Paradise

I agree with previous reviewers here; the editor started from 2 films that were mediocre and managed to grab the best parts of the 2, as well as the best character arch / best acting, David / Fassbender.

Regarding the frequent jumping between the 2 timelines, for me the editor has found a perfect balance between the need of text on screen to contextualize the jumps and the (many) times when it was not needed, because the start of the scenes had enough context.

Regarding all the mashups I’ve seen, this one is unusual because the more frequent thing to do is to reduce the amount of cutting between the timelines, in order to improve the flow and the narrative. This fanedit may be the one with the most jumps (between the original films) but also the one that’s edited the better to give narrative meaning to those jumps.

Well done!

The technical mastery of this edit is impressive, whether in terms of audio, video or narration processing. The idea to combine these two flawed movies is a very efficient way to get rid of their worst parts and focus on what works. The drawback is the pace that sometimes feels a little rushed (I had this feeling mainly in the first half). I guess it can be challenging for a newcomer to follow all the back and forth between timelines, but I only got slightly confused one time during the infection sequence.

I appreciated how cleverly the plots and themes intertwined, like the choice of the genocide punchline. Also, the alien in shower scene was really really cool. Like others, I wish the Wagner theme was kept in the final scene, but the mash-up of Beatles and David's monologue worked very well anyhow.

'Paradise' totally saves what I think are two visually stunning Blu-rays in my collection suffering from an overarching vagueness and the inexplicable antics of the crews with their cliched foolhardyness, incompetance and inglorious bastardy. The fantastic editorial here sweeps out the worst of this and turns what is left into impactful moments of intrigue. Bringing in an overarchingly vivid mainstay to the previously broken stories. Polishing off may be necessary on the odd dice and blend. Its heavy on the editing though. This may be as good as it gets without stock footage to string things out with. One really has to concentrate to pick out the nicks. And with the engageing plot weaving that highlights the best parts of the originals in the best ways the viewing is fully enjoyable.

It might be a good idea to offer some further textual explanations of the tooings and froings between Prometheus and Covenant but this itself will be a gripe for some (myself included) as it cant be done for the parts where the switching gets complex. Therefore it might well be left as is for the sake of consistency. It starts out a bit confusing with only the oringal mission info blurbs and some very brief notes which kind of pass by subconsciously. I actually quite liked the fact I was getting a bit lost as it adds a puzzle aspect. Its a mystery unravelling. It all pays off beautifully in the end!!

! I got my whole family to watch with me (after lots of bargaining) and even they loved it! And they all hated the original two movies! My mom particularly was not looking forward to it, not just because of her dislike of the original movies, but because she's not exactly what I would call a "believer" in fan edits. She's usually the one to say "Why don't we just watch the original?" but even she loved it!

The way that the narratives of the past and future interweave and reveal information is brilliant! Specifically how, from what we can see in the past, we can tell that, by the time the Covenant crew lands on the planet 10 years later, there’s something going on but we don’t know exactly what yet so we’re practically just as in the dark as the Covenant crew. But that's not to say that you can solve the problems of Alien: Covenant by simply not watching Prometheus because then you wouldn't know what was going on with David and such. So it reveals just enough at just the right times to be ominous without telegraphing exactly what's going to happen to the Covenant crew. It avoids the pitfalls that Covenant had of having them looking like idiots by visiting the planet in a “shouting at the screen while watching a horror movie sequel as the dumb one goes into the basement with the chainsaws” sort of way ya know?

Another great thing this edit does is instead of having certain members of the crew feel like weak attempts to create a new Ripley in the way that they're oh-so badass and strong, only for them to get killed off at the end, it makes them feel like humans in Greek God myths, where they are trying futilely to survive against the whims of a heartless God, and in this story that God is David, And having the story focus on him not only makes the narrative more interesting and fulfilling, but also plays up the themes of man vs. nature and man vs. God.

My mom had a little trouble telling what time period was which which might be able to be fixed with a time and date appearing on screen but really that's my only big complaint. Other than that there was one scene where a scream cut out second too early and the music removal in the final scene could have been a little bit better but that's just a limitation from the technology of removing background music, which I'm sure all us fan editors can relate to.

And now that I've finished watching this, I can go on to Alien and Aliens and then onto Job's other alien edit Ripley! So excited!

It was my first time watching a fanedit actually and already was as good as an edit of those movies can be I think.
Considering how mediocre (and disappointing) they are, i's not a small task to make a good fusion.

Fantastic job, did not feel the almost 3hrs of runtime. Audio/Visual quality is top notch. Essential viewing in my opinion, and the only way to watch Prometheus and Covenant for me now. Original material can't be totally saved, but you still did a damn good job, can't go back to the theatrical cuts. Thanks.