Post by Lenrat117 on Oct 9, 2013 7:54:08 GMT -5
The film Prometheus was an unmitigated disaster. There really is no nicer way to put it, although there are good elements to it it was mostly very shit. So who is to blame for it's failure? Ridley Scott? 20th century fox? well I've been sniffing around and it turns out that both Fox and Scott have blamed Damon Lindelof.
Once upon a time there was a script for Prometheus written by talented writer John Spaihts. It was his first big project and he wrote an excellent script that wandered perfectly along the line of "alien prequel" and "standalone movie" (I've read the script, cos I'm a massive nerd, and it is quite good). Ridley Scott read the script and thought it needed some revisions. So he called in Lindelof (my arch nemesis)to take a look through the script and iron out any creases there might be. So Lindelof took the script and rewrote it. Little did Ridley know that Lindelof had his own agenda.
Lindelof decided to keep some of Spaihts stuff in his own script, which is one of the reasons that the movie is a complete mess as the the bits didn't click with the rest of the movie.
But before I continue I should probably explain why I dislike Lindelof as much as I do. Damon Lindelof is a great screen writer, easily one of the best in Hollywood which explains why so many producers and directors approach him for scripts. He has done some good stuff, especially with his old chum, J.J Abrams, but so very often his head gets all swollen and he reaches for heights he's incapable of reaching which usually leads to the ruination of whatever franchise or movie he's working on. It happened with Lost and it's happened with Prometheus. His massive ego gets in the way of his job and lashes out at people when they point it out.
If I were to say one good thing about Lindelof's "revisions" on Prometheus I'd say he did a good job of improving the character of the android, David (played by Michael Fassbender). In the original script David was basically going to be the same type of character Ash was in the first alien movie. He was made more complex in the final draft and is easily the best part of the movie.
So Lindelof handed in the script and Ridley started filming. Now, many people are going to go all Edmund Burke on Scott and say "All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing" so Scott should have said something about the pitiful Script. To which I would reply: He is the director. Ridley Scott is one of the best directors in the history of the universe, He ca take a decent script and turn it into a master piece. I will however say this about him...he's not that creative. He doesn't see it as his job to question the screen writer, and this shows in the movie. It is fantastically shot, the special effects are incredible. Ridley did his job properly, that is why it isn't his fault that the movie was a disaster.
Moving swiftly on, it is apparent in the movie that Lindelof aimed too high. Just like in Lost he introduced more questions and failed to answer any of the ones that the audience and fans expected to be answered.
But the absolute worst thing is that he admitted to Fox that he deliberately wrote it that way so he could get a new franchise out of it...he betrayed the fans of the alien franchise, he betrayed the studio (they probably didn't mind to much...probably mean they get more money), he betrayed Ridley Scott (who was quite miffed which is the reason why he pointed his finger at Damon when they needed to find out who was to blame for the movie's failure) and probably betrayed a few other people as well just so he could get a franchise to fuel his twisted God Complex.
So, production on Prometheus 2 is meant to be starting soon, Lindelof is refusing to show Fox or Scott any Script ideas, god knows why Scott signed on to direct and hopefully it will be less of an incoherent mess like the first one was.
Lenrat (disgruntled alien and Ridley Scott fan boy) out.
Once upon a time there was a script for Prometheus written by talented writer John Spaihts. It was his first big project and he wrote an excellent script that wandered perfectly along the line of "alien prequel" and "standalone movie" (I've read the script, cos I'm a massive nerd, and it is quite good). Ridley Scott read the script and thought it needed some revisions. So he called in Lindelof (my arch nemesis)to take a look through the script and iron out any creases there might be. So Lindelof took the script and rewrote it. Little did Ridley know that Lindelof had his own agenda.
Lindelof decided to keep some of Spaihts stuff in his own script, which is one of the reasons that the movie is a complete mess as the the bits didn't click with the rest of the movie.
But before I continue I should probably explain why I dislike Lindelof as much as I do. Damon Lindelof is a great screen writer, easily one of the best in Hollywood which explains why so many producers and directors approach him for scripts. He has done some good stuff, especially with his old chum, J.J Abrams, but so very often his head gets all swollen and he reaches for heights he's incapable of reaching which usually leads to the ruination of whatever franchise or movie he's working on. It happened with Lost and it's happened with Prometheus. His massive ego gets in the way of his job and lashes out at people when they point it out.
If I were to say one good thing about Lindelof's "revisions" on Prometheus I'd say he did a good job of improving the character of the android, David (played by Michael Fassbender). In the original script David was basically going to be the same type of character Ash was in the first alien movie. He was made more complex in the final draft and is easily the best part of the movie.
So Lindelof handed in the script and Ridley started filming. Now, many people are going to go all Edmund Burke on Scott and say "All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing" so Scott should have said something about the pitiful Script. To which I would reply: He is the director. Ridley Scott is one of the best directors in the history of the universe, He ca take a decent script and turn it into a master piece. I will however say this about him...he's not that creative. He doesn't see it as his job to question the screen writer, and this shows in the movie. It is fantastically shot, the special effects are incredible. Ridley did his job properly, that is why it isn't his fault that the movie was a disaster.
Moving swiftly on, it is apparent in the movie that Lindelof aimed too high. Just like in Lost he introduced more questions and failed to answer any of the ones that the audience and fans expected to be answered.
But the absolute worst thing is that he admitted to Fox that he deliberately wrote it that way so he could get a new franchise out of it...he betrayed the fans of the alien franchise, he betrayed the studio (they probably didn't mind to much...probably mean they get more money), he betrayed Ridley Scott (who was quite miffed which is the reason why he pointed his finger at Damon when they needed to find out who was to blame for the movie's failure) and probably betrayed a few other people as well just so he could get a franchise to fuel his twisted God Complex.
So, production on Prometheus 2 is meant to be starting soon, Lindelof is refusing to show Fox or Scott any Script ideas, god knows why Scott signed on to direct and hopefully it will be less of an incoherent mess like the first one was.
Lenrat (disgruntled alien and Ridley Scott fan boy) out.