BenLaw said:I would say it is indistinctly average
Indistinctly average. Quite true. Ah, what could have been.......
Indistinctly average. Quite true. Ah, what could have been.......
Just back from the cinema. Not Ridley Scott's best effort, it has to be said. Think professorhat had it about right. Still, will make a good home cinema demo disc I suspect.
Son_of_SJ
Well-known member
My pal Mercedes and I went to see Prometheus in 3D at the IMAX screen of Cineworld in Fountainbridge on Wednesday 13th June, the same day as the Olympic torch (which we also went to see) came! It's probably easiest if I separate my impressions of the theatre from my thoughts about the film itself.
The theatre
1. I'd never previously been to the IMAX theatre, and it did seem bigger than most of the other theatres that I've seen. As advised, we sat in the exact middle of the very back row, but the screen still extended above us by the same considerable amount as below us. The horizontal field of view (left edge of screen, to us, then to right edge of screen) was about 110 degrees, which is at least thrice as big as even that of watching my Samsung television from nine feet. It's a big screen!
2. The sound was suitably impressive. At last, a theatre with as good subwoofer effects as I'm used to hearing at home. However, and this may be because of the locations of the theatre's speakers rather than the film's soundtrack, I became aware that the sound was pretty front-biased, with not too much coming from the sides and very little, if anything, coming from behind us. There was some sound from above though. There should be some good audio demonstration bits for the subsequent blu-ray disc.
3. Am I the only person to think that the black levels of commercial projectors and screens (whether intrinsically or due to how they are operated by cinema staff) are simply not very good? Certainly not as good as I've seen on televisions.
4. It was the first time that I had seen a film, or indeed anything, in 3D for longer than two minutes. My previous experience of 3D (I've not been motivated to even switch on the two pairs of active 3D glasses that came with my Samsung television) was limited to two-minute trials using passive 3D spectacles at Richer Sounds for LG televisions, or of the demonstration stands at bigger Currys or PC World stores to view 3D Panasonic televisions. (I don't know if Currys use passive or active 3D glasses). Certainly the cinema staff at Cineworld just blinked at me in incomprehension when I asked a group of about five of them if Prometheus had been in passive or active 3D. I've since been told that Prometheus had been in passive 3D. I must say that despite my scepticism, the 3D experience for me was pretty painless, but I saw nothing that I wouldn't have been just as happy to see in two dimensions.
The film itself
5. About the plot of Prometheus, I really struggled to understand what was going on. I can't remember much about Alien, so I came to Prometheus with my mind a pretty blank canvas.
6. I suppose that a largely uninhabited barren planet would look pretty monochrome, with that mono colour being dull greenish-brown ... there wasn't much in the way of bright colours, but that is an observation, not a criticism.
7. Because the Swedish original of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" currently has pretty much permanent residence in my bedroom system, I was fascinated to hear just how good Noomi Rapace's English is. I heard only a single instance of a slight accent.
Overall
8. I will watch Prometheus again when it appears on Freeview or Freesat (I don't have Sky or Virgin), but I certainly won't be rushing to buy the Blu-Ray at the full price of about £20 when it appears in a few months' time. If I like the film when I see it again on television - including, critically, if I come to terms with (what is supposed to be) the plot - then I may buy the blu-ray when the price falls to £10 or less.
The theatre
1. I'd never previously been to the IMAX theatre, and it did seem bigger than most of the other theatres that I've seen. As advised, we sat in the exact middle of the very back row, but the screen still extended above us by the same considerable amount as below us. The horizontal field of view (left edge of screen, to us, then to right edge of screen) was about 110 degrees, which is at least thrice as big as even that of watching my Samsung television from nine feet. It's a big screen!
2. The sound was suitably impressive. At last, a theatre with as good subwoofer effects as I'm used to hearing at home. However, and this may be because of the locations of the theatre's speakers rather than the film's soundtrack, I became aware that the sound was pretty front-biased, with not too much coming from the sides and very little, if anything, coming from behind us. There was some sound from above though. There should be some good audio demonstration bits for the subsequent blu-ray disc.
