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Vampire Panties posted:Prometheus would have been a 1000x better movie if they didn't include the opening scene. Covenant too. Prometheus would've been a 1000000000x better movie if they didn't make it in the first place. Covenant too.
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Mar 23, 2024 00:03
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I prefer GBS but if you make it in Sci-fi Wi-fi I can probe you guys sooo..... 
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Mar 23, 2024 00:04
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SuperMechagodzilla posted:This marks a transition from sci-fi horror to full-on speculative fiction - and the bridge is comedy. I want to hear more about how Prometheus is a comedy. That’s an interesting statement I’ve never heard anyone else talk about. You guys are making me want to watch Prometheus and Covenant again now that it’s been years and I can re-watch them with fresh eyes.
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Mar 23, 2024 00:09
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MrMojok posted:There is an old Terminator CD thread I have bookmarked that I think you can still post in, Xenomrph. I was intending to talk about more than just the movies, so a GBS or scifiwifi thread is probably better suited. I’m open to arguments for having them in either place really. GBS might get more traffic, like this thread.
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Mar 23, 2024 00:26
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Doctor Zero posted:I want to hear more about how Prometheus is a comedy. That’s an interesting statement I’ve never heard anyone else talk about. They're poo poo, mate.
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Mar 23, 2024 00:33
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Doctor Zero posted:I want to hear more about how Prometheus is a comedy. That’s an interesting statement I’ve never heard anyone else talk about. Same. With more jaded eyes.
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Mar 23, 2024 00:40
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Peyote Panda posted:I've enjoyed speculating over the years about how the Space Jockies' purpose in collecting Xenomorphs was completely at odds with humanity's. Maybe they were pets or livestock, maybe the eggs and/facehuggers were a culinary delicacy and the Acheron derelict was the final resting place of a farm-to-table operation that met an unfortunate end. This kinda happens in the old comics lol
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Mar 23, 2024 01:24
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I played Alien RPG a few years ago and enjoyed it. It was fun getting into the roles of the different crewmembers (original for the game) and using that to guide your choices as your stress level went up.
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Mar 23, 2024 01:48
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I have been meaning to rewatch the Sarah Conner Chronicles. Curious to see if it holds up and if the last episode still makes me big mad.
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Mar 23, 2024 02:42
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Doctor Zero posted:I want to hear more about how Prometheus is a comedy. That’s an interesting statement I’ve never heard anyone else talk about. Well, if you watch Alien 1, there’s a real undercurrent of sadness to everything. There’s some fun banter, but also quiet bits like Dallas just sitting in the escape shuttle by himself. They hold a sad little funeral for Kane. Even Jokey died, seemingly, alone. The last thing that happens is Ripley recording a message stating that she and the poor cat might not survive the trip home. Prometheus doesn’t do that, obviously. And it’s not some kind of deficiency, like they tried to be sad and failed. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say prequels are inherently comedic, they do inherently deal with a fatalism that can be mined for comedy. These characters are doomed from the outset, and we know from all the other films. Even if you’ve never seen a movie before, though, Prometheus is told from the perspective of David, who scans the human crew’s dreams - before they even wake up - and concludes that they’re all idiots. Because he’s so far beyond the humans while simultaneously bound by the butler programming imposed upon him, David ends up an arch, camp figure. He plays up his artificial servility while cracking dry jokes about his masters’ ironic “monkey’s paw” comeuppances. That the context in which the guy who literally says “I’m not here to make friends” gets attacked by a penis monster and turned into a space werewolf. So Shaw’s arc, in the end, is to surprise David. Or, rather, to impress him by overcoming her too-human psychological limitations: “I didn’t know you had it in you.” In a broader context, Prometheus’s depiction of Weyland Corp is very much making fun of tech-bro hipster types and a more liberal version of corporate culture. Vickers - the strong female character ‘girlboss’ CEO - is doing this mission under the guise of philanthropy, but literally serving the same patriarch who ostensibly died. The movie also came out right after Avatar, and was a refreshing piece of counterprogramming to that film’s neon hippie take on Aliens. I still think of it as the anti-Avatar.
