OvomorphMember1 XP01/21/2012It's always a cause for concern in the sci-fi genre when a prequel is created many years after the original film, because the depiction of technological advancement may be contradictory. The reason being, when the original film would have been created - assuming it was set in the future - the cutting edge of technological ideas would have been employed. However, when creating a prequel many years later, these technological ideas would have advanced further but would be anachronistic to introduce into the prequel of the original film that has older and out-dated technologies to start with.
You all know what I'm getting at here in spite of my poor explanation, but I want to explain for the benefit of any rookies we have onboard.
So with respect to Prometheus versus Alien, the spacesuits look more advanced in Prometheus, which to me is a bona fide break in continuity. Furthermore, we haven't seen too much of the computers in Prometheus but judging by the trailer, it's all touchscreens and colorful displays, which again would be more advanced than the hardware/software depicted in Alien.
As a creative, I hope Ridley can provide good explanations for the technology or even hold back on going nuts with it in order to preserve continuity. Without such consideration the connection between Promethus and Alien will be jarred.
Is it just me, or does anyone else have these concerns? Will it spoil The enjoyment of the film for you if we have a Phantom Menace on our hands?27 Responses to Technological Anachronisms
OvomorphMember45 XP01/21/2012I have already brought that at another, older thread _ how funny that in the (decades?) between "Prometheus" and "Alien", mankind seems to have unlearned how to make flat screens and reverted to cathode rays tubes. Maybe a rare earths lockout by China? :)
Of course, this means sacrificing continuity for the sake of audiences do not start mocking the movie, what could backfire in the box office. Also, if you think about it, it´s likely that in a few years it will be more expansive to fit a SF-scenario with tubes than flat screens...if that don´t already holds by now!
OvomorphMember1 XP01/21/2012Weyland looks way more advanced before its merger with Yutani. The shareholders really got a raw deal. Lol.
OvomorphMember0 XP01/21/2012Its a shame, really it is....
One of the reasons why i loved alien, was becuase of its analog look, the screens, the suits and so on.
I hope ridley can pull it of.
I dont wanna see any space jockeys running around in the star treak enterprise ship.
But on the other hand, the Nostromo was but a simple mining-ship. Maby it didnt need all the touchscreens and holographic star maps.
(I hope my english is ok, im writing from denmark)
ALIENS THINK HUMANS ARE ALIENS
TrilobiteMember9516 XP01/21/2012The answer to your query seems obvious to me, so I will add my two cents...
Prometheus - Prototype tech, company funded.
Alien - Glorified Tugboat Nostromo (old tech)
Aliens - Warship Sulaco (military tech)
Alien 3 - Backend waterhole Prison (practically no tech)
Alien Rez - Actually had advanced tech
In other words...
The crew of Prometheus have the best tech because they are directly funded by Weyland Corp and so get the best, new stuff.
The Crew of Nostromo had an old battered tugboat, made with old battered tech.
The crew of Sulaco, well the military have never been one for flair have they, just function.
The Inmates of Fury 161, well it was well established it was a sh*thole.
Hope that clears it up.
OvomorphMember0 XP01/21/2012@Snorklebottom - Spot on! Sending a spaceship maybe light years away on a direct course to a set of unknown co-ordinates, course Earthlings would sent their most high tech spaceship!
OvomorphMember0 XP01/21/2012nice explanations but I think we just have to expect some aspects of the film ageing.
Films are made to make sense to an audience, projecting forward from their own time .
Who knows, in 30 years these films might look ridiculous for portraying humans lacking advanced bioengineering of their own :)
OvomorphMember0 XP01/21/2012Ridley Scott is the type of guy that would do it deliberately just to "p" you off But I guarantee you he is waking up at three in the morning and instructing the editors on more continuity errors, there is just no way there are going to be any in this film, you have to have more faith in Ridley on this IMO, we all do, otherwise what's the point? are we going into this thing just to find mistakes or to be entertained? OvomorphMember0 XP01/21/2012also, as far as this film is concerned, There is NO merger with "Yutani"...period...ever...this much we now know for a fact. The Merger was IMAGINED by fans and ASSUMED by fans.