3. Am I the only person to think that the black levels of commercial projectors and screens (whether intrinsically or due to how they are operated by cinema staff) are simply not very good? Certainly not as good as I've seen on televisions.
4. It was the first time that I had seen a film, or indeed anything, in 3D for longer than two minutes. My previous experience of 3D (I've not been motivated to even switch on the two pairs of active 3D glasses that came with my Samsung television) was limited to two-minute trials using passive 3D spectacles at Richer Sounds for LG televisions, or of the demonstration stands at bigger Currys or PC World stores to view 3D Panasonic televisions. (I don't know if Currys use passive or active 3D glasses). Certainly the cinema staff at Cineworld just blinked at me in incomprehension when I asked a group of about five of them if Prometheus had been in passive or active 3D. I've since been told that Prometheus had been in passive 3D. I must say that despite my scepticism, the 3D experience for me was pretty painless, but I saw nothing that I wouldn't have been just as happy to see in two dimensions.
The film itself
5. About the plot of Prometheus, I really struggled to understand what was going on. I can't remember much about Alien, so I came to Prometheus with my mind a pretty blank canvas.
6. I suppose that a largely uninhabited barren planet would look pretty monochrome, with that mono colour being dull greenish-brown ... there wasn't much in the way of bright colours, but that is an observation, not a criticism.
7. Because the Swedish original of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" currently has pretty much permanent residence in my bedroom system, I was fascinated to hear just how good Noomi Rapace's English is. I heard only a single instance of a slight accent.
Overall
8. I will watch Prometheus again when it appears on Freeview or Freesat (I don't have Sky or Virgin), but I certainly won't be rushing to buy the Blu-Ray at the full price of about £20 when it appears in a few months' time. If I like the film when I see it again on television - including, critically, if I come to terms with (what is supposed to be) the plot - then I may buy the blu-ray when the price falls to £10 or less.
Paul.
Well-known member
I thought it was pretty good actually, struggling to see what all the fuss was about. The only major instance of 'why the hell are they doing that' I got was with the snake charming biologist. Don't entirely understand turbo zombie geologist either. Fassbender was excelent, made the film for me. I would place it a few notches above meh, not as far as great though. I may revise this back down to meh if space Jesus turns out to be true (it popped in to my head when the headless engineer was dated to around 2000 years old, especially with the Christmas tree reference, but seems to be some shred of truth behind it according to interviews).
Oldboy
Well-known member
I went to see it at the BFI IMAX at london and as a first experience of IMAX it was very impressive indeed in 3D but let's face it the whole movie just had a vibe of it being a prologue to the inevitable sequel...it's slow in places and the origin species of the actual Aliens we all know and love amounted to little more than looking like a cast off from The Thing and the less said about the worms with teeth the better.
It felt to me that the movie stopped at exactly the point it got going...the end, when the first Alien is born (is that the queen?). Not in any way is Prometheus Ridley Scotts finest hour but parts of it were enjoyable and Fassbender is the stand out performance but overall i have to agree with Prof in that it's distinctly average which is a shame as i had high hopes for it, perhaps too high given Ridley Scotts dipping quality of late (yes Robin Hood i'm looking at you).
The BFI IMAX on the other hand was simply stunning and i am going back for Dark Knight Rises in premium seats on the back row just off centre of the screen and have my fingers crossed that this doesn't disappoint in the same manner as Prometheus did...don't let me down Mr Nolan...please.
It felt to me that the movie stopped at exactly the point it got going...the end, when the first Alien is born (is that the queen?). Not in any way is Prometheus Ridley Scotts finest hour but parts of it were enjoyable and Fassbender is the stand out performance but overall i have to agree with Prof in that it's distinctly average which is a shame as i had high hopes for it, perhaps too high given Ridley Scotts dipping quality of late (yes Robin Hood i'm looking at you).
