IDW is releasing a comic book prequel for Star Trek Into Darkness, called Countdown to Darkness, written by Mike Johnson with a story by Roberto Orci. It is an official prequel comic to the movie and works to bridge the gap between the first film and the second. The cover to #4, the final in the miniseries, shows a Klingon warrior with the much debated helmet. The comic comes out in April and the film in May. Could it be setting the Klingons up for a big role for Into Darkness? Time will tell. What do you think?

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, IDW Seems To Hint At Klingon Involvement In Star Trek Into Darkness

And the hits keep coming!! Ah, 1982, what a wonderfully amazing year for Scifi fantasy enthusiasts…A huge amount of time tested cinema in the Sci fi adventure, horror, and fantasy had been released that year. But one really stood out, was not so much a runaway box office smash. But its legacy touched the very fabric of science fiction, artificial intelligence, and the unrestful possibilities of a far less than perfect ultra-modern society existing in our future.

On June 25th, 1982,  while the world was in utter high anticipation of STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI, still about a year to release,  ALIEN director Ridley Scott took on another unique scifi adventure of epic proportions.  Epic proporations  not so much on the grandeur of outer space and shuttlecraft expeditioning, alien encounters, bloody conflicts, and mass explosions… but more on the Earth bound advancement of technology and artificial intelligence. A movie with heart on what it means to be human, or to be aware of one’s self despite having been a product of genius technological manufacturing, not by biological process. A movie that deals with such beings and the mystery of their own life and origin, their place in the world, and the battle to survive in it. In also following with the current hype of Ridley’s new film sensation, PROMETHEUS, this feature, Comic Book Therapy gives a hearty 30 year salute to the Cyberpunk/futuretech noir masterpiece, BLADE RUNNER. Joining in on the lookback are local comic industry artists and writers Henry Barajas, Mike Moran, and Ross Demma.

BLADE RUNNER, not your typical, NEVER your typical, “android scifi” work…it was the one film that brought to light the other side to how humans felt when technology has taken life IN technology for granted and when said technology was TOO intelligent and then out of control. This was also a film that brought the issue on the flipside and brought empathy and sympathy to the plight of better programmed “android beings” (known as “replicants”) in finding out who they  are, where did they come from, where are they headed, topping it off with how best to live the rest of their lives in peace… All this while making their way through a dystopian Los Angeles, year 2019.  As Blade Runner‘s being a film as a whole, there is excellent direction by Ridley Scott, further giving credit to his visionary filmmaking in Scif Fantasy. Add to it, excellent performances by all the cast, taking Harrison Ford’s stardom up another notch, and kickstarting the successful 80s film careers of Sean Young, Rutger Hauer, and giving more notice to Edward James Olmos in his pre-Chief Lieutenant Castillo from Miami Vice days. All in all, a great piece of work combining detective style mystery within a futuristic city environment.

Blade Runner Original Movie Trailer – 1982

DocBBanner’s take:

I first came across BLADE RUNNER sometime in early July of 1982. Just a fifth grader on the start of an awesome summer vacation with family, We all took refuge on a hot summer’s day into the local mall and theater and saw the ad for BLADE RUNNER. It starred Harrison Ford, he was packing a gun, it takes place in the big city in the future, FLOATING CARS!! ENOUGH SAID!! We went in, and nothing prepared us for what we were about to see. A futuristic Los Angelian environment enshrouded in days of still smog-ensconced skies and miserable, dank, rainy evenings. Still, the rocket hover cars were a sight to see soaring about the night skies passing high scale buildings and HUGE projection billboard screen ads of Geishas puffing gourmet tobacco line cigarettes. Ford’s performance as Deckard, edgy and hard boiled, a man working his toughest crackdown on replicants, and a man constantly in the supposed delusion that his life is not his own. Add therein, Sean Young as Rachel, the mystery woman throughout the story in Deckard’s life, and Rutger Hauer as  replicant leader  Roy Batty among his gang of renegade replicants that Deckard must take down before they get a good handle on himself. Numerous chase scenes, gunshots, breaking glass, chokeholds, breaking fingers, lovely stuff! It was all mostly a blur, I thought “Its Ford against these “androids”… I get it.” …But, there was much more to it, and with a little bit of story guidance from my folks, a lesson was learned in how life was precious to Deckard, Rachel, Roy, and everyone else in the film, replicant or NOT. The film, in end point, was thoroughly enjoyed.

