Alien: Covenant (formerly known as Prometheus 2)

[TangledThorns]

1 hour ago, reddsun1 said:

Still bummed about the loss of Bill Paxton... 

Honestly, it's gonna be hard as f**k to take this movie seriously, knowing that James Franco and Danny McBride are going to be in it. 

 

Don't know about Franco but I have a good feeling that Danny McBride will make this film better than we expect.

I think the issue that fans have with Covenant is that it feels and looks too much like Prometheus which was a grand disappointment.

 

[Seto Kaiba]

After watching the first two trailers, I have kind of a bad feeling about this one... maybe it's just that they're coming on hard and fast with shots of the standard xenomorph to prove it won't be another bait-and-switch tease like Prometheus was.  

Every time they announce a new Alien flick I keep hoping for a return to the subtle, claustrophobic horror of Alien and Alien: Isolation.  To have hordes of xenomorphs running 'round in broad daylight and displaying themselves like anatomically abominable peacocks at every opportunity like Aliens and Alien Resurrection dilutes the shock value of the xenomorph itself.  When there's enough of them running 'round to form their own baseball team, it stops being THE monster and starts being just "a" monster.  Worse if the protagonists can kill them with guns, then they're just dangerous animals.  The xenomorph was at its most frightening when it was this inscrutable, unstoppable killing machine that was somewhere nearby... picking people off according to its own agenda and not really in any hurry to be done with it.  It just isn't as scary when the alien practically calls ahead to reserve dinner seating before chowing down the way this lot seems to be doing by jumping on people's windscreens.

Not sure what to make of the spineburster(?) thing... 

[sketchley]

5 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Every time they announce a new Alien flick I keep hoping for a return to the subtle, claustrophobic horror of Alien and Alien: Isolation.  To have hordes of xenomorphs running 'round in broad daylight and displaying themselves like anatomically abominable peacocks at every opportunity like Aliens and Alien Resurrection dilutes the shock value of the xenomorph itself.  When there's enough of them running 'round to form their own baseball team, it stops being THE monster and starts being just "a" monster.  Worse if the protagonists can kill them with guns, then they're just dangerous animals.  The xenomorph was at its most frightening when it was this inscrutable, unstoppable killing machine that was somewhere nearby... ...)

Funny you should phrase it like that...

I remember reading a review somewhere that the Alien (in the first movie) had a personality with shades of a murderer - it wasn't just killing humans to protect itself, it was actually enjoying the fear it was making in its victims.  This is most apparent when it takes on Veronica Cartwright's character.

Sadly, it was only Alien 3 that attempted to recapture that part of their personality.  (Not that I consider that movie part of my 'head canon'...)

[sh9000]

 

[electric indigo]

Spoiler

 

We always knew that nukin' the site from orbit is the only way to be sure.

 

 

[sh9000]

Happy Alien Day.

[TangledThorns]

Lots of spoilers being let loose on the new film today. Kinda hard to avoid it all, ugh. Still, the film looks bigger than I expected and I hope it won't ruin the film's horror component which ALIEN is supposed to be first; action, adventure, etc should be secondary.

[sh9000]

 

[Mommar]

That 2 1/2 minutes was more interesting than a single thing I ever saw for Prometheus.

[TangledThorns]

11 minutes ago, Mommar said:

That 2 1/2 minutes was more interesting than a single thing I ever saw for Prometheus.

Prometheus did set a pretty low bar.

[sh9000]

 

 

 

[Seto Kaiba]

4 hours ago, TangledThorns said:

Prometheus did set a pretty low bar.

Now that's putting it mildly... Prometheus set the bar so low it's a trip hazard in Hades' wine cellar.

 

 

5 hours ago, sh9000 said:

 

Huh.  I was kind of watching Covenant's development out of the corner of my eye for fear that we'd get Prometheus Mk.II.  This made me sit up and take notice more than any previous trailer or teaser for the film.  If the movie fails to live up to the promise this shows, I'll be doubly upset.  Garnishing a monster horror movie with a little existential dread?  Please sir, can I have some more?

[seti88]

10 hours ago, sh9000 said:

Happy Alien Day.