The BFI IMAX on the other hand was simply stunning and i am going back for Dark Knight Rises in premium seats on the back row just off centre of the screen and have my fingers crossed that this doesn't disappoint in the same manner as Prometheus did...don't let me down Mr Nolan...please.
Well it was sooooooo bad the sequels been greenlit. Scott taking Fassbender + Rapace on to the Engineers home world which turns out not to be a terribly nice place. No Lindelof. PARADISE heading for a 2014/15 release date.
v1c said:
I heard this also! What horror! :O Even though boxoffice has been a disappointment for Fox the film have made just enough money to warrant them to consider greenlighting a sequel. Only just. If no involvement by Lindelof that is at least a good sign as far as I'm concerned. Hope they hire an intelligent writer with talent and passion for this kind of material. Won't hold my breath though.
Here I am again some 4 months after my initial post cause I just saw the movie on Blu-ray tonight. The acting, dialogue and overall story arc still leaves me rather cold but the film did dazzle my home theater in technical terms with stellar audio and picture, and thus I was entertained! The 7.1 mix is true reference, skillfully mixed and constantly active. The LFE-channel got a good work-out throughout. Very impressed. The picture is equally stunning. Technically the film is tight as an airlock.
Now if only that damn script had been written by less of a hack :roll: Oh, what could have been!
Now if only that damn script had been written by less of a hack :roll: Oh, what could have been!
MUSICRAFT
Well-known member
RickyDeg said:The 7.1 mix is true reference, skillfully mixed and constantly active. The LFE-channel got a good work-out throughout. Very impressed.
Hi RickyDeg
Thanks
Just going to have to see how the soundtrack measures up to the quality of Immortals :twisted:
All the best
Rick @ Musicraft
Excellent - looking forward to this release on Blu-ray and the news of the sequel is welcome indeed. Glad they're maintaining the consistency with the writers too. Was hooked for the first one, so expecting more of the same for the follow-up.
The problem with Prometheus is that its very existence pollutes the original story world.
Alien worked so well because of its purity. It’s a simple narrative, in which the crew of a deep space mining vessel is gradually picked off by a highly efficient predator (brilliantly rendered from Giger’s nightmarish artwork). The story has an anti-corporate spin, but broader ethical and philosophical questions remain subtexts that never seriously hamper the film’s economy of purpose.
Fast forward three (and a bit) decades, and filmmaker hubris sees fit to crowbar the original story into a ill thought through grand narrative, that clumsily addresses big scientific and philosophical questions (where did we come from, is there a god, what is the nature of man, etc.). The filmmakers make scattergun associations between incompatible aspects of science and theology, presumably in an effort to appease different audience segments (Darwinists/creationists). Philosophically, the film is the equivalent of a five year old joining the wrong dots.
In addition, whenever I watch Alien, I’ll be distracted by the thought that the space jockey is a far less impressive creature wearing an astronaut’s suit, rather than a more creepily effective giant being with an exoskeleton. Prometheus looked and sounded gorgeous, but in every other regard I found it profoundly disappointing. Prequels suck. Rant over. Sorry to those that enjoyed the film...
Alien worked so well because of its purity. It’s a simple narrative, in which the crew of a deep space mining vessel is gradually picked off by a highly efficient predator (brilliantly rendered from Giger’s nightmarish artwork). The story has an anti-corporate spin, but broader ethical and philosophical questions remain subtexts that never seriously hamper the film’s economy of purpose.
Fast forward three (and a bit) decades, and filmmaker hubris sees fit to crowbar the original story into a ill thought through grand narrative, that clumsily addresses big scientific and philosophical questions (where did we come from, is there a god, what is the nature of man, etc.). The filmmakers make scattergun associations between incompatible aspects of science and theology, presumably in an effort to appease different audience segments (Darwinists/creationists). Philosophically, the film is the equivalent of a five year old joining the wrong dots.
