Prometheus: It's kinda like a prequel...maybe?

Elizabeth Shaw believes she has found a clue to the origin of man. Together with other scientists and explorers she travels to the far reaches of the universe and discovers a planet that might hold the answers she seeks. But what they find on that planet could not only lead to her destruction, but that of all life on Earth.

So what should one expect from Prometheus? First and foremost, it was a visual feast. Director Ridley Scott filled every frame of the film with so many interesting things (landscapes, cool tech/gadgets, spaceships, etc.) that it was next to impossible to not keep one's eyes glued to the screen (if you have the chance to see it in IMAX 3D, I highly recommend it). Scott was also able to squeeze out as much suspense and thrills as possible  in order to keep the audience at the collective edges of their seats. While not equaling Alien in this regard, Prometheus certainly held its own against other recent science fiction films. Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron also provided tremendous turns in their individual roles. Where the film faltered was in its story, which aimed high content-wise, but failed to deliver any real answers to the heavy handed questions it posed. The story did not concern a bunch of space truckers being chased on their ship by a big, nasty nightmare of a xenomorph, rather it pondered just where we as humans came from (against the back drop of a number of nasty things attempting to harm the human protagonists). Were we created by the Engineers (the beings that Shaw and her co-horts discover on the planet)? If so, who or what created them? These are questions that can be tackled/explored within a science fiction film, but the script just posed them and never presented the audience with an opportunity to get enough information to come to their own conclusions. This, along with unexceptional dialogue and the fact that the story was extremely difficult to follow, left the audience feeling alienated (no pun intended) and wanting everything in the film to be just as spectacular as all of the amazing visuals they were seeing on screen.

It's funny but while getting ready to go to the theater and check out Prometheus I found myself thinking, "it's going to be great to finally see a good sequel in the Alien film series." However after the credits started rolling, I realized that my attitude (which I am sure was shared by Alien fans), was the wrong one to have. It is true that there are certain links to the original Alien universe in Prometheus (Weyland Yutani remains an evil corporation, androids are nefarious and dark haired heroines kick butt), but this film is done almost a disservice by the weighty expectations fans of the series have unfairly placed upon it.

Prometheus was not another Alien, which may be disappointing to some, but its visual flair and solid acting made it a worthy companion piece to the series.

Grade: B-

The Thing From Another World: A Sci-Fi Classic!

When scientists in the North Pole discover something strange has crashed into the ice near their research post, an Air Force team led by Captain Patrick Hendry is dispatched to uncover just what it is. However, what they find not only threatens them, but the entire world.

Even though it was released in 1951 and contains some unavoidably dated special effects, The Thing From Another World remains a fun and intriguing film to watch. The fun comes from the way director Christian Nyby, (although most film connoisseurs will argue that the film’s producer Howard Hawks did the bulk of the directing for the film), was able to utilize the isolated setting of the Anchorage outpost (where the bulk of the action took place) to elicit a sense of claustrophobia and fear as The Thing went about hunting Captain Hendry and the rest of the cast. There was also plenty of action and crackling dialogue (a standard for Hawks - directed films) which kept the film moving at a compelling clip. The intrigue of the movie came from recognizing the impact that it has had on the sci-fi films which came after it. Movies like Alien and Aliens were influenced, both in story and iconography, by The Thing From Another World (witness the Geiger Counter employed by the Air Force men which is similar to the Motion Tracker used by Ripley and others in the Alien films as well as the desire by the Air Force leadership to capture The Thing for further study, something the Weyland/Yutani Corporation was always trying to accomplish in the Alien films). Beyond the obvious influences on modern sci-fi cinema, The Thing From Another World serves as a sort of time capsule which captures the mood of 1950’s America regarding subjects such as the Cold War and the uncertainty regarding the Space Age which had just begun.

All film theory aside, The Thing From Another World is just a tremendously entertaining film to watch.

Grade: A