Later on in the predator films, some mention was made of a merger I believe but this has no credibility within the Alien franchise.
TrilobiteMember9516 XP01/21/2012Weyland Corp will merge/buy out Yutani Corp at some point between Prometheus and Alien, if not at the end of Prometheus, to maintain continuity with Alien
OvomorphMember0 XP01/21/2012And has been explained by the names Author many times here that much is Impossible.
The name was originally made and intended to represent One Never Merged With Anyone Company!
For all 4 original Alien films there was Only One Company !!!
It was all of us that Assumed there were 2.
It could not have merged therefore until after the events of Resurrection.OvomorphMember0 XP01/21/2012“ One of the things I enjoyed most about Alien was its subtle satirical content. Science fiction films offer golden opportunities to throw in little scraps of information that suggest enormous changes in the world. There's a certain potency in those kinds of remarks. Weylan Yutani for instance is almost a joke, but not quite. I wanted to imply that poor old England is back on its feet and has united with the Japanese, who have taken over the building of spaceships the same way they have now with cars and supertankers. In coming up with a strange company name I thought of British Leyland and Toyota, but we couldn't use "Leyland-Toyota" in the film. Changing one letter gave me "Weylan," and "Yutani" was a Japanese neighbor of mine. ”
—Ron Cobb, "The Authorized Portfolio of Crew Insignias from The United States Commercial Spaceship Nostromo Designs and Realizations" by John Mollo and Ron CobTrilobiteMember9516 XP01/21/2012If I recall it was Ron Cobb whom took the name Leyland (a popular lorry manufacturer at the time) renamed it Weyland and decided to mix it with the name of his (or was it Ridleys) neighbour, Yutani.
Weyland-Yutani (missing the 'd' in Alien, but restored in Aliens onwards) was born and envisioned as a massive corporation that mixed British engineering with Japanese invention, a meeting of two strengths so to speak, but one company. Although it was never inferred that two companies become one, is was also never refuted.
Weyland is one company, Yutani is another company, Weyland-Yutani is two companies become one big company.
Now, with Prometheus with have the Weyland Corp, thus for Yutani to be added to the companies title they must merge/buyout a company name Yutani.
Before the events of Alien Rez Weyland-Yutani was sold to Wal-mart, and the name was no longer used, thus by the time of Alien Rez WY no longer existed.
OvomorphMember0 XP01/21/2012His intention was One BIg Company that sounded like it had been the product of a merger but this was never confirmed nor was it ever addressed Snorky.
He says himself in my direct quote above that it was an implication only...he wanted to imply t5hat Eng;and was back on her feet.
It was nothing more than a Made Up name !!!
No mention what so ever of any merger or any implication of one what so ever...
we all assumed this.
"Weylan Yutani for instance is almost a joke, but not quite. I wanted to imply that poor old England is back on its feet and has united with the Japanese, who have taken over the building of spaceships the same way they have now with cars and supertankers. In coming up with a strange company name I thought of British Leyland and Toyota, but we couldn't use "Leyland-Toyota" in the film. "TrilobiteMember9516 XP01/21/2012Sparky I know you're Canadian but come on man...
"England is back on its feet and has united with the Japanese"
England united with Japanese, a merging, two become one.
In Prometheus we have just Weyland Corp, wheres the Yutani?
OvomorphMember0 XP01/21/2012LMAO...with LOVE...dude it isn't me that isn't getting it, it is You that isn't getting it you Yankee, England was in a severe depression, he wanted to show it was back on it's feet by IMPLYING that one company had been built from both his and a Japanese persons heritage and NOT from any MERGER. he was just trying to come up with a Company Name...The idea of a MERGER never crossed his mind by his own admission...they hadn't thought that far into this thing at that point when he created the name.TrilobiteMember9516 XP01/21/2012Okay, so explain...
In Prometheus we have just Weyland Corp, wheres the Yutani?
OvomorphMember45 XP01/21/2012Regarding Snorkelbottom thesis...
Well, in general it´s true that technology is applied in it´s appropriate form depending on the specs. For example, military gear is more demanding from the dependability point of view, and also in some performance specs. This doesn´t imply that it´s EVER more sophisticated than the civilian ones.
