Ridley Scott's - Prometheus (2012)

[bash]

Ok, I've been following this loosely and not really held much interest as I didnt think there'd be enough of a decent story to tell. I'd always liked the ambiguity of the Space Jockeys. Were they evil? Were they just incidental inventors of the Xenomorph and maybe even the human race too? Its a bit like Marvel finally telling everyone Wolverines origin, the mystery is gone and a part of the character dies with it.

However, having read the synopsis I'm becoming a believer. The plot, if legit, is every bit as big and grand as suggested by Ridley and seems to almost act as a prequel to Alien without even having a Xenomorph in it. This could very well end up a landmark and epic movie. I just wish the cast looked rough and rugged like the original crew of the Nostromo. That crew was basically my first glimpse of the whole space trucker look and I loved it. It felt so real. now you've got Charlieze Theron with a skin tight frickin space suit!

 

[cabanatuan]

Space jockeys?

 

[HouseTonyStark]

Ah so that's where his username comes from! Doh! As an Aliens fan I should have realised that sooner.

Nobody has asked where my username comes from before

 

[Indiana Jones]

I just wish the cast looked rough and rugged like the original crew of the Nostromo. That crew was basically my first glimpse of the whole space trucker look and I loved it. It felt so real. now you've got Charlieze Theron with a skin tight frickin space suit!

They were space truckers in Alien though, this time its a science team kitted out with all the best goodies.

Nothing wrong with the skin tight space suit though

Space jockeys?

They are the race that built the derelict ship that was found on LV426.

 

[leamspaceman]

It seems as if the 'Space Jockey' is humanoid and that the 'head' on the table in the trailer is one of their helmets. Also, the chair with the 'Space Jockey' in it in the original 'Alien' possibly shows the 'suit' they wear when strapped into the chair.

In the trailer for 'Prometheus', there does seem to be a humanoind figure walking toward the chair. I've attached a small pic of this 'humanoid' figure.

Oh...and no jokes about 'Space Jockey Helmets' please

 

[Todd Tomorrow]

However, having read the synopsis I'm becoming a believer. The plot, if legit, is every bit as big and grand as suggested by Ridley and seems to almost act as a prequel to Alien without even having a Xenomorph in it. This could very well end up a landmark and epic movie. I just wish the cast looked rough and rugged like the original crew of the Nostromo. That crew was basically my first glimpse of the whole space trucker look and I loved it. It felt so real. now you've got Charlieze Theron with a skin tight frickin space suit!

Theron plays a company executive and Sigourney Weaver was also a rather attractive actress who did get her kit off at the end of Alien.

Ridley Scott wanted Michelle Yeoh for the Theron role, but to get the budget he wanted, one of the compromises he relented to was to cast a more famous actress in the role. At least Theron is a good actress. I just saw Young Adult which she deserves another Oscar nomination for.

 

[bash]

Sorry, no way Weaver was on the same level as Theron appears to be in this. Pluys Theron is a name whereas Weaver was still pretty much an unknown and considered a risk. Its a shame Ridley isnt being as risky with this movie IMO.

Having read the synopsis it would appear

Spoiler

theres a reason for Therons "perfected" look.

so I might let it slide

 

[Todd Tomorrow]

Its a shame Ridley isnt being as risky with this movie IMO.

It's not like in the 70s when even relatively mainstream filmmakers were still allowed to be risky. I just watched Alien again a couple of weeks ago and it now plays like an art-house film when compared to current blockbusters.

Despite being an A-list director, Scott is not in the very exclusive group of directors who can do anything they like at any budget. That said, Scott isn't casing a glamorous actress as a "space trucker" and it helps to look at the casting in context. Therefore I don't see any reason to jump to conclusions. Scott also stood his ground when it came to casting his female lead with the relatively unknown and much less glamorous Noomi Rapace. I believe Theron is the second female lead.

If this were all about blue collar types in space like most of the characters in all the other Alien films, it would be the same thing all over again.

