Re: Paradise (Prometheus Sequel)
Too bad that line of reasoning doesn't mitigate the damaging aspects Prometheus introduced to the other movies. Why would anyone want to look at that Space Jockey and write it off as a suit worn by a human?
They're not human. No one said they were. They're humanoid at most, but not human (and if you actually see the scene where they analyze the blood, you can see that there is quite a big difference between the genetic structure shown, despite most of the parts that match). As for the suit thing, how can anyone look at it and assume it's how an alien would look? What if we ended up encountering an alien race in space. Wouldn't our space suit look alien to them?
Sure, that can come off as a surprise to alien fans, but it just dulls one of the strongest elements that made the original so good.
Does it really dull one of the strongest elements that made the original good? Or does it dull what you consider the strongest elements in the film, when in all reality despite the awe-inspiring moment, the Space Jockey is nothing more than a small detail in the bigger picture that is the story of the Nostromo crew?
The unknown is scary. The more you know, the more you see and the more you understand, the less scary it is. The mysteries in Prometheus aren't scary because it's a story that chooses not to make sense for no other reason than for the sake of it. ALIEN didn't open with a bald albino statue of liberty accidentally getting face hugged and watching him crash onto LV-426 before the main title appears.
The mysteries in
Prometheus isn't suppose to be scary. And your point about "the more you see and the more you understand, the less scary it is," is the exact reason why not having the xenomorph in this film is a good thing: because we've already gotten too much of it to the point where they're not scary anymore (in fact, it's the same reason why the xenomorphs in anything before
Alien: Isolation are lacking, because before that game was released, the xenomorphs featured in the games were all cannon fodder, basically something to kill and not to fear). Also, if
Alien had that open with an albino statue of liberty getting a face hugger to the face and crash landing before the main title, it still wouldn't have diminished the original, because the original is not about the Space Jockey, it's about the crew of the Nostromo, the situation they're in and the things they do trying to get the alien off the ship, and their survival. An alternate opening that foreshadows things doesn't affect the events of the film.
Again, the Space Jockey scene, though awe-inspiring, is not relevant to the events that happen to the Nostromo crew other than being a bit of a foreshadow, it only serves that goal of being a foreshadow and then serves no more importance to the story after that. The Space Jockey was nothing more than a throw-away character. It doesn't matter how the Space Jockey looked, be it outside or inside, as long as the ship is on LV-426 and transmitting the warning, which ends up drawing the Nostromo to the planet and then getting one of the crew infected.
Would the plot have been affected if it had been a giant albino, a giant crustacean looking creature or even a giant freakin' turtle for that matter if it had been revealed in that scene in the first film? To me, no. Why? The first film is about the Nostromo crew, and the situation they were in. THAT is what makes the film great. The Space Jockey and the Alien are small details, memorable and awe-inspiring as they may be, but the film is not about them. You notice we never follow the Alien, only see it when it comes across the crew. Why? Because its the crew's story that's being told. THAT'S what makes the original great. That's also what makes
Prometheus pretty damn good in my opinion, because its about the characters and the situation they're in.
One film does not diminish the other. If that were true, then there wouldn't be any other films after
Alien 3 or
Alien: Resurrection, or even after
AVP: Alien vs. Predator (be it part one or part two) for that matter. If that were the case, then no one would bother watching any version of the original
Star Wars trilogy (no matter what edit they are, including the original theatrical cut) after seeing the prequels if that were true.
Prometheus is its own film that uses similar elements to
Alien. It has no affect on the original film whatsoever. All it did was shown us a little bit more of what was basically a throw-away set piece, despite how amazing it looked.
But again, that's just my opinion. My reply is not intended to cause conflict. If it does, then I apologize greatly. I just meant this as a means to conversing about the films, despite the varying opinions about it.
