Tag Archives: Alien

Doctor Who: 705 – “The Angels Take Manhattan”

Before I start this episode review, I just wanted to let people be aware that it contains massive spoilers about the fates of Rory and Amy, so please be warned. Also because of the dense and in-depth nature of this week’s plot line, I have broken it down to its bare essentials. Enjoy.

Continue reading Doctor Who: 705 – “The Angels Take Manhattan”

Grizzly Review: Prometheus (Spoiler Free)

Prometheus is a good Sci-Fi film with great acting and an interesting plot, but sadly it wasn’t a great Sci-Fi film and definitely wasn’t this generations Alien. But I would love to see a sequel which could easily fix the problems I found with this film. The best advice I can give to anyone going to see this film would be not to have your expectations to the level that the hype has put it.

Ridley Scott, director of Alien and Blade Runner, returns to the genre he helped define. With Prometheus, he creates a ground-breaking mythology, in which a team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a thrilling journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.

To start off let’s talk about the acting. The acting was very professional and you could feel the emotion but the main flaw I found with the characters and the film in general were that you couldn’t connect with the people. The main character Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) was the exception to this with a realistic but strong character who survives at all costs (credit goes to her with a great performance). Sadly the characters you start to like get very little screen time and the one’s you don’t really care about (Charlie) get time that was more boring than interesting. Then there’s my main fault with this film. The crew don’t really mix very well and you get the feeling their all in their own little worlds, rather than experiencing something as a group. So in that respect it loses some of its authenticity.

Think I have moaned enough about the characters for now, so let’s talk about something more fun like the visuals. The special effects, physical props and visual landscape shots where both excellent viewing and brilliantly immersive to the universe that Ridley Scott’s created. There’s nothing quite like being four rows from the screen of an IMAX 3D showing of Prometheus and I would definitely recommend that experience. At one point the spaceship felt like it was landing two feet from your seat which was a little shocking because I have never sat that close at an IMAX. The best thing I felt about this films look was the way that the ships interiors and the alien building where all real and built in the Pinewood Studios which gave everything a realistic touch which helps to bring you closer to believing you’re in that world.

The plot is very much its own. If nothing else this film is not like any other and for that Ridley Scott has made a great addition to his Sci-Fi resume. My favorite scene without giving anything away would be the end scene of the film and if you have seen alien you will know why, but the other would probably be anything involving the Android David (Michael Fassbender) because he was such a great character and played brilliantly by Michael Fassbender who was being great as always. So if there is a sequel which after watching the film I would be expecting one, then I hope that they keep David but give him more face time and a better physical presence.

Finally I would like to address the question of whether Prometheus is a prequel to the Alien film. In my opinion it certainly was a prequel and the film does nothing but leave clues to the original films plot and origins. The end gives you the strongest connection to the original; they couldn’t have made that last scene more revealing to the alien origins if you saw the crew of the Nostromo land at the end. Simply put though this film needed to be more like alien and have a more structured and sensible plot that wouldn’t confuse viewers, I did feel that the film alienated (pure coincidence I used that word) people who wouldn’t get some of the more subtle and complicated plot strands. So go watch it because the film is a great viewing pleasure and will keep you thinking for a long time after about what happened.

grizzly rating 4.5

4 Reasons Why You Should See ‘Prometheus’

1.) It’s the spiritual predecessor of the Alien films.

Multiple shots from trailers and clips have shown the plot to be centered in some fashion around the ubiquitous “Space Jockey” from the original Alien. Now, originally, it was just called The Pilot in the script, and was put there as a one off bit of foreshadowing towards the decidedly gory death that would befall the crew of the Nostromo. Anyone who’s watched Alien multiple times, has probably had questions about that weird elephantine looking pilot, who is surrounded by so much mystery and awe in the first film. Ridley Scott had also given thought to who this character was way back when the film first came out, and spoke of how it was “Really just a suit”. This of course lines up with some of the SPOILER images shown from the film, which depict a large bipedal creature, and not the elephantine enigma we’ve all come to love and enjoy.

2.) It’s a science fiction film made by Ridley Scott.

Granted, he’s only made two before this, but they were single handedly two of the most influential and captivating science fiction films of all time. Alien itself brought to the forefront the idea that science fiction CAN be taken seriously by a mainstream audience, and damn scary as well. Blade Runner, while not as critically appreciated in it’s time, is nonetheless regarded as a modern classic, teeming with philosophical, moral, and societal themes that all serve to rally around a singular question: What does it mean to be human? Both films revolutionized how we view aliens, artificial intelligence, body horror, fear and of course, being horribly mutilated by monsters and/or replicants. Both were also amazing, quintessential examples of their genre, and another entry by Mr. Scott is something to always be on the lookout for, regardless of its heritage. Its a damn, damn exciting heritage.

