I’ve seen the trailers and read a couple of paragraph or two reviews that only really explain the premise. What happens? Are there any twists? What’s the connection with Alien? Is it just a stalk through spaceship killing people one at a time? What happens at the end, a set-up for a sequel? Thanks 
PS: I love spoilers, won’t stop me watching it on DVD in three months…
Ok… Since I saw it yesterday:
Heavy spoilers inbound:
Premise:
[spoiler]Long ago, a race of aliens (which looks like giant bald humans) seeded the young earth with life by drinking a form of liquid and then letting their bodies dissolve here on earth.
These same aliens appear to have visited various civilizations on earth, leaving behind pointers to a star system. This is discovered by archaeologists, who then manage to get Weyland Corporation to pay for a expedition to this system.[/spoiler]
What happens (Brief synopsis. spoils the whole movie):
[spoiler]The expedition lands on a planet in the system mentioned over and finds some old pyramids. When they enter, they find that everyone is dead, but they find a remarkably well-preserved corpse and some strange oblong objects. The DNA from the giant corpse is identical to human DNA.
The android played by Fassbender takes a sample of a black oil-like substance from the oblong objects and drops it in a drink he gives to the male archaeologist. The archaeologist has sex with the female archaeologist, who (of course) becomes pregnant with an alien foetus which quickly grows before being cut out of her and believed to be dead.
Meanwhile, it is discovered that the pyramids were some sort of bioweapon-lab, there is a hidden ship under ground, and there is one live giant bald alien still in stasis in the control room. Also, the black oil is somehow alive and attacks two of the crewmembers, killing them.
A few more deaths happen, and then they figure out that the sane thing to do is wake the bald alien. The bald alien alien rips the head off the android, killing everyone else on the alien ship except the female archaeologist before starting the take-off sequence. The archaeologist convince the people aboard the Prometheus that the alien ship is heading for earth and they have to stop it. They do so by engaging the engines and using their ship as a weapon. Before they do this, they eject a life-boat to the surface. This life-boat also has the bio-lab where the alien abortion took place.
The female archaeologist goes into the life-boat and discovers that the foetus was not dead, but has now grown to a huge tentacled monster. At the same time, she is called up by the disbodied android, warning her that the bald alien is heading her way. She manages to solve two problems at once, the bald alien is facehugged by the tentacle monster. We see the monster send a tentacle down the throat of the alien.
Together, the archaeologist and the android rides off in another ship, heading for the home world of the bald aliens.[/spoiler]
End scene:
The camera comes back to the life boat, where there corpse of the alien seems to move. Suddenly his chest burst open, and a familiar shape burst out. A xenomorph (as in the original Alien-movies) stands up and screeches, fade to black
Stalking:
Very little stalking in the movie, more action-filled scenes
Connections with the Alien-movies:
[spoiler]The ship is the same kind of ship as the one the crew of the Nostromo finds. The space suit of the giant bald aliens is the same as the space jockey wears in that movie. We can also add that the crew on the Prometheus works for Weyland Corporation, while the Nostromo works for Weyland-Yutani. The technology is similar, particularly the android tech and the cryo-sleep.
There is also the small matter of the actual Xenomorph in the end scene.[/spoiler]
I didn’t *want *to read all the spoilers - I just had to in order to screen it for my kid. 
Thank you.
Seriously, how intense/gory is it - in terms of a 14 year old kid who has seen Alien and Aliens? Have they upped the ante?
Here in Norway they rated it “suitable for persons over 15”, meaning that 11-year olds can see it with their parents. In comparison, Alien and Aliens were both rated 18 here in their original release.
In my opinion, it is far less intense than both Alien and Aliens, the only scene I would say is gory is the scene whereThe female archaeologist (Noomi Rapace) performs a emergency alien abortion on herself.
Thank you. Makes sense.
And yeah, I can see where the seen you note in your spoiler might seem a bit intense. Stuff like that can ruin your day.
Too late to edit: that’s “scene”…
so glad for this thread. after seeing the spoilers, I am so NOT interested (and knowing the plot and ending will not keep me from seeing a film I’m interested in), despite the interesting cast. so, thanks!
reason - I saw Alien. & Aliens. Liked them. but that was enough. seriously, stop already. the addition of aliens-who-founded-earth cause-we-couldn’t-possibly-have-happened-otherwise makes me even less interested.
