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Scott Says No to Prometheus Directors Cut
Ridley Scott has been talking to the press recently to promote Prometheus and has spoke about making cuts for the BBFC/MPAA ratings and the possibility of a directors cut. First his thoughts about the cuts he made…
“It has to be be about the movie, so I’ve made concessions. There’s a moment where you don’t want to harm the movie, it could be the difference of $80m or more.”
Nothing too interesting in that quote as pretty much any film-maker is under a lot of pressure to deliver good box-office records, particularly in the large budget blockbusters. The cuts also didn’t have too much effect on the violence/gore. However having watched the film myself, I was under the impression that there’s got to be something missing in terms of story as there more questions than answers, so I thought there may have been a directors cut. Not likely to happen it seems…
“No, I think this is a good length. But that said, I think that now the fashion of actually putting out a couple of discs is here to stay, which will comfort you on all other kinds of conversation about how the movie was made. All you’ll really do is see extended scenes in the menu. Other than that I think this is a pretty good length, the dynamics of this are about right.”
Now I take that quote with a pinch of salt as it’s Ridley Scott, he’s pretty much the master of the directors cut! I also think there is a lot missing as a lot of the film doesn’t make much sense (won’t go into too any details). which just made for a disappointing watch overall. I do hope he goes back on what he has said as this is a film that could really benefit with a directors cut.
Review: Prometheus
Prometheus has big shoes to fill, indeed any film intending to tell a story set in the universe of the sci-fi masterpiece that is Alien is going to have an incredibly tough time living up to people’s expectations. Over the past few months interested parties have had the opportunity to further immerse themselves in this universe via an inspired viral marketing campaign which has cranked these expectations up even higher. The question I mean to answer here is whether or not Ridley Scott has delivered on these expectations.
The short answer is that I truly enjoyed Prometheus, in fact I intend to see it again as soon as possible. It is however not a film without its flaws. I won’t get into too many specifics here as this review is spoiler free after all, but suffice it to say that the overall story of Prometheus is definitely a compelling one and it explores some pretty big ideas. On occasion it can feel a little convoluted and the motivations of some of the characters are left a little under-explained but overall it is an interesting story with some neat twists and turns. My one criticism would be that the first hour or so of the film did feel a little rushed with a lot of story points being hit in quick succession. Scott seems to have been keen to cut to the chase and I feel that there was probably a lot of stuff left on the cutting room floor, hopefully we will get a nice 3 hour extended cut when the DVD is released!
Prometheus is also a beautiful film with Scott doing a great job (as he always does) of immersing you in the various environments in which his characters find themselves. The Prometheus herself feels futuristic but not clichéd while the planet’s surface feels gritty and at the same time very relatable. The alien ship however is the star of the show (I hope I am not spoiling anything here but its in the trailers, posters etc) with its biomechanical ‘Gigeresque’ interiors feeling truly alien, dank and organic but at the same time very utilitarian.
It has to be said that the quality of the character work does vary substantially. Michael Fassbender is phenomenal as the android David and he does a great job of pulling off that super creepy vibe perfected by Ian Holm as Ash. Noomi Repace also does well in her leading lady role and does an admirable job as Ripley’s spiritual predecessor though she could have benefitted from a little more fleshing out. Charlize Theron also impresses with her performance as the serious company representative trying to maintain control of a situation which is rapidly spiraling out of control.
There are however a number of overly simplistic and, quite frankly, uninteresting characters who are pretty much just there as fodder for when the grizzly deaths (and they are grizzly) start. Some of these characters show potential but its hard to feel that involved with them which does lessen the impact of some of the death scenes.
Overall I feel that Prometheus is an entertaining, frightening and speedily paced sci-fi horror film which can certainly hold its head high and stand alongside its venerated forebears without reluctance. Scott leaves as many (possibly more) questions unanswered as he answers here and in fact creates some entirely new ones to boot, but I think that is one of the greatest strengths of the film. It would have been very easy for Scott to film an Alien clone, instead he has does something new and I applaud him for that.
