Spoilers Alien: Questions

[Morrus]

I think even if they were second-rate hires, there's a certain self-preservation instinct that would kick in that I don't think the movie showed. Again, it just kind of struck me as slasher movie character behavior than what I expected out of Prometheus.

I guess that's an expectation thing. I generally expect slasher movie character behaviour from everybody unless their name is Ripley. Even the marines in Alien were terrible, and the crew in Resurrection were even worse.

 

[TiQuinn]

I guess that's an expectation thing. I generally expect slasher movie character behaviour from everybody unless their name is Ripley. Even the marines in Alien were terrible, and the crew in Resurrection were even worse.

With Aliens, I think that's where the screenwriter did the heavy lifting to set up the scenario. Nobody was taking Ripley seriously at all, the Marines were supremely cocky, and they did enough work plot-wise up front to create the suspension of disbelief.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The thing with the cast (of Prometheus) being so dumb is it diminishes the monsters. "Those monsters can't be all that dangerous if the cast have to act so stupidly for them to be a threat". Truly scary monsters are going to kill you even if you do everything right.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

With Aliens, I think that's where the screenwriter did the heavy lifting to set up the scenario. Nobody was taking Ripley seriously at all, the Marines were supremely cocky, and they did enough work plot-wise up front to create the suspension of disbelief.

The marines had their space armour and big guns. It's not like they sat down and stripped off their armour so they could have a good scratch, which is pretty much the level of stupidity in Prometheus.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

With Aliens, I think that's where the screenwriter did the heavy lifting to set up the scenario. Nobody was taking Ripley seriously at all, the Marines were supremely cocky, and they did enough work plot-wise up front to create the suspension of disbelief.

 

[Rabulias]

Facehugger shoving a tube down someone's throat? No need for a med scan if it goes away on its own.

To be fair to the original Alien, Ash was the one responsible for such a med scan, and everyone just assumed he would do so. In fact there is a scene where Ripley goes to see Ash and he quickly turns off a screen that looks like it shows the xenomorph in Kane. You really have to pause the movie to catch it.

Par for the course. The original movie was based on a Doctor Who episode.

Other way around; the Doctor Who episode was from earlier this year.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I can't remember where I read it, but the people who went on this voyage were actually stupid.

I like this theory and it would just take a single line from Vickers, either to herself during the staff meeting or when talking to Janek in their scene together to lampshade it. I think it would have helped a lot to say "yeah, we know these guys are screw-ups; that's why they're here."

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Given that they were right, that makes the scientific community idiots, not them.

You can be right but also ostracized for your sloppy work habits, which is what I think most of the audience is objecting to.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Other way around; the Doctor Who episode was from earlier this year.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The thing with the cast (of Prometheus) being so dumb is it diminishes the monsters. "Those monsters can't be all that dangerous if the cast have to act so stupidly for them to be a threat". Truly scary monsters are going to kill you even if you do everything right.

I think even a smart group would have eventually died in Prometheus, since Weyland wasn't going to let them leave. They just would have died differently.