It’s been something like a year since I did a movie review on this blog, there’s no particular reason for this slack but here’s a movie that I thought deserve one – Prometheus (2012).

Prometheus 2012

The movie is sort of a prequel to the Alien series that many of us grew up watching, and in a way, an integral part of our childhood’s formation years. Prometheus is directed by the same Ridley Scott that made those classics the original Alien and Blade Runner.

I watched this movie in TGV’s IMAX screen at Sunway Pyramid, and it utterly blew my mind away – the IMAX theater that is. It was crisp, clear, and sounded superb. Not entirely unlike switching from a 21″ old tube TV to the latest 55″ high definition LCD panel with a beefed up sound system to boot.

So much so that I want to watch every movie that’s release on TGV IMAX from now on, and I am not getting paid to write this. 😀

TGV IMAX completely ruined my “normal” movie experience.

Prometheus screenshot

Anyway back to the movie that scored a (I think) very overrated 7.8/10 at IMDB.

The storyline:

A team of scientists travels through the universe on the spaceship “Prometheus” on a voyage to investigate Alien life forms. The team of scientists becomes stranded on an Alien world, and as they struggle to survive it becomes clear that the horrors they experience are not just a threat to themselves, but to all of mankind.

The movie has really excellent visuals with some scenes rival that of Avatar, pretty good pace, with rather decent acting (Michael Fassbender was excellent), and on top of that, you have Charlize Theron, that is always a bonus.

However, what I thought made it very disappointing are the things left unexplained and many that never make any sense. I know it’s essentially a sci-fi and you should be able to get away with many things, but consistency is key to any good story.

From here onwards it’s all spoilers, and read only if you have watched or are planning to watch.

Now here’s a list of problems I have with the movies:

  • How could biologists violate all the health code there is? Taking off the face mask = risking potential alien virus/bacterial infection
  • The same guy (Fifield) who deployed the navigational bots is the same guy who gets lost afterwards…
  • The same paranoid guy (Milburn) somehow wanted to play with alien snake
  • What are those black goo that kept flowing out of the vase?
  • What is David’s motive in “poisoning” Charlie?
  • A far superior civilization, the Engineers, didn’t even want to talk and just starts killing everyone in sight, that doesn’t seem very smart
  • Charlize Theron’s character was smart enough to lead a space expedition, but couldn’t figure out running side way will save her life
  • That almost Star Wars “father” line was utterly unnecessary
  • How did the face hugger grew to be the size of Kraken in the medical pot without food?
  • Why would the Engineer head to human’s escape pod when they have many other space ships of their own? If he wanted to kill all human on the planet first he’d have done it before the first attempt to fly off anyway.

OK I’ll stop here.

KY review – Prometheus (2012)
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59 thoughts on “KY review – Prometheus (2012)

  • June 15, 2012 at 9:36 am
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    so aside from the problems, do u still enjoy it? i personally do and hopefully a sequel might clear all the doubts

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    • June 15, 2012 at 9:47 am
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      nic: I would have enjoyed it a whole lot more, I enjoyed the visual lor.

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  • June 15, 2012 at 9:52 am
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    Agree that Prom was super disappointing

    Started off well until alien tentacles started showing up

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    • June 15, 2012 at 10:29 am
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      Tim: ya, all went downhill from there.

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  • June 15, 2012 at 10:34 am
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    I didn’t expect the movie to turn out like that, super overwhelming!
    Nevertheless, enjoyed it despite some gory scenes. 🙂

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    • June 15, 2012 at 10:42 am
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      Ken Wooi: good that you like it then. 😀

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  • June 15, 2012 at 10:34 am
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    after reading your blog only I realize that. But enjoyable lo~hahaha~

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    • June 15, 2012 at 10:42 am
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      Futsal Kaki: haha ya, I’m a huge fan of Sci-Fi and thus probably a lot more critical

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  • June 15, 2012 at 10:43 am
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    Yes, the motive for poisoning is what bothered me the most.

    Other issues that bothered me:
    – No explanation on the the holographic recordings
    – What the hell was that first scene all about, where that Engineer commits suicide?
    – Character development anyone?

