Prometheus

So there's a whole Alien franchise that I didn't really know about or have interest in until last October when I watched Aliens.  At the time I didn't realize that Aliens was the second film in the series but is considered by some to be better than the first, Alien.  My take on it goes with my usual feeling that the first is always the best and that the following films get worse and worse.  While the first two films were directed by the legendary Ridley Scott and visionary James Cameron, the following Alien 3, Alien Resurrection, Alien vs. Predator, and Alien vs. Predator:Requiem, were all filmed by upcoming/unknown directors where constant struggle of creative control took place. Oftentimes filming wold start before the script was finished and then the studio would take over and twist editing around to make it a completely different movie than what was initially envisioned.  Basically its the unfortunate case of studios wanting to make more money by using a plot that will bring sure-fire success and fans being too crazed to prove the studios wrong.  Ridley Scott created a monster, or alien in this case.  So, about thirty years later, Scott came back and created Prometheus which came out June 8.  One can always feel at ease when the original creator comes back.  This film has the look and feel of the original.  It's slow, deliberate, and not all about the scary blood and guts that the franchised had turned into.  It even feels consistent with Aliens and I think that's more of a tip of the hat to James Cameron for being able to pick up on Scott's intentions.

Here's the trailer of the original:

And here's a trailer of Prometheus:

Notice that just in the trailers of the two, it has a shared fluidity?  From the music to the sound effects to the ship and even to a strong female lead freaking out about what she is experiencing, there is a sense that these two films belong together.  

On another note, I want to point out the cleverness of those who promoted Prometheus.  I feel that people are getting bored by the same old traditional trailer and movie poster that has been able to sell movies for decades.  They want something new.  And some marketers are getting that.  Recently The Hunger Games put on a brilliant campaign that charged head-on to social media and was incredibly successful, especially given the fact that they used half of their usual man power and spent a fraction of their usual budget to promote that film.  And while the marketers here didn't necessarily play towards social media, they did do a bit of a revamp on the old teaser trailer by making promos that were released virally.  The same could be said for the many spoof trailers made for The Muppets.  It all depends on the audience the film is trying to target and if you notice, each of these films knew who they were going for.  Teens and young adults are all about social media (Hunger Games), young adults, and more importantly young adult males, are more apt to look on different sites and nerdy blogs to find stuff that interests them (Prometheus), and families are still obsessed with YouTube to find all their entertainment (The Muppets).  It is also important to note that while each film in this case had a highly active online presence, they also went the traditional route with commercials, posters, ticket giveaways, promotion tours, news releases, etc.  But with the way technology is ruling the world these days, I often wonder how long will the traditional route last?  I guess time will only tell.  Enjoy some Prometheus promos (Promotheus'?).