You want an alien world created anew, with wonders and horrors lurking in its furrows? You go to Ridley Scott, of course, spectacle maker and pictorialist par excellence. So Prometheus is bound to be eye filling, with fully wrought planetary vistas and occasionally jaw-dropping visual coups. And did we use the word alien back there? Yes, folks, Prometheus is a prequel, in a sideways sort of fashion, to Scott's 1979 Alien original--or at least it's a long-distant stage setter for that story. This one begins with a space mission that could reveal the extraterrestrial... roots of Earth, although what's buried out on the planet turns out to be much more complicated than expected. In the midst of suspenseful episodes (and a few contrived plot turns), Prometheus reaches for Big Answers to Big Questions, in a grand old sci-fi tradition. This lends the movie a hint of metaphysical energy, even if Scott's reach extends well, well beyond his grasp. The hokier moments are carried off with brio by Michael Fassbender (the robot on board), Charlize Theron, and Idris Elba, and then you've got Noomi Rapace entering the badass hall of fame for a long, oh-no-they-didn't sequence involving radical surgery, which might just induce the vapours in a few viewers. Even if Prometheus has its holes, the sheer size of the thing is exciting to be around. Because this movie is gigantic. --Robert Horton. [show more]
Making a prequel to one of the most celebrated science-fiction movies of all time was always going to be a bit of a gamble. There was a danger that director Ridley Scott's return to the world of 'Alien' - more than thirty years after his classic earlier movie exploded onto the sci-fi scene - was going to be something of a disappointment, and would somehow undermine the original by revealing too much about its mysteries, or by explaining too much about the origins of the iconic black xenomorphs that plagued Ellen Ripley throughout that franchise.
Happily, those fears can be put to rest - because not only does 'Prometheus' manage to tread a fine line between revealing secrets that shed more light on the original 'Alien' and maintaining much of that film's ambiguity, it also creates a brand new and intriguing story that allows it to stand as a compelling and highly thought-provoking movie in its own right.
From the very start, there's a sense that Scott is consciously creating a different tone for the world of 'Prometheus' than he did for the one we saw in 'Alien' - albeit including enough shared details to remind us that both films are set in the same universe.
Instead of drenching the screen in black shadows and squeezing characters into a dirty, confined space, this prequel feels far more organic and open. Whether it's the opening shot of a planetary alignment, an introductory sequence in which an extra-terrestrial humanoid "Engineer" sacrifices himself in order to kick-start human evolution, or the grand, sweeping aerial shots that follow, this is a film that feels altogether more epic than its predecessors. This gives Scott the wider canvas that's needed if he's to effectively address some of the movie's Big Questions about life, the universe and everything - rather than simply trying to scare us silly. Because this is definitely a film that's as interested in exercising our minds as it is in getting our hearts racing.
In that sense, it feels like 'Prometheus' has less in common with the 'Alien' franchise than it does with the likes of '2001: A Space Odyssey' (and Scott isn't afraid to hit us with several references and visual homages to that 1960s classic in the opening act). But unlike that movie, 'Prometheus' ties its existential questions (Where did we come from? What is the meaning of life?) to a more tangible plot that allows the movie to function as a sci-fi thriller as well as a cerebral workout. By the time our heroes - intrepid space-explorers/archaeologists Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway - reach the mysterious moon that they believe holds answers about the origins of life on Earth, we're already getting the sense that the company funding their mission might have more sinister objectives than mere scientific discovery, and it isn't long before an exploratory visit to an apparently Engineer-built structure gives way to the claustrophobia and grisly shocks that will be familiar to lovers of 'Alien'.
It's this delicate balance of serious, thought-provoking science-fiction with visceral thrills and spills that turns out to be the movie's greatest asset, giving us something for our brains to chew on whilst our eyes are entertained by the gradual disintegration of the crew of the ship. Some reviewers have been less than kind about some of the film's plot twists, most notably claiming that characters often make stupid and illogical choices in order to give Scott the opportunity to raise the bodycount at any available opportunity. But for my money, these minor problems are more than outweighed by the fact that the inevitable thinning-out of the cast allows the movie to focus far more on character-based horror, ensuring that we really feel the pain and disgust of each character as they're pursued by the alien threat.
