Amph On Earth, Everyone Can Hear You Scream: The Prometheus / Alien Discussion Thread (Romulus, Earth)

There is no extended/re-edited version of Prometheus, unfortunately, though I very much wish there was. I find the editing in Prometheus to be pretty unbearably messy, and like Alien 3's theatrical cut, I think it could really do with some heavy restructuring. Alien 3's Assembly Cut really does some heavy lifting to safe that film, and while I don't know if Prometheus could reach quite the same levels even with a re-edit, I think it can absolutely be improved and deserves that treatment.

 

I didn’t even know there were other cuts of Alien 3.

I thought Prometheus was cut really well. I loved every second. But its my favorite of the Alien Saga.

 

The second, or Assembly Cut, of Alien 3 is better than the theatrical version imo.

 

All four of the original films have alternate cuts. The special editions of Alien and Alien: Resurrection aren't really worth checking out, however; they were more marketing gimmicks than anything else, and don't add or change anything of note to the film; in fact, they mostly just hurt the pacing. The famous "egg morphing" sequence is in the alternate cut of Alien, but I think that functions better outside of the film. So does Ridley, as both he and Jeunet prefer the theatrical edits of their films.

With Aliens, however, James Cameron actually prefers the special edition of his film. That one adds a lot back into the movie, like Newt's family investigating the Derelict, and the revelation that Ripley had a daughter.

And with Alien 3, there is no such thing as a director's preferred version in that case, since David Fincher was so frustrated by the whole production experience that he never once even went to supervise the edit in post, but the Assembly Cut restores the film to something much closer to what his vision was and is absolutely the version of the film was and is absolutely the one that should be watched. I would also recommend watching the documentary Wreckage and Rage: The Making of Alien 3 which digs deep into how much of a mess production on that film was; it is an incredibly enlightening documentary.

All of the alternate cuts of the first four films (as well as accompanying documentaries for each of the films) can be found in the Alien Anthology Blu-ray box set. Though rumor has it that we may be getting 4K releases of Aliens, Alien 3, and Alien: Resurrection soon. As it stands, only Alien, Prometheus, and Alien: Covenant currently have 4K releases.

 

The only place to view Alien 3 Assembly Cut is on Hulu. Sigh. I don’t have Hulu. But now I want to see it.

I’ve seen Alien w/deleted scenes added, it only serves to prove Scott’s vision was that there would be a Queen.

 

Scott (nor the writers of the original film) never had any vision for a Queen in the original film; in fact, the "egg morphing" sequence that was cut out of the theatrical version showcases a totally alternate lifecycle. Scott does seem to like the concept of the Queen, though, as he regularly praises James Cameron and Aliens.

I have no idea, though, if modern day Ridley Scott takes the Queen as part of his own personal 'canon' in terms of what he plans on exploring should he ever get to make a third prequel. All we know so far is that David created the initial batch of eggs (which yielded Aliens that don't yet have the mechanical components grafted into their biology). Whether a Queen eventually arises from his further experiments remains to be seen.

 

the Disney Plus Star release didn't have the Alien 3 assembly cut, which I still haven't seen. but maybe it'll get added eventually since D+Star is basically Canada/European Hulu. Also under the extras tab it didn't have the short films for Prometheus and Covenant which means I gotta go dig out the blu rays and before watching (and then watch 4k streaming version). I don't even think Covenant Last Supper is on the blu ray and basically only on youtube, but could be mistaken.

 

The Queen would make a great mutation for David, to ensure even when he is gone the Xenomorph will live on without his playing god.

 

The Alien Anthology blu ray boxset is a really great investment as it has 2 versions of each of the first four films and hours and hours of special features. It's a very impressive set for collectors.

 

Yeah. The thing is like film school in a box, honestly. It is easily the most packed Blu-ray collection I own, and every little piece of it is fascinating and informative. And the four disc release of Prometheus is pretty comparable, in terms of bonus content. Alien: Covenant got the shaft, though, unfortunately. It is the only one without a Charles de Lauzirika documentary (he was working on bonus content for Twin Peaks: The Return at the time).

I really do hope we get a comparable 4K collection of all six films plus bonus content, in the near future.

 

I've watched most all of the content on the Alien Anthology boxset.
The main documentaries for each of the 4 films seemed to be about 2 hours each if I recall. Very thorough.

I watched the Alien one twice. Fascinating interviews with everyone involved and great bts footage and photos.

 

They're even longer than that, from what I recall. About three hours or so, each. And then there's an extra disc with a bunch of older, shorter documentaries as well. Plus all of the "archives" of concept art and what have you.

Even back in the days when it was the norm to get a ton of bonus content on your disc, this box set went above and beyond.

 

@bstnsx704
Yes, the Alien Anthology is one of the most thorough and comprehensive boxsets I've ever purchased.

The only ones that are equally if most likely more extensive are Peter Jackson's boxsets for LOTR and The Hobbit. The Appendices discs for those films contain hours of docs and extras, probably getting close to over 10 hours for each film or something. I remember it taking days to watch through all the bts stuff for those films.

 

In the 'making of' doc they say Deacon started as a nickname because of the head shape. Like how Space Jockey was a random nickname that stuck.

