mattysemo247

Had a chance to check this out last night. I thought we were off to a decent start during the first 30 minutes or so, but once the ship landed and people starting making really dumb decisions, I knew the movie was going to be in trouble. I mean, why the hell would you go to a completely new planet without wearing full gear? Even if you think that it has some of the same living conditions as Earth? They are scientists for fucks sake, it doesn't even make sense for them to chance it. The biggest problem of the movie is the middle is an absolute snooze fest. And once the final act starts up, I was so checked out of the movie that I didn't really care. And yes, the ending was completely obvious and felt like a lazy way to end the movie. It's a shame, because I enjoyed some aspects of Prometheus and thought they could have had a really cool follow up 10 years after the events of that movie, but they really fucked that up.

brayzie

The producers "listened" to audiences of the first movie that said they wanted more xenomorphs, but apparently didn't listen when audiences complained about the scientists acting stupid liketaking off their space helmets while on an unknown planet.

Giantrobo

Yeah I finally caught this a few days ago and I'm still not sure how I feel. I mean shit, I was even too fucked up to search for this thread so I could try to get some understanding of what I just watched. Sigh....I guess reading that there will be sequels on Wiki kinda helps me not to feel totally duped by Scott once again but shit... That ending made me want to throw a brick at my TV.

lopper

I was really let down by this movie after my first viewing. Aside from being an astonishingly pretty movie, I don't remember having many positive things to say about it.

But, I had an afternoon to kill waiting for a hotel room, and decided to give this another shot. On second viewing, I like this movie a whole bunch. The neomorph design is still terrible. The characters are still dumb. Shaw being killed off-screen was a bad choice. On and on and on. But knowing all that going into my second go round really made all the difference. Expectations were left at the door and I just enjoyed a new Alien movie.

OldBoy

i haven't finished, but if this takes place before Alien, the technology in this (on the Covenant) was way more advanced than the dusty whatever they used in Alien...

Why So Blu?

It would be. The Nostromo is a piece of crap.

mikehunt

Literally just got done watching it for the first time.
Fassbender did well as he always does. I liked the "coldness" of Walter's speaking

"Watch me, I'll do the fingering" LOL

I have the same huge nitpick as I did from the trailer. Why would you go onto another planet for the first time without protective gear? Just because the atmosphere isn't poison doesn't mean there aren't germs or other pathogens.
So you see David hanging out with an alien, he just explained how he's been messing with the virus, and you just walk up to an egg pod because he says it's safe? Captain Faith deserved to get a facehugger

I had a feeling David had replaced Walter when Mother detected an alien and he was a bit delayed in replying to the crew.

OldBoy

Still, because of new technology in movies they just over did it. That's one of the things that sucked about prequel trilogy. It just didnt vibe with the technology of 1977. Continuity was off. That's what's great about The Force Awakens. It was old school and not over done with special effects that makes the tech similar to the barebones of the original Trilogy. Took me out a little with Covenant's so so advanced tech...

Troy Stiffler

Props to inri for posting this in the Prometheus thread awhile back.



Covenant was alright. I enjoyed it for the same reasons I enjoyed Prometheus. The large scales of the ships and action sequences are fun to watch. I enjoyed seeing the landscape and exploration. Kind of the same reason I like playing video games with huge landscapes. Watching Fassbender's two roles was a highlight.

That said, I don't recall any memorable moments.

mewmartigan

The ending with Walter being swapped for David(?) was so telegraphed as others said. I think it actually would have been a better twist if it was still Walter but somehow David (is that his name) managed to infect one of the returning crew or hide a parasite on Walter as they were fighting.

The relationships were funny...just like they poked fun in that honest trailer, you couldn't tell who was with who except for the occasional "my wife..." comment.

Giantrobo

I know this was a complaint going back to Prometheus and it's a fair one. But they could have created a retro environment that was closer to the Nostromo. I keep thinking of the movie "Space Station 1976" and how they totally nailed the retro look of a 70's Space Film.

brayzie

I have to check out this Space Station 1976. The trailer looked good.

For Alien Isolation they went for a "lo-fi sci-fi." Everything was supposed to look like it could be roughly in the same time frame as Alien.


I think if the technology in Prometheus and Covenant was more in line with the '79 Alien film, it would have made the engineers and their tech look even more advanced and alien-like. It would also have made it feel like a true prequel.

inri222

These last 2 Alien films have some of the worst writing ever. Looking forward to seeing what hacks Ridley Scott has in mind to interpret his wacky ideas on paper for the next film's screenplay.

RichC2

Space Station 76 wasn't very good but agree the aesthetic was fantastic.

Giantrobo

Yeah the trailers had some of the best stuff. It was ok. Kinda peter'd out after starting out interesting. But like you said the sets were great.

mattysemo247

They should just make Alien Isolation into a movie. It would be the best Alien movie since Aliens.

Abob Teff

That is exactly why you SHOULD feel duped by Scott again. It's a fucking cop out. It's like the cheating husband who promises he won't cheat again ... for the sixth time ... and we are the dumb spouse who takes him back every time. "I know this one wasn't great either, but I promise I have six more Alien movies in mind that will make up for everything and explain it!" (And then, under his breath, "you want fucking monsters, I'll give you fucking monsters.")

inri222

Fool me once.....

Giantrobo

I feel so used. It's like...Scott has gotten up and left already and his DNA is running down the back of my leg and he's not there to give me a warm wet rag to clean up.

But seriously, Let me be clear, what I mean by "knowing there may be sequels" is I just want to know what David is gonna do next. I know what this asshole did since Prometheus now I wanna know what he is doing now until the next film. I'm fascinated by what he is doing to move the evolution of the Xenomoprhs to what we now know of.

Abob Teff

I'd be wary of what that DNA is laced with ...

In the next movie the xenomorphs will actually become human-like mammals. Then the next one they will become mechanical cyborgs. It's all canon.

Giantrobo

^Fuckin' spoilers.

Josh-da-man

I think I'd enjoy Prometheus and Covenant more if they weren't tied to the Alien universe; if the "Engineers" were just some kind of alien beings and not the "Space Jockey" race, and the "xenomorphs" were, likewise, a new creation.

Grafting all of this shit onto the "Alien" mythos just damages it.

Abob Teff

I think that may be a valid point Josh. It does kind of reek of a different story that had familiar things shoe-horned in to capitalize on name-brand recognition.

Just curious ... if anybody bought the BluRay ... are there any worthwhile bonus features on it?

TheMovieman

Features are decent, the highlight was a 55-minute 'making-of' featurette.

The commentary was good, some mini-featurettes and about 17-minutes worth of deleted/extended footage. Not sure why that short bridging Prometheus and Covenant wasn't included, though.

kefrank

Are you talking about this one? Because if so, it is on the Blu-ray...