What was the meaning of the movie PROMETHEUS?

For those of you interested, the commentary tracks of the film's upcoming blu-ray release have leaked and I've listened to them. While Ridley Scott and writers Jon Spaights and Damon Lindelof remain mum on many points, a lot has been explained.

Damon Lindelof, who wrote the final script, recorded his commentary before the film came out and spoke at great length about the fact that he knew he was going to catch flak for his script. The mysteries, I assure you, are deliberate. The film is better explained by subtle visual clues, because the characters in the film, as the main character says at the end, are wrong about everything. So anyone who expects this film to be comprehensible by listening to the dialogue in order to follow the plot actually missed a lot.

At the beginning of the film, an Engineer drinks some golden fluid in a cup that is NOT the black goo in the rest of the film. They are different substances altogether. The Engineer sacrifices himself to seed life on an almost-barren but inhabitable planet. In the first draft of the screenplay, the sequence was longer and showed how particles from the disintegrating Engineer found its way to a tribe of early hominids, where they land and mutate the cells of the primates to accelerate evolution.

The phrase that Ridley Scott uses to decribe the black goo is "evolutionary accelerent," by the way. So it's function is partly to help the organism it attacks to rapidly develop spontaneous evolutionary enhancements that enable it to adapt to the environment it's in. That's how Fifield, the Scottish guy who comes back as a so-called mutant zombie, was able to return to the ship without his helmet.

Basically, however, the screenwriters point to the line about how David the android was created "because we could." The Engineers are doing the same thing with their payload of goo heading to Earth: it's just an experiment. They just want to know what will happen. In a way, PROMETHEUS is about how all forms of life qualify, from androids to squid babies, because it's possible that the human race was created just so that it could be destroyed testing a weapon of mass destruction.

There's also a bunch of Nietzchean subtext, but we don't need to get into that yet because a lot of information is being deliberately withheld for the sequel.

For those who complained that the film is badly written, know that it was written under duress, and rewritten on the fly during shooting by an uncredited screenwriter (which we know because the screenwriters don't know who wrote much of the film's dialogue). And that budget cuts prevented most of the character-building scenes to be cut, making scenes like the captain's sacrifice feeling a little sudden. Most notorious is the scene with the biologist and his fatal encounter with a serpent. This scene catches tons of flack, but Lindelof's script originally had a scene right before that one in which the biologist talks about his suit being bullet-proof and really wanting to find an extraterrestrial organism and touch it!

So... yeah... PROMETHEUS is a movie that was rushed, leaving it somewhat unfulfilled but awfully impressive. It's provoked a huge amount of critique on the internet, and a lot of people, like Cavalorn, linked above, have written compelling arguments that this movie's subtext is at least as interesting as the surface story.

And remember, ALIEN was also criticized for having a bad script, poor character development, and a derivative script. So was BLADE RUNNER. So don't be surprised if this movie turns out to be a classic a few decades down the line. The $400 million it made internationally also shows that foreigners weren't so displeased...

Originally posted by benrl
What you create will kill you.


Thats it, all of it.

Do you have any children..? Just kiddin' .....

Those guys like Ridley, Cameron, Spielberg...and above all Stanley Kubrick always have some "inside" information to tell the common folks. In conspiracy world that is...

The question that I have is whether these directors are commisioned to do so or if it is their own initiative.

I think I figured out the point of this movie!!!

The Black Goo was not created by the Giant Aliens. It was discovered.
From watching the deleted scenes,, you see that the Aliens at the beginning of the movie seem to be religious, and are performing a ritual. The ritual is probably the seeding of earth with life via the black goo.

The Aliens worship the black goo.
The Black Goo is the Genesis of all life in the universe.
The Black Goo created the Giant Alien Humans.
The Black Goo created us.
The Black Goo created the xenomorph.

Jesus was created by God and not the Black Goo. Thus, the Giant Alien Humans want to destroy humanity on earth because we crucified him.

The trilogy it seems will center on the Giant Humans as our creators. But, it will come full circle to the Black Goo as the progenitor of all life.
So. Who made the black goo? Of course, God did.
Full circle back to the girl and her cross, christmas, Jesus, and the Black Goo.