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Mar 23, 2024 03:18
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If Romulus flops they should just make the next one a comedy like Airplane and call it Aliens 8, People 0 like they were gonna do with the Jaws franchise.
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Mar 23, 2024 03:31
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Robert Facepalmer posted:I have been meaning to rewatch the Sarah Conner Chronicles. Curious to see if it holds up and if the last episode still makes me big mad. IIRC that ends with the one Terminator butchering the SWAT team while Johnny Cash plays, and the Hunter-Killer drone confronting Sarah Conner outside Cyberdyne? I was really into that show but then it got canceled SuperMechagodzilla posted:Well, if you watch Alien 1, there’s a real undercurrent of sadness to everything. There’s some fun banter, but also quiet bits like Dallas just sitting in the escape shuttle by himself. They hold a sad little funeral for Kane. Even Jokey died, seemingly, alone. The last thing that happens is Ripley recording a message stating that she and the poor cat might not survive the trip home. Just rewatched it - The movie is such a mess of non-sequitur poo poo. Tattoo-head dude smoking weed is a stoner-horror-death trope. Also David, with the immaculate hair, riffing witty comments in Fassbender's not-quite-American accent while everyone else is panting and sweating and screaming gives it a surreal quality. Also making Idris Elba do a fake-Texan accent is a waste. edogawa rando posted:Prometheus would've been a 1000000000x better movie if they didn't make it in the first place. Covenant too. I dont understand why they made this movie. I'm not sure what story its trying to tell. Major plot lines are two sentences "Oh they're the Engineers, because they Engineered us  " They got all that from ancient societies cave paintings? That one engineer drank their own bioweapon to seed life, although there was already green moss on the rocks when it happened?
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Mar 23, 2024 04:26
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Jimbone Tallshanks posted:If Romulus flops they should just make the next one a comedy like Airplane and call it Aliens 8, People 0 like they were gonna do with the Jaws franchise. Excuse me Miss, I speak Alien *Extends little jaw
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Mar 23, 2024 04:29
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Vampire Panties posted:Just rewatched it - The movie is such a mess of non-sequitur poo poo. Tattoo-head dude smoking weed is a stoner-horror-death trope. Also David, with the immaculate hair, riffing witty comments in Fassbender's not-quite-American accent while everyone else is panting and sweating and screaming gives it a surreal quality. Also making Idris Elba do a fake-Texan accent is a waste. It's like they tried to mash the four previous movies into one by picking the most iconic bits
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Mar 23, 2024 04:37
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I feel bad for the engineers in Covenant. They conquered this part of the galaxy and seeded life on various planets and eventually they were down to that last planet where they gave up their space aspirations and just grew wheat and hung out in that one city. Then some crazy robot dumps their equivalent of all of the ancient nuclear waste on them from a previous forgotten era and wrecks the planet.
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Mar 23, 2024 04:47
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Jimbone Tallshanks posted:It's like they tried to mash the four previous movies into one by picking the most iconic bits Yes, exactly. From David playing with the basketball, Idris's mustache, the flamethrowers, "decontaminating" the surgical bed with nitrogen, the Engineer inexplicably running towards Nooni instead of going to a different ship, they obviously felt they needed to hit very specific Alien/Aliens/Aliens3/Aliens:Resurrection notes, and instead of it being a medley its just people hammering at the piano keys EDIT they should've brought proto-marines. Guy Pearce spent a trillion dollars to ask some randos how to extend his life. Weyland & Weyland-Yutani famously dont take no for an answer. Vampire Panties fucked around with this message at 04:53 on Mar 23, 2024 |
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Mar 23, 2024 04:51
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Vampire Panties posted:IIRC that ends with the one Terminator butchering the SWAT team while Johnny Cash plays, and the Hunter-Killer drone confronting Sarah Conner outside Cyberdyne? I was really into that show but then it got canceled That was the end of season 1, which was cut short by a writer's strike. Season 2 ended, iirc, on Derek and the human original for Cameron in the future. Instead of season 3 we got Salvation, and that is not a fair trade.
