<blockquote class='quote\\_blockquote'><dl><dt>Quote:</dt><dd> </dd></dl><div>Back in March I reported that 'Prometheus' could be partially inspired by Erich von Daniken's hypothesis that mankind was created by aliens, who were seen as gods amongst ancient civilizations. This story was further backed by Ridley Scott himself in June when he announced at the Cine Europe expo that:
"The (space) journey, metaphorically, is about a challenge to the gods. NASA and the Vatican agree that is almost mathematically impossible that we can be where we are today without there being a little help along the way. That's what we're looking at (in the film), at some of Eric von Daniken's ideas of how did we humans come about."
Now it seems Fox has quietly updated the synopsis with an extra little piece of information to confirm this. The updated synopsis, which can be found on the official Prometheus page on Facebook:
Ridley Scott, director of “Alien†and “Blade Runner,†returns to the genre he helped define. With PROMETHEUS, he creates a groundbreaking mythology, in which a team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a thrilling journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.
Alien in his ship according to von Daniken. Space Jockey?
In von Daniken's 1968 book 'Chariots of the Gods', he explains his idea of how humans saw alien visitors as gods because of their advanced technology, which the ancient human civilizations believed to be supernatural powers. Therefore these aliens must be gods, and according to van Daniken this belief is the basis of religion.
Also, Ridley Scott has pointed out that Prometheus is about "gods and engineers" and that the name Prometheus is not just coincidence.
In Greek mythology, the Titan Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus were given permission by the gods to create life on Earth.
Prometheus created man from water and clay, and the goddess of wisdom, Athena, breathed a soul into man. Epimetheus created all the other creatures on Earth and gave them all the good qualities, so Prometheus made man stand upright like the gods to make them more superior.
We all know Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to the humans, but Prometheus also gave humans science, maths, medicine and arts, the foundations for modern civilization - a mind of their own, uncontrolled by the gods, free will.
Before Prometheus' revelations to humans they had lived in a state of timeless harmony, a counter-image of civilization.
In a similar story from The Bible, we hear of Adam and Eve living in a state of timeless harmony and ignorance, until they crossed God by eating from the tree of Knowledge.
This place was called 'Paradise', which also was the working title for 'Prometheus'.
A coincidence?
(source: Prometheus on Facebook)
&.....
MTV Movies Blog had a chat with Prometheus writer Damon Lindelof back at the Comic-Con in July.
The interview is now online, and in it Lindelof throws in a couple of teasers about some of the characters.
Unfortunately the video is not available outside the US due to "copyright reasons", but I'm sure it will appear on YouTube soon.
About Michael Fassbender's character, David, Lindelof says:
"He plays a robot. One of the things that evokes the idea of 'Blade Runner' is, 'What does the movie look like from the robot's point of view?' If you were to ask him, 'What do you think about all of this? What's going on? What do you think about these humans who are around you?,' wouldn't it be cool if we found a way for that robot to answer those questions. When you cast a guy like Fassbender, who's going to bring a lot more to it than [makes clichéd robot movements] — that was me doing the robot, I don't know if you could tell — it's not Anthony Daniels. All due respect. He's phenomenal. But C-P3O…"
About Charlize Theron's character, Meredith Vickers:
"Her character's name is Meredith Vickers and she's sort of a corporate entity. That's another one of the familiar things from the 'Alien' movies — that there are corporate interests in play. I feel like Charlize brought a new spin on that old variation. It's a remix …. I don't think she's slimy [like Paul Reiser's character in 'Aliens']. She's not the fast-talking, snake-oil face of the company. By the way, "What company is she a face of?," I think is a big part of the fun. As we were developing the script, she had some really cool ideas that made it not the suit you're used to."
And about the whole cast:
"I think one of the really cool things about the first 'Alien,' if you watch it cold, Ripley is kind in the background like one of the crew members, and you're like, 'Skerrit's [who played Captain Dallas] the hero of the movie,' and he's one of the first to go. And then you're like, 'It's [the engineer played by] Harry Dean Stanton.' And, no, he's gone… and suddenly Sigourney Weaver, in the last 40 minutes of the movie, is the only one left alive. I think the idea of building a really cool ensemble and again presenting the audience with like, 'Who's going to be left standing at the end of this movie? Maybe all of them. Probably not,' [that's] part of the fun of what we set out to do." [/quote]
Holy SHIT!!