Maybe the next movie will start out 3,000 years ago when Giants walked the earth. They weren't Alien. They were earthly humans just like the Alien Humans. Hence, the black goo likes to create humans.

Through our evil, it also creates demons = Xenomorphs.

My latest theory on the movie.

reply to post by Protozoid




A very interesting post and while I too found many themes and ideas in Prometheus fascinating and so on... the acting, script and dialogue really let it down.

The scene you refer to of the biologist doesn't receive flak because he approaches the creature, it's the manner in which he does.
In what universe would this trained professional start saying "coochie coochie coo" and all that to an alien life-form?

It's actually embarrassing to be honest.


I was so pissed off at this film because visually it was stunning and there was so much there that was good and it really could have been a great film.

Unfortunately it was an OK film with some great ideas and elements.

It's all well and good saying that budget constraints and script issues were the cause of this film being as bad as it was.... and that if we just imagine a better film and use the visuals, it'll all be OK.

We have the film we have... that's the one they released and it's very, very poor and quite frankly ridiculous.

As I said, such a shame because the subject, themes, story and so on... were absolutely something which SHOULD have been and made for, a fantastic film.

I really hope the Director's cut is vastly, vastly different otherwise this suck-fest will not get any better.


Grrrrr

Originally posted by blupblup
reply to post by Protozoid

 

In what universe would this trained professional start saying "coochie coochie coo" and all that to an alien life-form?

Let me get this straight: you post regularly on a conspiracy theory message board yet you found the behavior of a character in a monster movie too unrealistic?

Um... ok.

I was so pissed off at this film because visually it was stunning and there was so much there that was good and it really could have been a great film.

Unfortunately it was an OK film with some great ideas and elements.

Maybe great ideas and elements do make it a great movie and you're just nitpicking. Seriously, it's the best science fiction movie released in years, if not decades. Why look a gift horse in the mouth? The biologist in question acts a helluva lot smarter than Steve Irwin did (remember that guy?). History is replete with stories of scientists fouling up, so I personally think that this is a nitpick. On the other hand, this movie has better writing and more realistic behavior than most films in the genre, including Alien and Blade Runner, so I dunno what you were expecting...

It's all well and good saying that budget constraints and script issues were the cause of this film being as bad as it was.... and that if we just imagine a better film and use the visuals, it'll all be OK.

That's not what I'm saying at all. I'm repeating what the actual stated intentions of the artists were. None of this is made up. It's straight from the horse's mouth. If you want to argue with the directors and writers about the nature of their own film, fine, but you won't win any arguments with me.

We have the film we have... that's the one they released and it's very, very poor and quite frankly ridiculous.

You keep using absolute terms: it IS poor, it IS ridiculous. YOU found it poor and ridiculous. Stop trying to foist your subjective opinion on others as fact when it is merely opinion. You didn't like the movie. Fine. We're discussing the meaning of the film, not the quality. (And personally I think the quality is mostly excellent.)

As I said, such a shame because the subject, themes, story and so on... were absolutely something which SHOULD have been and made for, a fantastic film.

I really hope the Director's cut is vastly, vastly different otherwise this suck-fest will not get any better.

Are you done? Because you contributed nothing to the conversation except to take the piss out of the filmmakers for not satisfying your personal desires. The filmmakers are very proud of their film, and art is a take-it-or-leave-it, you-either-get-it-or-you-don't kind of thing, and you CLEARLY don't get it. This thread is not for you unless you approach it with a mind open to the possibility that this movie is better than you esteem it to be.

Originally posted by Protozoid
Let me get this straight: you post regularly on a conspiracy theory message board yet you found the behavior of a character in a monster movie too unrealistic?

Um... ok.

Oh OK, so it's a serious Sci-fi movie when you want it to be and a "monster" movie when things don't make sense or people do stupid things...

Gotcha

Maybe great ideas and elements do make it a great movie and you're just nitpicking. Seriously, it's the best science fiction movie released in years, if not decades.