Sadly there isn't an extended Prometheus that i know of although some might be happy about that lol. You have to get the bluray or maybe look the scenes up on youtube. The 2 best- they find the worms quickly after entering Engenier pyramid. The biologist freaks out that we haven't found mulit-cellular organisms yet and someone says "your telling me a worm is our first alien?". One critisism of the movie is they somehow missed these worms that are everywhere so don't know why it was left out. The other is Shaw has a great fight sequence with the Engenier at the end (after she chomps down a handfull of pills and chugs a bottle of something from the bar.)

After typing all that realized I saw years ago someone took the fight part, edited it back into the movie sequence and did some tweaking. On the bluray it has no music and you can see the stunt wires which he or she fixed.

Edit- got distracted while posting and like 8 posts when up from when I started.....

 

Interesting:



Do you think Ridley Scott intended an evil Nativity? Much like GL had a Anakin as a Christ type gone dark side?

 

Yep, the Anthology Blu-ray set did indeed build upon the Quadrilogy DVD set. Really crossing my fingers that an upcoming 4K set builds upon the Anthology in the same way (with the two latest films also included)...

Though most of the pre-film viral shorts were directed by Ridley's son Luke Scott (except The Crossing, which Ridley himself directed), the post-film Advent (the one depicting a transmission from David to Weyland-Yutani) was directed by a man named Matthew Thorne and written by Will Melton. Melton did also write Meet Walter and The Last Supper (both of which Luke directed) so there is a bit of Scott connection there, but to the best of my knowledge I don't think Ridley has acknowledged any involvement in Advent in any way, so right now I'm not 100% sure if the "Queen" detail in there is something that came from from Ridley himself, or if it was more of a Fox (now 20th Century Studios) mandate to infer the existence of a fan-favorite creature from the franchise.

I'd be fine with it no matter which direction it took, I think. I'd be ok if the Queen just isn't a thing in Ridley's iteration of the prequel story, and it would also be pretty neat if David's experiments did intentionally lead to the genesis of the Queen. It would also be intetesting to me if the Queen was an unintended byproduct of the Aliens' evolution that David can't control as the Aliens, too, begin to seek to rebel against their own creator and develop a way of propagation without needing to rely on the continued existence of David...

 

Both of these extended cuts are the definitive version for me. With Aliens, the restored footage in Cameron's Special Edition is first class. The sentry guns sequences are fantastic, really upping the ante and the tension. I do like the addition of the Hadley's Hope sequence, which has some stellar model-work, but it does trade off a bit of tension in the script, as in the Theatrical Cut, you are as much in the dark as the marines when they arrive as to what could have possibly happened. However, seeing the colony buildings and operations room busy and full of people is a great contrast to the eerie silence later.

Alien 3 assembly cut restores much of Paul McGann's role as Golic, and he plays a crucial part in how the xenomorph escapes the bunker where the inmates have it trapped.

 

I'll spoiler tag it, since a lot of people here seem to have not seen Alien 3's Assembly Cut, but a couple other things I love in that iteration (on top of Golic's extended story) include...

Spoiler

The dog being replaced with the ox, which I feel has more significant Biblical connotation, which contrasts really well with the demon born of it and the religious perception that prisoners hold.

I also love the omission of the Chestburster coming from Ripley as she sacrifices herself. The Queen Chestburster that we see in the theatrical cut is a wonderful design from Studio ADI, but I feel that the lack of seeing it in those final moments actually makes Ripley's sacrifice more poignant - in the theatrical cut it feels like it would have been born in that moment whether she threw herself into the molten lead or not, thus diminishing her agency in the situation. In the Assembly Cut, she remains in complete control in her decision to (as far as she knows) snuff out the last remaining trace of the Alien in the galaxy.

 

@Kato Sai that video reminded me of the classic line from Planet of the Apes "don't go looking for answers, you might not like what you find". I like my head cannon idea better that the Engeniers are masters of manipulating DNA, go around seeding and destroying as they see fit because they can. To them using aliens as weapons or creating a new form of alien is one and the same. We can't really understand them because they are so different from us.

@The2ndQuest awesome set! Looks like the original DVDs of The X-Files which were almost $100 per season in those huge boxes

 

Pretty certain the guy who directed Advent decidedly does not think David created them.

 

I quite enjoy that version of the Engineers myself.

I did have a theory that the Engineers are the final stage of the Xenomorph, intelligence and ability to transport the life cycle of the creature around the galaxy. The problem is the Engineers cannot breed, so they either sacrifice themselves as you see the one at the beginning of Prometheus, or start the cycle over again with the Black Ooze which is akin to black primordial ooze Darwin claimed all life came from. The Engineers are thus the final stage of the Xenomorph, hence their black eyes, and their white skin is akin to the Neomorph in Covenant.

 

Resurrection is non-canonical, in my eyes. I hate the story, the jaunty tone; what's more, it negates the greatest arc a cinematic icon has ever followed. In the bowels of Hell, Ellen Ripley led a campaign to wipe the Alien from existence, and with her own sacrifice, succeeded. She plunged into the fire. The end. Finito.

I'm a big proponent for closure in pop mythologies in general. There's a point when the book has to be closed and the narrative ended. Because that's what life is. Dragging things on inexorably strips these works of their meaning and consequence.

 

Want if Reasurection didn’t have Ripley at all? Would that change your opinion of it in aneay?