The most frustrating thing to me about this awful movie is that at its core it has so many really good ideas that would have been fascinating to explore and then it just shits itself. I refuse to hate it because I feel like there is a good movie in there that got strangled in the crib.
I watched that movie when it first came out. Bought the DVD. It was horrible. Recently, I heard some high minded podcaster opine that this movie was actually about explorers. REAL explorers, doing things that had never been done and going places that had never been visited. He was comparing them to terrestrial pioneers and was arrogant about how people could not see that. The part of the movie that really stuck with me all of these years was the interaction with the vaginal alien, and I thought about that when this guy was talking. There is a difference between going into the unknown and either making it back or never being heard from again, and acting like a moron. The other part I was hoping you would mention was the woman being impregnated, giving herself an emergency C-Section, stapling herself back up and then heading back out to save her crew as if she just placed a Bandaid on a cut. So many stupid scenes, that I can hardly believe they were written into the film with a straight face. Anyway, new subscriber. Glad to be aboard.
Rewatched Prometheus and mostly liked it. Watched Alien: Covenant and wow, what a train wreck. The crew are so stupid that you’re rooting for the aliens.
Must say, didn't expect you to think this wasn't a good movie given how much you post it. But glad to see I wasn't missing something from when I saw it haha
Personally my impression of Prometheus was just "creation story but for pop-science humanoids": The implications of abiogenesis are hard to grapple with, and god is just so... passé, SO WHAT IF BIG TALL WHITE ALIEN MADE LIFE WITH SCIENCE MAGIC??? The Atlantean connection is a very interesting one I hadn't made myself, but I can see it. Atlantis really is an idea that's been —if not suppressed— at the very least marginalized; the word itself has kind of taken on the connotation of fairytale. Interesting to hear there's some evidence for it and that people are thinking about it.
Tangentially, woah dood bold take on covenant!
The big stupid cartoon action in covenant really killed it for me; giant pallet-lifter with thrusters zooming around and knocking the tops off of mountains while ripley-stand-in spidermans around attached to it by a rope and blasts at the totally unnecessary alien with a space super rifle (AR platform but the muzzleflash is blue.) At the end they kill the alien by literally throwing a freight train at it to launch it out an airlock. I mean wow, it's only like the fifth or sixth movie in a row where they did the airlock scene! Zero stakes, impossible to take any of it seriously.
TBHT of the series only really alien one and two are legit good: They establish the threat of the antagonist and maintain tension effectively, where sequels by and large go off the rails becoming too cartoony to take seriously. Prometheus obviously breaks with this; being instead held back by the residual alien elements while the writer is obviously trying to "say something" (and of course hacky writing.)
Maybe the real lesson is that there is a finite number of times you can sequel anything before the need for escalation completely destroys it.
Oh, bud, you didn't even get the worst part. You can find videos breaking it down on YouTube, but there is artwork in the ship depicting an Engineer being crucified by humans. One of the early scripts made it pretty explicit that the Engineers created Jesus to fix humanity and are upset we crucified him because we are bad children.
I'd heard that. I rewatched it a couple months ago, then after scoured the internet for additional information. Lots of bits and pieces on the cutting room floor that would have made it a far more interesting and coherent movie. It's astonishing to me that they managed to select the perfect combination of elements to make a really lame action movie, but also completely undermine any thoughtful elements.
TBFT I don't know exactly how one would go about fixing it. They'd need to fit some of that cut context in —even by implication. Hard to do in a way isn't either so subtle as to be missed, but not so obvious that it's hamfisted. Imagine if they had a moment where some character goes WAOW JESUS WAS AN ALIEN DOOD (but I shouldn't give them any ideas) 😅
I had to take a second job to pay for this Substack and now I find out that the plebs are getting the same fucking content for free???
(Jk glad you’re putting out content that will help grow your audience. Good episode very fun.)
I'm struggling with the idea of super advanced redheads in a world where the Irish exist. -Sincerely, a Paddy
I am literally the giant ripped pale white engineer alien from prometheus, he is literally me
The most frustrating thing to me about this awful movie is that at its core it has so many really good ideas that would have been fascinating to explore and then it just shits itself. I refuse to hate it because I feel like there is a good movie in there that got strangled in the crib.
