Tomorrow’s Blu-ray release of Prometheus has seven hours of bonus features, some of which promise to fill in some of the blanks regarding the boatload of questions raised in the version released in theaters this summer.
While the film was two hours of solid visual eye candy, and boasted some of the best unobtrusive 3D I have ever seen on the big screen, it left much to be desired when it came to more questions than providing answers to the them regarding the mysteries the script unearthed. It’s great that we will have the bonus features to some light shed on certain things like more of the who and what of the Engineers’ back story, and perhaps some extra tidbits on the Xenomorphs role in things, but foremost these things should be seen in the theater to make the film as strong as possible and to stand on its own if a sequel never arrives.
I’ll make no bones about it, I will be first in line to Prometheus 2. Ridley Scott and company did a fine job of making good on the promise that any logistical follow up to Prometheus would not be 1979’s Alien, but rather another chapter that furthers along the new story they set up, which runs parallel to the exploits of Ellen Ripley. However, as a stand-alone film, Prometheus leaves way too much unanswered regarding the core issues that demand explanation for the theater going audience to leave satisfied. They may have just as well stuck an end credits title card informing us that if the theatrical cut wasn’t satisfactory, we just need wait a few months for the Blu-ray for a little more, and then join together in prayer for a sequel for all the remaining answers.
While extras on the Blu-ray are both welcome and awesome, it’s just unfortunate that they had answers waiting in the wings the whole time for a post release epilogue, instead of making the theatrical version as coherent as it could be and to stand better on its own. It would have been pretty disheartening a few months ago to have the cast and filmmakers deflect questions while promoting the film with “Yes, there is an answer to that. But it will not be in the film, but rather on the Blu-ray bonus disc.”
Bryan Singer had grand plans for the sequel to 2006’s Superman Returns centered on Brainiac and the unpopular Super-Kid offspring of Kal-El and Lois Lane. But perhaps by putting too many eggs in the basket assuming he had a second film to make all the threads pay off, it weakened its position as a self-contained story. That train of thought allows less focus on delivering a stand alone film than one that has the benefit of one or two sequels to flesh out its grand scheme.To much surprise at the time, Superman Returns was not the super blockbuster it was hoped for, (a sad state of the union when making over $391million worldwide doesn’t warrant a follow up), and Warner Bros. went with another reboot over a sequel.
When Prometheus is released tomorrow for home viewing, we will have the chance to see exactly how much was left on the cutting room floor, and whether some of it would have been better served left in to flesh out the film more. But I’d rather have less questions and more answers in a theatrical cut than to have them left over for Blu-ray special features.
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