Review Detail
9.5 16 10
Overall rating
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
8.0
Enjoyment
10.0
Soon after Prometheus was released, essays started to appear noting the similarities with Alien. Not that the latter film was a reboot or remake, but that there were structural and narrative echoes. The Derelict edit brilliantly aligns the parallel stories into one viewing experience.
Video - Inspired choice here of shifting both films to black n white. Greenish / bluish hues are gone. The deliberately vague transitions were another good move. Meaning, during several shifts it took me a beat or two before I realized we were back on Nostromo or Prometheus. This is not a complaint. It was unsettling and added to the uneasy tone of the movie.
Audio - 2.0 channel. No subs. The two music scores match nicely with each other. There seemed to be some bleed through of the Alien score onto a Prometheus scene and vice versa, which I appreciated. Ash’s final comments were difficult to comprehend, but they always are.
Narrative - With so much major cutting of plot, both narratives suffer. Each narrative, on its own, is barely more than a glorified pitch. There is no character development, no motivation, and the first half pacing drags slow. Part of Alien is about building tension, Prometheus more a journey of discovery. Tempo did pick up eventually, but I could imagine some viewers fast forwarding or cutting to the “big bits.”
Enjoyment - I liked this a lot. This edit is a clinic on detailing the mirrored elements of both films: strong females, corporate agendas, soulless androids. Similar interior designs - harsh exteriors. In the end, I wondered how much of the similarity was deliberate, how much was subconscious.
A provocative edit, though I suspect it won't be for everyone.
Video - Inspired choice here of shifting both films to black n white. Greenish / bluish hues are gone. The deliberately vague transitions were another good move. Meaning, during several shifts it took me a beat or two before I realized we were back on Nostromo or Prometheus. This is not a complaint. It was unsettling and added to the uneasy tone of the movie.
Audio - 2.0 channel. No subs. The two music scores match nicely with each other. There seemed to be some bleed through of the Alien score onto a Prometheus scene and vice versa, which I appreciated. Ash’s final comments were difficult to comprehend, but they always are.
Narrative - With so much major cutting of plot, both narratives suffer. Each narrative, on its own, is barely more than a glorified pitch. There is no character development, no motivation, and the first half pacing drags slow. Part of Alien is about building tension, Prometheus more a journey of discovery. Tempo did pick up eventually, but I could imagine some viewers fast forwarding or cutting to the “big bits.”
Enjoyment - I liked this a lot. This edit is a clinic on detailing the mirrored elements of both films: strong females, corporate agendas, soulless androids. Similar interior designs - harsh exteriors. In the end, I wondered how much of the similarity was deliberate, how much was subconscious.
A provocative edit, though I suspect it won't be for everyone.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
V