Alien and Prometheus, though set years apart in movie-making and storytelling terms, share many similarities. Both directed by Ridley Scott and taking place in the same universe, they have strong women as the protagonists - Ellen Ripley and Elizabeth Shaw - first one fierce to begin with and forced to fight for her own survival on board of Nostromo, where xenomorph is determined to kill every single passenger, second - a little naive and too trusting changes in the course of the story when she has to find the inner strength and courage to stay alive.Both movies have androids in them - Ash and David, both villains who look down at people and are in awe for new creatures they discover. There is also a captain of the ship, willing to sacrifice himself. And then there is the ship itself, almost a separate hero of the story with all the labyrinths and meticulous designs that create it. Both films share the disturbing and inspiring images, creatures and objects designed and inspired by H.R. Giger and deal with loneliness in space - where no one is coming to rescue you. And certainly no one can hear your scream.
(The screencaps were made from Alien: Director's Cut and Prometheus + deleted scenes of the movie)
Final report of the commercial starship Nostromo, third officer reporting. The other members of the crew, Kane, Lambert, Parker, Brett, Ash and Captain Dallas, are dead. Cargo and ship destroyed. I should reach the frontier in about six weeks. With a little luck, the network will pick me up. This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off.
Final report of the vessel Prometheus. The ship and her entire crew are
gone. If you're recieving this transmission, make no attempt to come to
its point of origin. There is only death here now, and I'm leaving it
behind. It is New Year's Day, the year of our Lord, 2094. My name is
Elisabeth Shaw, last survivor of the Prometheus. And I am still
searching.
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Wow, nice visual parallels. Especially from the fact that it's from the same director. Will you do one for Aliens and whatever sequel for Prometheus that might be coming?
ReplyDeleteDefinetly, though I don't know If I'll pair up Prometheus 2 with Aliens...depends what the story will be, maybe I'll take elements out of all 4 Alien films...well, I'll have to wait for Prometheus 2 and see.
DeleteAwesome post, Margaret! You have a wonderful eye for imagery and cinematography.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I have visual memory, which is useful sometimes, certain images just get stuck in my mind :)
DeleteIs it weird that my favourite is of the crews eating around the table? I just thought that both those scenes were a great way to show the atmosphere and environment that existed on the ship. Especially in Alien - they weren't a professional 'team of explorers', they were blue collar workers in a way.
ReplyDeleteYour visual parallel posts = best.
Thanks! Yeah those moments with the crew talking and just being there are pretty cool in all Alien films, I believe there is a scene like that in each of the films.
DeleteExcellent post! Off to finally rewatch Prometheus. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I need to rewatch it soon too, I think some of the fans of the movie are working on the special cut that will include deleted scenes in it, it would be so cool to see the whole movie with extra moments.
DeleteI thought the pacing was great, but I'd be interested in seeing a longer cut as well. :)
DeleteThere are surely plenty of similarities between both films. I didn't realize how much Rooney Mara and Sigourney Weaver were much alike. That alien stuff really freak me out, ewww
ReplyDeleteGreat job, Sati!
Rooney Mara wasn't in Prometheus haha.
DeleteIt was freaky taking those screencaps. Oddly enough it's the Engineer who gives me the creeps.
DeletePeople often confuse Lisbeths :)
DeleteNice post! There are definitely a whole lot of parallels between the two. Go Ridley.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I really hope he will be the one directing the sequel.
DeleteGreat post Sati. Loads of similarities but I guess that was the point of the film.
ReplyDeleteLove what you did here
Thank you! It was so cool to see how many things looked almost identical.
DeleteLove these. I loved the look of Prometheus, just a shame the narrative was a complete mess! Great work as always!
ReplyDeleteI really liked the movie, but it would be better if they kept deleted scenes in it.
DeleteThanks!
Best yet in this series! Love it!
ReplyDeleteThank you! It was lot of work, but it was worth it :)
DeleteWow, this is probably the best of your visual parallel series.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm still struggling to come up with the idea for next one.
DeleteI had a feeling you'd do this for your Visual parallels haha. Great work. You have such a great eye for these kind of things.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yeah, I couldn't wait for Prometheus DVD, there were so many similarities here!
DeleteIncredible post, Sati. Putting those two side by side made me realize how disappointed I am with Prometheus...I know you don't agree! I had very high expectations prior to seeing Prometheus, and liked it upon initially seeing it. But as time expired, and after I saw it again, I became less impressed, and more dissatisfied. When you put it side by side with Alien, it makes me realize how edgy and frightening Alien is in comparison.
ReplyDeleteThank you! For me it actually has the opposite effect - I think it's pretty cool how many similarities Ridley Scott managed to put in that movie, it's kinda a way to show that in this universe some things will always go the same - the journey starts with curiosity, ends with death.
DeleteAgain, BRILLIANT post, Sati! It must take you ages to come up with the pics for each film. Well done girl, there is no other post like this anywhere in the blogosphere!
ReplyDeleteThank you ruth! It was actually fun taking those, except for the shots of creatures which was pretty creepy :)
DeleteAwesome!!
ReplyDeleteI especially love the David and Ash comparisons, extremely similar in every way.
Thanks! Yeah, the close ups were shot almost exactly the same!
DeleteExcellent work, Sati! I admire the effort. I like both these movies. I'm with you that Prometheus was a good film, and with all those unanswered questions, we need a sequel!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I just can't wait for the sequel, I hope Ridley will direct it.
DeleteBeautifully done, Sati! Love these parallels. It's amazing how even after all these years, what was seen and done in Alien just can't be beat.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Absolutely, it's a true classic both for sci-fi and horror genre. Still so incredibly scary and disturbing.
DeleteSuperb addition to your series, and an exhaustive one at that (which I mean as a compliment). I knew you were planning this one, and the final post definitely lived up to my anticipation. Great work!
ReplyDeleteThank you! It was so much work, but I really wanted to cover all the similarities in the movies.
DeleteAhh, how did I miss this?!? Awesome job, Sati! I definitely noticed some of these similarities while watching Prometheus, and it's great to see even more of them highlighted. Can't wait to see what you come up with next!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I can't wait too, since for now I have absolutely no idea what to do next in the series :)
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