My take on BLADE RUNNER and its influence on pop and scifi culture…?? Where to start and how long to note here are bigger questions… *LOL*  Blade Runner first off, I would like to note, the sub-genres that it is representative of, are really what make it such a big deal in cult and mainstream scifi cinema. Starting with its easy-going but prevalent use of Film noir styles made famous in old film classics like Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, and detective classics like the Mike Hammer and Philip Morrow novels and television series. Those styles gave it a more classic crime drama edge that made it different from other scifi big city films and in part give Blade Runner some uniqueness.  Blade Runner’s biggest deal though, one that actually is the cornerstone of its influence on scifi is of making significant use of a yet at the time underused subgenre of Science fiction in the movies called Cyberpunk. Now just what is Cyberpunk? The general interpretation of Cyberpunk would be a branch or subgenre of science fiction dealing with dystopian and somewhat lawless futuristic urban societies that are dominated by computer, cybernetic and/or other related technologies. This genre was made well into literature early on by tech and scifi fantasy authors like William Gibson (author of Neuromancer) and Philip K. Dick(author of A Scanner Darkly, The Adjustment Group, and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep…this one, being the story basis for BLADE RUNNER). Going by this, and BLADE RUNNER being a forerunning film in bringing to light the prominence of Cyberpunk in cinema, are the biggest parts of its influence in scifi culture later in film, TV, and other media here and abroad for years to come. First the effects were immediate on American Scifi cinema, starting with James Cameron’s Machine Doomsday war masterpiece, THE TERMINATOR, the cult popular apocalyptic tech movie CYBORG with Jean Claude Van Damme, and even the Cyborg law man fav ROBOCOP.  This carried on through the 90s with the TERMINATOR 2: Judgement Day Sequel, the cult favs JOHNNY MNEMONIC,  HACKERS, and the mega earth shaking intensity of the Wachoski Brothers epic, THE MATRIX.

All at the same time abroad, BLADE RUNNER and its Cyberpunk influence reached into the hearts, minds, and imaginations, of anime and manga’s best writers, artists, and directors in Japan. This was evident in such notable productions such as 1988′s AKIRA, and BUBBLEGUM CRISIS (in which the band of one of the main characters, Priss Asagiri (Priss being a name of one of the female replicants), leads a rock band known as ..heheh..the Replicants). The influence continued on with a few of manga creator legend Masamune Shirow’s works: Dominion Tank Police, Appleseed, Black Magic Mario 66, and the ever popular Ghost In The Shell saga..all into the 90s onward. Even smaller effects, such as in the much beloved retro style scifi classic anime Cowboy Bebop, there are cyberpunk elements throughout the show’s adventures and even feature a character in episode 7 “Heavy Metal Queen” named Deckard (though his looks are modeled after Woody Allen…*scratches head why*)

[Bubblegum Crisis and Ghost In The Shell; Anime and Manga's scifi legacies given the boost by Blade Runner and the then-renewed advent of Cyberpunk.]

Regardless, BLADE RUNNER and its contributions to Scifi/Cyberpunk, pop and movie culture are immense in their variety and style. Simply put, Ridley and Philip hit on a big trend in taking us to a wondrous world where all kinds of possibilities exist with technology. BUT, a certain level of order and responsibility, not to mention ethics, are needed in handling it.

Blade Runner – Playthings Scene (R Rated scene, heheh.)

Commentary with Henry Barajas:

I started reading Phil K Dick’s novels because of the film. I saw it when I was a kid and I remember feeling fearful for the future. The movies that were screening at the same time were ET and Star Trek, both not nearly as bleak.

