Prometheus: Giftbearer

While I enjoyed the original version of Prometheus, I was also frustrated by its total ambiguity. I like when there is some mystery left to ponder or discuss, but in the end Prometheus was just too vague.

In my opinion, Severian's fan-edit fixes the film's overbearing ambiguity while tightening the narrative and characters. Frankly, I am shocked by the amount of interesting and important scenes that were originally left on the cutting room floor (such as the opening talk and the engineer's dialogue). Technically, the edit is well done. I didn't notice any jarring edits or transitions.

The reviews for the theatrical version of Prometheus were decent, but I wonder how it would have been received had this been the original edit of the film. This is an excellent edit that does what every fan-edit should do: improve the original film. In my opinion, this turned a decent film into a great one. I definitely recommend giving this one a watch.

I am not a good reviewer. I just know what I like and what I dont like. For me, this fanedit replaces the theatrical release. Permanently. I got the theatrical for Christmas and watched it once prior to watching this fanedit. I will never watch it again for pleasure. Thank you for the vast improvement. There are a few very small cuts I would still like to see, but they are a matter of personal taste. This fanedit is one of my favorite fanedits of all time. Thank you for rescuing this film for me.

This was a pretty cool take on what I originally thought was a great movie and later a confusing one and finally a movie that leveled out somewhere in the middle of my "favorites" scale. The best thing it had going for it was its connection to Alien. I went into Giftbearer with great hope that some things might be cleared up and some of the extras would be used the right way. While I'm not sure anything was really cleared up, the extras were definitely used the right way.

THINGS THAT STOOD OUT:

1. The TED talk scene- I really like this set up scene. It is a great explanation of who Weyland is and what his aspirations are. I thought about it's placement and where I would put it instead. Not sure if there is a better spot. Perhaps I would put it after the discovery of the ruins, but to each his own. Maybe what I would do is show the scientists finding the ruins, do the TED talk, and then bring them back to the crew getting ready to leave. Anyway, no big deal.

2. Moving the opening alien scene- Probably not a bad idea. I think it is important, but not necessarily where it was. I like how it was used later.

3. The extra dialogue scenes- beautifully woven back into the movie. All cool. All needed. Great job.

4. Audio between Noomi's dream sequence and the next sequence- You'll know it when you hear it. It goes from no sound to abrupt music. I'm no pro, so I don't know what I'd do there, but it is the one time I think I was aware something had changed.

Perhaps what I liked best is that you didn't really change the movie and what it is about, but rather added to the story. I never thought it was bad before. Now I just think it is better.

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.

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.