Yeah.... uh huh, maybe that's it..... maybe the acting was great and it's juts all in my mind

And best Sci-Fi film in years/decades????

OMG...

Now I KNOW you're ****ing deluded.



WOW

That's not what I'm saying at all. I'm repeating what the actual stated intentions of the artists were. None of this is made up. It's straight from the horse's mouth. If you want to argue with the directors and writers about the nature of their own film, fine, but you won't win any arguments with me.

OK so when they're moaning about budget constraints or who wrote the script, you think they're doing that because they're proud of their movie? They're doing it because everyone is saying what a great movie it was?




I don't need to argue with anyone, i'm not arguing, merely sharing ideas and opinions... just because you thought this absolutely ridiculous, joke of a film was good... doesn't mean I have to.
I actually enjoyed it at the cinema, truly I did... but I like B-movies and crap moves... it took me on a journey and it looked nice and there were some very cool and interesting things in the movie.
But sadly it feels like several people wrote the script, it feels amateurish and unfinished...

Shame, because as I said, the ingredients were there for this to be a great movie.

I loved the whole search for our beginnings and meeting our maker aspect... that's why when I heard about the movie and saw the trailers for this movie I was so exited... I thought Michael Fassbender as David was absolutely brilliant and absolutely the best thing in the movie.... oh, apart from the cool visuals I mean. ( )
Some of the scenes were amazing... when they first landed on LV-223 and you could see the hut buildings.. The opening scene of the Engineer seeding the planet.... where they talk to the Engineer near the end.


There were many great scenes and much to like about the movie.... the reason it's such a frustrating movie is because a lot of it sucks.
It's like it's 2-3 different films..... a serious, hard sci-fi movie... a silly monster flick & a kind of drive-in B-movie.

The filmmakers are very proud of their film, and art is a take-it-or-leave-it, you-either-get-it-or-you-don't kind of thing, and you CLEARLY don't get it. This thread is not for you unless you approach it with a mind open to the possibility that this movie is better than you esteem it to be.

Uh huh.... clearly they are.

Especially when they have sad little fanboys running around defending every crap and ridiculous thing in the movie, saying to anyone who criticises the film "you just don't get it man" "open your mind"

I mean... WTF.... seriously.

Grow up.

The secret meaning hidden in the movie Prometheus is this......


Ridley Scott wanted some more money.


~Heff

I LOL'd at the Steve Irwin comment!!!
Seriously! Steve Irwin would've done something even more dumb and stupid.

I agree. This is the best sci-fi movie in a long time. I'd say it's the most serious/best since the matrix movies and contact. That's just my opinion though.

I was pissed off at the movie. At first. But, I really like that the director made me question so many things, and still leave enough information to ponder for a long time on what the movie meant, was about, and where it was going.

I think I hit the nail on the head with the black goo being the whole premise for the trilogy.
When I saw that they were basically giant humans, I immediately thought WOW! He's going with the old Babylonian/Sumerian/Egyptian theme of giant human aliens being our creators.
But, then the christmas and Jesus theme was subtly thrown into the mix.
So, I thought "where the # is he going with this? This is just too random!"
And about two days ago I realized that the theme of the movie really has nothing to do with the giant aliens. They are just a roose. They are meant to be a distractor from the real theme. And it worked!
I'll bet Ridley Scott and the writer have been laughing their asses off about all the hoopla about how disjointed the movie's theme is. They probably can't wait to pull the curtain back with part 2 and 3.

I'd like to know what you guys think about my little idea? Sounds logical to me.
The backstory isn't so disjointed if the whole premise is about the discovery of the seed of life of the entire universe.
I'd like part 2 to really delve into:
- why the giant aliens worship the goo,
- how they discovered it,
- why it creates human DNA everywhere,
- why it creates Xenomorphs,
- what this has to do with Jesus,
- what this has to do with God,
- how it came to be? (who created it?) - obviously god,
- and delve more into the relationship with science and religion.

While the scientist who played koochi koo with the cobra snake alien bit was retarded, it was also funny. But, it didn't paint the entire movie for me. Not at all.

