Alien Vs. Prometheus
So, which movie was better? There's no denying that Alien and Prometheus share many things between them, from body horror to a strong female survivor. Alien has an emphasis on horrific motherhood, from alien impregnation to the computer called "MOTHER." Prometheus focuses on fathers - the neglectful, abusive alien father race as well as Weyland himself, the jerk. Both are also freudian, though I have to admit that Alien, with its face-raping spider and phallic-headed monster is LESS overt than Prometheus. Really, that squid-thing. The underside is Freud's dream. Prometheus has enough specific callbacks to Alien (even in the closing narration) that it can't be an accident (it isn't), but it really is its own film - one about ancient alien origins and the nature of belief.
As much as I consider Prometheus to be an interesting movie, it falters when compared to Alien. But is that a bad thing? If you watch them in "chronological" order, you are building up to Alien in its own way... maybe. Sorta.
So, the Xenomorphs are bioweapons created by proto-human engineers. People suspected this, but... that does kind of ruin the mystique. The idea of the Space Jockey ship as a "bomber" did long pre-exist Prometheus, however, as an unsaid part of Alien's background - so Ridley Scott didn't TOTALLY throw everything out from his old movie!
And that's Prometheus for you. Both a failure and a success in every way, but at least it's interesting to talk about!
Alien Vs. Prometheus
So, which movie was better? There's no denying that Alien and Prometheus share many things between them, from body horror to a strong female survivor. Alien has an emphasis on horrific motherhood, from alien impregnation to the computer called "MOTHER." Prometheus focuses on fathers - the neglectful, abusive alien father race as well as Weyland himself, the jerk. Both are also freudian, though I have to admit that Alien, with its face-raping spider and phallic-headed monster is LESS overt than Prometheus. Really, that squid-thing. The underside is Freud's dream. Prometheus has enough specific callbacks to Alien (even in the closing narration) that it can't be an accident (it isn't), but it really is its own film - one about ancient alien origins and the nature of belief.
As much as I consider Prometheus to be an interesting movie, it falters when compared to Alien. But is that a bad thing? If you watch them in "chronological" order, you are building up to Alien in its own way... maybe. Sorta.
So, the Xenomorphs are bioweapons created by proto-human engineers. People suspected this, but... that does kind of ruin the mystique. The idea of the Space Jockey ship as a "bomber" did long pre-exist Prometheus, however, as an unsaid part of Alien's background - so Ridley Scott didn't TOTALLY throw everything out from his old movie!
And that's Prometheus for you. Both a failure and a success in every way, but at least it's interesting to talk about!