Prometheus trailer

[GrahamH]

This is a guy's opinion, .... he still comes up with overly-symbolic meanings for things.

You are of course entitled to think he's being overly symbolic, but in my opinion Cavalorn gets it about right. For example, just before the pilots crash into the alien ship, they did this momentarily-weird thing that I noticed at the time as being odd and unexplained.

However, if one accepts that there's a bunkerload of symbolism poured into the film (which Damon Lindelof essentially endorsed when he tweeted "I like the way you think" to Cavalorn) then their gesture indeed has a reason for being in the movie:

"... when Janek and his co-pilots sacrifice their lives to save the Earth, they apparently stand in the form of crucifixes, their arms held out. So you have three 'crucified' guys, one in the middle higher up, the other two on the sides, lower down. All a bit Calvary..."

[David Jimerson]

You are of course entitled to think he's being overly symbolic, but in my opinion Cavalorn gets it about right. For example, just before the pilots crash into the alien ship, they did this momentarily-weird thing that I noticed at the time as being odd and unexplained.

However, if one accepts that there's a bunkerload of symbolism poured into the film (which Damon Lindelof essentially endorsed when he tweeted "I like the way you think" to Cavalorn) then their gesture indeed has a reason for being in the movie:

"... when Janek and his co-pilots sacrifice their lives to save the Earth, they apparently stand in the form of crucifixes, their arms held out. So you have three 'crucified' guys, one in the middle higher up, the other two on the sides, lower down. All a bit Calvary..."

Well, one, you misquoted me; I said he still comes up with overly-symbolic meanings for things which weren't the in movie.

As for holding their arms up, it was a roller-coaster thing, or at least that's how I took it.

[David Jimerson]

I'm not saying it was supposed to be profound. I'm saying the unexplained mysteries in this film are not there so an audience can tease out some profound meaning, or even to solve an intriguing puzzle. It exists only to toy with the audience, lead them on and cover up messy storytelling. If they were only interested in making a monster movie they shouldn't have gone there. But they did. And they did it sloppily.

I disagree; as I said, I think they were setup for a sequel. Which I don't care for, at all.

The first responsibility of a storyteller is to tell the story . . . which is why I hated the deliberate ambiguity of the ending of Inception, for example.

[CallaghanFilms]

That's like comparing apples to dreams about apples.

[Gillvane]

Which is why I find that "Space Jesus" idea really dumb.

That's not just an idea someone came up with to interpret the film. That's a direct quote (Jesus not "space" Jesus) from Ridley Scott. Why did the aliens get upset with humans 2K years ago? Because they crucified Jesus, and Jesus was an Engineer. That was in the original screenplay, but they took it out.

How were they going to get around the fact that Jesus would have been 8 feet tall and so forth? Well, maybe the "engineers" didn't look like that in the first draft of the screenplay. Maybe they changed the look AFTER they took out Space Jesus.

[Gillvane]

I disagree; as I said, I think they were setup for a sequel. Which I don't care for, at all.

The first responsibility of a storyteller is to tell the story . . . which is why I hated the deliberate ambiguity of the ending of Inception, for example.

I agree with your statement in general, and about Inception. There is a place for the ambiguous ending, indeed even a genre where it's almost obligatory. That genre is the horror movie.

They killed the bad guy! Or did they? We expect the ambiguous switch ending in the horror genre because it's appropriate there. Leave the audience hanging with a sense of dread. It's a horror movie after all! IN other genres it's just unsatisfying.

[GrahamH]

Shaw didn't say "we've changed the atmosphere"; she said "they've changed the atmosphere," as part of a terraforming effort.

Can I get a 3rd opinion on this? The scene in question is when when they return to the cavern with the oozing containers and worms - Shaw looks up and sees the ceiling is morphing. I'm 90% sure she says "we" not "they", but I am happy to stand corrected.

Sorry, but I'm struggling to see Scott directing the actors to channel being on a roller-coaster ride for their final moment on-screen.

And +1 on the Jesus concept coming directly from Ridley Scott's own comments.

[MattinSTL]

Man that's a lot of thread to read.

Prometheus frustrated me... I'm glad I'm not the only one. The writing did seem vague for sake of being vague... however, maybe this will help you enjoy the movie a little more the next time around. I keep reading debates about the movie and nobody talks about the most ridiculously obvious clue; the title.

Prometheus... in Greek mythology, is a rebellious god who created mankind and acted against the wishes of the other engineers... er "gods". He was sentenced to eternal torment for his actions. I think the first engineer we see is "Prometheus"... and of course the ship;

"(In Western Tradition) Prometheus became a figure who represented human striving, particularly the quest for scientific knowledge, and the risk of overreaching or unintended consequences. In particular, he was regarded as embodying the lone genius whose efforts to improve human existence could also result in tragedy."

I'll probably see the film again... mainly for the visuals... hopefully the writing will make more sense the second time around. From the first viewing I still think people are putting way too much modern religious meaning in the subtext... as if every gesture or line is a wink and nod to those choosing to see it.

[GrahamH]

The religious aspect is "subtext" only because Scott decided that the overt references in the original script were too "on the nose" (his words) ... and so he cut them out.

[WildTrackDave]

Can I get a 3rd opinion on this? The scene in question is when when they return to the cavern with the oozing containers and worms - Shaw looks up and sees the ceiling is morphing. I'm 90% sure she says "we" not "they", but I am happy to stand corrected.

That's what I heard too. We, not they. To me that makes more sense. That room has been sealed off, air tight, for thousands of years. Since they opened the door, they changed the atmosphere in the room and the paintings on the ceiling started eroding, stuff started melting, etc...