Prometheus

First off, I went into Prometheus not entirely sure if I was indeed watching an Alien prequel or not. (according to the studio) First it was, then it wasn't, then it kinda was but they weren't calling it one, etc. Let me say that Prometheus most definitely is part of the Alien story. It just goes in an uncommon direction. The deciding factor in whether you're going to like this film or not, is what you hope to get out of an Alien prequel. If you're looking for a space horror like the original, this is not so much that. If you want an other-worldly guns-a-blazing action flick like Aliens, this is not really that either. What this is, is somewhere between those films, with a much bigger emphesis on story. As a movie-buff and one of those 70-80's kids who grew up on films like Alien and Star Wars, I constantly wanted to know what was behind everything. Where did these aliens come from? Who/what was that fossilized (appearing) creature sitting behind the big gun when the Nostromo crew entered the ship on LV-426? Who's ship is this & why was it there? Questions such as these are finally answered with Prometheus, along with one giant revelation to an unposed question. One that is much larger and far deeper than anything else contemplated within this series. One that could be potentially very disturbing to some. I will go no further into that aspect, so as not to spoil anything. Of course this film has guns-a-blazing action and the spooky atmosphere of the first two films... Just not to the degree of either one. This is a well balanced Sci-Fi film, with some truly spectacular visuals & effects that most importantly, do not overtake the story. If you're one of the few who has never seen the original Alien films, doing so is not really required (though highly suggested). The way in which these old questions are answered is not done in such a way that you ever had to have asked them in the first place. There is no big fanfare or fancy reveal, as to say HERE IT IS!. The film is thankfully not ruined in that way. But for those who have seen the first four films and have questions, the moments where everything just comes together are found in Prometheus. While this film could stand on it's own, it is left begging for a sequel, as all ends are not tied up and new questions are definitely asked. As far as the picture & sound quality of this (Blu-ray) disc are concerned, both are absolutely stunning. Prometheus is quite probably the best looking & sounding live action BD I have ever viewed. To put simply, the picture is breathtakingly flawless. I could detect no artifacts, banding or any other negative aspect, even in dark & high contrast scenes. Color is vibrant yet realistic and blacks are decidedly black. Sound is dynamic with great bass and effects are precisely placed. Most importantly (and sadly uncommon) is the fact that dialog is consistantly clear and audible without having to adjust the volume between voice & effects. When it comes to picture & sound, Prometheus is of reference quality and sets a new standard.

Very cool movie.

I'll get the visceral reaction out of the way quickly. I was disappointed with the movie the first time I watched it, from a director who gave us the original "Alien" and "Blade Runner" plus gripping non-sci fi films such as "Black Rain" and "Gladiator". The best thing I can say for Director Scott is that I believe the primary problem is not with the premise, which had enormous potential, but in the plot and the line by line writing. But, I watched it a second time the next night, and some of the kinks were ironed out by noticing some lines. Also, the relevance of the Prometheus myth became far clearer, and through it, I realized an important back story explanation which was obscured by the characters' ignorance. Read the Prometheus story before watching the movie and pay very close attention to the opening (and think 2001 opening.) One indicator of how incomplete things seem is that the very old billionaire, Peter Weyland, is played by a fine middle aged actor, Guy Pearce, but we never see him younger in flashbacks, which were probably cut from the final editing. Without giving too much away, the Peter Weyland character adds very little to the story aside from being the person who funds the mission. I sensed something