 

[sh9000]

 

[seti88]

mount a motion gun platform on that lunar quatro and blast the alien to bits!

[Graham]

On 4/27/2017 at 4:33 AM, Mommar said:

That 2 1/2 minutes was more interesting than a single thing I ever saw for Prometheus.

Hmmm......it actually had me wondering why Elizabeth Shaw would even want to go to the Engineer's homeworld? I mean after experiencing the horrible events in Prometheus of being impregnated with an Alien, having my partner and all my crewmates die, I'd by like screw this, I've got a working starship, I'm gong back home to Earth where it's safe.

[Mommar]

7 hours ago, Graham said:

Hmmm......it actually had me wondering why Elizabeth Shaw would even want to go to the Engineer's homeworld? I mean after experiencing the horrible events in Prometheus of being impregnated with an Alien, having my partner and all my crewmates die, I'd by like screw this, I've got a working starship, I'm gong back home to Earth where it's safe.

I haven't seen Prometheus because I heard it was horrible and none of the trailers were interesting looking anyway.  One of the primary reasons it sucked, I've heard, is because none of the characters were rational or made any sense, so in this case it seems to be in keeping with her character.

[TangledThorns]

10 hours ago, Graham said:

Hmmm......it actually had me wondering why Elizabeth Shaw would even want to go to the Engineer's homeworld? I mean after experiencing the horrible events in Prometheus of being impregnated with an Alien, having my partner and all my crewmates die, I'd by like screw this, I've got a working starship, I'm gong back home to Earth where it's safe.

People do stupid stuff all the time. Why someone feels the need to climb a dangerous mountain for sport is just as bizarre to me.

[TehPW]

28 minutes ago, TangledThorns said:

People do stupid stuff all the time. Why someone feels the need to climb a dangerous mountain for sport is just as bizarre to me.

Because people get off on that *&^%. Sometimes however, they get off long after they fully decompose while still on the mountain...

[jenius]

Prometheus has some terribly written characters and pretty poor writing overall. It's a shame, felt like there was a good movie possible there. Still not the worst movie ever but... not good.

[myk]

4 hours ago, Mommar said:

I haven't seen Prometheus because I heard it was horrible and none of the trailers were interesting looking anyway.  One of the primary reasons it sucked, I've heard, is because none of the characters were rational or made any sense, so in this case it seems to be in keeping with her character.

You can say that about any group of characters in any movie.  You've watched Star Wars right?  Aren't the Jedi in the prequel movies the dumbest, most clueless miserable bunch of idiots there ever were, what with everything that was going on in front of their smug Jedi faces?  Just watch Prometheus, I'll bet you may even like it...

[jenius]

They are exceptionally stupid even for a movie though. 

Edited April 28, 2017 by jenius

[Sandman]

The honest trailer for Prometheus is so true...

 

But i'd still watch it if you haven't seen it already. It's funner to rip on something when you've actually seen it.

[sketchley]

4 hours ago, myk said:

Just watch Prometheus, I'll bet you may even like it...

 

I enjoyed it.  Probably because it's really about something... well, how can I say this without spoilers?  Consider the origins of the title Prometheus, for starters.

Anyhow, it's best to approach this film with an open mind.  It's designed as an open-ended film.  So, don't go in expecting a bunch of answers.  However, there are answers in the form of hints and clues.

Spoiler

For example: the story of the android -disappointed by his creators while living among them- is pretty much the story of the humans after they meet their creators.  The film doesn't need to show the humans disappointment.  However, it did need to show their punishment for having the gall to approach their gods, tying into the title of the film.

It's a very literal film after all.

Anyhow, you should see it for two reasons: 1) it is beautifully shot.  2) it's a Ridley Scott film.  Never mind the story or characters, nobody does world-building and atmosphere (or should I say atmospheres?  ) like he does.

Edited April 29, 2017 by sketchley

[anime52k8]

5 hours ago, myk said:

You can say that about any group of characters in any movie.  You've watched Star Wars right?  Aren't the Jedi in the prequel movies the dumbest, most clueless miserable bunch of idiots there ever were, what with everything that was going on in front of their smug Jedi faces?  Just watch Prometheus, I'll bet you may even like it...

but the star wars prequels are also terrible films.