    Gosh. Such potential. Wasted.

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    • June 15, 2012 at 10:53 am
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      Marcky: I think the first scene was when they “kick start” human race on Earth, but wasn’t explained properly. Agreed with you on other points

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      • June 15, 2012 at 10:56 am
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        That is what I guessed but there was too big a gap to make guesses, even when the viewer is one as smart as I am! :mrgreen:

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        • June 15, 2012 at 10:56 am
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          Marcky: it’s a leap of faith. hehe

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  • June 15, 2012 at 10:50 am
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    ridley scott is the director of only the 1st alien movie in the alien franchise 😉

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    • June 15, 2012 at 10:53 am
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      delia: ops you are very right, I missed that out. and he did Blade Runner too.

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  • June 15, 2012 at 10:58 am
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    Movie may have plot holes but to answer Marcky, Engineer suicide so his dna is used to seed life on the new planet.

    Some engineers want to kill humans because that was their mission originally.

    Not all engineers are in the same camp. Some wants us to live, some wants us dead.

    It is connected to biblical storyline plot but told in a ‘scientific’ way.

    If you do not have background knowledge of bible, evolution, etc, it would be hard to like this movie.

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    • June 15, 2012 at 12:24 pm
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      erm: ah, I realize that there are biblical references, but still some of the “decisions” by the characters..

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  • June 15, 2012 at 11:31 am
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    too many plot holes IMO.

    anyway, speaking of imax…i had the same feeling! already looking forward to the movies to watch in IMAX (spiderman, dark knight rises).

    heck, i was already sold while watching the IMAX 3D countdown and promo video before the movie even started!

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    • June 15, 2012 at 12:24 pm
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      howzan: haha yah, I felt exactly the same, already damn stim from countdown

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  • June 15, 2012 at 11:52 am
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    – How could biologists violate all the health code there is? Taking off the face mask = risking potential alien virus/bacterial infection

    They trusted Charlie who is technically their boss and who knew the most (a daredevil, true-believer sort) who believed the atmosphere was fit for human, I think it’s fair to say that they had enough gadgets to figure out that there wasn’t any risk of contracting diseases…from earth that is. Also, they went there thinking they’re invited & welcomed, which explains the lack of thought process allocated to “Will these aliens kill us?”

    -The same guy (Fifield) who deployed the navigational bots is the same guy who gets lost afterwards…

    He’s a geologist, he tests rocks. He doesn’t do maps lol.

    -The same paranoid guy (Milburn) somehow wanted to play with alien snake.

    They were rather cute and he’s probably an animal lover lol.

    -What are those black goo that kept flowing out of the vase?

    Biological weapon made from some kinda DNA that’s designed to interact with human DNA.

    -What is David’s motive in “poisoning” Charlie?

    Charlie was an asshole to David the entire time. And David has signs of having developed sentience from early in the film, cue: how he’s obsessed with Holloway’s dreams.

    -A far superior civilization, the Engineers, didn’t even want to talk and just starts killing everyone in sight, that doesn’t seem very smart.

    -I believe this scene confirms that Engineer was on a mission to kill humans. It was speculated at first but it’s confirmed by the scene. Also, I think it is on purpose that we don’t know exactly what humans have done to piss them off.

    -Charlize Theron’s character was smart enough to lead a space expedition, but couldn’t figure out running side way will save her life.

    Can be easily explained by panic. But ya, it’s dumb lol

    -That almost Star Wars “father” line was utterly unnecessary.

    No comment lol.

    How did the face hugger grew to be the size of Kraken in the medical pot without food?

    – Elephants are big from birth also what.

    -Why would the Engineer head to human’s escape pod when they have many other space ships of their own? If he wanted to kill all human on the planet first he’d have done it before the first attempt to fly off anyway.

    The human ship was kinda embedded into the alien ship. He probably stumbled into there.

    IMHO…

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    • June 15, 2012 at 12:27 pm
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      Kim: well the face hugger grew 20x the size in half an hour. but 10/10 for effort in the comment. hahahah.