was seriously out of joint when the "away team" enters the cavernous artifact. After encountering something just a bit squeamish, the geologist Fifield (Sean Harris) and biologist Milburn (Rafe Spall) decide to return to the Prometheus (the name of the humans' interstellar space ship.) The remaining team does a fair amount of exploring. Among other things, they see a hologram of the intelligent giants, drawings of whom they found on Earth. they are seeking running from some unseen danger. I saw no clue to what triggered the hologram. Following the hologram, they find the decapitated head of one of the giants (as opposed to the 'aliens' we encountered in earlier films). The captain of the Prometheus sends them a message that a serious storm is approaching. The team, with the usual annoyingly distracting side efforts which slow them down, reach the entrance and begin driving their vehicles back to the ship. But, and here the train falls off the track, never to return, we find Fifield and Milburn still in the artifact, when they said they were returning to the ship. They found some kind of life which intrigued the biologist. But why didn't the team returning to the ship notice that none of their vehicles were gone. Why did they leave the other two behind? Somehow, the two truants don't get the warning about the storm, or ignore it, so they become stuck in the artifact. There are loose ends aplenty with the alien fauna on this desolate world. My expectation coming in was that the film would explore the origins of two creatures, the "Alien" and the race of the giant pilot discovered by the crew of the mining ship Nostromo in "Alien". We meet the giants soon enough, but we also encounter at least three other life forms which have a passing resemblance to THE Alien, but their connection to the life cycle of the Alien is never explained. I'm entering dangerous "spoiler" territory now, so I will not discuss any more of the plot except to say that there are a number of unexplained events. Mysteries are great in the middle of the film, but one expects most of these to be wrapped up and revealed at the end of the picture. Many are not, leaving a huge jumping off point for a sequel to "Prometheus". Part of the special attraction of this story is that the audience knows full well what will eventually happen, so there is a lot of mental "don't go there" and "don't do that" moments, because we already know what things that look like that can do. The problem with that is that there is too much "quoting" from "Alien" for my tastes. Most of it is done relatively well, but it becomes more and more obvious as time goes on, and increasingly annoying. There is also ample quoting from other major Sci Fi movies such as 2001: A Space Odyssey (both in situations and in dialogue). There are also some subtle cinematic (visual) quotes from "Avatar" and "Jurassic Park". One of the bright spots, aside from the imaginative, well done CGI and cinematography, is the acting, which I always thought was a weak spot in "Alien". The crewmen, such as Captain Idris Elba, are spot on (unlike Yahpet Kotto in "Alien"). Instead of the strong Ellen Ripley character, we have the physically smaller and less imposing archaeologist, Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) who sports a convincing English accent as the lead character. Charlize Theron's character is restrained and unlikable. Like both Scott and Cameron's "Alien" and "Aliens", this movie has an android (artificial person) as a principal character, in a role much fuller than in the earlier movies. The only thing which distinguishes 'David', Michael Fassbender's android from Scott's earlier android Ash (Ian Holm, Alien) and Cameron's Bishop (Lance Hendrickson, Aliens)is that David is ever so slightly stilted, somewhat like Data from "Startrek, The Next Generation." I will give this the benefit of the doubt for now, but I found a strong disjoint in the rationale between two early scenes and the climax. I sense Scott wanted to leave plenty of meat on the bone to support a sequel. (In contrast, Avatar is almost totally devoid of preparation for a sequel I suspect I will need to revisit this review after seeing the film again. If my suspicion about gaps and disconnects is born out, I may have to lower my rating to 3 stars.

