Is Ridley Scott becoming the new George Lucas in tearing down his legacy? No matter what you thought about “Prometheus” it has become clear that the movie isn’t exactly a prequel to “Alien” so much as a prequel to the eventual sequel that will be the prequel to “Alien.” Or something. But has Ridley Scott now decided to drag “Blade Runner” into his world building?
Apparently, included as part of the U.K. steelbook (people still buy those?) release of “Prometheus,” a pretty interesting easter egg can be found (see below). In short, it’s a memo from Peter Weyland that seems to suggest that his mentor was none other than Eldon Tyrell. As you know, he was the head of the Tyrell Corporation in “Blade Runner” who created the false memory replicants in the film. And the references in the memo of this unnamed man looking out from a “pyramid” in the “City Of Angels” make it pretty obvious what this is all about.
But holy shit, Ridley. One beloved franchise is already diminished in the eyes of your fans, why drag another one down too? Could we be looking at some kind of Marvel-esque cross-linking universe between “Alien” and “Blade Runner”? Or is this just a one-time wink to devoted uber-fans? Guess we’ll see, but with Scott officially helming the developing “Blade Runner 2” that has original writer Hampton Fancher conceiving the story — we wonder if they’ve come up with an early idea of what they want to do.
Anyway, check out the tease below, along with the Honest trailer for “Prometheus.” [ScreenCrush]
I always though that Bladerunner could have been a sort of prequel to Alien. That was solely on the fact that it was about looking for androids that had a couple of screws loose. Even the Alien movies reference different models of androids that had been decommissioned for having issues with taking orders.
So, does this diminish the universe? No. It unifies some outstanding works of cinematography (and writing).
Wasn't diminished to me, this author is an asshole.
Prometheus is the prequel to Alien. I don't give a crap what Ridley Scott wants us to believe. Look at the two jawed alien that explodes out of the engineers chest at the end, come on now!
In the SECOND SCREEN iPad app – there is the now, already published pic of Rutgers Hauer in a space suit – it's alright – but there is also (under concept art/ridleygrams/scenes) a series of scenes where Shaw and what's his name go to present their findings to Weyland – in this scene, Ridley has indicated he wanted either Max Von Sydow or RUTGER HAUER to play Weyland. Check it out.
Ok here are my speculative connections between blade runner and prometheus, some more obvious than others. Vickers is not an android she is a replicant like rachel, still flawed, who has false memories but realized it pripr to prometheus, hence her anger towards her "father". Tyrell is Weyland's mentor and weyland could even be Sebastian, in that weyland could be a replicant that ages with Sebastian's memories, who knows that his life is also limited, thus he creates david, best of both worlds, to carry on his memories, he hears about the egineers and sees an opportunity to ask the questions that he saw (as Sebastian ) roy ask tyrell, and possibly do as roy did and kill his crator.
Christ, everyone pretends that "Alien" was some sort of gift from heaven. It's a good film. Effective. Stylish. Scary. But it's just a dark ride. It's plot is overly simplistic. It doesn't have a lot of "ideas". It's just a haunted house film set in space with some great set design with a bithin creature.
Get over it. Stop putting "Alien" on some pedestal it doesn't deserve.
I cant believe no one has touched on the fact that Ridley Scott uses the MUTHUR computer board on both Alien and Blade Runner. You see the program running on the computers in the Nostromo, and the car that Deckard flies around.
The whole bandwagon movement against George Lucas and the decisions he's made in his career past the Indiana Jones films is incredibly annoying. Fanboys have this horrible reflex to anything that ruins their childhood fantasies, as if a peice of them was immediately ripped out of them because of it. Lucas has changed the film industry forever. Because his focus has turned to reaxing his past films recently, doesn't deligitamize the impact he's made. He's probably the top 5 significant figures in film, as far moving the technology forward (i.e. Pixar, ILM).
"emplicates" isn't a word. i think you meant implied.
The David character was more Blade Runner than Aliens. The entire premise behind Prometheus about human origins and what sets us apart from the Engineers or David was Blade Runner. Setting it in space with alien creatures doesn't take away that premise. Space is just atmosphere.
Let us all remember that Blade Runner is not an original script but an adaptation of a Phillip K. Dick story. If Ridley or any hollywood producer is seeing a chance of making a big buck by getting the two worlds together, cheers to that… But no genius credit for them! I'll go and see the film and most likely, will love it! As long as they manage to bring Charlize back!
The link was really established in the film with 'David'. In Blade Runner, Deckard is hunting Nexus 6, sixth generation androids, however Rachel was a prototype for the next generation (seventh). In Prometheus 'David' is stated to be an eighth generation android, albeit from different company but effectively still related, just think CD's, DVD's and Blu-ray's…
This sort of "journalism" which presupposes the universal failure of a film in the eyes of the filmmmaker's fans is lazy and irresponsible. I think it might be better in the school paper. Promethus is a great and ambiguous film. If we're going to bash Ridley Scott, oughtn't we be talking about Gladiator or Kingdom of Heaven or something? Rather than the awesome sci-fi universe he continues to create, which has no analogic parallel. At least he's doing something new in the genre.
Next he'll say Titanic was related to Poseidon.
The comparable in Lucas' world for me is the Ep V reveal that Luke and Leia were siblings with Darth as their Dad. Had a hard time buying that one just as I'm having a hard time buying the Leyland – Tyrell connection.
How does suggesting that one film might exist in the same world as another diminish either?
So was Rick Deckard was Amanda Ripley-McClaren's father?
Jesus those clues were really hamfisted. He might as well consolidate the universes anyway; the sentient robot dichotomy is pretty much Ridley's sci-fi bread and butter.
If you want to buy me new glasses, go for it 🙂
Kevin is the new Gabe Toro.
"Prometheus", which is full of majestic imagery and arresting ideas, would have been better if the goopy, toothy "Alien" monsters could have been written out of it 100% and the whole "Alien" prequel meme could have been forgotten. But the Great God 10-Figure Gross just had to intervene, as usual, and so we have half of a wonderful movie and the rest of it a pile of recycled crap.
Likewise, "Blade Runner" (the final director's cut) is a profound meditation on the nature of human-ness, in addition to being a uniquely powerful visual experience. In my not especially humble opinion, it's the finest science fiction film ever made apart from "2001: A Space Odyssey". So please, leave more-than-well-enough very much alone — and leave "Blade Runner 2" in any form and by any director, Ridley Scott included, in Development Hell for the rest of eternity.
Whatever about the literal connections, Prometheus was thematically much closer to Blade Runner than to Alien – in Blade Runner an Android goes to his human creator in order to try to prolong his lifespan (and winds up killing his creator) and in Prometheus a human (Tyrell-type figure) goes to his creator in order to prolong his lifespan (and, in a neat reversal of Blade Runner, get killed by his creator.)
Comparing Scott's work in the sci-fi genre to that of Lucas is not sustainable on any level.
Kevin, do you have to over-dramatize every fucking story you cover? It really gets old. Scott ALWAYS does stuff like this. It's pretty obvious that he just likes dropping random allusions to the various theories surrounding Blade Runner just to stir the pot and get fanboys arguing on the film's nature. At worst it's him fucking with everyone for shits and giggles. Otherwise it was just a little in-joke for the fans.
This article is a biased crapfest
Saying comparing Ridley Scott to Lucas??
Especially when Prometheus was BETTER than Alien
idiot
stick to Battleship since the article writer hates to think
"What they found was a bald albino". LOL
Scott mentioned years ago that Alien and Blade Runner exist in the same universe. However, this is the first time, I believe, that he actually offered concrete evidence.
Who cares?