Promethean, mind telling me what you're doing aboard that ship?
I watched that movie when it first came out. Bought the DVD. It was horrible. Recently, I heard some high minded podcaster opine that this movie was actually about explorers. REAL explorers, doing things that had never been done and going places that had never been visited. He was comparing them to terrestrial pioneers and was arrogant about how people could not see that. The part of the movie that really stuck with me all of these years was the interaction with the vaginal alien, and I thought about that when this guy was talking. There is a difference between going into the unknown and either making it back or never being heard from again, and acting like a moron. The other part I was hoping you would mention was the woman being impregnated, giving herself an emergency C-Section, stapling herself back up and then heading back out to save her crew as if she just placed a Bandaid on a cut. So many stupid scenes, that I can hardly believe they were written into the film with a straight face. Anyway, new subscriber. Glad to be aboard.
Truly the need for escalation is the first death of every franchise
Rewatched Prometheus and mostly liked it. Watched Alien: Covenant and wow, what a train wreck. The crew are so stupid that you’re rooting for the aliens.
Must say, didn't expect you to think this wasn't a good movie given how much you post it. But glad to see I wasn't missing something from when I saw it haha
I really loved Prometheus when it first came out.
But I rewatched it again recently and I have realised that it is such a bad movie.
Every single character is just so unlikeable. The Engineer is really the only likeable character in the whole movie.
Covenant is a much better movie, however I still lament the lost opportunity of Prometheus.
Looking forward to an Atlantis pod 🤙
I remembered correctly how bad this movie was then. I was always wondered if I was missing something. I was not.
Merry Christmas!
Interdasting!
Personally my impression of Prometheus was just "creation story but for pop-science humanoids": The implications of abiogenesis are hard to grapple with, and god is just so... passé, SO WHAT IF BIG TALL WHITE ALIEN MADE LIFE WITH SCIENCE MAGIC??? The Atlantean connection is a very interesting one I hadn't made myself, but I can see it. Atlantis really is an idea that's been —if not suppressed— at the very least marginalized; the word itself has kind of taken on the connotation of fairytale. Interesting to hear there's some evidence for it and that people are thinking about it.
Tangentially, woah dood bold take on covenant!
The big stupid cartoon action in covenant really killed it for me; giant pallet-lifter with thrusters zooming around and knocking the tops off of mountains while ripley-stand-in spidermans around attached to it by a rope and blasts at the totally unnecessary alien with a space super rifle (AR platform but the muzzleflash is blue.) At the end they kill the alien by literally throwing a freight train at it to launch it out an airlock. I mean wow, it's only like the fifth or sixth movie in a row where they did the airlock scene! Zero stakes, impossible to take any of it seriously.
TBHT of the series only really alien one and two are legit good: They establish the threat of the antagonist and maintain tension effectively, where sequels by and large go off the rails becoming too cartoony to take seriously. Prometheus obviously breaks with this; being instead held back by the residual alien elements while the writer is obviously trying to "say something" (and of course hacky writing.)
Maybe the real lesson is that there is a finite number of times you can sequel anything before the need for escalation completely destroys it.
Oh, bud, you didn't even get the worst part. You can find videos breaking it down on YouTube, but there is artwork in the ship depicting an Engineer being crucified by humans. One of the early scripts made it pretty explicit that the Engineers created Jesus to fix humanity and are upset we crucified him because we are bad children.
I'd heard that. I rewatched it a couple months ago, then after scoured the internet for additional information. Lots of bits and pieces on the cutting room floor that would have made it a far more interesting and coherent movie. It's astonishing to me that they managed to select the perfect combination of elements to make a really lame action movie, but also completely undermine any thoughtful elements.
TBFT I don't know exactly how one would go about fixing it. They'd need to fit some of that cut context in —even by implication. Hard to do in a way isn't either so subtle as to be missed, but not so obvious that it's hamfisted. Imagine if they had a moment where some character goes WAOW JESUS WAS AN ALIEN DOOD (but I shouldn't give them any ideas) 😅
I absolutely need a deep dive on Atlantis now.
I still think about this