Summer Movie Previews: June
So with May coming to an end it seems that Avengers aside, this years blockbuster season has so far come up a little short. As we move into June however we get one of the most hyped films of the year plus one or two other interesting prospects, so here are the films that have caught my attention most…
Snow White & the Huntsman
Ok so this is pretty much a fantasy adventure featuring Snow White played by Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron as the Wicked Witch/Queen and Thor (aka Chris Hemsworth) as the titular huntsman. You know what, I can get behind this. Yeah the whole premise is daft and there are some bad lines of dialogue in the trailer but there are some really nice looking effects in it and overall it looks like it could make for some cheesy fairy tale based fun. Snow White is set to be released May 30th.
Prometheus
If you’ve been reading this blog long I shouln’t really need to type anything here. This much anticipated film sees director Ridley Scott return to the Alien series to answer all the burning questions that fans have had for over 30 years now. It also features very high calibre talent in the acting pool featuring the likes of Noomi Rapace, Micheal Fassbender, Charlize Theron and Guy Pearce. Nothing else to say really other than that Prometheus will hit theaters June 1st in the Uk and June 8th in the US.
A Fantastic Fear of Everything
Simon Pegg’s latest film sees him play a reluctant children’s book author who has to confront his fear of just about everything. If the trailer is anything to go by, this film is going to be pretty bizarre and feature a serious candidate for the strangest laundrette sequence ever! I really look forward to seeing this film which could certainly be one of the most memorable films of the year. Fantastic Fear of Everything is set for a June 8th release.
Other releases for this month include probably the cheapest looking version of Top Cat ever that will be released June 1st, on June 15th we also have potential guilty pleasure Rock of Ages, a dose of David Cronenberg insanity with Cosmopolis and Olympic cash-in Fast Girls. There are also various films that have had US releases making their way to the UK including Red Tails, Casa De Mi Padre, Think Like a Man, The Five-Year Engagement and Chernobyl Diaries released throughout the month. Happy watching!
Aliens Colonial Marines Suspense Trailer Released
Fans of the Alien franchise are really getting spoiled this year, first of all we have the the new movie Prometheus on July 8th which is looking like it will tell the story of the birth of the Xenomorphs. Secondly we have GearBox Software and Time Gate Studios take on the franchise with the release of Aliens Colonial Marines, which will follow the story of what happened after Aliens. You can take a look at the new trailer below.
The game looks like it is shaping up pretty well and it is particularly good to see a trailer that was shot using only in game footage. It looks like the game dev’s have gone to great lengths when creating the game environments with tonnes of cool little details including the famous power loaders, the familiar pinging of the motion tracker oh and of course Bishops legs. Other environments that players will get to explore include the colony on LV-426 as well as the original derelict ship from Alien, I can’t wait to see what they have done with those!
New Prometheus Trailer
A new international trailer for Sir Ridley Scott’s Prometheus was released yesterday evening and it is stuffed full of new shots, dialogue and definitely a few spoilers. For those wishing to go in to the film without any prior knowledge, click away now. For the rest of us the new trailer is below, as with most of the Prometheus trailers I recommend bumping up the sound (for added scary) and don’t blink as there are tonnes of flashing images that just beg for closer inspection.
This film is looking more and more like Alien with each trailer i.e. things look to be going well but pretty soon lots of people terrified out of their minds and caught in the midst of hugely destructive forces, oh and Weyland Industries have a hidden agenda, Surprise! My initial thoughts were that this film was going to somehow tackle the origin of the Xenomorph species and humanity’s role in their creation. After watching this particular trailer I feel certain of this though I hope the trailer hasn’t spoiled too much of this aspect of the story.
As always the film looks amazing and terrifying and there is plenty in the trailer to get excited about, my picks though have to be the weird snake thing, screams of ‘cut it off’ whatever ‘it’ is oh and melty glass face. Prometheus is set to release on June 1st, until then I will be re-watching all of these trailers as well as Alien, Aliens and Alien 3 (it was good I don’t care) in the dark.