 

[scatterbug]

I don't think that is the same derelict ship, infact doesn't look like LV426

I guess if the film doesn't go to LV426 at all Scott could be semantically correct in saying it is not a prequel.

I was initially disappointed to read Scott saying the Space Jockey in Alien was a suit - I'd never even considered that. However, if that suit fuses with the wearer in some strange, biomechanoid way it could be exciting. It certainly can't look worse than the SJ species depicted in the Dark Horse comics!

 

[Todd Tomorrow]

I think I have to stop reading this thread. Way too many spoilers.

 

[MarkusThatch]

Theron plays a company executive and Sigourney Weaver was also a rather attractive actress who did get her kit off at the end of Alien.

Ridley Scott wanted Michelle Yeoh for the Theron role, but to get the budget he wanted, one of the compromises he relented to was to cast a more famous actress in the role. At least Theron is a good actress. I just saw Young Adult which she deserves another Oscar nomination for.

Thought theron was rather good in In the Valley of Elah too. She plays dowdy well. And beautiful well too.

 

[raigraphixs]

Thought theron was rather good in In the Valley of Elah too. She plays dowdy well. And beautiful well too.

and she plays a monster too

 

[scrapbook]

Great cast on this one. Can't wait.

 

[r1chehUK]

Clearly the Space Jockey is Liam Neeson! The one sheet confirms it

 

[leamspaceman]

I watched 'Alien' yesterday for the first time in ages.

When they land on LV426, Ash carries out an atmospheric scan. The results make him state "It's almost primordial."

So, do the Space Jockey race 'prepare' this planet for life, but, as is the case with many 'advanced' civilisations, do they become complacent. As a result of this complacency, perhaps they go too far and create a being that is in fact superior to them in it's ability to reproduce and adapt. It then 'infects' the Space Jockey, and the result is a creature that incorporates the DNA of the Space Jockey along with it's own. It then lays all of the eggs in the belly of the Space Jockey ship, awaiting the opportunity to reproduce and spread throughout the universe, with the ability to take on the DNA of it's 'host', thus being pre-adapted to the hosts environment?

It could be the container shaped 'eggs' we see in the trailer, in the area with the human face, are what the Space Jockey's use to reproduce their engineered species...but when they create something too powerful, the resulting creature lays the eggs we see in Alien?

 

[douki]

Nice.

Here's my latest possibly very wacky theory:

The jars contain the seeds of life and they have been created and put in that room by a race of super intelligent aliens (for the sake of clarity I will call them 'space jockeys'). The idea is that eventually the space jockey spieces will ultimately emerge as the evolutionary climax to a hundred million year+ experiment. The giant head is a ritualistic symbol they have left behind to celebrate the moment, it is an image of themselves. (the fosilized alien we see in the first film will look almost like a human underneath a bio-mechanical suit).

These space jockeys have also terraformed the planet and when the necessary stable conditions have been reached the jars will open and that is the point when life begins. They repeat this process on many planets, it is an extreme long term strategy that ensures the survival of their spieces. Millions of years ago they began the process on Earth, and currently humans are the most evolved spieces and physically at least look very similar to the space jockeys.

The space jockeys however did not take into account that at some point during their evolutionary experiment, a level of intelligence would be reached that could pose an actual threat to themselves. Humans have now reached this level, they are able to explore beyond their own planet and seek out answers to their existance.

It's at this point something happens which leads to the creation of the xenomorphs/facehuggers etc. I'm thinking some sort of cross contamination. Whatever happens, Humans are to blame for interferring. The space jockeys ie our creators, turn hostile. The big theme is that by seeking out the big answers we effectively threaten our own existance. Maybe the Xenomorphs were created by the space jockeys to neutralize planets where their experiments were starting to cause problems, maybe the crashed ship on LV426 was heading to Earth.

 

[scatterbug]

I watched 'Alien' yesterday for the first time in ages.

