Alien prequel (Prometheus)

[Space Jockey]

It makes one wonder if we are back to the clean sterile environments aka Space 1999, and therefore would probably come full circle again at some point where in 20 yrs people will marvel at some new sci-fi movie where the future is depicted as dirty and worn.

[andy]

I think things always cycle back, as do tastes and such. Ironically movies like 2001, Logan's Run, and Space 1999, where criticized in their time for being too sterile. Now the modern designs from those shows are more popular than ever. Unfortunately I also think the human mind has a innate preference for clean, as in if given the choice of food sources we will always pick the less blemished of the bunch, and same goes with mates, and shelter. Until our choices are severely limited, we will continue to suckered into buying new junk over old quality. So until a big event or change, there will always be the small groups that like dirt, such as the Diesel Punk groups that reenact Mad Max films, and go to burning man.

Andy

[Art Deckard]

[Rodney]

Alien was made in 1979. Its been over 30 years. I do not think Ridley should have to hold back one once of his creativity for the sake of continuity. Quite the opposite. I hope he pushes the envelope to the max and shows Lucas what a prequel is supposed to be.

[BR26354]

[Space Jockey]

There is a whole legion of fans out there of the original movie.
Disregarding continuity would be a grave error.

[joberg]

Continuity: a) uninterrupted connection, succession, or union.
b) persistance without essential changes.
c) a script or scenario in the performing arts.

Those are from the Webster's...always tricky and dangerous, to re-do or have a follow-up episode of a very liked/loved movie for many reasons:

1) Even after 3 years some props/greeblies, etc can be very hard to find (StarWars is one example) because sets, props have been destroyed prior to the realisation that the film the Director was shooting would become such a success/classic.
If Lucas had shot his movies like Peter Jackson did his LOTR (shooting 3 movies back to back) his would not had suffered the dreaded "continuity" problem...and I'm just talking about the first 3 StarWars!

2) We know that technology is in a constant state of changes and that next year will bring those changes, either in hardware or software.
The question is: what is the time frame of Prometheus?
Ten years before Nostromo, or more?
We've all agreed, I think, on what is the Nostromo and its hardware/software: a ship that could've been a military vessel before being used as a mining beast of burden. Retrofits is the name of the game with that vessel for sure...contains an infirmary on board that is quite good, hence their capacity to examine and transport an alien life

3) The Archeron is quite "modern" in its design, but again "modern" compared to what? It could be possible that the Archeron is a brand new ship that hasn't be retrofited and has, therefore, a modern look. Then the question is: how old is the Nostromo? Could that type of vessel be used for 10, 20 or more years? Could it be possible that Nostromo was built 20 years later than the Archeron?
The console/controls, lights and general "look" of Prometheus veers toward a more sleek past, at least that's the impression I got looking at the new pics posted here or on the RPF.
Can we picture an Archeron "older" in terms of technology? How far can we push that look without falling into some sort of weird design that's neither old or new having to constantly look at the first film?
What are we going to keep? The buttons of the first ship, or the screens, or the corridors, or...

4) Dangerous, because the Director/studio wants a few things: attract new fans with the new look and try to please the old ones with designs that reminds them of the past movie. And as we know, when you're trying to please everybody you end up pleasing no-one

So I'll go with the 2nd definition: persistance without essential changes...
Do we recognize those essential designs, whether a patch, a type of helmet or even pieces and bits aboard a spaceship? What about the Derelict? The form is there, it's recognizable by the audience and yet new by the newbies.
Fred showed us similarities between images/drawings of the first movie that are being used into the new one; so that also is a sort of imagery we, the old school, can relate to and recognize.

Sorry for the long post, I'm just glad that Ridley is back doing Sci-Fi.

[Art Deckard]

I think everybody should just do what I've done and lower their expectations. Real low.

With Super-8, I left the theatre thinking that I'd seen something assembled by people who were dedicated students of Spielberg, superfanboys maybe, but that the film had proved, once and for all, that that alone isn't enough. Not even close. There was this big gaping hole at the centre.