In relation to this spoiler about what we learn at the end - I was struck by this thought:
[spoiler]
You know how comedians or snarky sarcastic folks will say “well, X is what would happen if Q and Z had a baby”?
Well, in this case, now we know. [/spoiler]
Sounds like you could base a lucritive “religion” around this movie. 
(1) Watch Alien
(2) Watch the trailer for Prometheus
(3) Save yourself ten bucks.
Ethilrist - exactly.
Do they explain why the big bald aliens seeded earth or left behind clues to their origins? I read a lot of science-fiction of that type and the one question usually doesn’t get answered is, why?
Not to mention, what is the relationship between the black goo and the BBA? Or is the black goo the stuff that the BBA’s drank as part of seeding each planet, including Earth - BUT, it turns out that if the black goo is used the way it is described in the spoilers above it results in the tentacle beastie, who then engages the last BBA in a whole new and different way, resulting in the Xenomorph…
…and why do the ancient star charts left behind point to a world that is not the home world of the BBA’s?
I will see this movie with all of this in mind…
No, there are a few plot holes in the movie; these questions are not answered. But the characters actually sort of ask this as well.
But don’t get me wrong. I did enjoy the movie. It is far better (IMHO) than the third and the fourth Alien movies. (ok, not exactly high praise 
)
Spoiler question:
The BBA were supposed to have been the source of life on Earth?
Our current estimate place the beginning of life on Earth at roughly 3.5 billion years ago.
Would any star chart be accurate after that amount of time? Our Sun has orbited around the center of the Milky Way 15 times in that amount of time. With the other stars having slightly different orbits, no map 3.5 billion years old is gonna be accurate.
I had the exact same question in the theatre, actually. But since the movie violates biology, physics and astronomy, I decided to ignore the science facts, repeat to myself it was just a show and promptly just relax.
As I understand the opening scene, the BBA seeded life on Earth. However, it is later told as if they created humans (there is a biologist in the movie asking if they really want to throw away 300 years of Darwinism)
Liked the movie. Basically, it’s Alien on a bigger budget, and I’m OK with that.
Stuff I wondered about:
-CONTAINMENT. QUARANTINE. For fuck’s sake. I’m willing to overlook Fassbot’s carelessness, because he isn’t biological in nature. The rest of them are kids swinging broomsticks in an Ebola factory. I’d prefer a story about a pathogen that got inside despite all the precautions, not because everyone involved has a room temperature IQ.
-Meredith Vickers’ private operation module is set for male operations only? It’s hers, not her dad’s. He has separate quarters.
-According to interviews, Ridley Scott is of the opinion that life couldn’t have happened without outside intervention. Someone should explain evolution to him again, it didn’t stick the first time.
-Fassbot carries the cross around because…?
Oh my god - comic book guy! I never thought I would actually get to meet you in person!!! Oh, look at me, I’m gushing, but I’m such a fan. Tell me, just how do you keep finding the energy to hate everything created no matter how good it is?
/snark
Seriously, you’re saying the film was so bad you shouldn’t even watch it? It has no merit beyond a few images strung together in the trailer? You want to stand by that statement? If so please explain how it failed to have enough artistic merit to be worth $10 (I will also accept an answer to the question “what could $10 buy you that would have as much value as the experience of seeing Prometheus?”)
As counter to that I would say that I just came back from watching this film and I would describe it as a masterpiece. Cinematography, symbolism, plot, story, pacing, sound, acting - everything was pretty much perfect. I’m struggling to think of a film that kept me that transfixed that I’ve seen recently. The following point is not made enough in threads like these: complaining that a science fiction films violates the rules of biology/physics/chemistry is like saying any fantasy movie isn’t worth watching because magic doesn’t exist.
I watched “the making of” show on HBO today, and I have to say that the bit about
All of these ancient painting showing the exact same picture!!!
had me going :rolleyes: and dramatically reduced the chances I will see this in the theater instead of just waiting for it to hit cable and watching it when there’s nothing else better on.
There’s a bit of a chicken and egg problem here, though. Life evolves now because it’s life. Once it was just compounds. It’s not contradictory to believe life was started by “outside intervention” and has evolved since. And are you sure that belief of his isn’t just regarding life on Earth, rather than all life?