When they land on LV426, Ash carries out an atmospheric scan. The results make him state "It's almost primordial."

So, do the Space Jockey race 'prepare' this planet for life, but, as is the case with many 'advanced' civilisations, do they become complacent. As a result of this complacency, perhaps they go too far and create a being that is in fact superior to them in it's ability to reproduce and adapt. It then 'infects' the Space Jockey, and the result is a creature that incorporates the DNA of the Space Jockey along with it's own. It then lays all of the eggs in the belly of the Space Jockey ship, awaiting the opportunity to reproduce and spread throughout the universe, with the ability to take on the DNA of it's 'host', thus being pre-adapted to the hosts environment?

It could be the container shaped 'eggs' we see in the trailer, in the area with the human face, are what the Space Jockey's use to reproduce their engineered species...but when they create something too powerful, the resulting creature lays the eggs we see in Alien?

No.

 

[scatterbug]

Nice.

Here's my latest possibly very wacky theory:

The jars contain the seeds of life and they have been created and put in that room by a race of super intelligent aliens (for the sake of clarity I will call them 'space jockeys'). The idea is that eventually the space jockey spieces will ultimately emerge as the evolutionary climax to a hundred million year+ experiment. The giant head is a ritualistic symbol they have left behind to celebrate the moment, it is an image of themselves. (the fosilized alien we see in the first film will look almost like a human underneath a bio-mechanical suit).

These space jockeys have also terraformed the planet and when the necessary stable conditions have been reached the jars will open and that is the point when life begins. They repeat this process on many planets, it is an extreme long term strategy that ensures the survival of their spieces. Millions of years ago they began the process on Earth, and currently humans are the most evolved spieces and physically at least look very similar to the space jockeys.

The space jockeys however did not take into account that at some point during their evolutionary experiment, a level of intelligence would be reached that could pose an actual threat to themselves. Humans have now reached this level, they are able to explore beyond their own planet and seek out answers to their existance.

It's at this point something happens which leads to the creation of the xenomorphs/facehuggers etc. I'm thinking some sort of cross contamination. Whatever happens, Humans are to blame for interferring. The space jockeys ie our creators, turn hostile. The big theme is that by seeking out the big answers we effectively threaten our own existance. Maybe the Xenomorphs were created by the space jockeys to neutralize planets where their experiments were starting to cause problems, maybe the crashed ship on LV426 was heading to Earth.

I like this idea.

I'm not sure Prometheus will give us any further insight to the xenomorph/facehugger though.

 

[leamspaceman]

Nice.

Here's my latest possibly very wacky theory:

The jars contain the seeds of life and they have been created and put in that room by a race of super intelligent aliens (for the sake of clarity I will call them 'space jockeys'). The idea is that eventually the space jockey spieces will ultimately emerge as the evolutionary climax to a hundred million year+ experiment. The giant head is a ritualistic symbol they have left behind to celebrate the moment, it is an image of themselves. (the fosilized alien we see in the first film will look almost like a human underneath a bio-mechanical suit).

These space jockeys have also terraformed the planet and when the necessary stable conditions have been reached the jars will open and that is the point when life begins. They repeat this process on many planets, it is an extreme long term strategy that ensures the survival of their spieces. Millions of years ago they began the process on Earth, and currently humans are the most evolved spieces and physically at least look very similar to the space jockeys.

The space jockeys however did not take into account that at some point during their evolutionary experiment, a level of intelligence would be reached that could pose an actual threat to themselves. Humans have now reached this level, they are able to explore beyond their own planet and seek out answers to their existance.

It's at this point something happens which leads to the creation of the xenomorphs/facehuggers etc. I'm thinking some sort of cross contamination. Whatever happens, Humans are to blame for interferring. The space jockeys ie our creators, turn hostile. The big theme is that by seeking out the big answers we effectively threaten our own existance. Maybe the Xenomorphs were created by the space jockeys to neutralize planets where their experiments were starting to cause problems, maybe the crashed ship on LV426 was heading to Earth.

