Starmap: NOT an invitation - so what is it?

[Darth Vile]

Darth, Burke is familiar with Ripley's account of what happened aboard the Nostromo (he mentions to Bishop that the android in her ship had a malfunction).. therefore, he knows about the facehuggers.

Yep - Burke knows about and believes Ripley's account of what happened... but I don't think that gives him the detail to formulate a plan, back on Earth, based around secretly impregnating one of the team with an alien embryo. All the film tells us (based on Ripley's supposition) is that this is Burke's plan once he's been rumbled on LV-426. He couldn't possibly create this scenario before he gets to LV-424... as he wouldn't know if there was a contained facehugger, he wouldn't know how to secretly get someone impreganted, he doesn't know how to keep an alien contained if it bursts out of the victim before returning to Earth etc. etc. It isn't a plan that's remotely believeable (unless you are willing to believe it).

[BANE]

I do know their names...

For your first point:
1) He smoked marijuana while stressed out and stuck in a deserted facility. He wasn't working, he was anxiously awaiting the end of a storm and the rising of the sun.
2) If my memory serves, the map is on the Prometheus, not with him. I do not recall if he has access to the map, but I don't think so. I know he has coordinates, but those are about as useful in an unknown location as finding your way through a forest with longitude and latitude. How they got lost is beyond me. They did blindly follow a hologram, so that probably played a factor. Why they weren't in contact with Janek to help is also a mystery. Maybe he thought 'they got this''. Maybe he was busy with tracking the storm progress and looking at what the main group was seeing. Maybe they didn't know they were lost until it was too late, and thought they were going the right way and didn't ask for help. Or, maybe it was simple plot convenience.

As for Milburn:
1) So what, he was creeped out by a beheaded giant bipedal alien.
2) He didn't hug it, he reached out to pet it. It had a very small mouth, logically not small enough to contain fangs, like other snakes its size. Indicating it would either have small teeth, or be a constrictor. At that size, it wouldn't be a very strong constrictor. However, back to what was on film. He was confident that the gloves and suit would protect him. Like how people tease lions through the glass at zoos. Except there was no possible way he could have guessed it would be bone crushing strong, bleed acid, and regrow limbs instantly.

And I am certain that they both look like the most skilled, dedicated and exceptional professionals to contribute their expertise to the mission

It's all about the resume.
Have I told you about my dead squirrel carrying professor?

[SiL]

Erm... it's not. Ripley explains what Burke was going to do after she'd rumbled him (although let's not get into how she managed to jump to those conclusions), but the film doesn't explain what Burke's original plan was.

Yes, it does. When Ripley confronts Burke about him being the one who sent the colonists out to check the signal. If they found something based on Burke's direction, he'd get discovery rights and be able to negotiate lucrative contracts with bio-weapons. He didn't intend for the entire colony to get infested; there's nothing even saying he planned on anyone getting infected to start with. All he needed was someone to find the things Ripley talked about.

When everything went to hell and the Marines announced they were going to nuke the remaining specimens, that's when he hatched his plan to use the two contained face-huggers to smuggle Aliens back through quarantine.

All of this is explained in the movie. He made a bad call, then tried to salvage what he could.

[SM]

^ Exactly.

It's all made clear in the film for those paying attention.

Essentially he was on a fishing expedition.  If something turns up, $$$ with little direct investment.  If nothing turns up - no harm done; no wasted investment.  Which is pretty much mirroring what happened in the first film.

[180924609]

So I was reading a story about the physics of corn starch on the BBC news website today, as you do, and discovered a link to this:

Cornstarch and low-frequency sound waves -> cornstarch monsters!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zoTKXXNQIU#ws

I wonder if the Prometheus effects team used this technique for the practical effect shots of the urn lids eroding/dancing/floating in real time, on-camera, without the need for CGI?

[Anonymous User]

^ that looks surreal!

[Darth Vile]

Erm... it's not. Ripley explains what Burke was going to do after she'd rumbled him (although let's not get into how she managed to jump to those conclusions), but the film doesn't explain what Burke's original plan was.

Yes, it does. When Ripley confronts Burke about him being the one who sent the colonists out to check the signal. If they found something based on Burke's direction, he'd get discovery rights and be able to negotiate lucrative contracts with bio-weapons. He didn't intend for the entire colony to get infested; there's nothing even saying he planned on anyone getting infected to start with. All he needed was someone to find the things Ripley talked about.

When everything went to hell and the Marines announced they were going to nuke the remaining specimens, that's when he hatched his plan to use the two contained face-huggers to smuggle Aliens back through quarantine.

All of this is explained in the movie. He made a bad call, then tried to salvage what he could.

No - it's paid lip service in the movie - nothing more. Everything else is just conjecture. Again I ask... So if Burke and 'The Company' know of the xeno's existence (and the company have known since Alien right?), and all the billions of wealth that alien tech can bring, why is the mission manned by just a bunch of incompetent marines (not even SAS calibre)? Where are the scientists? Where are the biologists? Where are the company suits (other than Burke who is an idiot)? Etc. etc. The plan described in Aliens by Ripley is by no means a plan for a billion dollar company to aquire alien tech. What was Burke's plan before they landed? He knew that everything had gone tits up and all the colonists were probably dead right... so what was he expecting to do when he got there? Bag an egg from the derelict himself? None of this is explained in the movie... it's just forgotten/brushed over for the sake of convenience.

