It's quite well done, but they should have got someone who knows what they're doing to write the sciency bits in the timeline.

That would be the 'fiction' in science fiction. (8+)

Mark

well, yes, but you still need someone who knows how to do that well. Quite a few of them are just... codswallop, and not in a 'prediction of the future' kind of way. There's one for example that goes something like 'weyland scientists discover the inverse relationship between velocity and passage of time, making FTL travel actually possible'. Thing is, you see, we already know that. It's called time dilation and we've known about it for over 100 years. And it's got nothing to do with FTL travel.

It's fine to write what you might call 'feasible space bollocks' but at least get someone to do it who has a passing knowledge of the science we already know...

Jon

Y'see, when I read that, I thought it was just applying what we know now to FTL technology.
Was I wrong?

Mark

Well, it's fiction so 'wrong' is a subjective thing. I just thought it was pretty lazy writing.

Jon

Prometheus is going to be a very hard film to judge before going to see it, and I'm not sure it'll be any easier to formulate opinions on it even after seeing it.
We are aware of the Alien's existence before going to see the film, so that's not a surprise.
The hardware in this film looks way ahead of that in either Alien or Aliens - as already mentioned the ship looks decidedly more advanced than The Nostromo, and the probes they send that pick up life signs - they could've been massively handy in Alien/Aliens.

The trailer pushes all the buttons for me, and even if it wasn't part of the Alien mythos I think I'd still want to go and see it - despite the 3Dness of it.
For me this film has to bring what almost every other adult sci-fi film recently has failed to do, and that's provide some originality.
It has to be more than just the sum of it's parts. All the marketing [LIFTED] aside, the film will either live or die by itself. Originality will assure it of longevity, simply rehashing all the tropes of the genre won't.

I can't imagine the makers of the film will be treating it like a dumb space adventure, though there's clearly elements of that in the trailer, but it really has to be more than just that.
I'm clearly hoping for this film to be very good. I really don't want to be disappointed.

Mark

Scripts are so bad these days that they're often outclassed by TV shows, so I was quite glad to see at least some effort went into it

None of that matters.
BSG was, IMHO, one of the best written (despite being almost improv towards the end) series I've ever seen. It didn't try explain how the Cylons worked.
The most successful sci-fi, again just IMHO, doesn't attempt to explain how the world works; it just does it and gets on with the story.
I don't need to know how a light saber works; in this world it does, and it's no great stretch to accept that they're a thing in this story.
Same for FTL travel. Fine. They've solved it. It works. Awesome. Move on.

I do like the tech stuff in sci-fi but BSG was much more about drama than technology. I tend not to worry about how things work as long as it fits in with the story. If things do bother me then it is normally down to a crap story that doesn't engross me.

That, to my mind, is the whole point with a good story. Once it's all about the tech and not the story you've lost the point of telling it.

Actually I do like lots of tech, I just don't miss it or get bothered if it is bad science as long as the story is good.

do you mean the technobabble like they have n Star Trek, or the tech used to MAKE the film? I'm just thinking that either can lose you your focus on the story. Talk to James Cameron about that.

Back to the fear thing. I am not fussed if it's a PG13 or an R to be perfectly honest. If the film makes me THINK that someone is going to have their guts ripped out, but you don't actually see it happen, then the director has produced a moment of pure win. In fact the emotional response can be stronger than if the full horror of the spectacle was played out.

My other half can't watch Alien. She finds the whole tension build up before they even land the Nostromo unbearable. It's a real slow burner, an yes, it just builds up slowly and wonderfully. I am hoping that Prometheus will do the same kind of thing. A good build up, some Luton busses and a stunning reveal. A Philip K Dick [LIFTED] Just to complete the picture.

Many people think they saw the stabbing in Psycho in more detail than was actually detected on film.

UK trailer, which has a different tone to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjovCWtf ... r_embedded

http://www.totalfilm.com/news/ridley-sc ... metheus-3d

I hope that isn't a bad sign...

Scott talks to Empire, cover shown:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/54572