BLADE RUNNER changed film the same way Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns did for comic books. There hasn’t been a movie like BLADE RUNNER, because of it’s unique style that can’t be repeated. It’s the best cyber noir films ever.

[Ahhhh...those insane billboards!  LOVE THEM!!]

Commentary with Mike Moran:

I can’t quite place the first time I saw Blade Runner. I am 35 now so I was only about 5 when it came out. I think I saw it when I was 6 or 7 for the first time. I was already a huge fan of Star Wars. So what I remember was another great looking sci-fi film that had Han Solo in it. I would watch it anytime it was on TV since the visuals were so strong. At that age though the story was “slow” to me. Fast forward a few years and when I was about 13-14 I must have finally “gotten” it. At that point I really enjoyed the film and tried to gobble it up both visually and emotionally. I think when the “Directors Cut” came out in 1993 is when I really fell in love with it. That version to me blew away the theatrical. The narration cut and the unicorn dream really change the film to have much more meaning.

I feel that in 1982 when Blade Runner was released it set an entire template for various genre looks but especially what would be come to be known as Cyber Punk. Its pretty far reaching. When it shows up in Japanese Video Games like SNATCHER then you know it has a strong influence. Not to mention all of the film makers that were inspired after seeing it. Visually it is still very stunning and bests most modern films. Now films can sometimes be described as like Blade Runner. Pretty good for a film that was at release considered a failure. I find the more you revisit the film the more you appreciate it. From visuals to the fantastic soundtrack it holds up. The 30th Anniversary Blu Ray is right around the corner and I will have a copy in hand on it’s release.

[Promotional image for the 2007 Final Cut release]

Commentary with Ross Demma:

Blade Runner: A Retrospective From a Geek You’ve Never Heard Of.
Ross Demma

I was 13 or 14 the first time I saw Blade Runner. My Dad introduced me to it. In fact, it was on network television (one of those cheesy 90s Saturday Afternoon movie shows) and by the first commercial break, Dad got up. “We’re not watching it like this.” He went over to his VHS collection and pulled his copy of Blade Runner from the shelf and put it in his VCR. Now, mind you, this was before the Final Cut. This wasn’t even the Director’s Cut. This was the US theatrical release that apparently plagued Ridley Scott so. I remember bits and snippets. Harrison Ford was the only actor I knew (Thanks, Star Wars/Indiana Jones): the rest, this was pretty much their inaugural performance for me. I remember coming away from it confused with a slightly bad taste in my mouth. Did I miss something? Was this sci-fi epic that everyone raved about over my head? I spent the next few years not particularly liking Blade Runner. (Wait, wait. Hold your torches and pitchforks a little longer.) When I was 18, I started working at a video store, Hollywood Video. I gave it another shot. It was the Director’s Cut this time, so not much changed in my mind. After that, I figured it was me, not the movie. I’ve since bought the four-disc set with all versions included. I’m determined to see Scott’s vision the way he intended it to be.

Since then, I’ve seen many of Philip K. Dick’s adaptations come to life. I’ve seen the impact they’ve had. None of them seem as edgy and dystopian as Blade Runner. This movie had meat to it: meat that not only could sustain you for multiple meals, but fuel future sci-fi for the foreseeable future. “Machines that look like people” didn’t have to jerk their heads around in a robot-like fashion anymore. We were *convinced* that Sean Young’s character was just as human as you or I. Sci-fi didn’t have to be dreary or overly bright; cautionary tale or hopeful dream. Movies in the genre could now be a marriage of both. That’s what drew people into the universe filled with replicants and Blade Runners: it allowed a near-seamless mix of fantasy and reality. More importantly, it placed both Ridley Scott and Philip K. Dick as permanent fixtures in the realm of science-fiction and although Scott has a very short list of sci-fi to his name, he’s known for giving quality over quantity again and again. Dick’s acknowledgement has garnered us many more amazing stories to make us wonder or warn us against the wrong path. Many of which are now staples contemporary classic film.

