifically wrong but i think the Engineer seeding issue is even more so than than the science in Shane Black's Predator movie.
Posted by DerelictShip
 - Dec 14, 2018, 01:57:02 PM
Perfect, thanks for sharing. I feel closure.
Posted by Immortan Jonesy
 - Dec 14, 2018, 03:41:22 AM
Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Dec 13, 2018, 10:00:00 AM
I think it was some human ancestors. Something like the Neanderthal's. They get bit by the scarab creatures the Engineers used to disperse the DNA.

Yes, now that I think about it, it was a more evolved hominid; and it was a female. Also, this prehistoric hominid started to change to become more Engineer-like, after being bitten by the scarabs.

Quote from: Valaquen on Dec 13, 2018, 07:52:31 PM
I was sure I'd addressed this on Strange Shapes years ago. I found this:

QuoteArthur Max, in Prometheus: The Art of the Film, did note that the Engineers "play the role of God in the universe" and "have visited Earth many times over the millenia and given Mankind genetic upgrades, both physical and intellectual."

...

"The idea there is that it's part of the culture of the Engineers," said Arthur Max, "this race of interplanetary visitors who have given us upgrades –mentally and physically– over the millennium."

...

In Jon Spaihts' script it is revealed that the Engineers return to Earth every thousand years to 'update' their creations. "I was analysing historical changes in human DNA," the script reveals through the character of Watts/Shaw. "I found the same pattern. Every eleven centuries, a pulse of new information in the genome of the human race. All over the world. Evolution can't do that. Something was changing us. Changing the DNA of our species."

This would have clarified why humans are so genetically close to the Engineers, whilst our Earthly cousins, such as other primate species, have taken another evolutionary path. Essentially, what makes the human race so unique among Earth-life is merely a helping hand.

From these articles: https://alienseries.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/gods-monsters/
https://alienseries.wordpress.com/2012/10/29/the-engineer-mythos/
https://alienseries.wordpress.com/2012/10/20/engineer-architecture/

They might be helpful. I wrote them years ago though.

The content is highly reliable. Keep it up, dude.
Posted by The Old One
 - Dec 13, 2018, 08:05:24 PM
TY Valaquen.
Posted by Valaquen
 - Dec 13, 2018, 07:52:31 PM
I was sure I'd addressed this on Strange Shapes years ago. I found this:

QuoteArthur Max, in Prometheus: The Art of the Film, did note that the Engineers "play the role of God in the universe" and "have visited Earth many times over the millenia and given Mankind genetic upgrades, both physical and intellectual."

...

"The idea there is that it's part of the culture of the Engineers," said Arthur Max, "this race of interplanetary visitors who have given us upgrades –mentally and physically– over the millennium."

...

In Jon Spaihts' script it is revealed that the Engineers return to Earth every thousand years to 'update' their creations. "I was analysing historical changes in human DNA," the script reveals through the character of Watts/Shaw. "I found the same pattern. Every eleven centuries, a pulse of new information in the genome of the human race. All over the world. Evolution can't do that. Something was changing us. Changing the DNA of our species."

This would have clarified why humans are so genetically close to the Engineers, whilst our Earthly cousins, such as other primate species, have taken another evolutionary path. Essentially, what makes the human race so unique among Earth-life is merely a helping hand.

From these articles: https://alienseries.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/gods-monsters/
https://alienseries.wordpress.com/2012/10/29/the-engineer-mythos/
https://alienseries.wordpress.com/2012/10/20/engineer-architecture/

They might be helpful. I wrote them years ago though.
Posted by SM
 - Dec 13, 2018, 07:45:00 PM
It's not stated that it's Earth and Ridley says on the commentary that it's not necessarily Earth.
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