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      • June 15, 2012 at 12:29 pm
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        it was already growing extraordinarily fast in her belly. and it’s not like you can argue about alien’s growth rate 🙂

        btw u should put in your title that your review contains loads of spoilers la!

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        • June 15, 2012 at 2:48 pm
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          kim: i did write maa spoiler from that paragraph onwards. hehe.

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  • June 15, 2012 at 12:06 pm
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    I think all Charlize Theron contracts specify that she must do a nude scene in every movie she appears in. Happened again, no? (Have not watched yet…)

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    • June 15, 2012 at 12:25 pm
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      suertes: no idea if it happened, would have been cut anyway.

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    • June 15, 2012 at 2:05 pm
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      Enlil, their supreme leader. Aka YahWeh…

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        • June 15, 2012 at 2:18 pm
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          That probably symbolize their leader Enlil. I wasn’t talking about the exploding head btw.

          Need to read up on Sumerian Mythology of Enki, Enlil, and others.

          Abrahamic religions plagiarized from the oldest known and recorded civilization, Sumerians.

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          • June 15, 2012 at 2:21 pm
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            Incoming message from The BIG GIANT HEAD. Come in, Big Giant Head.

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          • June 15, 2012 at 2:48 pm
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            erm: ya that giant head twitching around and exploding.. wtf was that…

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            • June 15, 2012 at 2:54 pm
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              Incoming message for Big Giant Twitching Head exceeded memory allocations.

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            • June 15, 2012 at 3:11 pm
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              Exploding head was to show what was gonna happen when black goo infects the host. They wanna know what happened to him before decapitation. Reanimating the head also reanimates the black goo to complete the process, similar to what happened to the ‘sacrifice’ engineer.

              Black goo is like your computer program, designed to change your dna, speed up evolution either for good or bad. I guess the engineer got infected.

              My real curiosity is how did the bio-weapon black goo escaped? They can’t be that careless. My only conclusion is, sabotage. The engineers are not all from same camp. Typical ‘God’ politics.

              Let’s hope the sequel, address this internal politics of the engineers.

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              • June 15, 2012 at 3:24 pm
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                erm: that is a lot of assumptions.

  • June 15, 2012 at 2:11 pm
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    Btw, to better understand this movie, it is vital to know about Sumerian mythology, the original one that was ‘pirated’ by other religions today. This whole movie is rooted in that era and along with Ancient Alien stuff like those from Erich Von Daniken’s Chariots of the Gods.

    Sitchin’s work is also a huge influence to Ridley Scott. So before anyone diss this movie or insult Ridley Scott, you gotta understand you need to do your own homework first.

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    • June 15, 2012 at 2:51 pm
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      erm: then imho, they need to have a bit of back story to build that up. then again they didn’t even bother to have any character development..

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      • June 15, 2012 at 3:00 pm
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        You are correct, but recently US tv channels have been showing all this Ancient Aliens series and getting hollywood stars to host these types of subjects to make it easier for the public to accept the ‘propaganda’ of Prometheus.

        Except not many have seen those ‘history’ channel Aliens are Gods type of documentaries yet. You also have to understand it would be difficult preaching the theory to Atheists and even those with organized religion background.

        This movie caters to a very selected/unique crowd (including me) that appreciates it and it is either a love it or hate it thing.

        Hence, I tend to ignore the character flaws of the script and focus on the big picture, so I found the movie enjoyable. (Since I am already familiar with Sumerian Enlil, Enki, planet Eridu, Tiamat, Epic of Gilgamesh thingy.

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        • June 15, 2012 at 3:24 pm
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          erm: you can’t honestly call those history, or documentaries. those programs are prime example of junk tv. history channel was once awesome, now .. urghhh

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          • June 15, 2012 at 3:30 pm
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            I consider them ‘propaganda’. Whether it’s true or not, it’s up to one to interpret.

            I did say it would be difficult selling these to Atheists and those with religion.

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            • June 15, 2012 at 3:51 pm
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              I’ve always considered Lord Of the Rings to be an accurate history of Earth. Elves rule.

