Eh, I guess you can make the argument that it’s not a “prequel” because it has none of the same characters, but it’s not just the same universe, it’s the same damn planet!
The spacecraft we see (well, one of them) is obviously the derelict space craft the crew of The Nostromo investigated, and we see what is clearly the “control room” or whatever it’s called that the Space Jokey was in, as well as some shots of what could be the Jockey himself/itself.
I think they’re just avoiding use of the word prequel because of all the dirty connotations it has thanks to Star Wars.
Maybe I need to watch the trailer again, but it looks to me like astronauts go explore a creepy planet with the best of intentions and then slimy Giger-inspired aliens eat everyone.
No – nothing I’ve heard made it clear this was an Alien prequel. That was the speculation (based, I’m sure, on the ssame things I’ve pointed out), but I never heard or read anhythning that confirmed it.
Justin Bailey’s post seems to agree, although if it’s not a prequel, why drag in all the Alienspecific imagery? Maybe in this film they’re concerned with the “Space Jockey” race, and not with the predatory xenomorphs at all.
The wiki article has some information on it’s development history. It was originally conceived as an Alien prequel, but is now an unrelated story set in the same universe.
I think it’s probably a good thing they have written something new rather than go down the franchise route, but I’m a bit ambivalent towards the “ancient astronauts” idea. It could make for an interesting story, but I find the nutjob associations off-putting.
I don’t care if it’s a prequel, a re-imaginging, a re-boot, or even Ridley Scott doing a shot for shot remake. It looks like an awesome sci-fi movie, from someone who knows how to make one! I’m just happy to watch it…
Visually, it’s a weird mashup of Firefly, Alien, and 2001. The ship in the opening sequences looks remarkably like Serenity from Firefly, right down to the movable engine nacelles, the sharp angles, the rear bay door and cockpit design. Some of the interior shots have the clean, bright look and design of the spaceships from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Then when the Aliens appear, it’s all HR Giger weirdness again.
I wonder if the script is also a mashup of SF tropes.
Eh - I think you’re putting too much weight on this point. It could just be a spaceship built by the same people. Consider: The United States of America built five space shuttle orbiters. Could you tell them apart at a glance?
That’s what I’m thinking. That it might be the same model spaceship but not the very same ship. This would allow the story to get away from the face-hugger aliens but still be set in the Weyland-Yutani universe. In that case, it would be true that it was not a prequel. But I wonder if that’s so, it could still be connected to the “Aliens” plotline. Imagine if the knowledge learned in this film caused The Company to divert the Nostromo to investigate a certain beacon emanating from an unexplored planet…
Incidentally, Ridley Scott also did a “Prophets of Science Fiction” series on the Science Channel this past spring that was pretty good. Whether or not his love of classic SF pioneers will be evident in Prometheus I can’t say, but he’s clearly interested in the art form and not just a dabbler.
Did IQ’s just … drop sharply while I was away? Ma’am, I already said it was not indigenous. It was on a derelict spacecraft. We homed in on its signal.
Anyone else notice the MASSIVE spoiler in this trailer?
They show a graphic of the alien ship in an underground hangar then near the end you see that ship crashing
I saw a couple of commercials for it this week. I’m not much of a movie buff so I hadn’t seen any of the speculation and I had no idea it was directed by Ridley Scott. My first thought was, “Wow, they’re remaking Alien?” because the images were so similar. The cryo-sleep beds, the ridgey walls, the hall full of eggs? Then I remembered the beacon that brought the Nostromo to the planet in the first place. I thought it had to be a prequel where nobody survives and I checked this thread to see if I was right.
It’ll be interesting to see what it really turns out to be. I’ll wait for you guys to go see it first and tell me if it’s worth my time and money.
I’m dissapointed by the brief glimpse of the space jockey from Alien, he appears to be a standard humanoid in a space suit with an elephantine head(he looks awfully similar to an alien Lucas added into the CGI’d edition of A New Hope in the cantina).
Thats not the space jockey we saw in Alien, that guy was literally growing out of the chair :eek: with a “feeding tube”, how spooky was that? Imagining a species where a pilot if grown into the ship?!?:eek:
But now he is just an elephant man, and I’m guessing the way he gets bonded to the chair is the tiny worms and tentacle monsters seen earlier in the movie. How boring.
The arrangement of the “urns” in front of the giant head bear a resemblance to the facehugger eggs in Alien, but that may just be Scott echoing a visual motif. They do seem to contain some kind of lifeform or bio-technology. The hints of the monstrous forms look more soft and tentacle-like than the Geiger-designed insects from Alien, as well. It makes me wonder if those aliens will even be in this flick or if there’s a completely different menace.