This 2 DVD package is a perfect example of why you should purchase the set, rather than just viewing online from a streaming service. The movie is well written, the sets, acting and effects are top level and state of the art. It leaves one with lots of questions about the Engineers and why each alien doesn't look like the ones we saw in the Alien movies: those questions are answered in a beautiful example of leading-edge technology. If you have an iPad or Android tablet/phone, you can download a Prometheus app that will link with your Blu-ray player if it supports BD-Live! As the movie plays, background information is displayed on the tablet including production notes and sketches. At certain parts of the movie, the movie is paused while a video from one of the producers/directors/special effects editors, etc., is displayed on the tablet. The movie then continues. At other places, alternate or deleted scenes are added to the viewing experience at the exact place they fit in the film. You have an option on the tablet to skip the experience, but it is worth watching if you truly want to appreciate the time, talent and effort that went into making this film. The other add-ons on the second disk, including the SD version, Digital Copy and additional resources telling you about the movie are all worth watching. The history of how the movie came into existence is remarkable, as well as how the first Alien movie was completed with a few starts and stops. The production team and director made it all look too easy and polished when we all saw the first Alien movie...the story is an inspiration for all of us who aspire to be creative, jump hurdles and achieve goals over time. Noomi Rapace brings the same level of intensity and emotion to her role as she did in the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" trilogy. (She was good in Sherlock Holmes too, but the role did not offer anywhere near the challenge of this one.) Charlize Theron continues to amaze with her acting as a hard-core, highly disciplined, driven...but still-wanting-to-be-a-loved-daughter persona. Idris Elba does a great job of balancing out Theron's intensity with calm leadership, focus and demeanor: after all, it's Christmas! Michael Fassbender is both frightening and fascinating as the cyborg with a hidden agenda and a bad habit of listening in on other people's dreams. Guy Pearce makes good use of his screen time although there is not much of it: his movements and voice, along with remarkable make-up transformed him into a very old man with his own special, but not surprising, agenda. The rest of the cast does a good job in adding depth and texture to the story line. If you want to learn an interesting interpretation of the mural they find....watch the add-on info carefully. And....the ending leaves room for a sequel!

It's an easy movie to criticize, but it doesn't deserve it. I'm not giving the fifth star because it's absolutely perfect. But, given the way it fits with the Alien films, but goes in new directions, this really is one of the great recent science fiction films. A lot of people have criticized a number of the "campy"/bonehead plot devices the film contains. I think the funniest is the one about the worst direction to run if a giant rolling, round spaceship is about to crush you (hilarious). But it's easy to criticize some of the shallower holes or weak links in the plot and not acknowledge the healthy condition of the broad bones of the plot structure. What made Alien (and the Alien series) great was plot structure and concept (and Ridley Scott's skillful execution of it). The thrills and chills were there because of the combination of realism and symbolism in the plot--because it was good science fiction. Science fiction has always been a lot more symbolic than scientific, and it was the ability of the creature to hold so much symbolic weight that made it so frightening, not just the art and special effects. Prometheus builds on this symbolic complexity by looking out into space (the divine unknown) not for the supreme anti-human force this time (Alien's alien), but for the "divine" origins of human beings. It's interesting. Scott makes the puzzle about these divine-human creatures (the engineers in Prometheus) as compelling as the creature in Alien. A little more intellectual and less visceral--but pretty similar. It is structured as a brainy science fiction film. Science fiction has always been about heavy symbolism in a high-energy, pulpy package. So I'm fine with unexplained spider zombie characters, and blatant, thin, pulpy, gore-y plot devices (in fact I enjoy them, think they're essential for the genre and overall effect, and would miss them if they were gone), as long as the backbone of the film is solid. And it is. Naomi Rapace's character is solid, and Michael Fassbender's. And guess who's left at the end of the film? Only the characters that mattered. Plus it's visually beautiful. And the way Scott weaved in so many Alien concepts into an original story in a way that built the whole thing up into a broader and still consistent world-- instead of dragging it down --is also extremely impressive. This movie will be appreciated a lot more a few years down the road. And even more so if a good sequel follows.

I love this movie. I loved Alien and I like this one even more. This one has a grander story than Alien and to me is more interesting. Spoiler Warning: The black goo is more dangerous than the xenomorphs and more interesting because depending on what organic creature you combine it with it will have a different monster result. The Fifield mutant seemed stronger than a xenomorph. It also seemed easier to kill a facehugger over the hammerpede or snake like alien since that thing can regenerate so quickly. A lot of people say that the biologist was very dumb, but I didn't mind that because there are people in real life who confront dangerous animals without fear. For example "The Grizzly Man" Timothy Treadwell (May he rest in peace) was similar to that. Not dumb in my opinion but fearless and very fascinated with animals especially a new alien speices. That's how that biologist struck me. He also told Fifield to stay calm and I feel that's how most animal handlers have to be in order not to rile up the animal. I also thought there were no plot holes. Of course the movie didn't answer all the questions, but it did it in the right way, leaving it to your imagination. There are also planned sequels to the movie to answer many questions. The scientists Holloway and Shaw come to the conclusion based on ancient wall carvings/drawings all over the world (I've seen youtube documentaries about that subject) that all pretty much appear the same illustrate man communicating with aliens. Or an alien pointing to planets. They search (probably with high tech equipment) the universe and come across a galaxy that is similar to ours and form the same set of planets like the ancient cave artwork. And the planet they land on LV-223 is not the same planet as the one in Alien which was LV-426 so that's why it doesn't exactly end with someone in the jockey chair with their chest burst outwards. There are other examples, but basically I think this movie was perfectly paced and had no plot holes. I liked all the characters, every one of them and I enjoyed the script by Damon Lindelof. Great movie, I hope more people will realize it's genius over time.