 

My experience with with Prometheus was that after seeing it the first time I really hated it, then after multiple viewings I started to like it, only to come to hate it again after really thinking about it.

[sh9000]

 

[TangledThorns]

In anticipation of the movie I reloaded ALIEN: Isolation. It'll be my third time playing and it's still a great game, one of my top favorites for single player.

[Thom]

On 4/26/2017 at 9:29 PM, Seto Kaiba said:

Now that's putting it mildly... Prometheus set the bar so low it's a trip hazard in Hades' wine cellar.

 

 

Huh.  I was kind of watching Covenant's development out of the corner of my eye for fear that we'd get Prometheus Mk.II.  This made me sit up and take notice more than any previous trailer or teaser for the film.  If the movie fails to live up to the promise this shows, I'll be doubly upset.  Garnishing a monster horror movie with a little existential dread?  Please sir, can I have some more?

So, i take it this is a prequel of sorts to Covenant. Cause I would watch this and not waste time with Covenant itself... It looks like pretty much the same story from Alien, just with homesteaders instead of a cargo ship's crew.

Edited May 1, 2017 by Thom

[TangledThorns]

11 minutes ago, Thom said:

So, i take it this is a prequel of sorts to Covenant. Cause I would watch this and not waste time with Covenant itself... It looks like pretty much the same story from Alien, just with homesteaders instead of a cargo ship's crew.

Prometheus is a pretty film, worth a watch at least once. Covenant seems to be a bigger film than we expect. I could be wrong but it really does look like Ridley Scott is working hard to make up for Prometheus.

[Kanedas Bike]

On 4/28/2017 at 4:55 PM, myk said:

You can say that about any group of characters in any movie.  You've watched Star Wars right?  Aren't the Jedi in the prequel movies the dumbest, most clueless miserable bunch of idiots there ever were, what with everything that was going on in front of their smug Jedi faces?  Just watch Prometheus, I'll bet you may even like it...

 

This was hilariously funny - especially about the PT Jedi! 

 

On 4/28/2017 at 5:51 PM, jenius said:

They are exceptionally stupid even for a movie though. 

 

This * 10,000,000. I mean just idiots in the purest sense of the term.

 

9 hours ago, TangledThorns said:

Prometheus is a pretty film, worth a watch at least once. Covenant seems to be a bigger film than we expect. I could be wrong but it really does look like Ridley Scott is working hard to make up for Prometheus.

 

^And this, if you are an Alien/Aliens fan, then you kind of owe it to yourself to watch it because like the movie or not, idiot characters or not and poor writing or not, it's in the universe and it is actually a very beautifully shot movie. Just go in expecting that all of the characters will do the most counter-intuitive thing they could possibly do in that given situation, and well, watch the stupidity unfold.

And I pray to movie-spirits of Hicks, Hudson and Bishop that Ridley Scott is trying to make up for Prometheus and that he's successful in doing so. And with that I'll be there to see Covenant on opening day.

-b.

[sh9000]

[electric indigo]

I need those shirts...

[sh9000]

 

[Seto Kaiba]

13 hours ago, sh9000 said:

... so does this mean the reason Bishop and the later synthetics were fully Three Laws-compliant was because Weyland-Yutani switched to Intel/NVIDIA?

"Caution: Always operate your David-8 or Walter series synthetics with adequate cooling! Overheating may lead to shutdown or failure of ethics coprocessors."

(Gotta hand it to Michael Fassbender tho... he manages a certain distant look that's perfect for playing a robot.  It almost borders on the uncanny valley and he's a certified human.)

[TangledThorns]

5 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

... so does this mean the reason Bishop and the later synthetics were fully Three Laws-compliant was because Weyland-Yutani switched to Intel/NVIDIA?

"Caution: Always operate your David-8 or Walter series synthetics with adequate cooling! Overheating may lead to shutdown or failure of ethics coprocessors."

(Gotta hand it to Michael Fassbender tho... he manages a certain distant look that's perfect for playing a robot.  It almost borders on the uncanny valley and he's a certified human.)

 

I prefer the term "Artificial Person" myself.