Sounds plausible...but why does the 'Space Jockey' on LV426 obviously have the tell-tale exit wound of an Alien that has gestated inside him? Did he just about manage to set-up a 'warning beacon' before the Alien emerged from his chest? Perhaps he managed to do it in his final moments of life after the Alien emerged? There has to be an Alien/Space Jockey hybrid somewhere in the mix as a creature has emerged from him. As we know, this creature assimilates the DNA of its host as it develops inside of it. The only feasible explanation is that what emerged from the Space Jockey's chest also laid the eggs. The reactive layer of mist above the eggs could be naturally occurring, a product of egg production that alerts the face huggers inside to the presence of possible 'hosts'.

If the Space Jockeys are the creators of the Alien, for whatever reason, why has one of them emerged from its creators chest?

Maybe this was a Space Jockey who had fled from his planet because their own creation had dessimated them? If the Space Jockey race survived, the question would be, why did they not intervene, thus rendering the other three films obsolete? In looking for our beginnings, our creators, the Space Jockeys...we could find our end in our encounter with the creation that has wiped out its creator?

Our encounter with this creation could be what makes 'The Company' aware of its existence and its potential, but with no idea of where it is. Hence the constant efforts in the next three films to capture it and utilise it as a weapon.

 

[leamspaceman]

No.

Okay, "No" is an option.

How about your thoughts on a possible plot?

 

[lucasisking]

Nice.

Here's my latest possibly very wacky theory:

The jars contain the seeds of life and they have been created and put in that room by a race of super intelligent aliens (for the sake of clarity I will call them 'space jockeys'). The idea is that eventually the space jockey spieces will ultimately emerge as the evolutionary climax to a hundred million year+ experiment. The giant head is a ritualistic symbol they have left behind to celebrate the moment, it is an image of themselves. (the fosilized alien we see in the first film will look almost like a human underneath a bio-mechanical suit).

These space jockeys have also terraformed the planet and when the necessary stable conditions have been reached the jars will open and that is the point when life begins. They repeat this process on many planets, it is an extreme long term strategy that ensures the survival of their spieces. Millions of years ago they began the process on Earth, and currently humans are the most evolved spieces and physically at least look very similar to the space jockeys.
.

i desperatey hope that turns out not to be the case, for it would betray a total misrepresentation of the evolutionary process.

humans are not the 'most' evolved species on earth- there's no such thing as 'most evolved'. and the idea of 'forward planned' evolution (already propounded in star trek) is a biological impossibility. if that's the plot i would walk out of the cinema.

 

[douki]

Sounds plausible...but why does the 'Space Jockey' on LV426 obviously have the tell-tale exit wound of an Alien that has gestated inside him?

...

We don't need to know the exact reasons for the exit wound or whatever came out of the pilot's chest, this could be left ambiguous. Sure there are a lot of possibilities (I think I went through a few back in the previous thread) but I just decided to rule these out and go with the obvious - it was carrying eggs and crashed due to unknown complications. What I find intriguing is where the ship is going and why? I like the idea that it was heading to Earth as this ties in with the threat in the synopsis "...to save the future of the human race".

i desperatey hope that turns out not to be the case, for it would betray a total misrepresentation of the evolutionary process.

humans are not the 'most' evolved species on earth- there's no such thing as 'most evolved'. and the idea of 'forward planned' evolution (already propounded in star trek) is a biological impossibility. if that's the plot i would walk out of the cinema.

It was just a theory, nothing is impossible. I was trying to come up with something that satisfy's everything we know about the movie so far. I quite like the idea that humans are gentically linked to space jockeys, and that all of living organisms on Earth are descended from a common ancestor. The space jockeys are super intelligent bio engineers of course

I've just come up with a couple of other ideas to add:

The only way the jockey's can sustain their spieces is by seeding newly terraformed planets in the way I described above, however for whatever reasons they have not been bearing the fruits of their efforts and their numbers are dwindling. The stakes are therefore extremely high and any interferring must be dealt with. This would help explain what leamspaceman pointed out as to why we do not see any space jockeys in the subsequent franchise, basically they become extinct.

