...and after that interlude we return to...
Prometheus.
Just watched it. Loved it from start to finish.
It begins slowly, in-keeping with
Alien, and also reminiscent of
2001: A Space Odyssey, in that great revelations come from humble beginnings.
Are spoiler tags still necessary? If so, read no more!
Wasn't Ridley Scott saying that this wasn't a prequel to
Alien? A little misdirection, perhaps?
Prometheus virtually explains everything, except for why the Engineers decided to destroy their creation.
For a while things are literally 'alien'. We recognize elements from
Alien but they aren't identical, such as the 'vases' in place of xenomorph eggs; the 'squid' in place of the facehugger; the Space Jockey and his ship, but not the Space Jockey and ship of
Alien.
The final reveal of the adult squid was, however, very much a Lovecraftian terror.
The closing shot of the proto-xenomorph was a rewarding finale.
After one viewing it feels like a very satisfying film, fitting perfectly into the series, answering the questions I wanted answered, but leaving new ones open to maintain some mystery.
A few weeks ago I picked up one of these books:
A first edition 1979 copy, containing stills from every moment of
Alien. A fantastic resource to pore over, especially in light of what we see in
Prometheus.
Smiffy said:
The story sounds like humans created the aliens...since Frankenstein's monster was "The Modern Prometheus".
I wasn't too far wrong. Calling the ship
Prometheus was a giveaway, implying Peter Weyland, as in the tradition of Weylands, knew that the Engineers were the creators of monsters. And maybe that's how they saw humanity - as a monster that needed to be destroyed...by monsters.