Missing the Point - AvPGalaxy Podcast #35

[Corporal Hicks]

We have just uploaded the 35th episode of the Alien vs. Predator Galaxy podcast for your listening pleasure. For this latest episode, the regular hosts – RidgeTop, Xenomorphine and myself – are joined by community gues, SiL, for a topic he suggested.

The 35th episode is dedicated to dissecting how the later films “missed the point” and suggesting a better way of approaching those specific points.

One of the points we discuss in the latest episode is why scenes like the belly-burster in AvP Requiem isn’t as effective as it could be.

In this episode we discuss the mystery of Alien and why it worked so well when compared to Prometheus, we talk bigger and badder Predators and how to create an enemy that surpasses the older ones, when and how to properly use fan service and why the gore of Alien vs. Predator: Requiem isn’t as effective as in the previous films.

If you have any response to anything we discussed in this episode please let us know down below. We’d love to hear any of your thoughts regarding the topic.

You can also listen to any of our previous episodes in the Podcast section under the News tab on the main menu. We hope you enjoy!

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[Russ840]

Looking forward to listening dude. Keep up the great work. My only criticism is that you don't record them weekly.

[Perfect-Organism]

Looking forward to listening to this.  All valid topics.  Not sure I agree with the idea that the mystery of the Alien worked in Alien but not in Prometheus, but I look forward to learning about your reasoning.

[PRJ_since1990]

Can't wait to listen to this! I'm sure it'll be great

[mace-in-the-face]

The reason why the gore wasn't effective in AVP Requiem is because you couldn't friggin' see what was going on most of the time.

[Corporal Hicks]

I look forward to hearing all your thoughts on the matter.

[SiL]

I look forward to people looking forward to it.

[oduodu]

Damn finally!

Ridgetop

You beauty


You say Lindelof was actually asking Ridley if he should have pulled a "Lost" on Prometheus when rewriting Spaihts script. And then Ridley said he should.

So Ridley is to blame for the over "indeloffed" nature of the movie.

Would be interesting to see what Lindelof would have done if he just went with what wanted to do initially.

There are many other things that will comment on later

Thanks all! Some really good stuff in there.

[XenoZipper]

Great episode guys! Some good back & forth between SiL & RidgeTop I enjoyed. SiL was quite awesome to listen to, knowledge of film that guy certainly has.

[LordCassusSnow]

Its the director who has the final say in the end. Prometheus was ridleys baby and the final result is his responsibility. Lindeloff was never to blame. If you asked him what he thought about ridleys decision making during production, he'd probably Hudson us with an," Hey man, i only work here."

That aside, have you guys ever considered this; Avp was met with horrible reception not for its story, but greatly due to the fact the movie was PG13( and a few other minor things). Then we get an R rated Avp, literally with the R right in the title(though were supposed to believe it stands for requiem?) because fox wanted to make up for the gore we were supposed to get in the last movie. So now we have another Avp movie that sucked because of its R rating and shit story. Now consider this; Prometheus sucked because we didnt get any aliens up until the end. Now the next movie is supposedly going to be filled with them. Am i alone or does anyone else see a pattern?

[SiL]

AvP was met with horrible reception for basically everything, but the rating was all the studio seemed to notice as it was the easiest to fix.

[Primordial]

In defense of Lindelof labelled ''the mystery guy'' :

This following internet defense speech I once read was pretty much on spot imo:
''... Lost was an ongoing show, not a finite series, and 22 episodes a year eat story ideas voraciously. By the time ABC gave their approval for the end game, the show had sprouted too many loose-ends-filler-ideas to resolve neatly...''.
On a side note, his state of mind at the very beginning of 'Lost' was that it was going to be cancelled, nobody was going to watch it, before he was told that 20 million people watched the season première, and had trouble to cope with it.

Not giving answers to the audience while he is keeping them for himself is very different from him being absolutely clueless. If ever he thought that it was our job, not his, to solve mysteries he has thrown out, then I would be pissed off, but that didn't seem the case with 'Prometheus'.
For those who listened to DL's audio commentary, you can maybe remember this part : ''...I think we have some cool ideas as to exactly what the Engineers were up to...''. At least there were seeds of enlightenment in reserve back then.


About missing the point :

Making the Space Jockey relatable to us, making him a giant humanoid, is missing the point, yes. I mean, even if they took the same route of it (SJ) being a suit, but with an unseen, bizarre lifeform inside, it would easily have our approval. As stated by David Levy in 'The Furious Gods', people working on 'Prometheus' not liking the Engineer as the SJ at first and then finally liking him is more of a diplomatic answer (well, that's what I like to think!)
I prefer the SJ fused with the chair but how can this concept make its way in the movie, also knowing that Ridley has a penchant for pratical effects ?

I often think that 'Prometheus' started extremely well with the giant saucer giving a sense a great intensity and 'alienness', especially when it verticalised, it was kind of a implicit promise that says ''hang on to your seat, we will do the rest'' but it was put on hold from that point...

That being said, it is funny how I can find many weak points to this movie but still I do appreciate it very much.

[Perfect-Organism]

In defense of Lindelof labelled ''the mystery guy'' :

This following internet defense speech I once read was pretty much on spot imo:
''... Lost was an ongoing show, not a finite series, and 22 episodes a year eat story ideas voraciously. By the time ABC gave their approval for the end game, the show had sprouted too many loose-ends-filler-ideas to resolve neatly...''.
On a side note, his state of mind at the very beginning of 'Lost' was that it was going to be cancelled, nobody was going to watch it, before he was told that 20 million people watched the season première, and had trouble to cope with it.

Not giving answers to the audience while he is keeping them for himself is very different from him being absolutely clueless. If ever he thought that it was our job, not his, to solve mysteries he has thrown out, then I would be pissed off, but that didn't seem the case with 'Prometheus'.
For those who listened to DL's audio commentary, you can maybe remember this part : ''...I think we have some cool ideas as to exactly what the Engineers were up to...''. At least there were seeds of enlightenment in reserve back then.


About missing the point :

Making the Space Jockey relatable to us, making him a giant humanoid, is missing the point, yes. I mean, even if they took the same route of it (SJ) being a suit, but with an unseen, bizarre lifeform inside, it would easily have our approval. As stated by David Levy in 'The Furious Gods', people working on 'Prometheus' not liking the Engineer as the SJ at first and then finally liking him is more of a diplomatic answer (well, that's what I like to think!)
I prefer the SJ fused with the chair but how can this concept make its way in the movie, also knowing that Ridley has a penchant for pratical effects ?

I often think that 'Prometheus' started extremely well with the giant saucer giving a sense a great intensity and 'alienness', especially when it verticalised, it was kind of a implicit promise that says ''hang on to your seat, we will do the rest'' but it was put on hold from that point...

That being said, it is funny how I can find many weak points to this movie but still I do appreciate it very much.

Same here.  I damn well enjoy this film.  I understand it's shortcomings, and because I enjoy it so much, I find myself making excuses for it, and rationalizations.  Hopefully the next installment will justify some of that.

[SiL]

We did try to avoid throwing shit on any one person -- or even the movies themselves -- because of how much of a collaborative effort the thing is. I think we even mention when talking about Prometheus that we aren't saying any one person f**ked up, just that the final product had a lot of serious issues.

I actually find it hard to outright dislike Prometheus, too. Lots of faults, but still a good ride.

[426Buddy]

Nice podcast fellas, not much to add to that. Can't wait for the next one guys, great work!