With Prometheus we've got Ridley in the driving seat and I'm hoping he's still out to innovate, that he has gone against the idea that all this film has to do is try and replicate the essence of ALIEN , crib it's set-pieces and throw in a ton of references for the cognoscenti.

[Brownclaw]

I'm lucky enough to (a) have my own boat and (b) have been on an ocean liner, and I think that those experiences have really helped me with the even more important issue of what's going on with regards to the main ship in Prometheus and The Nostromo.

My boat is a 55ft long narrowboat, built in 1989, and worth about 30k. The interior decor is nice, but very of its time. A little tatty, well loved, refitted and functional. There's never enough space for everything and there's a knack to making stuff work. She's the Nostromo basically - getting on in her years but perfectly serviceable with decor that can't be described as 'modern'.

Then there's the Royal Caribbean cruise liner - 800 million dollars worth of state of the art ship, built for a single purpose, and only a couple of years old. Absolutely beautiful, with every comfort you could wish for.

They both occupy the same universe, and they both 'look the part'. The crew on the liner are smartly dressed, whereas the crew on the Berengaria are generally scruffier

[joberg]

All valid points people, all valid points I'm just waiting for a date being uttered by one of the character in the new movie or a text "a la Muther"with the date

[Rodney]

In my opinion, Lucas' problem with the prequels was he didn't have it in him to write anything fresh. He had to wedge the same characters like R2 and C3PO in. Doesn't look like Ridley has done that. I don't see Ripley's dad building the Nostromo.

As far as Alien being made in 1979, I would think the combination of newer technology that is now available to Ridley, and him growing as a film maker over the last 30 years would cause Prometheus to naturally look more advanced. I wouldn't expect him to hold back on anything. I don't care if computer monitors in Prometheus are more advanced than the ones in Alien.

[Art Deckard]

Nice high-res pics here (official releases). You may have to register.

http://www.prometheusnews.net/movie/gallery/

I'm really looking forward to Prometheus now I have to say.

[joberg]

TFS Andy, looking forward to that movie also

[Art Deckard]

[steevy]

This still falls under the category of rumor at this point, but some Hungarian sites say that Scott had an interview with the outlet IC Press, in which he explained Pearce's role in the film (which Pearce has said is about a minute long) and how it connects to Alien:

When the first ‘Alien' movie and ‘Blade Runner' were made, I thought that in the near future the world will be owned by large companies. This is why we have the Tyrell Corporation in ‘Blade Runner', and Weyland-Yutani in ‘Alien'. They sent the Nostromo spaceship.

The Prometheus is owned by an entrepreneur called Peter Weyland, and is played by Guy Pearce. That's the connection between the two films, and nothing more. Prometheus is a new film, a new world, and is full of new ideas. And of course new monsters as well.

[Art Deckard]

And here is Peter Weyland in a viral video for Prometheus.
Looks like a cutscene from a computer game.
He's a comic book villain. Everythings cranked up to 11.
Guy overacting like his life depends on it. The PG 13 suddenly makes sense. And the 3D.
Early signs are that The Internet thinks its the best thing ever.
What was I thinking? Never mind.

EDIT: He's actually a lot like a James Bond villain.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpYUW0ekPSA

[Art Deckard]

Just to be clear I do realise it's just a viral and not a scene from the film but boy does it suck.

[Brownclaw]

And they've gone with Cameron's erroneous spelling of Weyland, rather than Scott's original 'Weylan'. I was hoping for some continuity there.

Bugger.

[Art Deckard]

In ALIEN the company will always be 'the company' to me. So I'm not really bothered about that.

Jon Spaihts is dealing with questions about 'canon' on Twitter.

[Brownclaw]

Fair enough Art.

I'm guessing it's going to be set around 2073 then if the company are celebrating 50 years since the TED talk. That's around 50 years before the events in Alien by my reckoning.