The Prometheus spoiler train is out of control. The film has already been screened by the French critics and comes out any hour in some parts of Europe. Got another week for us in the States. I'm actually managing to stay away from the majority of the hardcore details. I don't know how long that will last though. I get the feeling that the movie is not going to be as good as I want it to be, but I still have hope.
Anyway, the ride is almost over. I've been absorbed on the internet daily with all things regarding this movie. Some of the fan art on Prometheusnews.net is just insane and inspiring. Their photoshop skills are pretty good too. They have a thread that's purely for making fun of stuff with photoshop, called a meme thread. From a fan perspective, it's hilarious. And if that wasn't enough, one of the original painting artists, I believe from the first Alien movie is showing off all these amazing pics of the set and crew building stuff and having crazy times with porn actresses even (in a totally good way!) Yah I don't think I can expand on that though. But the backstory is very cool.
However, even if Prometheus is a huge turd bomb of a movie, I can say that it was totally worth the journey. I never would've read the two scripts from Jon Spaihts, Shadow 19 and Passengers. I read Passengers yesterday and WOW! That was such an awesome story. I don't know how that is not a movie yet. One of you who follows this blog needs to read it so I can talk to you about it. If you need a copy, just email me. It's just awesome.
And the title of this post is what was translated from a French review about Prometheus. You have to admit, that's damn funny.
First of all, lots of respect for seeing the quality in Spaihts' work through the (as of now still rather small) nerd rage going on. I agree he is someone to keep an eye on, especially if you like "hard" sci-fi. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI've read "Passenger" in its entirety in one read yesterday, after I received it from an IMDb member called "shadypotential". That wouldn't be you by any chance?
It was awesome, truly emotional and painful in a good way. My heart was CRUSHED. And it was pretty tense, even though it's not an action script whatsoever. Great stuff.
I do understand (in a purely cerebral way) why the script hasn't been made into a movie yet. I'm pretty sure it will get some stuff cut out. Not because there's any truly bad writing in there, far from it, but because there are some things filmmakers/investors/producers tend to find... distressing. Among those things are, in my humble opinion:
1. Way too much "x days/weeks/months later".
Actually this one I personally find troublesome as well. But I'm pretty sure some of these passages of time can be rewritten in a creative way. No problem. Some of them may/should perhaps be removed...
2. Tension breaker
Another (very very small) problem for me lies in the final act, when tension rises. I'm not really sure anymore when it happened, I believe it was right before the "gravity loss incident" with Aurora in the swimming pool. Tension was already pretty high, but then Spaihts decides to break the tension by letting his protagonist go to sleep. I would keep the pressure on at that point! I think Spaihts just likes the fact that Jim wakes up sticking to the ceiling because of the gravity loss. There's many creative ways to still do that without breaking the tension, so it's not a big problem at all.
3. The low action - high budget paradox
I might be wrong, but I think investors don't like the idea of making huge investments in special fx that don't amount to "action spectacle". In general there's no spectacular payoff to these fx, except in the final sequences (which are action-packed and pretty intense). Mostly they're there to add to the atmosphere and mood, which I personally find awesome, but investors might consider this as a serious financial risk. But these fx are absolutely required, seeing as the setting is a hypermodern spaceship and all. :)
4. Optional, unnecessary expensive scenes/shots
Some scenes or shots are VERY likely to be removed, especially the ones that are (from a narrative/technical point of view) unnecessary for the advancement of the plot. The best examples of this are to be found right before/during the final action sequences. Aurora is swimming and suddenly the on-board gravity systems fail, causing her to float in between massive blobs of water. In another scene a little later, Jim and Aurora need to go and fix the main computer, and they pass by the fusion reactor. Showing this incredible device would require some money shots, but I don't think that would be absolutely necessary for the advancement of the plot. Again, I'd love to see that stuff, but I'm just making some "cold business assessments" here.
5. The total running time
The length is over 120 pages. If you consider every page to be approx. one minute (which is standard, but of course not always 100% reality), then I think investors will find this too long, especially for this genre. This one especially I personally don't find troublesome AT ALL. There's so much emotion going on in the "background" constantly, that I'm pretty sure I wouldn't get bored in the least. But again, business etc...
Does all of this make sense to you? Do you agree? I'd love to hear your (and other people's) thoughts on this, as I too find this script one the most interesting I've read in a while. In any case, I'd very much like to see this made into a movie.
Regards,
Dimitry (RaTKiN)
And of course, it's called "Passengers" (not "Passenger"...) -.-
ReplyDeleteWow Dimitry! Thanks so much for your thoughts. You definitely have some good points on changes needed to flesh it out for a movie. I felt exactly the same about the "tension breaker" as you call it. The red is piling up fast in the diagnostics computer, do you really have time to sleep?!! all the way back on your suite?
ReplyDeleteIn my head I wanted it to change to him napping on the floor whilst she worked on installing the core computer at least. And also agree, the pool scene/0 grav is cool, but it's out of place as well. I would like to keep that, but then you'd run the risk of slowing the pace, which at that point needs to continue it's climax.
But overall I agree on all your points. Another thought crossed my mind to as to why did the meteor penetrate the ships hull. Certainly they must have some type of shielding. I've seen enough unexplainable stuff in the work environment to be ok going with the crazy chance route, but one has to wonder.
And while I think it's rather bold to say hey , I'm going to go out on the ship with these magnetic boots, I really liked that part. Many scenes like this just left me trying to imagine what the sets would look like, the ship, the robots, even the capsules.
I read somewhere that they felt Gus's time was too short, but I didn't feel that at all. Though it may be difficult for just any actor to really pull us in so quickly. My brain wants to insert Wilfred Brimley and that's kinda ridiculous, but it makes me laugh! All of this leads to the wondering of who would be cast for these roles. I like Keanu, but I'm glad they did not make this a movie with him as Jim. I would want to see low profile actors get the parts. Then again, it would add as an obstacle when selling to the studio.