Prometheus: The Art Of The Film by Mark Salisbury (2012/Titan Books/Hardcover)/Sector 7 3D (2011/Shout! Factory Blu-ray 3D w/Blu-ray)

 

3D Picture: B-     2D Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: C     Book: C+     Film: C

 

 

When Ridley Scott’s Alien arrived in 1979, it was a massive critical and commercial hit, a watershed film and all around surprise; it immediately became one of the most imitated films since.  Before Cameron’s Aliens (1986) sequel arrived, hundreds of imitators sprung up and they never truly stopped, even when four more sequels happened.  That only seemed to increase the imitators.

 

Now with our new digital 3D era, two more films in the mode of the 1979 classic have arrived, including Scott’s own semi-prequel Prometheus and to go with that theatrical release, Titan Books has released a heavy hardcover volume to tie in with the film called Prometheus: The Art Of The Film by Mark Salisbury (2012).  Though I was very disappointed with what Scott came up with, the book shows how much artwork was needed (they certainly had the budget) including having H.R. Giger‘s designs revisited (though eh was not directly involved with this production, he at least got credit) and the result is a mixed book.

 

The revival of older designs seems tired and even unnecessary, much like the theatrical cut I had to sit through, though I could also see some newer items were not featured as prominently.  The newer art is more interesting, yet it also looks like more of what we have already seen before and though the book is very thorough and printed on very high quality paper in high quality print, this is for research purposes or fans of the prequel only.  Like the film, none of the frames seem dark enough to build any suspense or terror.  We’ll review the film soon.

 

 

So you might think Prometheus a is the first Alien-like film to surface as a 3D project in this new round of 3D, but it turns out the far less expensive and more cheesy Korean effort Sector 7 3D (2011) beat them to it.  Director Kim Ji-Hoon has some directing skill, but this is far too humorous to be funny, there is very little mystery here, it also imitates Cameron’s sequel and Cameron’s The Abyss (1989) more than it should and like many later Alien imitators and despite an interesting cast, is everything we’ve seen before and all also looks like a dated videogame.

 

A group on an oil rig are doing fine when mysterious like creatures that omit a little of their own light turn out to not be as safe and of wonderment as they appear when they turn out to be part of a strain that can grow and kill.  Needless to say they can grow and one turns out to be a huge killer creature that will cause havoc for all and much worse.

 

This had potential, especially since Korean Cinema tends to find its own way of doing things, but all this can really do in the end is imitate Hollywood clichés and formula to the point that you wonder why they were so broad and commercial here.  I thought this might get better as it went along and the early moments were just typical set-ups you get from a genre piece, but it was stuck on its course down the same road as hundreds of other Alien imitators.  The creature was very fake, no matter how grotesque they tried to make it and like almost all releases that use too much CG digital visual effects becomes an overgrown cartoon.  Too bad, because the set-up was interesting, even if it might remind one of two Alien-near-the-water imitators: Deep Star Six and Leviathan, both of which The Abyss outclassed as they were issued at the same time.

 

 

The 1.85 X 1, 1080p full HD MVC-encoded 3-D – Full Resolution digital High Definition image and 2D versions are on par with each other, with the 3D version not always working and also having shots that did not need to be 3D, while the 2D can be dull and both have their share of shots with too much CG.  Color can be limited and part of that is the style chosen, in part to hide the limits of the visual effects anyhow.  Very few shots stuck with me when all was said and done.  Don’t expect many demo shots, though a few were at least amusing.

The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is sometimes weak in the way it was recorded on location, while the soundfield may have its moments, but dialogue and some sounds can be more towards the front speakers than I would have liked.

 

The only extra is a Making Of featurette.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo