Derelict

excellent edit. Confusing but great!

This edit is in B&W, but oddly enough it works to a degree. I don't know if I can honestly say that - as an independent film - it works on its own merit because I know Alien and Prometheus so well that I'm able to have certain background info which may give me some further advantage in understanding the story, but regardless, the film as a whole is very interesting. It flips back and forth almost like a comparison between the two films, and they work side-by-side to tell a very similar united story. The black and white helps it feel like a singular film since the color tone, tech, and look of the two separately is obviously different. It's amazing to see how in sync the two films are with each other, almost beat-for-beat...for the first half ish.

Unfortunately, it exposes a little bit of the lack of continuity between them as well, and the idea starts to wear a little thin once the two films start to differ (ie. when the shit hits the fan). The last half of this edit makes me remember why both films work better independently - because they're different stories with different purposes and themes, as as such, I think they deserve to be separate. though, it was neat to see the comparison between the two in their first halves. They're very similar.

This was pretty good, but didn't blow me away like I wish it had. The primary problem for me was there was too much cutting back-and-forth and it felt a bit disjointed. The B&W treatment looked beautiful though, props for that.

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.

This is a gorgeous film. I thought the visual editing was absolutely top notch. It was very clever to use black and white to better match the footage and frankly, both movies looked beautiful in black and white anyway. It's hard to divorce myself from knowledge of the franchise but I think the clever bit is that this movie works regardless. If you know what's going on, you'll appreciate how it integrates so well. If you don't, there's a lot of ambiguity that is tied together in the third act. I especially loved the interplay of the two films in the third act, with Ash's speech probably being my favorite. The whole ending was superbly done. I was very lukewarm on Prometheus and love Alien but this is a great way to experience both. This will definitely replace the Prometheus theatrical cut for me.