After watching the exhaustive pre-production, post production footage, and deleted and alternate scenes that were included on the bluray for Prometheus, I am left wondering what the hell Ridley Scott was thinking when he edited this movie. "I'm going to put three cameras on this and shoot the crap out of it.", that's basically what I took from the interviews with Ridley. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan. I probably like more of his movies than the average moviegoer but wow. I think he got lost in the editing of this movie. All the character moments in the movie were willfully deleted. I think if I were an actor in this film, I would probably wonder what happened to my performance. I don't want everything spoonfed to me but dang. It helps my enjoyment of a film if I think the people walking around on camera have some semblance of personality. All the characters were de-emphasized basically. While I didn't agree with Ridley Scott's editing choices and would have preferred a longer and more complete film, I did agree with his stance on shooting every special effect practically (in camera, with actors, puppets, models, animatronics, etc) where possible. One choice in particular between a digital monster and an actor in makeup, I think, made complete sense. If only that decisiveness carried over to the editing process... Woe is me. Actually, I name him in the review since he's the director, but Ridley Scott is hardly alone in this problematic film venture. There were hundreds of people working on this film and they were all drinking the same Kool-Aid. From a production and costume design standpoint, beautiful work. Stunts, excellent. Digital artwork and effects, excellent. Cinematography, excellent. But in the face of all that good work, everyone (behind the camera, so to speak) dropped the ball telling the story. I get the impression that Ridley Scott would think up cool sequences (whether it's just shooting sequences or actual action/effect sequences) and then tell the script-doctors to find a way to fit it into the thing which would be fine, if it wasn't seemingly at the expense of having a cast and a story. All of this uneven handling of the film that I've described above is mercilessly compounded by the fact that the movie is raising questions about religion, God, and creation. The way Prometheus was sold to audiences (in some instances as, "HEY! ALIEN PREQUEL!!!", and in others as an intense, scary, edge-of-your-seat thriller) didn't do well to prepare moviegoers for what ended up being some overwrought navel-gazing. But that's not all! No, religious/spiritual debate (at least in the U.S.) has also to a large extent, regressed to the point of embarrassment. Pope Francis aside, there are a lot of close-minded individuals running around out there and probably none of them want to be told that aliens (accidentally?) created mankind. While Scott should have by no means catered to this low common denominator, he should have been conscious of the fact that he was already pulling a bait-and-switch on the hardcore Alien(s) crowd, and that stacking Space Jesus on top of that was maybe a bad combination. Or hey, maybe it would have been as simple as putting as much effort into the ad campaign as was put into the supplemental material on the DVD release and other frivolous pursuits like the Weyland Industries website (it's still up). I still found things to like in this movie, but I'm keenly aware that I am in the minority. I admire what Ridley and co. tried to do and I love that so much interpretation is left up to the audience in terms of getting "answers", but ultimately Prometheus suffered horribly in the entertainment value department due to an overall lack of a clear vision and a sense of direction for the story. I'm sure I'm also in the minority for hoping that the planned(?) sequel knocks it out of the park and renders all the various hand-wringing over Prometheus more or less moot. (Read as: Don't run away from sci-fi as a genre, Ridley. I want you to succeed.) Quick notes: I didn't care that Prometheus wasn't more explicitly tied into the Alien franchise/mythology. Also, I didn't mind the slower pace of the movie (another reason why I think the length of the film being extended would not have hurt it overall). These are things that may bother others (you) so I suppose that is my disclaimer. Other points of interest: the 4-disc set includes the digital 3D release, the Bluray release, the standard DVD release and two digital copies (Ultraviolet and iTunes). All the special features (and there's a lot of them; set aside a good three or four hours and hit "play all" if that's what you're into) are included on the bluray so even when it's just Ridley Scott sipping wine and stalking the art department, it's in glorious true HD. The only thing that's missing is a 4K edition.

