Elizabeth Shaw believes she has found
an invitation to meet the aliens (that she believes created us). Her quest is funded by Weyland Industries which results
in the expedition of the starship Prometheus which has reached planet LV-223 in late 2093. They find the aliens (which Elizabeth dubs
the Engineers) that created us are dead on that world and their bio-engineering experiments are left behind. Everyone
has different reasons being here. The android David is following mysterious orders from an unseen person while company
woman Meredith Vickers wants to make sure the team has no contact with the aliens if they are alive. Elizabeth Shaw
and her husband Charlie Holloway want to meet the Engineers. Things start to spiral out of control as the team's arrival puts
into motion a series of events that not everybody will survive.
PROMETHEUS is an Alien prequel in
some ways while not taking the most direct route.. The best way to describe it is a movie that takes place in the same
universe as the ALIEN films with some ties to ALIEN (a film that Ridley Scott also directed over three decades ago). This
semi-prequel deals with the Engineers (who were only glimpsed for a few minutes early into ALIEN). Ridely Scott always
wanted to get back to exploring the origins of the mysterious Alien and the derelict spaceship, and PROMETHEUS is the start
of creating a new mythology while expanding the mythology of the ALIEN universe in another direction (plus he said it will
take another 1 or 2 films in a new proposed trilogy to have the PROMETHEUS saga more directly tie into the first ALIEN).
Visually, PROMETHEUS is amazing and
sometimes the music is awe-inspiring. Ridley Scott hasn't lost his knack for designing and directing his first sci-fi
film since BLADE RUNNER. The characters could have used a little more development, but Ridley has fallen into the same
course he did with ALIEN as he focuses more on visuals and atmosphere while trying to weave in a bigger mythology with character
development being secondary to all of that. Still PROMETHEUS is one of the better sci-fi efforts while almost being
as great as Ridley's other sci-fi films (ALIEN and BLADE RUNNER). I do want to see this film again. I do see the
nods to the ALIEN saga with a couple of scenes that hint at the ALIEN saga more directly than the rest of the film.
If you are expecting direct answers or a direct prequel to ALIEN, you might come away as disappointed with this film. PROMETHEUS
is paving its own trail as Ridley Scott is looking to explore different parts of the ALIEN universe besides the iconic xenomorph
that has spawned four films, two Alien Vs. Predator comics, countless comic books and books, and several imitators.
It is a film worth seeing as Ridley Scott is in top visual form with a new sci-fi movie you should be paying attention
to. On another note, I do wish the marketing (posters, trailers, and TV spots) revealed less. I wish people went
into PROMETHEUS with less knowledge. However, the internet has some nice tie-ins to this film (short videos such as
Peter Weyland's TED talk and the David android commercial, and an extensive Weyland Industries web site). In the end,
I can't stress enough how PROMETHEUS will probably grow as a film people will like more over time and be almost as highly
regarded in some ways as Scott's other science fiction films.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
DISC 1- PROMETHEUS in High Definition 3D
DISC 2-
Two audio commentaries were recorded for
the movie:
The first audio commentary is with Director/
Producer Ridley Scott who discusses the story and the mythology more than the actual making of the film.
The other audio commentary is with Writers
Jon Spaihts and Damin Lindelof
36 minutes of deleted and extended scenes
with optional audio commentary by Editor Pietro Scalia. Some of the scenes would
have clarified the movie more while others are just characters scenes. I do think
Ridley’s decision to leave the Engineers as mysterious and powerful was a misstep while leaving the location of what
the Engineers a mystery (also something that could have been left in along with the climatic fight that Shaw has in the movie).
The Peter Weyland files shows content originally
released on the internet including the android David commercial, the Peter Weyland TED Talk, interviews with the crew of the
Prometheus, a call that Shaw makes to Weyland, and the transmission of information that the Prometheus transmits to the aliens.
DISC 3-
Charles de Lauzirika has produced a mass
assortment of extras for this disc. Disc 3 is the reason you want to get this
four disc collector’s edition.
THE FURIOUS GODS is an extensive and informative
three hours and 40 minute making-of documentary that traces the origins of the movie from pre-production (where it started
as an ALIEN prequel before straying off to the movie that was made with DNA of the ALIEN universe) to production (the casting
with some costume tests not included in the separate costumes tests featurette, production design, special effects, and creature
design) to post-production (music and how Ridley made decisions to fine tune and even rearrange some sequence of events). I do love the humorous parts with Michael Fassbender on the set and Giger visiting
the design team during pre-production phase. Charles has directed a making-of
documentary that is as good as DANGEROUS DAYS (which covered the making of BLADE RUNNER).
THE FURIOUS GODS does have an option to branch out to other material on the disc.
I recommend watch the documentary all the way through and explore the WEYLAND CORP ARCHIVE separately before or afterwards.
The archive has the Noomi Rapace
screen test, costume tests with the actors giving audio commentary, production galleries, previz of several sequences with
a couple of the climatic scenes being a little different than the final filmed versions, and several mini promotional featurettes
which sometime repeat each other. The extras don’t stop there as
you can also watch the various theatrical teasers and trailers, TV spots, poster art, and poster explorations (where the graphic
designers tried various approaches for the poster art and looked like they had fun doing it).
Also including is the PROMETHEUS FIRST LOOK special which aired on HBO.
DISC 4- DVD plus digital copy
FINAL ANALYSIS: Whether you love or hate PROMETHEUS, you can’t deny that the four disc collector’s edition
set has an excellent set of extras if you want to see the process in making this flawed sci-fi film with over seven hours
of extras. Hats off to Charles de Lauzirika in producing another great disc package
for a Ridley Scott film.
This review is (c)10-13-2012 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments
to feedback@enterline-media.com
This review isn't property
of Weyland Industries and doesn't reflect any views of Weyland Industries and/ or employees.