Blade Runner - Original movie poster

There you have it, BLADE RUNNER…  Ridley Scott’s testament to great scifi filmmaking, Philip K Dick’s observation of technology in a less than optimal society, and a testament to pop cultural phenomena of cyberpunk.

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And the hype continues as CBT looks forward to the news of an anticipated sequel by Ridley Scott for BLADE RUNNER….coming soon hopefully.   Catch the next lookback feature in July, where we pay a hearty 25 year salute but to another one of the aforementioned legends of Cyberpunk film… Paul Verhoeven’s  ROBOCOP.

DocBBanner, 30 Years Of Dreaming Electric Sheep: A Salute To BLADE RUNNER!

On June 11th, 1982, the entertainment world, still enthralled with the magic that the STAR WARS films A NEW HOPE, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, and also of course, Spielberg’s own classic CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND had brought to science fiction, E.T. was to have people’s imaginations and visions of alien encounters to be taken up another notch.   Spielberg produced and directed the endearing alien epic, and was written by Melissa Mathison and starred Henry Thomas, Robert McNaughton, Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote, and a very young Drew Barrymore.

The movie was shot on a budget of about $10.5 Million (about the same as Lucas’s STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE, only by $500,000 more.)   The film completed shooting within 3-4 months (September to December 1981).  What resulted was a worldwide sensation for young and old, became 1982′s biggest box office grossing film, and had the potential to unseat Lucas’s STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE as the greatest box office grossing film of ALL TIME. Comic Book Therapy Presents the 30 year look-back on E.T. with DocBBanner and local comics industry artist Ross Demma.

E.T. The Extraterrestrial Trailer – 1982

DocBBanner’s own look-back:

E.T. …The hype was all there as I remember, late May, 1982, it started with looking at silently wondrous movie trailer scenes on TV. Deep dark blue/black evening clouded skies in a secluded forest park, suddenly a bright yet hazy and mysterious light broke through, fade on to scenes of a boy and a mysterious limb of an alien creature reaching to his own hand, and other silent, intriguing moments detailing a wonderful new film by Steven Spielberg, the director for CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. I, just a fifth grader then, finally seeing the film in the theater two months later in high anticipation brought me closer to what all the excitement was about. A fantastic down to earth story about a boy and his new found friend from the stars. Needless to say, the wondrous scenes of Elliot racing his alien flight powered bike across and moonlit sky to the big escape from G-men and the authorities by the same means, all along with John William’s thrilling score, amazed me to no end.

The final tear-jerking farewell between friends as E.T. embarked on his ship once more left no man, woman, and/or child safe from grabbing a hanky, tissue, or concession stand napkin either (GUILTY AS CHARGED). Heheh.. It was a friendship movie beyond most others and a film never to be soon forgotten.

E. T. ‘s legacy on pop culture was something unique and phenomenal, not just establishing the idea of one boy’s unexpected fantasy encounter with an alien being from afar, but so much more. It gave pushes and examination in most of the major areas of light family drama and comedy, social conscience on family life, youth lifestyles, a new burst to alien pop culture, and oh yes, it was a true pusher of commercial product placement. To start, it brought to more light the trials and tribulations of latch-key children living their day-to-day lives as kids under a family divorced single parent household, the interaction of the siblings to one another, often with some light colorful language added in…*Clears throat* Heheh… Continuing on, E.T. boosted the typical child and teen trended life of suburban Los Angeles with some of the fun 80s fads at the time, bike riding the hills like BMX pros, wearing legionnaire baseball caps with the flaps in the back, VANS slip-on shoes, light night gaming binges with friends playing Dungeons and Dragons..with all that to note, this leads to another heavy point of E.T.’s influence: PRODUCT PLACEMENT. VANS shoes, Dungeons and Dragons were just the tip of the iceberg yet on what this film promoted in its scenes.  Elliot, his older brother, and friends, for instance, downed copious amounts of Pepsi Cola with their pizza and gaming nights. And let’s not forget the almighty mouth melting bite size candy food of champions, Reese’s Pieces…