I found this to be a wonderful, deeply philosophical action movie that leads us to think about our own existence , our uniqueness in the universe and our ultimate relevance. I think many have a problem because the role of God is left to our speculation, but this actually elevates Deity beyond human understanding--just where It should be. The feeling of aloneness this leaves makes us shudder before the Here and Now. Our immediate progenitors are spacemen who apparently have scorn for us and want to wipe us out, to denude Earth of human life. Strong as they are, they are mortal, and they can be eaten alive just as humans have been in previous Alien films by something they wished to use to wipe out humanity. Yes, humans perform some silly deeds in this film--just as humans often do. We wouldn't have tragedy if humans always acted perspicaciously. The point is that we're human, and although we can be brilliant, we can also be very impulsive and foolish. I don't see that the plot shows anything other than human fallibility and a fragility of intellect under the pressure of emotions such as fear, lust for power and superiority and sexual abandon. Finally, we are led to ask why we are here, why our "engineers" (creators) have found us wanting and where do we go from here? Where are you, God? We need you! The 3-D is glorious, the effects stupendous. I couldn't have asked for more. I saw it with an adult goddaughter who had asked to see it, and she couldn't stop saying "wow!". I think that, if you've seen this in 2-D, you owe it to yourself to see it in 3-D. The PQ is sharp, clear, revealing of detail, and the audio is perfect. We played it on my Oppo on a 55" passive system LG with a 7.1 home theater setup. Much better than being in the theater. Don't let the naysayers dissuade you. This is a truly fine film which will ultimately rank up there with Ridley's best. It makes us long to know how we can somehow make ourselves count for more than "teardrops in the rain".

Perfect!

This is a review of the whole package but I will touch upon the film as well. I bought the 3D bluray pack that come with the 2D version of the film and a whole load of extras. 1st: The 3d looks pretty stunning, having watched it through on a 42" TV set the picture looked good, there was some slight fuzziness of some of the opening credits but as a whole it looked very good. The menus have been rendered into 3D and it gives a very cohesive look. 2nd 2D blu ray worked well and had some nice special features. I have not listened to any of the commentaries (you'll forgive me that when I talk about the extras), but I have tested out the feature where you sync your ipad to the film by downloading an app. The film plays and pauses to allow you to watch so,e items appear on the ipad that relate to the scenes you are watching. It works well, was easy to set up and has a lot of useful information. 3rd: The extras are a mammoth undertaking. The main extras feature clocks in at 3.5 hours, you can also set it up to divert to about 26 mini features lasting 1-5 minutes that give you further insight into the making. The main feature is long but covers from initial idea, through scripting and design to the filming and release of the movie. It is very informative and often does not hold back. There are times when you can hear the disappointment as the crew talk about things that maybe did not work or were abandoned. It discusses what the film might have been like had it stayed as a true prequel to Alien. Well worth watching and certainly provides much needed insight into the making of Prometheus. The film itself is a solid sci-fi affair. Fans of sci-fi will recognise some of the situations and fans of the Alien franchise will be familiar with the set up. What I enjoyed was that it didn't feel like it tried to recreate the other Alien films too much. There were nods to it (sometimes very big nods) but that is to be expected in a film set in the same universe. There are plot holes, some of those explained a little in the deleted scenes, which if left in would have given some context to character decisions. There will be even one moment where you might shout at your screen, 'run to the side you silly person' I personally enjoyed the film, however I went not quite knowing what I would expect having read the blurb about it NOT being a prequel to Alien. I know the film has divided opinion, but certainly I think that may be down to high expectations. However, if you are looking to be entertained then this film does that. Watch it in 3D, then watch the feature length extras and you will certainly feel that you bout a quality product and got your money's worth.