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Mar 23, 2024 04:58
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Jimbone Tallshanks posted:It's like they tried to mash the four previous movies into one by picking the most iconic bits Thanks god Romulus is avoiding this
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Mar 23, 2024 05:48
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Doctor Zero posted:You guys are making me want to watch Prometheus and Covenant again now that it’s been years and I can re-watch them with fresh eyes. You should. They’re great. covidstomper58 posted:I feel bad for the engineers in Covenant. I think the Engineers were in societal/civilizational decline during Prometheus and Covenant. I think it’s made clear by losing control of the black goo/bioweapon. This film shares a lot of similarities to Lovecraft’s At The Mountains Of Madness: the Engineers are clearly analogous to the Elder Things, as are the black goo/bioweapon to the shoggoths. Both were eventually destroyed by their own creations. I did want to see David and his Aliens vs. the last military remnants of the Engineers like Scott said would happen, but I’m not bitter about it. 
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Mar 23, 2024 06:04
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Terminator thread is live! Be gentle! https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=4056952
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Mar 23, 2024 07:17
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Little popcorn fried facehugger snacks. So easy to just keep poppin' 'em.
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Mar 23, 2024 08:01
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Zadok Allen posted:I admire its purity. - The look is mostly right but oddly generic. Like it looks like a promo for a really bitchin' Alien themed ride or stunt show at Universal Studios or something. - If this involves big groups of aliens and mowing them down with machine guns (I mean it might not, but it did have lots of facehuggers and a pulse rifle-looking deal) then doubling down on the specific 'Alien (1979)' look and iconography feels weird and misleading. Alien and Aliens have two distinct "brands" and as anal retentive as it sounds I feel like if you're gonna go down that specific nostalgia route you have an obligation to get stuff like that right (and yes I've always hated it when any merchandise/related material took the 'Aliens' logo and dropped the "s." Argh!). I don't at all mind a movie that mixes the two or goes off in some other direction, just in that case I'd rather it be presented that way rather than in a package that screams "Alien, the 1979 film directed by Ridley Scott, again!" - There weren't a lot of shots of the creatures, but I'm already getting a sinking "oh god they're all CGI aren't they" feeling in the pit of my stomach. I can't think of any creature or monster that gets more neutered by CGI than the Alien. It's the most terrifying interstellar bringer of death in practical form and just some jerk with a long head in CGI form. For some reason it looks more like a guy in a suit when it's CGI than when it's actually a guy in a suit. You can make scary dinosaurs in CGI but you can NOT make scary xenomorphs in CGI, you just can't! - Wait, Walter Hill's a producer on this? Is this a return for him or has he always had his name on these? - I really hate that title.
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Mar 23, 2024 08:35
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Vampire Panties posted:I dont understand why they made this movie. I'm not sure what story its trying to tell. Major plot lines are two sentences "Oh they're the Engineers, because they Engineered us I loved how mad & disappointed both archaeologists were upon realising that the Engineers society was long dead. Gee, these incredibly old cave paintings obviously indicate that there's totally a living society of Engineers right now, that will gladly speak to us the very second we reach their world, even though as archaeologists, we should be familiar with the concept of long extinct societies/human tribes! Making all the humans greedy/moronically stupid makes sense for a "gently caress our creation, let's wipe out humanity" narrative, but if you're also trying to make us emphasize with your characters, especially ones in a horror franchise with flawed but likeable characters in its prior entries, maybe make some main characters a little more likeable earlier on? I only really cared for one human, Shaw, and that was only towards the end of the film. I did kind of like Idris Elba's character, but he didn't have much to do for the most part.
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Mar 23, 2024 11:56
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There's this elitist pro-snob undercurrent to Prometheus and Alien Covenant that's pretty gross, and only slightly mitigated by some of the dumbest characters being pretty snotty themselves. It's like "idiot intellectual/professional who thinks they're so smart" is like the Prometheus version of Friday the 13th's "selfish horny camp counselors." I guess the idea is that we get to see their comeuppance by someone (David) who they all look down but is actually way the hell smarter, but I find him pretty much just as insufferable, especially in Covenant where the dumb characters don't appear to be presented as "elite" as those in Prometheus. Maybe it'd help if he got his rear end handed to him more often to balance it out.