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  • June 15, 2012 at 2:12 pm
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    1) How could biologists violate all the health code there is? Taking off the face mask = risking potential alien virus/bacterial infection

    OMGOMGOMG I’M ON AN ALIEN PLANET I MUST OFF MASK AND BREATH ALIEN AIR NOWNOWNOWNOW!

    2) The same guy (Fifield) who deployed the navigational bots is the same guy who gets lost afterwards…

    GPS doesn’t work underground kot…

    3) The same paranoid guy (Milburn) somehow wanted to play with alien snake

    OMGOMGOMG ALIEN SNAKE I MUST PLAY WITH IT NOWNOWNOW

    4) What are those black goo that kept flowing out of the vase?

    Oil. Because Engineers need fuel to fly them spaceships.

    5) What is David’s motive in “poisoning” Charlie?

    Because Charlie is a dick.

    6) A far superior civilization, the Engineers, didn’t even want to talk and just starts killing everyone in sight, that doesn’t seem very smart

    ENGINEER SMASH PUNY HUMANS!

    7) Charlize Theron’s character was smart enough to lead a space expedition, but couldn’t figure out running side way will save her life

    Maybe that spacesuit made it difficult to execute corners while running…

    8) That almost Star Wars “father” line was utterly unnecessary

    “But you told me an Alien-Predator hybrid killed my father!” “No, silly. Those AVP movies never existed.”

    9) How did the face hugger grew to be the size of Kraken in the medical pot without food?

    That’s hardly a face HUGGER anymore actually. more like face SUCKER.

    10) Why would the Engineer head to human’s escape pod when they have many other space ships of their own? If he wanted to kill all human on the planet first he’d have done it before the first attempt to fly off anyway.

    He wanted to use Vicker’s spa?

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    • June 15, 2012 at 2:54 pm
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      eyeris: I really hope there’s that captain & Vicker’s scene, that would have made the whole thing worth watching.

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      • June 15, 2012 at 2:57 pm
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        “Are you a robot?”
        “10 minutes, my room.”

        Best pickup line EVER.

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        • June 15, 2012 at 3:56 pm
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          eyeris: but then they cut the next scene (i’m assuming there’s one!)

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  • June 15, 2012 at 3:40 pm
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    I want my 12 bucks back Ridley. Consumer Claims Tribunal. Haha

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  • June 15, 2012 at 5:11 pm
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    Haha.. I got more to add.

    1. why in the opening scene did the engineer drink the black muck
    2. why did they have to kill of CT’s character -eventhough she was stupid and didn’t know how to run sideways
    3. why did they have to show that stupid sex scene where the black guy challenges CT if she’s a bot and she takes the bait like a stupid hussy

    OK thanks.

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    • June 17, 2012 at 7:26 pm
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      ciki: I would love to see the sex scene, but they didn’t show!

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    • June 17, 2012 at 7:26 pm
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      George Lim: save money hahaha

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  • June 18, 2012 at 2:58 pm
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    charlize theron died in the movie??? blooper!!!

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    • June 18, 2012 at 3:01 pm
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      connie: heeheehee, already warned ma

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  • June 20, 2012 at 3:00 pm
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    I prefer quiet Bishop over pestering David. Remember the knife game?

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    • June 20, 2012 at 9:42 pm
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      Ford_GT: I can do without them. haha

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      • June 21, 2012 at 12:32 pm
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        With patching 10 hanseplast. :mrgreen:

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  • June 21, 2012 at 11:38 pm
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    The choice of shots were amazing at the start, and for the most part throughout. The start really has a bang feeling to it, with how it’s shot (I really could talk about the start of this movie forever but its a two hour long movie so I’ll move along). Throughout the film we are taken to many different places and shown many different things, the way it’s introduced in this film seemed very natural, and when you think of where we are with technology, it seems very practical that you could believe some of these things would exist (the technology anyway) . This was probably the best horror movie we will get this year. It’s not overly gory, but just terrifying in the sense that it has crazy looking aliens that do some crazy stuff.

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    • June 22, 2012 at 9:13 am
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      Sugel: yep, i do agree that the start was amazing.

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