Prometheus: Giftbearer

First, thanks Severian. I'm glad I have this version of Prometheus to watch now.

I'm one of those people who really liked the theatrical Prometheus. But I knew it wasn't perfect. And I knew that an edit, especially one that added deleted scenes, could be something great. This is that. Is it the best possible Prometheus? I don't know. My gut says it's not, but who knows.

I love the added scenes. I've had the movie for a number of months now, but I made a conscious decision to hold off on the scenes until I saw them in a fan edit. I think they all work here. Everything that people are saying these scenes add - they do. I especially love the final scene with Shaw and David. Great line in there.

Editing's good, nothing too noticeable. Some minor annoying stuff was taken out, and I think that's good. Putting the TED Talk at the start was, I think, a good idea, but it definitely gave the movie a different vibe. This is a more straightforward science fiction film I think. And that's okay. But the movie, as a whole, is a lot less mysterious. This is a byproduct of practically every single change. And that's okay. This is a different beast. This fact has actually made me appreciate the original more. The mystery of the original is one of the things I loved about it, and now I'm finally understanding why the film was cut the way it was. Putting the engineer scene at the start of the original was one biggest ways that it solidified it's mysterious tone. Interestingly, the engineer scene here seems to almost answer questions, instead of raise them. Due to its placement, we know what the engineer is, what Shaw thinks it did, and now the scene is almost an endorsement of Shaw's belief that the engineers created the humans. By actually seeing what she's, possibly, imagining, we have no choice but to assume that we're seeing the truth. Thinking on it more this placement is rather brilliant. Whilst imagining this engineer conceiving the human race, Shaw is pregnant, with what could be the beginning of a new race.

Anyway, yeah, I love this edit. I love this new version of Prometheus. And I love the old version of Prometheus. I love the additions (I just wish you could have included "David 8"). I like the cuts. Great work, great edit.

To get things started I'd like to say, Severian has done a really good job improving Prometheus with his first fanedit.

It is impressive how he achieved a more cohesive narrative for one of the most high profile and yet frustrating SciFi movies in recent memory, by shuffling just a few scenes and incorporating extended bits and pieces throughout this is turned into a truly memorable entry in the Alien mythos. By removing plain stupid behavior on the characters and adding key pieces of dialogue and information this does feel like the experience I wanted all along.
My favorite change is a truly satisfying interaction between Weyland and the surviving Engineer (my biggest gripe with the theatrical release).

The Video HD editing mastery displayed is commendable, there isn't a single noticeable editing error from what I could tell, and the quality of the encoding is likewise spot on.
I eagerly look forward to a burnable release.

Audio is likewise handled with great care and skill, all the integrated scenes and bits of dialogue are perfectly woven, I couldn't notice any jarring transitions while watching using my Onkyo amplifier.

Having said that, sadly I have to deduct points from A/V quality due to the currently available release only offering a 2.0 track, I am aware that 7/10 might seem somewhat harsh but it might motivate a future release supporting at least 5.1 DD for a perfect score.

Narrative and Enjoyment - as stated before the experience is greatly enriched, the original was a 7/10 when now I can easily give it a 9/10; there are still some details that make little to no sense but they are far fewer this time around.

Congratulations indeed.

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.

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.