Nothing

Injustement mal considéré

In response to mankind's three most pressing questions—Where do we come from? What is our purpose? What happens to us when we die?—the empirically minded suggest that we probably arose through abiogenesis out of a primordial ooze, that we exist to propagate our genetic code, and that death simply returns our atoms to be endlessly recycled. The faithful, meanwhile, take comfort in a supernatural creator who has a plan for their lives, culminating in an eternal heavenly reward. But what if neither camp is quite right? What if we were planted here, not by a god, but by a race of corporal beings sufficiently technologically advanced to traverse the universe, seeding the cosmos with life of their own design? This is no new idea, but it first gained cultural traction with the 1968 publication of Erick von Däniken's bestseller, Chariots of the Gods? Unsolved Mysteries of the Past, a work of staggering psuedoscience and blatant anthropological chicanery. If completely bonkers and without any actual evidence, the book still makes for an imaginative flight of fancy, and its key, "ancient astronauts" concept serves well as the basis for Prometheus, director Ridley Scott's magnificent-but-flawed return to the sci-fi genre. Despite what you may have heard, the film is a prequel to Scott's 1979 classic, Alien, although not necessarily a direct one. It's better to think of Prometheus as a semi- distant relative, twice or thrice-removed. The two movies aren't immediately narratively linked, but they share much of the same DNA. And Prometheus is all about DNA. The pre-title sequence takes us over a barren, lifeless landscape, and up to the top of a turbid glacial waterfall, where an alien protohuman—who looks like a buff, living marble reproduction of Michelangelo's David—stands by the shore, holding a cup of black goo. This is an "Engineer," as they'll later come to be called, and he's here to seed what we can presume to be Earth. He downs the viscous caviar-like substance in one gulp, and immediately his cellular structure begins to break down, causing his skin to rupture, his bones to snap grotesquely, and his body to fall into the water, where it dissolves, spreading genetic material downstream. Et voilà! Life. Eons later, in 2089, we cut to a pair of anthropologist lovers—the believer Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and the atheistic Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green)—as they find a 30,000-year-old cave painting on the Isle of Skye, depicting an Engineer-ish-looking figure pointing to a cluster of stars, an image that's been found in numerous archeological sites around the globe. Shaw believes it's "an invitation," and soon enough they're aboard the spacecraft Prometheus—funded by the supposedly dead industrialist Peter Weyland (Guy Pierce)—zipping toward the distant moon LV-223, hoping to find answers to humanity's deepest existential questions. Unlike the Nostromo, Alien's dingy blue-collar mining craft, Prometheus—named after the mythological fire-stealer—is a state-of-the-art research vessel, carrying scientists from pertinent fields, including spectacled biologist Millburn (Raff Spall) and punk geologist Fifield (Sean Harris), along with a substantial crew of ancillary characters. The ship is captained by former military man Janek (Idris Elba), but the real leader of the expedition is Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron), a stone-cold Weyland Corp. employee who makes it clear to everyone—Shaw and Holloway especially— that they report to her. Also on board is David (Michael Fassbender), an 8th generation android who's obsessed with Lawrence of Arabia—he even dyes his hair to look like Peter O'Toole—and ironically becomes the very soul of the film, a grown-up Pinocchio who can never become a real boy. Not to demean the rest of the cast, who are generally decent-to-excellent, but Theron and Fassbender are the two acting powerhouses here, the former all icy secrecy and the latter effete and guarded—think a more refined C3PO crossed with Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey. In a way, Prometheus is a more pop, "genre"-oriented version of 2001, both concerned with evolution, artificial intelligence, and the notion that something out there gave the fire of human consciousness its first spark. Where Kubrick's film is a slow-burning intellectual exercise, Prometheus becomes a tension-ratcheting affair where the big ideas are couched in stylish big-budget sci-fi/horror action. When the ship lands on LV-223, which is not the moon from Alien, the crew