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Mar 23, 2024 12:12
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Vampire Panties posted:Yes, exactly. From David playing with the basketball, Idris's mustache, the flamethrowers, "decontaminating" the surgical bed with nitrogen, the Engineer inexplicably running towards Nooni instead of going to a different ship, they obviously felt they needed to hit very specific Alien/Aliens/Aliens3/Aliens:Resurrection notes, and instead of it being a medley its just people hammering at the piano keys Top 5 ICONIC Alien Moments: -Playing Basketball -Having a Moustache -Using a Flamethrower -Nitrogen -Running Towards a Person -
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Mar 23, 2024 13:46
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SidneyIsTheKiller posted:There's this elitist pro-snob undercurrent to Prometheus and Alien Covenant that's pretty gross, and only slightly mitigated by some of the dumbest characters being pretty snotty themselves. A primary theme of Prometheus and Covenant is hubris, so characters acting like dumb arrogant assholes is in line with that. As for believability—my dude, do you remember the endless amount of ostensibly smart scientists and “experts” saying and doing consistently stupid poo poo for years during COVID? Prometheus and Covenant even had a deadly pathogen! In a way, It reevaluated the way I look at people processing panic and trauma during horror films.
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Mar 23, 2024 17:07
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Zadok Allen posted:A primary theme of Prometheus and Covenant is hubris, so characters acting like dumb arrogant assholes is in line with that. As for believability—my dude, do you remember the endless amount of ostensibly smart scientists and “experts” saying and doing consistently stupid poo poo for years during COVID? Prometheus and Covenant even had a deadly pathogen! In a way, It reevaluated the way I look at people processing panic and trauma during horror films. I remember when I first saw the movie the “dumb” characters chafed a bit but it wasn’t enough to derail the movie for me, but in a post-COVID world it seems downright realistic. Having said that, the Weyland Yutani Report book establishes that Vickers went out of her way to contract the dumbest motherfuckers she could possibly find for the Prometheus mission in an effort to derail her father’s mission.
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Mar 23, 2024 20:21
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Bonus materials give explanation as to why characters do idiotic things: they are idiots.
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Mar 23, 2024 20:42
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To keep this in the Aliens thread, while T1 and Alien do line up a lot, I think T2/Aliens do not to a lesser degree. While yes, each is an action movie, in contrast to the original being a horror movie, Aliens is much truer to the spirit and vibe and mood and everything to the original. It's filled with grunts in dark, run down future environments, etc. T2 looks and feels nothing like the original.
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Mar 23, 2024 20:44
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Yeah. Aliens is still about survival. T2 is about waging a secret war for humanity. It's closer to Blade or James Bond then to The Terminator.
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Mar 23, 2024 21:10
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Shaw and Holloway are both explicitly “ancient aliens” nutbars, reflecting the two sides of that theory. Shaw is the fundamentalist creationist who believes God’s miracles objectively occurred and can be proven scientifically. Holloway is an atheist who hopes science will reveal that “God” was all along just a species of alien. These are effectively just different attitudes towards the same non-belief, which is why they’re partners. A basic joke of the premise is that their fake garbage science accidentally leads to a real discovery: godlike aliens have been visiting Earth for many thousands of years and probably inspired various myths, but the creationists are so ideologically hosed that they can’t interpret the data. Milburn, the biologist, calls them out on this: they’re idiots who reject the theory of evolution. And he’s right; nothing they uncover actually disproves evolution. All they find is that a species of ape related to humans has somehow had access to flying saucers. Shaw simply assumes that, because theses tall white guys have power, they must be billions of years old, benevolent, creators of the universe, and surrogate daddies to her. They must have access to the meaning of life, etc. It’s no wonder that this appeals to Weyland; he refers to himself as a Titan at the start of the film, the hero who will bring humanity knowledge of its cosmic purpose.