Charlize tells us how brilliant Ridley Scott is. Fun Fact: if you flip the D in Ridley Scott’s first name 180 degrees it turns into RIPLEY. COINCIDENCE? CONSPIRACY? You decide.

3.) It could lead to other, amazing, potentially game changing science fiction films by Ridley Scott.

Along with his proposed sequel to Prometheus, he’s mentioned getting a TRUE sequel to Blade Runner up and running, written by the original writer, giving us perhaps some finality and closure on the long running question of Deckard’s humanity, or telling an all new story entirely. It’s supposedly going to have a female lead, but I wouldn’t discount old Mr. Ford showing up in a cameo, and personally it’d be badass if it was ambiguous as to whether or not Deckard was old because his replicant time clock is running out, or if he’s just old because people get old and are old. Either way, if it’s got Scott behind the helm I’m all in for the ride, because trying to remake or reboot it just wouldn’t work without the OG crew in tow.

4.) It’s apparently set in the Firefly/Serenity universe.

I know what you’re thinking. “Whoa, what? How could that even be? They’re like two different things entirely Cheesebadger, you’re just making stuff up.” BUT YOU’D BE WRONG. BEHOLD!

That’s a screenshot of Mr. Malcolm Reynolds’ POV shooting a Weyland-Yutani cannon at Alliance cruisers. Go pop in your copy of the Firefly dvd DVD if you don’t believe me. It’s one of the first scenes in the first episode, where you see Mal lose hope as the battle of Serenity is lost. So what does this mean, other than horrific fan fiction where we see the fallout of weird alien sex clones made from River and Ripley? Nothing probably, but maybe… just maybe, if enough people see it… FIREFLY WILL GET PICKED UP FOR A NEW SEASON AND COME BACK, STRONGER THAN EVER!*

*Warning, may be entirely untrue and a horrible lie.

Prometheus Delivers a New Trailer; Spoiler Alert: It’s Awesome.

I cannot tell if I am getting lazier with my posts, or if any sort of exposition from myself just does not do what I am covering any justice. So we will go straight to the new trailer and then I will deliver my thoughts:

This looks goooooooooddd…..I have to say, this is going to be one helluva summer. With all the trailers and the kick-off being Avengers this weekend for the summer movie season, I am just pumped. I mean, you get Charlize here, creepy Fassbender, the dude from the Wire, the dude from 24, and a friggin’ Alien prequel. And it has a freakin’ Cobra/Alien hybrid. I hate snakes due to two things:

1.) Watching Indiana Jones as a kid. Completely screwed me up from childhood.
2.) Watching Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure when he runs out of the pet shop with all those small snakes. I saw that AFTER Indiana Jones. That effin’ ruined me for life.

So yeah, this movie will creep the bejesus out of me and it’s about damn time. Now watch the trailer again to figure out if the foreign Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is going to hack her way out of this mess.

PROMETHEUS – New UK Trailer, Pictures, and Interview with Theron and Fassbender

We’ve already taken a look at a some Prometheus trailers and what not, but if you missed them…

Prometheus: Hi-Res Images, Interviews and Teaser Trailer
Prometheus: New Poster and Trailers!  (Teasers 1 & 2)
– Some Stills & Speculation on The Hobbit and Prometheus
International ‘Prometheus’ Trailer: Giddyness to Follow
Prometheus: New Video Gives Us Our ‘ALIEN’ Link  (Peter Weyland Video)
– New Extended Trailer for ‘Prometheus’: Connection to ALIEN Now Undeniable

But fear not, there is more!  I thought it was time we collected everything in one spot. If you can’t tell, I’m pretty excited for this movie. For almost my whole life I’ve wondered what was up with this dude – the space jockey from the original Alien film, now we’re gonna find out.

Let’s start with the videos. Here is one we haven’t posted before, part of their viral marketing.  In the same vein as the Peter Weyland video, this is more about the company and deals with the creation of androids, in the footsteps of Ian Holm and Lance Henriksen.

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Next is the new UK Trailer, which takes a totally different approach from the American spots, and adds in some footage we’ve not see yet…

UK TRAILER:

Continue reading PROMETHEUS – New UK Trailer, Pictures, and Interview with Theron and Fassbender

New Extended Trailer for ‘Prometheus’: Connection to ALIEN Now Undeniable

Despite Director Ridely Scott’s claims that his upcoming Prometheus is only vaguely related to his Sci-Fi/Horror classic Alien, the more footage that comes out, the clearer it becomes the films are unmistakably related. Last month we saw the clip of  Guy Pierce‘s character ‘Peter Weyland’ giving a speech and hinting towards the technology that would make possible the later space exploration. Now we have an extended look…

So, we have the music from the original, the ship from the original, the space jockey, LV-426, and the Weyland Company.

Yup, clearly not a prequel.