Special mention has to go to the performance of Noomi Rapace (she of the 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' series), who brings a particularly unsettling scene - involving an emergency medical pod - to life in a way that makes it the most gripping and terrifying scene of the entire movie.
As well as solid scares, there are several extremely clever touches that stand out more on a second and third viewing, thus making 'Prometheus' a perfect candidate for a home-video purchase. Firstly, there's the fact that the entire film is a reworking of the original Greek Prometheus myth, which taught us the danger of daring to meddle with the power of the gods. The details might be different, but the themes are universal and eternal, and strengthen the movie's overall story considerably. Secondly, I couldn't help but notice on a second viewing how canny Scott had been with his characters' names: Shaw (or should that be "sure"?) is a model of unshakeable confidence and faith, whilst her partner Holloway takes the "hollow way" of placing all his confidence in science, without backing it up with any sense of spirituality. And finally, the smart links that 'Prometheus' crafts between its story and that the 'Alien' franchise - largely during this movie's final minutes - add extra depth to the entire franchise, without undermining it or giving too many answers away.
As you can tell, I could probably wax lyrical about how much I love 'Prometheus' all day. What could have been little more than a bolt-on to the 'Alien' franchise has turned out to be a fantastic story in its own right, and one that actually manages to trump its predecessors by offering up a fair share of genuinely thought-provoking questions to go along with the masterful horror/thriller elements.
And on Blu-Ray, the movie is even better, with several supplemental features that will add a huge amount of intrigue for lovers of the movie. As well as an alternative opening (which makes the meaning of the existing version a little more explicit), the Blu-Ray includes an alternate ending (which I won't spoil here, except to say that it's actually more of an alternate penultimate scene than an ending) along with a host of deleted scenes that largely exist to flesh out smaller moments from the movie a little more fully. There's also a very interesting alternate take on one of the movie's big action scenes that doesn't really work, but provides some insight into what other angles the filmmakers were exploring. And as well as all these supplemental scenes, there are commentaries and documentaries that will give fans even more of a window into the genesis and development of 'Prometheus', including some great shots of production art that didn't make it into the final feature.
All in all, this is a pretty comprehensive package, especially for a first-release of a film that only came out this year. There might well be more extensive versions of the film released in future (I'm surprised a director's cut hasn't been confirmed yet), but for now, this is a great way to experience what I think is one of the best sci-fi movies of the last ten years.
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Please note this is a Region B Blu-ray and will require either a Region B or Multi-Region Blu-ray player Returning to the genre he helped define Sir Ridley Scott has crafted the most unforgettable experience of 2012 in Prometheus This gripping thought-provoking and often terrifying masterpiece features a stellar ensemble cast including Charlize Theron Michael Fassbender Guy Pearce Noomi Rapace Logan Marshall-Green and Idris Elba and is a must-have for any self-respecting film fan After scientists Elizabeth Shaw (Rapace - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) and Charlie Holloway (Marshall-Green - Devil) discover mysterious cave drawings that point to the origins of mankind they soon find themselves aboard the spaceship Prometheus sponsored by Weyland Industries and on a journey to uncover the secrets of humanity Overseen by the imperious Meredith Vickers (Theron - Snow White & The Huntsman) looked after by the android David (Fassbender - X-Men First Class) and backed up by a team of scientists Shaw and Holloway arrive on the isolated moon LV-223 to discover an abandoned alien spaceship and the truth that not all is as it seems
Ridley Scott helms this sci-fi thriller starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron and Guy Pearce. After finding fragments of Alien DNA, a team of scientists known as The Company travels into space aboard the state-of-the-art Prometheus spacecraft to investigate the origins of human life on Earth. Their journey takes them into the darkest corners of the universe - but, to their horror, their very inquisitiveness ends up posing a threat to the future existence of humankind. The scientists now find themselves tested to their mental and physical limits as they fight a desperate battle to preserve the future of the human race.
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