E.T.’s immense love of the peanut buttery filed shell candy gave a promotion and sales boost to the product so strong, it gave similar product, the original and previously more popular shell candy rival M n M’s, some serious market competition for at least two years on. Finally, and on a lighter noted, but more amusing note, E.T.’s much urgent mission to call back home to GET home coined his famous English phrase “Phone home!” and the telecommunications and telephone service industry jumped on this famous movie line to slogan Local and Long Distance calling plan campaigns on their services for years to come. And I would also like to finally note that E.T.’s influence stayed strong onto today with recent Scifi parody in the Simon Peg/Nick Frost/Seth Rogen alien comedy PAUL with some of its scenes the same. E.T. was a phenomenon in the movie pop culture to society, family and friendship values, commercialism, and any of above and below  TO become so beyond any other film at the time, enough said!

One of the Original movie poster sets.

Summing it all up, and to note alongside the phenomenon, E.T. The Extraterrestrial was an alien family drama like no other, save CLOSE ENCOUNTERS../ to a degree. While most other alien drama films only picked the worse case scenario of imminent destruction and invasion of a hostile force like classics INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and the original movie adaptation of H.G. WELLS’S WAR OF THE WORLDS, E.T. sought to take the comforting ideal that we may have a loving, caring friend among the stars. I think life can be made to feel much more filled with happiness and hope knowing that there may be one…and one that will visit us or we visit them someday.

-DocBBanner

E.T. The Extraterrestrial – Ride Across the Moon

E.T. the Extra Terrestrial: A Retrospective From a Geek You’ve Never Heard Of.
Ross Demma

Almost everyone has a fond memory of the first time they saw E.T. I am no exception. As a kid, my family and I didn’t go out to the movies very often. Of course, I was 2 when E.T. hit theaters so even if we *did* go, I mostly likely wouldn’t have remembered it. Like most children of the 80s, my recollection of E.T. was gathered around a TV and VCR after having rented the movie. I was nervously waiting on the edge of my seat immediately before the reveal of E.T. That scene had a particularly ominous tone for me (moreso than it probably should have), but once that creature hit the screen, my tension eased up a bit: there’s no way this could hurt me. Sure, I was drawn in by the fast pace, waiting for the other shoe to drop and a big scary creature to jump out or for E.T. to die before being able to get back home, but like a pseudo-parent, Steven Spielberg stayed with me, encouraging me to trust him. This was my first foray into Spielberg’s movies.

I didn’t know what to expect, but after the movie was over, he had my trust from then on. It took years (into my 20s) not to tear up in the third act. I still have a difficult time. Bravo, Henry Thomas. We watched the movie as a family many times after that (more times than I can count) and even now, if it comes on TV, I’m transported back to my childhood: warm and safe and making plans in my head as to how *I* would handle first contact.

Not only did E.T. thrill millions of Americans, it succeeded in launching the careers of Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore. The cultural aspects alone are staggering: with the famous “bike ride past the moon” being lampooned by countless magazines, TV and even other movies. Whereas most movies involved aliens that either wanted to warn us or eradicate us, E.T. just wanted to go home, a universal sentiment if there ever was one. The film has gone down in cinema history as an American classic and it did all of this without fancy CG, innumerable sequels, or talking down to its audience. It’s a movie kids can grow up with and show to their own kids. E.T. is nothing short of wholesome entertainment that has proven itself against the rigors of time. This national treasure still captures America’s heart, even 30 years later. It encourages us to keep moving forward and to never discount a true friendship, no matter how out of place it might seem.

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There you have it.. E.T. The Extraterrestrial, the down to earth childhood alien encounter and friendship beyond all others….and a masterpiece of the heart.

Classic pic from the alien ship's return scene.

Next time, catch Ross Demma, along with fellow local comic artist celebs Mike Moran and Henry Barajas, and myself on the 30 year lookback of Ridley Scott’s Sci-fi dystopian masterpiece, the cyberpunk classic BLADE RUNNER!