In addition, whenever I watch Alien, I’ll be distracted by the thought that the space jockey is a far less impressive creature wearing an astronaut’s suit, rather than a more creepily effective giant being with an exoskeleton. Prometheus looked and sounded gorgeous, but in every other regard I found it profoundly disappointing. Prequels suck. Rant over. Sorry to those that enjoyed the film...
BenLaw
Well-known member
Excellent post strapped.
RS I suspect you're in a minority, and your happiness will be my depression if it transpires.
RS I suspect you're in a minority, and your happiness will be my depression if it transpires.
RickyDeg said:
Entertained;- Provide (someone) with amusement or enjoyment.
Ricky i would deduce that it is growing on you
The film wasn't particularly amusing so therefore you must have had enjoyment
The film is a bit of an oxymoron for you i think
v1c said:RickyDeg said:
Entertained;- Provide (someone) with amusement or enjoyment.
Ricky i would deduce that it is growing on you
The film wasn't particularly amusing so therefore you must have had enjoyment
The film is a bit of an oxymoron for you i think
LOL! Obviously you misinterpreted my post :rofl:
"...The acting, dialogue and overall story arc still leaves me rather cold but the film did dazzle my home theater in technical terms with stellar audio and picture, and thus I was entertained"
So, in that which was the initial point of this thread lay my enjoyment.
bigboss
Moderator
I think it's pretty fair to say that the film is basically a showcase/set-up plot for the following two films or more! dun..dun..dun. This has been done before with many films and when looking back at them after the other's have been made they usually hold their own. But who knows with Ridley Scott. Personally i agree with most that has been said, and yes, the film has had it's share of disappointments, especially character and plot wise, for the most part it was stunning to look at the and sound was epic and being a huge Alien fan i did enjoy it and lets admit, it certainly did get people thinking and talking about it and entertained so this is surely what film is mostly about right?
It sounds pretty good but not the best I have heard. I suppose it depends on the quality of the system it is played on and how easily pleased you are.
Paulthefilmfan said:
Not to be confrontational, but can you provide evidence to support this point? There's usually a law of diminishing returns with sequels (or sequels to the prequel, in this case). It's generally recognised that Attack of the Clones was a fist-bitingly awful film, for instance, while Revenge of the Sith was also a howler and a bore. I'm trying to think of a film franchise where the original or reboot was critically panned, yet subsequent films in the franchise restored the reputation of the original film. I honestly can't think of a single example, though I'm happy to be proved wrong.
Star Trek TMP - pannelled by critics and Trekkies at the time. Boring, slow and it took basically an earlier episode in the TV series (giving us Wrath of Khan) to pick up the troops. The Trek movies were always hit or miss, though I enjoyed most of them. First Contact is probably the pick of the bunch, both in terms of story, visuals, chracters but still retains the Trek feel.
Anyway, only two days till Prometheus out on BR - goodie, goodie! :bounce:
Anyway, only two days till Prometheus out on BR - goodie, goodie! :bounce:
I thought it was released last Monday. It was on the shelf at my local HMV anyway.the record spot said:
bigboss
Moderator
strapped for cash said:
I hated the first Twilight film, but subsequent films were a lot better. Also Hulk / Incredible Hulk.
Prometheus sequel should answer a lot of questions of the original, & as a complete trilogy should be very good. Of course, I don't expect you to believe that.
bigboss
Moderator
The releasedate of the Blu-ray would depend on your region. I got my sample last week, on the 2nd ( as seen in my little "technical review" on page 11, post 8 )
I gotta say once again; the LFE-track in this mix is one of the best I've heard. Discerning home cinema buffs take note! My dual subs really bring this one home. Hats off to the sound engineers.
I gotta say once again; the LFE-track in this mix is one of the best I've heard. Discerning home cinema buffs take note! My dual subs really bring this one home. Hats off to the sound engineers.
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