Then, there is the totally interesting theme of the creation of the creation of the creation. I'm talking about the androids. David was a very compelling figure.

This was a very deep and dramatic movie if taken seriously. I would LOVE to see what Ridley Scott has in store for us?

I'll just go ahead and speculate that the daughter was an android. I'll also speculate that we'll see David and the scientist girl that went to the Alien world again. They'll be a surprise appearance at the end of part 3. To what end, I couldn't even speculate?

Greatest sci-fi theme ever if Ridley Scott continues to push the boundaries and go with my black goo theory.

Guys,

I'm confused. This movie engenders a new debate. This is a new idea. ATS is the fertile ground for such a debate, and for such an idea to completely explored...

But, it is other sites that debate this topic. And I can't get access to those sites because I don't have the right kind of e-mail account. I can watch the debate, and while I'd love to chime in, I can't.

Many of you have been dismissive of this thread. I remember back when the Matrix was such a hot topic. And, it has nothing on this!!!
I am confused. Prometheus is the ripest ground for movie to theology to philosophy topic of a movie that has ever been created. Why oh why don't you talk about this?

The movie has been destroyed on the internet. Many people talk about how the writer was horrible, the story is full of holes, etc. And I completely disagree. I'd like to have a debate on the subject.
I was one of those people at first. I was very angry. I was pissed at how lazy the subject matter had been presented. It was as if the director and writer were just there to cash in on the name and prequel because they could.
I have obviously changed my mind. I think that this movie could be the most deep/provacative/interesting/artsy type of sci-fi film ever created. But, it may never come to fruition if the mass movement on the internet cannot be changed. The funding would just fade to nothing. And that's sad. The idea's of the movie Prometheus are very profound. They cover the technocalypse, the matrix type of evolution of AI and android's, the possible progenitor of life in the universe(a new topic altogether), our history with aliens, the bible, giants, nephilim, spaceships, the purpose of life, GOD, JESUS, the human condition, hell, demons, angels, life after death, etc.

To see the ambition of this endevour is truly amazing. I see it. I am impressed.
But, where many see plot holes - I see hooks to sequels. I don't see any plot holes. I see things that beg our prognosis, our premonition, and our prediction!
Like with the Matrix movies, our discussion should be speculative, explorative, and fully debated.

We have all been a part of the sparks that kick off internet movements. You have all been a part of these internet movements at different times on topics you have been invested.

Reconsider your thoughts on the movie. I truly think the movie was born of ATS in mind. I wouldn't be surprised if the writer and Ridley Scott were adamant members of this site. The entire basis of the movie was right up the alley of ATS.

MY VOTE: The movie was absolute genius, and very artsy fartsy.
MY REVIEW: They should have marketed the movie as such, and not as an Alien Sci-Fi Horror flick. Which is why I think ppl are so angry with the film.

BTW: I originally posted this thread on the "Origin's and Creationism" Forum. They kicked it to the DEAD movie forum. I will go there and post another thread with a link to this thread. Ppl thought I was a crazy LOL. Took me a while to explain my reason for a thread.

Originally posted by Numbers33four
It is preparing you to believe that Lucifer is benevolent and that when he comes you should worship him because he created you. I suggest you do not buy into it.

Might I suggest that you step out of your contrived fantasy world of magical sky wizards and underground dwelling demons and join us in this thing we call reality. Will you people EVER grow up?

I think you've been reading cinemablend.com to get these ideas as their review has a lot of opinions the same as yours based on the many unknowns in the film.

Great film by the way waiting for bluray to come out.

Originally posted by InhaleExhale
I think you've been reading cinemablend.com to get these ideas as their review has a lot of opinions the same as yours based on the many unknowns in the film.

Great film by the way waiting for bluray to come out.

Cinemablend.com? Never heard of it. I will go see if I can find what you refer to.
I don't think that I'm so special that someone else can't come up with the same conclusions.

Overall, I enjoy ATS for it's content. But the remarks, debates, and aspersions are a little much on the ridiculous/childish/rude side.