DocBBanner, 30 Years of Phoning Home: Comic Book Therapy Salutes E.T.: The Extraterrestrial

Spoiler Warning

Ridley Scott hasn’t been timid about saying Prometheus has the same DNA as Alien.  The plot takes place about thirty years before the seminal 1979 sci-fi/horror film, but shares a lot of similarities.  You have a rag tag group of people who aren’t sure what they are getting into.  The couple of stereotypes who are destined to die.  And an evil corporation who wants to use whatever they find as a weapon.  That’s damn similar to Alien.  But once the movie starts to get going, the similarities end.  Prometheus is more of a psychological thriller than horror or action/adventure.  The audience never is sure what is attacking the crew. The plot uses some good metaphors about humans and how they always kill themselves.  The characters are developed well enough, with the aforementioned stereotypical crew members not receiving much.  While they could have been explored more, the audience does care for them when the, pardon my expression, sucker hits the face.

One of the flaws of Prometheus is that the audience knows the movie ties into Alien before they walk into the theater.  When the final act starts, I kept thinking to myself, “…..so when will this start tying into Alien?”  Damon Lindelof, the screenwriter, is one of the best sci-fi writers of this generation, but he has a bitch of a time with delivering on what he sets up.  The entire movie is set up for a big ending, but the movie feels pidgin-held on tying into Alien.  Since it takes place well before Alien, why did he feel the need to tie it in so much?  Couldn’t we have seen a couple of hints of what was to come, but have the big tie-in come in the sequel?  Don’t think for a second the ending isn’t entertaining, and when everything starts to tie-in, it’s hard to not get a little fanboy excited about hearing the all-to-familiar siren start to go off.  And while the marketing department needed to let everyone know that the movie is a prequel, the ending would have worked better if the audience DIDN’T know that the movie tied into Alien.  My mouth would have dropped at the ending, but instead I kind of expected it to happen.  It’s a double edged sword.  The general movie going audience wouldn’t see this movie if they didn’t know it tied into Alien, but once the movie ends, they wish they didn’t know. A good amount of questions are raised about the mythology of this universe, with only a few of them answered.  Prometheus does prove that the Alien franchise still has plenty of life left.

Lindelof and Jon Spaihts, the other screenwriter, write a good script.  As said before, characters are well developed, but could have used more.  The dialogue never goes into cliche territory, even when the stereotypical characters are in the spotlight.  The production value is rather high, as you have seen in the trailers.  The sets look great, with many of them giving subtle nods to Alien.  Most of the ship Prometheus has an design similar to the Nostromo.

The acting is one of the high points of Prometheus.  Noomi Rapace is great as the lead, as we can really feel the terror of what she has discovered sweeping over her.  There is one very brutal birthing scene that made me squirm in my seat (and I laugh at the Saw movies).  She handles it masterfully, and it adds to the uneasiness the the audience is feeling the entire time.  Charlize Theron is somewhat bland, but also somewhat interesting as the head of the ship.  The same goes for Idris Elba as the captain of the ship.  These two are the characters that needed more development, considering how much their characters are in the movie.  Guy Pearce is unrecognizable as the head of Weyland Corporation.  The rest of the cast is good, but most are there as cannon fodder or for comic relief.  They might as well be wearing red shirts at the beginning.

But Michael Fassbender steals the show as David.  Is there anything this guy isn’t brilliant in?  His role as an android who is borderline human is beautifully done.  One scene in particular, has one crew member insulting him and saying he has no soul.  Fassbender keeps the same expression on his face, but does these two slight eye twitches that show how hurt he is by the comments.  And throughout the film, it’s easy to think that Fassbender is a robot, by the hard movements and manner of speaking.  They never go into hammy territory, with these robot movements being every so slight.  It makes the audience question if he is actually a robot or just a human playing the part.

Prometheus is a very entertaining movie that sadly has to deal with some bad marketing choices.  It’s one to see a couple of times, and own on Blu-Ray.

Prometheus gets 4/5.