In some other ways, using older tech simply doesn´t make sense. In the example I gave _ CRT´s vs flat displays _ none self-respectable ship designer would ever substitute light, dependable, HD flat displays for heavy, grained, imprecise CRT´s.
So, from the point of view of the internal coherence of the "Alien-Prometheus" universe, it´s better to us to simply let the "suspension of disbelief" to make it´s magic. :)OvomorphMember0 XP01/21/2012OK...Here ya go...
It was 30 years at least "prolly" longer then we know BEFORE the events of Alien or of Ripley being born I think is more accurate.
Someone has decided that by using the name WAYLAND and not using the word YUTANI that the implication would be Clear that at This time in history, there had not been any merger with any other company simply because so meany people have speculated and speculated and speculated about this...OR...and this is Key....
They may have finally decided to hard wire a MERGER into the story line and at some point in the future, perhaps even in the film Prometheus as you suggested, they will do so...
But, until that happens, all we are suppose to know, is that there is ONE company, never merged with anyone, at the time Prometheus takes place.TrilobiteMember9516 XP01/21/2012LOL Sparky I love the way you bumbled through that one.
Obviously its just Weyland (One company) in Prometheus
The fact that there is no Yutani in the companies name in Prometheus is the hint at a merger, which everyone pretty much presumes anyway. As examplified in Alien 3 with Lance as Bishop II sporting a British accent with a Japanese cohert.
End of the day it doesn't matter, there are more important riddles to solve and truths to be urged.
Sparky... what is your opinion on the last thread i started Space Jockeys and Derelicts?
OvomorphMember0 XP01/21/2012no it is a hint at one of the Owners whom started the company being of Japanese Heritage or decent if you will, if that's a better word for you, which does NOT imply a MERGER.
He was again...MAKING UP A NAME FOR A COMPANY...that's all...he was not considering that this imaginary company had Merged with any other...although it is crystal clear why so many people for so many years got that so very wrong. ..it just sounds as if it is/does/was.TrilobiteMember9516 XP01/21/2012Well if IMDB is to be believed regards Patrick Wilson's characters name, then it could be presumed that Ridley is expanding upon ideas from AVP and AVPR making them canon instead of retconning them out of existence, and we all know those two films showed us one company and hinted at a second...
OvomorphMember0 XP01/21/2012Leyland-Toyota
was never a merged company
The story behind the Leyland / Toyota connection is that Toyota
approached Donald Stokes of British Leyland in 1972/1973 with the
idea of a tie up between the two companies.
Toyota knew BL were bleeding money and needed new products, and saw
BL as an avenue into the protected European market and access to some
of BL brands.
Donald Stokes snubbed Toyota in a most arrogant way which offended the Japanese.
All of this was unknown to Peter North when he saw the writing on the
wall for BL and Leyland Australia, hence he thought that maybe
bringing Toyota in with LA would save Zetland and many of it's
employees.
Of course the Japanese met North in late 1973 and politely said no,
and made mention of Stokes's snub.
And the rest of course is history.
OvomorphMember0 XP01/21/2012So to set the record straight, WY is actually a car company secretly obtaining bio-weapons for the military. Check.
OvomorphMember0 XP01/21/2012Let's just wait and see what tech they give us...We've barely got anything to go on just yet and remember, the infirmary in 'Alien' looks pretty damn advanced for 1979 and the rest of the ship is a run down, beat up, ore refinery that's made God knows how many trips into deep space. I like to think that any refinery, regardless of any technological advancements of its time, is going to look run down, rusty, nasty and beat up after prolonged use...so, we'll just have to wait and see...now won't we.
Nothing stays clean foreverOvomorphMember0 XP01/21/2012I agree with that last, and I would not be surprised at all if the suggestion Snorky made comes true at some point. All I am saying is at the time he created the name all he was thinking of was a "cool sounding name" and not some merger!OvomorphMember0 XP01/21/2012I agree about the name @Spartacus, but who knows...it's a very small thing in a very big universe. OvomorphMember0 XP01/21/2012AGREED, at this point just merge the two companies already so I can stop bringing up Cobb!Add A Reply
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