Paradise

Probably the best fan edit I've ever seen. Only drawback is I always feel let down by the finale of Covenant, and that is supposed to be the "climax" of this edit. It feels stake-less to me, particularly because the edit is so focused on David and then he's barely part of the finale. However, the edit does do some creative audio and music work with the final moments of the film, as David is walking along the hibernation pods. That really helped to bring it all home. And then I would have liked to see more of the few David scenes that were not present in this edit, but that's probably personal preference. Overall, this is an edit that everyone should watch, you don't have to be a fan of Alien (in fact, that might be the best way to watch it, since so much of this would be new!) and you also don't have to be interested in fan edits, it's that professional and well-done.

Let me star off by saying I never watched the theatricals of these movies. I read the reviews and passed. So maybe I'm not in the best position to judge an edit meshing both of them, to say the least. Still, I'll give it a try.

I thought the first part of the movie was brilliant, with two stories developing simultaneously in the past and the present. The music works well here. This part had me on tenterhooks. Kudos to that, well done. Then aliens come in and it all goes to pieces. Let's get this out of the way: David, what a massive piece of trash that guy turned out to be. I hated the character with a passion. Not only is he the ugliest, he's completely unbelievable. How does he learn an alien language? Let alone learn to fly their ships enough to do a planet drive-by shooting. Which, remind me again, why? Just a massive sonnofabitch, I guess.

Also, the Engineers. Towers of muscle with an aggressive streak? How does that fit in with a biological and planetary Engineer? Those guys couldn't raise a cat, let alone an entire species. And having them appear only for them not to answer any questions except "you bad! me kill you!"? Disappointing.

I also would've enjoyed a more positive ending. Would've loved to see that bastard David come to a bad end. The movie as a whole is way too dark to have an even darker ending. By the way, I have no idea if this is a prequel or a sequel, as it doesn't seem to fit in with the others either way.

Speaking of the dark tone of the move, I saw in youtube the scene where the spaceship falls over the two women over the course of then minutes, speeded up and with yakety sax playing. It was hilarious and I was looking forward to watching the original for a much-needed break from all the terrible things happening. Alas, it was not to be, but I understand the need to cut it. However, what happened to the blond? She takes off in an escape pod, but that can't have made it all the way to Earth, so...

Finally, the Beatles? Seemed like an odd choice to me.

I know some or most of the criticism here is directed at the original, since I don't know which is which. I apologize if I was unfair to the edit. I appreciate the opportunity to watch it and it certainly gave me a lot to think about. Specially about that scumbag, David!

First off this will be my go to when re-watching the franchise. I can actually add these two (combined) to the collection.

The originals as we know have always been a disappointment (Covenant reminiscent of the bargain bin days) but honestly this was a stroke of genius regarding editing. Combining the two for a David-centric story line (as it always should of been) provides us with all of the best moments the films produced i.e. Fassbender meets Fassbender.

My only gripes are some minor character elements which would of given just that bit extra (honestly not much to add at all) i.e. Tennessee's reaction to his wife's outcome as I find I don't really care at all for the rest of the cast which could just give this edit that final chord. Also the ending's choice of music (Beatlemania); as an intense atmosphere is created throughout, when it came to the end the choice of song just didn't sit with me and I found myself brought out of the terror that is the final curtain draw. Even just using the voice-over (which I liked) and maybe cutting in that song as the ship drifts off into the black sunset might of made a difference for myself.

But please folks do yourself a favor and watch this excellent edit!

Truly JobWillins a very well done!

"Prometheus" and "Alien Covenant" fused into a single film. Decent enough plan, although it seems Mr Willins has done this twice already with his "Derelict" and "Ripley" edits.

Video - 1280 X 720p AVC. The visuals for "Prometheus" are simply better than those for "Covenant." The opening moments with the TED talks could have used less fade-outs. Afterward, the editing is assured and masterful ... for awhile. With "Prometheus" the editor has a strong concept and it shows. The editor has his craft down so I have no comments on technical aspects.

Audio - 128 kbps AAC. 2 Channels. No subs. The editing is smooth, though the audio is spotty at times - in both films. Dialogue is muffled or indecipherable. From hollering to whispering. I listen over speakers, I listen through headphones. No difference. I viewed the 5 GB file, I don't know if the larger, 10 GB file offered 5.1, or if it would have made a difference.

Narrative - As with the previous "Derelict" and "Ripley" edits, Mr Willins runs concurrent stories. With those edits, the story bounces back and forth like a ping pong match. Like an ADD incessantly switching channels. With "Paradise" Job Willins finally hones his storytelling. This becomes David's story, more pronounced and effectively done with the "Prometheus" half. "Covenant" is much too talky.

Enjoyment - Hit n miss for me. The last thirty minutes were repetitive to the point of tedium. Too many climaxes, I just wanted them all to die at that point. In a word, too much "Covenant."
With "Prometheus" he cut most of the garbage I hated. "Covenant," I predicted would be more challenging, and to me he did not successfully carry this off. Comment - songs by the fab four were distracting and incongruous.
Job Willins displays superior abilities and I would like to see him shift away from these back n forth twofers.

spoilers ahead

Overall, wow. I'll start with the "enjoyment" category (I give the highest marks there), and work my way up.
Why do I enjoy it so much?

Focusing on the synthetics works so nicely. While it's easy to wish for the suspense of the original Alien, this edit shows that a nearly equal feeling can be achieved through unease. Job gives that sense of unease throughout this movie by focusing on the (to quote Walter) "disturbing" performance of Fassbender. David is the most intriguing character to come out of the films, but is presented in a muddled way in the original films. The question of who David is and who we ought to sympathize with is poorly handled until placed in Job's hands.

That said, I think even more could have been aggressively cut to limit the confusion of multiple crews, plots, moralities, and creations. As such, the narrative still struggled with extra baggage. Moreover, the complete abandonment of Shaw's character and the Engineer plotline so that the movie becomes a more obvious Alien prequel makes for a lackluster story that fanediting can't redeem entirely. As far as the climax - for me it was the moment we realize with few doubts that David killed/mutated Elizabeth (why have a grave in the first place if her corpse is still in your bestiary?). Everything after that is a bit lackluster, reduced to a shoehorn for Alien.

For the most part I enjoyed the audio editing, especially the use of the "farewell elegy to Elizabeth" throughout the movie. That said, the Beatles use at the end didn't seem appropriate, particularly since Walter had already played the Beatles and we had just recovered from a synth switcheroo.

The visual editing had some masterful edits. As others have mentioned, the interwoven infection scenes is the highlight of this edit. However, some of the transitions between crews aren't paced as well.

As for quality, I watched the Vimeo stream at 720p with stereo sound. It looked and sounded lovely considering the source.

Well done Jobwillins! Thanks for sharing your labor of love!