MrComicBook, Prometheus Review

There have been some very interesting trailers for Prometheus, but little is known about the film itself. The more we see it seems that it is what many suspected, a prequel to Alien. Ridley Scott has kind of said it was but has remained tight lipped overall. The film comes out June 8th and it stars Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce, Rafe Spall, Sean Harris, Logan Marshall-Green, and Charlize Theron.

Ridley Scott, director of “Alien” and “Blade Runner,” returns to the genre he helped define. With PROMETHEUS, he creates a groundbreaking mythology, in which a team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a thrilling journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, It's Official: PROMETHEUS Gets An R Rating

It comes out June 8th, but we still know very little and are likely to learn little more before then. At Wondercon this weekend, Scott and Co. presented the new trailer (which was previously posted on CBT as you can see by clicking here). The Hollywood Reporter states that Scott came out to a scattered standing ovation for the panel. Throughout the presentation, Scott sidestepped any connection with his previous movies Alien. When talking about writing Prometheus Scott said:

It evolved into another universe. If we’re lucky, there’ll be a second part. It does leave you with some nice open questions.

Scott also touched on how visual effects have changed since the first Alien movie where a man in a rubber suit played the big bad alien. “Today you can pretty much do anything you want. We’re almost action-filmed out, almost science fiction-filmed out, so the baseline question is: how original are you going to be.”

One of the stars of the film, Charlize Theron said that remaining tight lipped about Prometheus will be the closes she and the crew will feel to CIA spies.

Adding a sour note to the panel, fans left disappointed because Scott and crew didn’t take any questions from the audience. They instead took questions that were supposedly from Twitter. The Hollywood Reporter states that it appeared to be designed to avoid unwanted fan questions.

Plot: A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.

Prometheus is scheduled for release in the USA on June 8, 2012 through 20th Century Fox. The film will be simultaneously released in IMAX theaters in 3D

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Ridley Scott And Cast Talk Prometheus And Possible Sequel At Wondercon

Now we know that everyone’s favourite xenomorph isn’t going to rear it’s drooling shiny dome in Ridley Scott’s ‘Prometheus‘, Scott’s made that crystal clear. But he does clearly feel there’s lots more to the ‘Alien‘ universe to explore, and while he and his cast have been keen to let us know that ‘Prometheus‘ will take place in the same universe as ‘Alien‘, the new trailer suggests that this is very much a prequel to the sci-fi classic. Lets take at look at the clues laid bare in the new footage:

The Title Card

First up that famous ‘Alien‘ title card is teased. This may only be for the trailer, but it’s an up front and in your face clue from Scott as to the nature of this movie. The Prometheus title reveals itself letter-by-letter just as the revered ‘Alien‘ title-card did back in 1979, the half planet motif is also echoed.

Alien Title Card 1979

The Space Jockey

Now for the BIG clues, namely that space jockey chap. First up the crew of Prometheus are scanning something that looks suspiciously like the space jockey’s helmet/skull.., take a look.

Prometheus Space Jockey Head?

A closer look to what could be the Space Jockey head

Space Jockey head 1979

Next up the man himself, or at least the gun/weapon/telescope type thing that we first saw his corpse sitting upon when John Hurt and co first boarded that crashed space-craft all those years ago.

Space Jockey weapon 1979

Space Jockey weapon Prometheus

And what about this:

Space Jockey in official released image

Here it is brightened up to better show off the  “space jockey” suits/Noomi Rapace’s Keanu Reeves face.

Hello there you!!

Eagle eyed fans over at AVP Galaxy noticed a bald headed being in what looks like a biomechanical outfit under the “S” in the ‘Prometheus’ title in the trailer. Can this be Space Jockey’s true form? Look closely at his head and notice he resembles the face of the “God” monument the crew comes across in the ampule room shown in the official movie poster and trailers:

Prometheus Space Jockey Close Up

The Derelict Crashed Space-Ship

Speaking of the crashed space-craft that featured heavily in ‘Alien‘ and ‘Aliens‘, here it is.., crashing.

