Prometheus: Giftbearer

Overview - One of the first released edits trying to “fix” narrative errors.

Video - 854 X 356 AVC. Higher resolution would have been preferred. Good editing nonetheless, shifting some scenes around. Dr. Shaw’s dream time after Holloway’s death is remarkable.

Audio - 128 kbps, AAC, 2 Channel stereo. No subs. Stereo, really? Dialogue is mostly clear, though garbled during excited moments. I listened through headphones.

Narrative - This new narrative works well enough, though I can’t see how it replaces the original. It holds together, and remains logical throughout, but the improvements seemed insufficient. Straight off, Holloway continues to be a dick, for reasons poorly explained. Fifield and Millburn persist in being stupid. As characterized, this pair would do better at a space station diner, asking, “Want fries with that?” Finally, the croissant abides.

Enjoyment - Hit and miss. Despite being a “favorite”, this does not surpass the A9 version that came out at nearly the same time. I enjoyed Severian’s effort, yet it is not the edit I will return to.

Subtitles: Yes, one of my bears. There actually are some subs available by Aorion. There are random timing problems, and they do not work for all dialogue. I repaired some issues, let others slide. Sorry.
Should you desire – https://subscene.com/subtitles/prometheus-giftbearer

This edit is a perfect example of why i love fanedits so much. Severian's take on Prometheus is the film I wished we had seen in cinemas. The film is dramatically improved thanks to the inclusion of the excellent deleted/extended material, but there are many other editing choices that also enhance the experience.

The characters are better fleshed out, the pacing is stronger, the most offensive and idiotic moments have been either removed or fixed (only two moments come to mind where the seams were visible, but nothing too major), and the film feels more assured as a result.

A couple of the newly included scenes contain slightly unfinished effects shots, but in comparison to the original scenes, those included in this edit are superior.

The film still retains a good level of mystery, but now feels more satisfying and complete. There are few fewer loose ends, and the encounter with the Engineer is much better handled than in the original.

Highly recommended. This will be a fanedit I show to many people to try and get them interested in our particular craft.

Congrats Severian, and thanks for making this. Looking forward to the Bluray release whenever you get around to it!

Now, this is an interesting one for me. I'll be right up front here. I genuinely think Scott's cut of Prometheus is excellent. Sure, it has a few problems, not least of which lies in the varying quality of the script, but visually I have fallen in love with this film more and more since I've seen it on blu ray a couple of times. Plus, the thing which seems to bug most people about the film - too many questions left unanswered and the like, I think add to the mix even more. So we as an audience have to do some work for once? Good, I say!

However, despite this, the prospect of a fanedit is still an enticing one and the fact that this is debut edit for new faneditor Severian makes it all the more intriguing. So, as I settled down into bed to watch this edit with the lights down and my headphones on, I was excited for a tweaked, more in-depth version of one of my favourite movies of last year.

Straight away Severian makes an impression by starting the film with a much younger Peter Weyland and his speech about taking the next step forward in human evolution. Sure, the breathtaking landscape shots which opened Scott's cut are missed, but it was great to see Guy Pearce without a ton of latex over his face and makes for a gripping, albeit wordy opening. Indeed, the extra character scenes scattered throughout this edit do lend the film a more stable base to build the story upon. More impressive than the inclusion of deleted scenes such as these though, is the way in which Severian trims some of the more awkward or ill-fitting dialogue. For example, Charlie does not come over quite so much of a smug arsehole, meaning you certainly care more for his fate here. Best of all, I must thank you for trimming the scene where Millburn meets and then gets attacked by the white alien worm. Expertly edited and no longer is he treating it as if it's a long lost pet. That was always one of the worst scenes in the original, so brilliant work there!

It was also cool to see the alternate CGI version of the Fifield creature. I'm kinda with Scott on that one, in that I slightly prefered the more human version, but the CGI was nowhere near as bad as I feared it might be, and the scene works perfectly well either way for me.

The only scene which I wasn't too sure upon, was the inclusion of a flashback just after Charlie has been torched. I understand the reasons to do it and I certainly felt more for his plight and certainly for Elizabeth's loss, but it felt a little off for me. Plus, during the initial fade into the flashback the audio editing could have been smoother, as it appears to be very quiet.