"...a team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth," - perhaps they find an 'ampule chamber' (head room) on Earth. This is what leads them to find another one on the planet in the trailer... then it all kicks off.

 

[lucasisking]

I quite like the idea that humans are gentically linked to space jockeys, and that all of living organisms on Earth are descended from a common ancestor. The space jockeys are super intelligent bio engineers of course .

If that were the case, given that all life on Earth shares a common ancestor, then the space jockeys would have had to seed all life on Earth from the beginning. This would make the Space Jockey species at least 3.8 billion years old (notwithstanding time travel). I think it's highly unlikely any species could survive that long- certainly not a species with such clearly limited capabilities as the Space Jockeys.

The only way the jockey's can sustain their spieces is by seeding newly terraformed planets in the way I described above, however for whatever reasons they have not been bearing the fruits of their efforts and their numbers are dwindling. The stakes are therefore extremely high and any interferring must be dealt with. This would help explain what leamspaceman pointed out as to why we do not see any space jockeys in the subsequent franchise, basically they become extinct..

Their extinction is a distinct possibility, but even if they aren't, why should we see space jockeys in any of the subsequent alien films? LV-426 could be incredibly distant from their homeworld- they may not have ventured into Earth controlled space ever again.

"...a team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth," - perhaps they find an 'ampule chamber' (head room) on Earth. This is what leads them to find another one on the planet in the trailer... then it all kicks off.

This sentence makes me cringe slightly. The origins of mankind on Earth aren't a mystery, so why would we need a 'clue'? I'm really not keen on the idea that humans have biological significance beyond the Earth. Quite simply, we are technologically advanced Apes, with a proven common ancestry with all other Earth species.

One theory could be that the Space Jockeys visited Earth in the extremely remote human past (eg. 100,000 years ago), and that contact had some kind of significance to both races. What that significance is I can't speculate- but evolution is not an option.

..Or they could have biologically tinkered with a pre-human species (a la 2001) -eg. Homo habilis- to produce a race capable of technologcial advancement. Perhaps the reason for that is that the Xenomorphs pose a threat to animal life on various planets, and the Space Jockey's engineered us to defend against them in the event that they became extinct.

...Or the Space Jockeys are themselves from Earth's pre-history (say a few million years earlier than homo-sapiens). That would explain why they look vaguely humanoid. Although the mystery would remain why they aren't present in the Earth's fossil record.

I've no idea to be honest. I rather hope its something grander than any of my suggestions.

 

[raigraphixs]

Original 'Alien' trailer remade in Prometheus style

 

[douki]

If that were the case, given that all life on Earth shares a common ancestor, then the space jockeys would have had to seed all life on Earth from the beginning. This would make the Space Jockey species at least 3.8 billion years old (notwithstanding time travel). I think it's highly unlikely any species could survive that long- certainly not a species with such clearly limited capabilities as the Space Jockeys.

3.8 billion years is a long time yes, but aparently the universe is over 13 billion years old. They can survive this long simply because I say they can remember we're talking about 'god-like' aliens here, my concept of a god-like alien is bloody old.

The origins of mankind on Earth aren't a mystery, so why would we need a 'clue'? I'm really not keen on the idea that humans have biological significance beyond the Earth. Quite simply, we are technologically advanced Apes, with a proven common ancestry with all other Earth species.

We can still say that humans evolved from apes, but ultimately our history extends right back to the very first microbes. Therefore a clue to the origin of life itself would in turn be a clue to the origin of mankind.

Intelligent Design is an argument that seems to occupy the middle ground between God and evolution, it basically says that life on earth is too complex to have come about purely by chance. *insert my space jockey theory here*