I actually find it incredulous that people can bang on about a geologist getting lost etc. in Prometheus, but completely excuse some of the biggest inconsistencies in the entire franchise in the other movies...

[SM]

'Cos they're not inconsistencies I imagine.

So if Burke and 'The Company' know of the xeno's existence (and the company have known since Alien right?), and all the billions of wealth that alien tech can bring, why is the mission manned by just a bunch of incompetent marines (not even SAS calibre)?

Simple - as addressed in the movie for those paying attention - 'The Company' didn't know.  Burke was acting on his own because he didn't want to "make a major security situation out of it".  If The Company knew they wouldn't have sat on their hands for 57 years - or even sent tug jockies in the first place.

Where are the scientists? Where are the biologists? Where are the company suits (other than Burke who is an idiot)? Etc. etc.

Again, all answered in the film.  Burke was acting on his own in order to get exclusive rights in case Ripley was telling the truth.

The plan described in Aliens by Ripley is by no means a plan for a billion dollar company to aquire alien tech. What was Burke's plan before they landed?

He didn't have any plan.  If the colonists really had found the ship, and if the Alien was as dangerous as Ripley suggested and if he could get his mitts on a specimen (hence his objection to nuknig the colony) - great.  But prior to that he knew as much as everyone else.

None of this is explained in the movie... it's just forgotten/brushed over for the sake of convenience.

It's been explained in the movie, and it's been explained again here.  If you choose to shut your eyes and go LALALALALALA! - fine.  But don't make shit up to make a non-existant argument, and expect anyone with more than half a brain to buy it.

[PRI. HUDSON]

Some people are really thick. (In regard to the Aliens/Burke debate)

[Effectz]

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?

It doesn't erode but reacts to the atmosphere.Has to do with temperature.Juggernaught loading bay is cooled,you see their breath when they talk its obviously cold.David keeps the Urn on ice and there is no reaction.

[Anonymous User]

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?

It doesn't erode but reacts to the atmosphere.Has to do with temperature.Juggernaught loading bay is cooled,you see their breath when they talk its obviously cold.David keeps the Urn on ice and there is no reaction.

Oh no, some people will go to watch it again just to prove whether the container does or doesn't erode/burst/react!!! 

[Darth Vile]

'Cos they're not inconsistencies I imagine.

So if Burke and 'The Company' know of the xeno's existence (and the company have known since Alien right?), and all the billions of wealth that alien tech can bring, why is the mission manned by just a bunch of incompetent marines (not even SAS calibre)?

Simple - as addressed in the movie for those paying attention - 'The Company' didn't know.  Burke was acting on his own because he didn't want to "make a major security situation out of it".  If The Company knew they wouldn't have sat on their hands for 57 years - or even sent tug jockies in the first place.

Where are the scientists? Where are the biologists? Where are the company suits (other than Burke who is an idiot)? Etc. etc.

Again, all answered in the film.  Burke was acting on his own in order to get exclusive rights in case Ripley was telling the truth.

The plan described in Aliens by Ripley is by no means a plan for a billion dollar company to aquire alien tech. What was Burke's plan before they landed?

He didn't have any plan.  If the colonists really had found the ship, and if the Alien was as dangerous as Ripley suggested and if he could get his mitts on a specimen (hence his objection to nuknig the colony) - great.  But prior to that he knew as much as everyone else.

None of this is explained in the movie... it's just forgotten/brushed over for the sake of convenience.

It's been explained in the movie, and it's been explained again here.  If you choose to shut your eyes and go LALALALALALA! - fine.  But don't make shit up to make a non-existant argument, and expect anyone with more than half a brain to buy it.

Nothing worse than those who complain about every little thing, but then inanely defend to the death something they like. Funny how that works aint it?

The company that infiltrated the Nostromo with an Android and sent the ship to the planet (with special orders) don't know what's going on in the events of Aliens Instead they sign off Burke as the company representative.... and Burke's insidious plan is to recruit a group of idioctic marines? Right...

[Highland]

Oh no, some people will go to watch it again just to prove whether the container does or doesn't erode/burst/react!!! 

It does react, it's quite clear as the camera cuts to the cup. It's the same as when the squad enter the room. The tops of the jars start to react to the change in atmosphere.

[SM]

Nothing worse than those who complain about every little thing, but then inanely defend to the death something they like. Funny how that works aint it?

Don't know.  You tell me.

The company that infiltrated the Nostromo with an Android and sent the ship to the planet (with special orders) don't know what's going on in the events of Aliens Instead they sign off Burke as the company representative.... and Burke's insidious plan is to recruit a group of idioctic marines? Right...

Not quite, but you're slowly heading in the right direction.

[Sgt. Apone]

The company that infiltrated the Nostromo with an Android and sent the ship to the planet (with special orders) don't know what's going on in the events of Aliens Instead they sign off Burke as the company representative.... and Burke's insidious plan is to recruit a group of idioctic marines? Right...

Or, a select few knew about what exactly was going on in the first film. So they decided to send the Nostromo to go check it out after they picked up a signal. After they found out that shit went down, they tried to cover their tracks. 57 years later, management changed. The people who were in the know during the events of Alien don't work there anymore so how would the company know now?