EDIT: I still can't believe my threads are censored from the Genesis theory board where there are so many more interested contributors.
The moderator there must feel like a really big and important person to deny this topic on that board. Even though it is about a movie,,, it's an interesting idea that should get traction. It's a new idea that is the culmination of all the space jesus, space lineage, history of tall humans, anunaki, etc that ATS has espoused for so many years. So, it's a bit prickish to just throw this over to the movies board where there is zero traffic.

How did David know the different button sequences to open doors and activate holographic projectors?
Maybe it's in his programming to "Codebreak" but he shouldn't have just been able to push the right buttons so effectivly.

Anyway, I like the movie, I like the confusion it creates, I need to watch it a few more times.

In Alien there was the subtle reference to child birth what with the chest bursters and whatnot, but here Scott has just tried to induce fear of mouth rape by just ramming a snake/penis snake directly down the guy's throat. LOLOLOLOL

I don;t think Humans were needed to really make Aliens.

Yes thats what happened here. Shaw became infected with an early version of the face hugger, but I think these could have also been what caused the pile of engineer bodies, maybe a slightly different face hugger because the Engineer is stucturally different than us.

But they were porbably infected themselves and it all went wrong for them. It doesn't matter that now Humans have played a part in this sequence of events. Xeno's are extemely versatile and life will find a way.

The ship at the Start was simply leaving the guy behind, yes he sacrificed himself to create life on Earth.
The DNA strand was building itself, it wasn't just left intact, it was dissolved and began to create itself with native bacterium or w/e. Just like the rest of his DNA, it's just only one piece is shown to show this to us and some didn't really clock it.

I don't think it's as simple as they were coming back to wipe us out, but more to start again, bear in mind that they wanted to come back at an unknown point in history to us, maybe they wanted to put a stop to a world war by just killing everyone and restart the process all again.

I thin the meaning for this movie was for Ridley Scott to make you think. Give you his perspective on "why are we here".

with this one, I really liked the Visual effects, the Story line and the action scenes. Im usually one to discredit a movie when I see the trailer for it. But when i saw the trailer for this, I new I would like it, and I was right .

I really liked this movie and I cant wait for the sequal/s.

In The opening scene the engineer is sacrificed, on a baron looking planet with a abundance of water, after suffering from what seemed to be instant "apoptosis" he fell into the water and disintegrated. 



Apoptosis...

Apoptosis (/ˌæpəˈtoʊsɪs/ or /ˌeɪpɔːpˈtoʊsɪs/)[2][3] is the process of programmed cell death (PCD) that may occur in multicellular organisms.[4] Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes (morphology) and death. These changes include blebbing, cell shrinkage, nuclear fragmentation, chromatin condensation, and chromosomal DNA fragmentation.

The black "substance" was that caused the engineer to suffer from instant apoptosis. And funnily enough....

(NM) is a dark polymer pigment produced in specific populations of catecholaminergic neurons in the brain. 

it may play crucial roles in apoptosis.

Melanin i/ˈmɛlənɪn/ (Greek: μέλας - melas, "black, dark")

Immediately after the above scene, the opening credits begin, over a back drop of lots of individual cells in the process of meiosis, dividing then multiplying. Organic life.

So it makes sense that the engineer in the sacrifice scene, was the last universal common ancestor.

The last universal ancestor (LUA), also called the last universal common ancestor (LUCA), or the cenancestor, is the most recent organism from which all organisms now living on Earth descend.

So the beginning was the beginning. Or maybe it was all just a symbolism.... Of the beginning.

Cant wait to see the directors cut... a few deleted scenes and explanations are in this video.

If you thought the movie sucked.. well, as nicely as I can put it : you just dont get it.

Just a bump to get Prometheus 2 discussion up and running

fox

Ok no takers
Ill start from what I've learned the saga continues as Shaw and the android David head to find the space jockeys home planet "Paradise" I'm led to believe,

To find out why the Engineers wanted to experiment with earths population or to cull us and start again fresh,

Its a fascinating film on so many levels so have revived this old thread to get some ideas.