quickly—too quickly to believe actually—spots and enters an enormous pyramid complex with reniform subterranean tunnels and a chamber that houses a monolithic human head and dozens of cylinders filled with that DNA-altering black goop. Nearby are the piled up bodies of several long-dead "engineers," who were obviously trying to escape something but didn't make it. Without getting into spoilers, it's safe to assume to that one or more team members become "infected," and you can also expect to see some aggressive lifeforms that have never before appeared in the Alien franchise, although they share the phallic/yonic, H.R. Giger-inspired qualities of the facehuggers and xenomorphs of yore. There are grotesque mutations, frantic firefights—one involving an actual flamethrower—and even an emergency alien fetus c-section, the film's most white-knuckle, squirm-inducing scene. Does the original xenomorph monster show up? Well, sort of. Let's just say it has a fan-appeasing cameo. Written by Jon Spaihts and Lost's Damon Lindelof, Prometheus expands the universe of the series and unravels a few mysteries from the first film—yes, the "space jockey" in that pilot's chair was an "engineer"—but it also raises a host of other questions that it doesn't have time to answer. (Why do the engineers suddenly want us dead? Why leave us a star map guiding us to what's essentially a biological weapons depot? If the engineers created us, who created them?) With a sequel already in the works, I don't consider the lingering ambiguities a problem—and I love the post-viewing discussions that naturally arise because of them—but Prometheus does have other shortcomings. There are small potential plot holes, and a few scenes that feel forced—inserted for narrative convenience or just to ramp up the action—but the most noticeable issue is that characters sometimes simply don't act in believably human ways. They contradict earlier established behaviors. They make choices only a soon-to-be-slaughtered teenager in a slasher movie would make. They don't express nearly enough awe at the fact that they're not just on another world, but making discoveries that dramatically alter humanity's assumptions about its own origins. Prometheus probably could've used another script revision to tighten everything up, but the pacing flows well—even when some of the events don't exactly make sense in retrospect—and there's no doubt that the film is an experience, the kind of grand-scale, high-concept science fiction that's unfortunately rare. (Although, between Looper and Cloud Atlas this year, sci-fi seems to be making a comeback.) I don't really get the small but rabid cult of haters that's sprung up to deride the film, but I blame the internet hype machine, which skews expectations impossibly. If you're anticipating the be-all-end-all Alien movie, with mind-melting twists and non-stop horror, then yes, Prometheus might be a bit of a let-down. But this prequel really is its own entity and deserves to be seen and evaluated on its own terms. Personally, I think it's a terrific reboot of a franchise that had grown ridiculous long before the dopey Alien vs. Predator movies. Ridley Scott directs the hell out of this thing, the scope is immense—check out those real, predominately non-CGI sets—and call me a heretic, but damn if Michael Fassbender doesn't make a better android that Ian Holm or Lance Henriksen ever did. Onto the sequel, I say, and if Scott isn't going to do it—he's only listed as producer, and he'll probably be busy revisiting the world of Blade Runner—I nominate David Fincher, whose Alien 3 got bungled by the studio, and who definitely deserves another shot at the series. Anyone second that motion? Gorgeous. And that's about all you really need to know. But for the sake of completeness, let's get into what makes Prometheus' 1080p/AVC- encoded Blu-ray transfer so stunning. Using Red Epic digital cameras mounted to 3ality Technica Atom 3D rigs, the film was shot almost entirely on Pinewood Studio's famed—and enormous—007 lot, allowing Ridley Scott and cinematographer Dariusz Wolski complete control over the lighting of the magnificently detailed sets. The combination of a great camera system, high-quality Zeiss lenses, and precise manipulation of the direction and degree of light makes for an image that's often terrifically sharp and nearly noiseless at times. Camera noise does spike a bit during the darkest scenes, but it has a granular quality that looks almost filmic up close, with no digital harshness or chroma artifacts, and it isn't really noticeable from a normal viewing distance. It should also go