On the whole however, editing is very good - particularly for a first time faneditor. There are a couple of transitions which are not as clean as they might be - perhaps more audio work of the crossfade variety may have been needed - but there are certainly no hard cuts to speak of. It's just you do notice something is not quite right on a couple of transitions. But, as I say, it's not enough to worry about and I've seen a hell of a lot worse!

The 1080p MP4 version I watched looked gorgeous, and sonically my ears were very pleased for the most part. I too would very much look forward to a blu ray release of this one.

By the time the end comes around I was suitably impressed with Prometheus Giftbearer. It's a fascinating glimpse of a slightly easier to grasp version of the film, even if at the end of the day it still leaves lots of questions to be answered. Is it any better than Scott's theatrical cut? For me, not really. There's something about the ambiguity of the original Prometheus which makes me love it all the more - sorry, I can't help myself! But, this is to take nothing away from Severian's work on his first edit. It's an excellent debut and I for one look forward to see more of his edits in the future.

Oh, and great audio work on adding a bit more of an "Alien" feel to the last shot. Definitely a must see edit in my eyes.

Prometheus was one of the most conceptually ambitious sci-fi films to come out of Hollywood in many years. The film's genuine weaknesses were justly criticised but unfortunately the Alien-related hype created false expectations, leading a surprising number of people to completely diss the film. That's unfair and such arguments are easily rebuked upon closer examination.

I'm a fan of the original while being acutely aware of its flaws. I'd give the theatrical cut 6.5 out of 10. Severian's fanedit is a real pleasure and brings the film up to at least 8 out of 10 for me.

I don't have much to to add to the technical comments others have made already. Generally the editing and mixing is of a high standard.

Narratively, the film is quite substantially improved and a good deal of thought has gone into the use of deleted scenes. Lisbeth's relationship with Hollaway is better fleshed out, for example, even though a smug, swaggering, self-aware actor like Logan-Marshal Green was clearly the wrong choice for the part of her doctor/scientist lover. While I wouldn't say the new opening sequence is better than the original, it's powerful and very different in tone. Moving the arrival of the Engineers on ancient Earth into a dream sequence of Lisbeth's in the middle of the film is an intriguing idea. Racial memory? Something else?

And most of the film's stupidities are gone - excellent work there. Too bad we can't get rid of Charlize Theron's embarrassing performance as a stereotypical hard-bitch. She's saddled with the film's worst written main character, so it's not all her fault.

All up it's amazing for a first fanedit. Congats to Severian.

This is a great fanedit, made all the greater with the knowledge that this is Severian's first submission.

I have been quietly waiting for a bold Prometheus edit to come along. The original is visually stunning, but I still left the theater disgusted. The original narrative is a complete mess. It would be one thing if some things were just left a mystery. That I am totally ok with and usually even prefer, but the truth is that Ridley Scott did have a specific agenda with specific answers in mind. In interviews he has made certain specific claims about why the engineers turned on humanity but I won't go into that here. The bottom line is that I think this story works a lot better with more mystery surrounding the motives of the engineers. All we need to know as an audience is that this was a weapons testing facility, an accident occurred and all except (presumably the captain) died, and that the engineers were working on weapons that might potentially be used against Earth. This edit much more effectively conveys all that.

Simultaneously there needs to be less mystery surrounding the motives of the actual characters we are following. This edit succeeds with some details in this department. Unfortunately I still don't buy into the motive of why the android would so casually infect one of the crew's top scientists with an unknown substance in such an uncontrolled way or why everyone reacts so casually to the c-section events that follow.

Lastly, the scientists need to come across as less stupid than the original. The edit succeeds here as well.

I can't really think of a way to resolve my remaining problems with the story, and so I am grateful to have this fanedit. I daresay it makes Prometheus actually watchable for me. It is a better, more philosophical treatment of the film, and I can now suspend my disbelief for the most part.

Kudos! I watched the 720p mp4 version. Detected no major video or audio issues other than technical decisions made by the editor to do a 2.0 audio track and not release as a DVD or BD with a full-featured menu.

I would put my overall enjoyment of the original at a 4 or 5, whereas this was probably a 7 or 8.