The Derelict crashing 2011

Crashed Derelict 1979

Prometheus Derelict vs Alien Derelict

So undeniable facts that this is not just a film which takes part in the same fictional universe as ‘Alien‘ but rather this takes place on the very same planet (LV-462 as James Cameron would later name it) and the very same location. The big question now is when it takes place in relation to ‘Alien‘ and why oh why if we’re seeing everything else will we not see the famous creature?

Saying that, Scott said no xenomorph, he didn’t say anything about the eggs or facehuggers.

Speaking of Facehuggers/Chestburster:

chestburster or something else entirely?

We can’t exactly see who it his but based on the image above we can assume that some kind of experiment is going to take place. Just look at the state of Noomi Rapace/Elizabeth Shaw:

Noomi Rapace got in some trouble

Oh and if you were in any further doubt that this is an Alien prequel, take a look at that end title card.., produced by Walter Hill and David Giler who legally must be titled as producers on any and all Alien movies (including the crappy AVP films).., in this case likely to be because of ‘characters based on those from the movie Alien‘ type deal.

And what to say about our favorite Corporation?

The Weyland-Yutani Corporation

With their logo branded all over the vehicles, equipment and Idris Elba’s t-shirt in trailer, it strongly suggests that Ridley Scott plans on keeping the theme that humanity’s worst enemy is often itself.

As you can see from the shots above and from the trailer below , Prometheus won’t be taking anyone to their happy place. We’ve got faces boiling, people screaming, ships doing scary ship things, people leaping off ledges and Noomi being sucked out of an airlock.

Someone, please, make the bad man (or woman, or alien?) stop!

Are you excited about “Prometheus”, do you think it will live up to the “Alien” that we all love and care about? Let us know!

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Prometheus is an upcoming science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green and Charlize Theron.

The film will focus on a mythology within the Alien universe. Set in the late-21st century, Prometheus will explore the advanced civilization of an extraterrestrial race responsible for the origins of modern humans on Earth, as well as the background of the Alien creature which made its first appearance in the 1979 film.

Plot:
A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.
Prometheus is scheduled for release in the USA on June 8, 2012 through 20th Century Fox. The film will be simultaneously released inIMAX theaters in 3D

wolverinept, Prometheus Trailer Packed With Easter Eggs For The Fans

The new trailer for the upcoming Ridley Scott‘s sci-fi movie “Prometheus” has been released. We get a glimpse of the space jockey, although it is very brief.

Check it out:

 ——————————————————————————————

Prometheus is an upcoming science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green and Charlize Theron.

The film will focus on a mythology within the Alien universe. Set in the late-21st century, Prometheus will explore the advanced civilization of an extraterrestrial race responsible for the origins of modern humans on Earth, as well as the background of the Alien creature which made its first appearance in the 1979 film.

Plot:
A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.
Prometheus is scheduled for release in the USA on June 8, 2012 through 20th Century Fox. The film will be simultaneously released inIMAX theaters in 3D

Agent Burgos, UPDATED! A New Prometheus Trailer Has Hit The Web!

Cover of Alien (The Director's Cut)

Day 21 of 31 in 31 brings us the 1979 classic “Alien”

Directed by Ridley Scott and written by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett, this film stars Sigourny Weaver as a member of the crew aboard the Nostromo, a space toeing vessel. The Nostormo comes in contact with what is thought to be an S.O.S signal from a nearby ship. The crew investigates only to come back with a little something extra they didn’t bargain for, an extra terrestrial. The creature gets loose in the Nostromo and has some deadly encounters with the crew.

Even though the title of this film is “Alien” and it does take place in space, make no mistake, this movie all all horror. The character design for the alien, done by tech-horror artist  H.R. Giger, is a very nice piece of what I can only describe as organic technology. I say this for it’s ability to blend in with the Nostromo’s surroundings. Also, this film is another prime example of an effective movie with no digital effects that stands the test of time. It’s a pure classic.

JordanGhastly, 31 in 31: Day 21 “Alien”