Prometheus US Launch Thread

[Valaquen]

Difference is that Alien 3 has fantastic performances, excellent dialogue, palpable atmosphere, a masterpiece of a score, and genuine emotional investment in more than one character.

Judging from the fan reaction, Prometheus has almost none of these things.

On the contrary, Prometheus does have fantastic performances and dialogue - except it's saved for David and maybe Shaw... I can't tell, it feels like they removed a LOT from the movie. If Ridley says this is his preferred cut, then he's lost his senses. Atmosphere is compromised utterly in the film though, the score is ... and I never had any investment in more than one character in Alien 3. Of course, I was talking about in relation to plot holes etc. Here's my review, Cvalda, if you haven't seen it: http://alienseries.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/prometheus-review.html

[Cvalda]

No love for Dillon or Clemens? Really?

Will check out your review for sure

[Promethean Fire]

Difference is that Alien 3 has fantastic performances, excellent dialogue, palpable atmosphere, a masterpiece of a score, and genuine emotional investment in more than one character.

Judging from the fan reaction, Prometheus has almost none of these things.

On the contrary, Prometheus does have fantastic performances and dialogue - except it's saved for David and maybe Shaw... I can't tell, it feels like they removed a LOT from the movie. If Ridley says this is his preferred cut, then he's lost his senses. Atmosphere is compromised utterly in the film though, the score is ... and I never had any investment in more than one character in Alien 3. Of course, I was talking about in relation to plot holes etc. Here's my review, Cvalda, if you haven't seen it: http://alienseries.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/prometheus-review.html

The preformances are what saved Prometheus for me in the end.  Particularly Fassbender and Elba.  I liked what little we got of Guy Pearce too.

[Valaquen]

No love for Dillon or Clemens? Really?

Will check out your review for sure

Clemens was my one character. Okay okay, you got me, I did love Dillon too. And later, Morse, the cheeky chap 

The preformances are what saved Prometheus for me in the end.  Particularly Fassbender and Elba.  I liked what little we got of Guy Pearce too.

Fassbender, Elba, Rapace for me. Pearce pulled me out somewhat because it seemed unnecessary to have a young actor play an old man 

[Cvalda]

No love for Dillon or Clemens? Really?

Will check out your review for sure

Clemens was my one character. Okay okay, you got me, I did love Dillon too. And later, Morse, the cheeky chap 

And of course ALIEN 3 is Ripley's swan song--powerhouse performance from Weaver that's the best of the series. Any performances in Prometheus up to that standard?

[Promethean Fire]

No love for Dillon or Clemens? Really?

Will check out your review for sure

Clemens was my one character. Okay okay, you got me, I did love Dillon too. And later, Morse, the cheeky chap 

The preformances are what saved Prometheus for me in the end.  Particularly Fassbender and Elba.  I liked what little we got of Guy Pearce too.

Fassbender, Elba, Rapace for me. Pearce pulled me out somewhat because it seemed unnecessary to have a young actor play an old man 

The main reason that bugged me, that over a year ago I was so sure that Guy Pearce would drink some immortality juice and turn into a young man.  Why else cast him?

[Predaker]

No love for Dillon or Clemens? Really?

Will check out your review for sure

Clemens was my one character. Okay okay, you got me, I did love Dillon too. And later, Morse, the cheeky chap 

The preformances are what saved Prometheus for me in the end.  Particularly Fassbender and Elba.  I liked what little we got of Guy Pearce too.

Fassbender, Elba, Rapace for me. Pearce pulled me out somewhat because it seemed unnecessary to have a young actor play an old man 

The main reason that bugged me, that over a year ago I was so sure that Guy Pearce would drink some immortality juice and turn into a young man.  Why else cast him?

I have to admit, that sounds like a really cool plot twist. Too bad it didn't happen.

[RagingDragon]

Great review, Val.

I'm gonna take Lindelof and Spaihts f**king jobs.

Twats.   But you can tell after reading Shadow19 - Spaihts writes dialogue like a 13 year old boy, and I'm not kidding.  It's terrible, cliche, unrealistic, cheesy, and just plain awful almost the entire way through.  I'm really not surprised that this film was so let down by the poor script.  I am surprised that Ridley would allow this and even jump on the bandwagon to over-promote the hell out of the film.  I bet he'll reverse that position later, after the FOX executives won't castrate him for it.  I mean, you have to back your own film until the dust settles, then all the money has been made and the truth can come out.

Spaihts executes scenes well enough, and has some great 'big-picture' ideas, but the dialogue kills everything, and any good writer should know that.

Read a freaking Script-writing-for-dummies book, for christs sake.

[Valaquen]

And of course ALIEN 3 is Ripley's swan song--powerhouse performance from Weaver that's the best of the series. Any performances in Prometheus up to that standard?

Well, I was immensely satisfied with Ripley's arc in Aliens, and I wasn't interested in her in the third film at all, despite Weaver's amazing (yes, amazing!) acting abilities. There's a strange dissonance for me in the film, in that the actor is astounding and yet the character seems somewhat warmed over. And no, there's no central performance like it in Prometheus. Though David is fantastic, he is sidelined. This is why he's described as a scene-stealer - they're not his scenes, and yet he dominates them.

[Cvalda]

Spaihts executes scenes well enough, and has some great 'big-picture' ideas, but the dialogue kills everything, and any good writer should know that.

Read a freaking Script-writing-for-dummies book, for christs sake.

As Spaihts would say, "Writer, kill thyself." He may consider self-applying that remark

I kid, I kid. Would be interesting to compare the dialogue in the two different drafts.

[Valaquen]

Apparently Spaihts wrote five drafts. FIVE DRAFTS! Oh boy...

[Cvalda]

Hill & Giler should have written this. They had wanted to do something like this to continue the series anyway. Such a waste.

[Valaquen]

Hill & Giler should have written this. They had wanted to do something like this to continue the series anyway. Such a waste.

Another thought that crossed through my mind after the film. The film needed dialogue akin to the speeches in Alien 3. Dillon had some great dialogue and Clemens had this gritty back story. Not so, here. I wonder how involved they were...

[Eva]

Yeah, I'll agree that some pieces of dialogue are pretty bad. It's particulary Holloway, Fifield and Milburn that get shafted with some shitty lines.

David on the other hand has some outstanding lines, dropped here and there. I really liked his comment about 'parents wanting to kill their parents' and I really expected that line to have a payoff later in the film. That didn't really happen though... 

[Cvalda]

Hill & Giler should have written this. They had wanted to do something like this to continue the series anyway. Such a waste.

Another thought that crossed through my mind after the film. The film needed dialogue akin to the speeches in Alien 3. Dillon had some great dialogue and Clemens had this gritty back story. Not so, here. I wonder how involved they were...

Not at all, I'd imagine. Same with AVP, Resurrection, etc.

People bitch about them, and yet they were one of the main driving forces maintaining the high level of quality in the original trilogy. Bring them back, goddamit.