without saying that there are no compression issues or encode errors on this top-tier release; even scenes where you might expect to see some banding or splotchiness—flashlights cutting through darkness, volumetric clouds of dust rising into the air, fine color gradients—hold up under pixel-peeping scrutiny. The level of clarity is exemplary for a live-action film. Fine detail is ever-present in the textures of the actors' faces, the fabric of their clothing, and the intricacies of the props and set design. The film's distinct color palette is handled with ease too. The inky depths of the pyramid, the yellow LED lights inside the explorers' helmets, the cool fluorescence inside Prometheus, the spatters of blood, the skin tones—everything has a satisfying density and presence. And then we come to the film's use of 3D, which is some of the best I've seen outside of all-CGI movies. If you saw the 3D version of Prometheus in theaters, you'll already have a good idea of what to expect on Blu-ray, namely, lots of depth and little-to-no projection. That is, you'll spend a lot of time looking into your screen—which becomes a kind of portal through which to view a 3D diorama—but you won't find any leap-out-of-the-TV-and-jab-you-in-the-eye gimmickry, which may work in horror films or cartoons, but would only cheapen the experience here. And because there are no objects jutting out towards you, you don't have to worry about the roughly 2.39:1 frame cutting anything off. (No, there's no 1.78:1 "open-matte" version available.) There are a few longer landscape shots where no dimensionality is apparent, but most of the time there's a clear and natural-looking distinction between foreground objects and their backgrounds. There are definitely some "showpiece" 3D shots, like the landing sequence, the silica dust storm, and the engineer holograms, but the 3D effect is most impressively used to add a degree of realism to some of the more mundane scenes, like when Holloway stares into the mirror of his cabin, noticing there's something unusual in his eye. Or Shaw lying on the all-white operating table. Clarity and color both hold-up well, and there are no unusual 3D anomalies to report. Of course, the effect will be better on bigger screens—and the amount of ghosting/doubling you experience will depend on the quality of your TV/projector/glasses—but in general, Prometheus' 3D Blu-ray replicates the theatrical experience rather well. Do note that all screenshots are from the included 2D Blu-ray. Turn off the lights, crank up your receiver, and settle in—Prometheus's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround track is one to savor, particularly if you've got a home theater setup capable of bringing the aural goods. This mix just doesn't quit; from start to finish it delivers room- quaking dynamics, pristine clarity, and polished, realistic, puts-you-right-in-the-middle-of-the-action sound design. From the opening scene on the barren planet Earth we get deep sub-woofer engagement, the lapping, crashing, and bubbling of a massive waterfall, and the thunderous rumble of an alien ship overhead. The sense of all-surrounding immersion is near-constant from here forward. Bleeps and bloops and the hush of processed air aboard the Prometheus. Sirens wailing in the rears. Dripping rain. Convincing cavernous reverb. The whipping of a monster's tendrils. Debris from an explosion rocketing through the soundscape. Silica dust clinking furiously as a storm blows across LV-223. Fifield's mapping "pups" as they zoom off through underground corridors. There's not a scene where the audio isn't lushly and thoughtfully arranged. Just take the actors' voices, which—besides being well-balanced and easily understood—always reflect the acoustics of their surroundings, flatter aboard the ship, slightly muffled inside their helmets, echoing and wet inside the pyramid. All this is backed up by Marc Streitenfeld's enormous-sounding orchestral score, which alternates between quiet uneasiness and sheer bombast. Note that the 3D disc and the 2D disc have slightly different dub and subtitle options. 3D: Includes descriptive audio, and Spanish, French, Portuguese, Hindi, Urdu, and Tamil dubs—in Dolby Digital 5.1—along with English SDH, Span, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Port, and Swedish subtitles. 2D: Includes descriptive audio, and Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian, Hindi, Urdu, Tamil, Telegu, and Ukranian dubs—in Dolby Digital 5.1, except for the Russian DTS 5.1 track—and English SDH, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian subtitles.