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Mar 23, 2024 21:10
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SidneyIsTheKiller posted:- I really hate that title. Agreed. "Alien: Remus" would have been a lot cooler and a lot less Star Trek oriented. It also sounds like "Alien, ream us", which I guarantee we will be seeing in the form of glorious full frame rear end-loving anyway, as is tradition with these films.
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Mar 23, 2024 21:36
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redshirt posted:To keep this in the Aliens thread, while T1 and Alien do line up a lot, I think T2/Aliens do not to a lesser degree. While yes, each is an action movie, in contrast to the original being a horror movie, Aliens is much truer to the spirit and vibe and mood and everything to the original. It's filled with grunts in dark, run down future environments, etc. T2 looks and feels nothing like the original. I will say that I think there's more connections than that. T2 and Aliens both put the female lead from the first game in the position of being a Mother much harder. Like, yeah, Sarah Connor's kid was a big deal in the first, but it wasn't the same as in the second where she is actively protecting a child. Likewise both feature the return of a cybernetic person who was a dangerous enemy in the first and a dependable ally in the second. (More literally in T2, obviously.) There's a lot of visual language that is shared, from the self-destructive explosion suicide of one of the supporting cast members to the main antagonist being badly injured and tearing parts of themselves away to go chasing after the protagonists to the ending which is hopeful but vague. They're not 1-for-1 but there's enough similarities that I think they are more of a comparison than not.
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Mar 24, 2024 20:36
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Zadok Allen posted:A primary theme of Prometheus and Covenant is hubris, so characters acting like dumb arrogant assholes is in line with that. As for believability—my dude, do you remember the endless amount of ostensibly smart scientists and “experts” saying and doing consistently stupid poo poo for years during COVID? Prometheus and Covenant even had a deadly pathogen! In a way, It reevaluated the way I look at people processing panic and trauma during horror films. Same. I feel like the film came out at the height of all that Reddit atheist/tech bro worship nonsense though, where all these smug fucks are going around high on their own farts and 100% convinced in the power of their science and logic, that no mighty brained Great Man of Science could possible panic or not take optimal action in every conceivable situation. The years since then have largely destroyed that myth.
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Mar 24, 2024 23:41
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Fair point. I always thought Weyland would have enough money to fund a proper expedition, but now with morons like Musk and Bezos aiming for Mars and that guy who was giving tours of the Titanic, it’s pretty drat prescient.
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Mar 25, 2024 00:27
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ImpAtom posted:I will say that I think there's more connections than that. Bishop is really not a major part of Aliens IMO. I mean, I get it, he's a direct call back to Ash and we're supposed to be suspicious of him from the start. And he turns out to be completely dependable and awesome. But he's not really important to the story. He's just there to assist the main characters.
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Mar 25, 2024 00:40
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Sentinel Red posted:Same. I feel like the film came out at the height of all that Reddit atheist/tech bro worship nonsense though, where all these smug fucks are going around high on their own farts and 100% convinced in the power of their science and logic, that no mighty brained Great Man of Science could possible panic or not take optimal action in every conceivable situation. The years since then have largely destroyed that myth. the peter weyland ted talk promotional video for prometheus aged like milk lol. are ted talks still a thing? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4SSU29Arj0
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Mar 25, 2024 00:52
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I’ll have much more respect for Disney’s Romulus: An Alien Story if they show restraint by NOT including an Alien Queen.
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Mar 25, 2024 07:00
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XYZAB posted:Agreed. "Alien: Remus" would have been a lot cooler and a lot less Star Trek oriented. It also sounds like "Alien, ream us", which I guarantee we will be seeing in the form of glorious full frame rear end-loving anyway, as is tradition with these films. What are you on about?
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Mar 25, 2024 08:25
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Zadok Allen posted:I’ll have much more respect for Disney’s Romulus: An Alien Story if they show restraint by NOT including an Alien Queen. I'll actually be shocked if it features a queen, between the Ridley Scott producer credit and how it (from what I hear, anyway) still has ties to the Prometheus side of the series. My gut tells me the story won't directly reference anything that didn't come from a Ridley Scott movie.
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Mar 25, 2024 08:26
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