The Film Reporter

The zombie sub-genre is a genre that was first created in the 60’s and it has grown and grown and after 50 years is still a genre that attracts a wide audience. World War Z is originally an award winning novel written by Max Brooks but has been adapted into a feature film. The trailer is already here and it looks to be one of the films of the summer and with writers behind with credentials such as Star Trek Into Darkness, The Kingdom, Prometheus and many more, it’s something worth getting excited about.

Click the image for the newest trailer.

Tony Scott father of two and married to Donna W.Scott tragically passed away today following Tony’s decision to end his life in his own hands after finding out about his inoperable cancer. 

Tony was a massive icon in Hollywood and consistently produced successful film after film. Tony was also a co-founder with his brother and huge director Ridley Scott with Scott Free Productions. Tony was most renowned for his collaborations with Denzel Washington and Tom Cruise. 

Above is a collage of films that Tony either produced or directed. This collage really moved me as I assembled these images as I truly sat back and admired his contribution to entertainment over the last 30 years. 

Tony Scott 21/06/44 - 20/08/12

Some terrible news has hit the world of Film, it’s believed that Tony Scott, brother of Ridley Scott who are both founders of Scott Free Productions has died in an apparent suicide. It’s believed Tony jumped over a fence and then jumped from the Vincent Thomas Bridge near Long Beach California. It’s reported that Police later found a suicide note left in Tony’s Toyota Prius parked on the bridge. 

Tony Scott was a very big name in Hollywood for action films, he’s most famous for his collaborations with Denzel Washington in Man on Fire, Untoppable, Deja Vu as well as his early partnership with Tom Cruise in the film that made him; Top Gun and Days of Thunder. Tony made many many more films that were greeted were commercial success and it’s a travesty to have heard this terrible news. 

Tony Scott - 21/06/44 Northumberland, England - 19/08/12 San Pedro, California 

Well folks I’m sure I’m as sorry to say this as you’re to hear it, but I saw Prometheus at my local theatre and left disappointed. I left believing that the scriptwriters and Ridley had focused too much on the philosophy of where we come from and why we’re here rather than the actual narrative itself. The film was injected with many strong messages on life and because of this the philosophy over took the narrative and made the film a vessel for the biggest question of all where do we come from?

Now onto the characters, in my opinion the performances were standard, however Noomi Rapace did deliver a fantastic strong willed performance. We are given some exposition on Noomi’s character and this does allow the audience to connect slightly more with her character. However all the other characters that help build the narrative in fact don’t. To me the characters felt as though they were ‘thin’ as though they were not looked at/not developed. This therefore left me and I believe the audience isolated from the action, leaving the audience to simply watch and not engage.

With all my negatives laid out, there were positives. The cinematography was fantastic, most notably in the opening sequences and in the storms and craft crash (seen on the trailer). As the previous Alien was famous for, the set decoration was impressive and really created that dark unknown atmosphere. The ending also does leave us on a philosophical cliff hanger and says a lot about what we will ever know about our origins. I would give Prometheus a 6.5/10.

Well I promised you my top 10 Sci-Fi films, and I shall deliver! In the presence of Prometheus being released, I feel it’s only necessary to talk about the film that everyone loves - Alien.

The crew of the deep space mining ship Nostromo are awaken from hypersleep to investigate a strange signal from a nearby planet. While investigating the signal, they discover it was intended as a warning, and not an SOS. When writing this basic plot summary, I automatically drew comparison’s with Prometheus. Noomi Rapace’s line in the trailer “we were wrong, we were so wrong”.

The acting in this film is something special, Sigourney Weaver was made in Hollywood after this performance of which she got nominated for a BAFTA. 

Alien’s quietness in the void of the empty spaceship and planet is what creates such intense suspense, a technique many directors harnessed after. Many call Alien a horror, and I suppose in some ways it is, the film tests our fear many times throughout the film and as the mysterious creature grows we grow in fear and slowly one by one the crew are killed. 

Alien is hailed by many as one of the best sci-fi films ever made, and personally I also have to agree with them, and that is all down to ‘the actors’ director Ridley Scott who managed this script is such a professional and fantastic way that he created a vast empty ship with it’s dark looming corners along with it’s bright future like kitchens,halls. The way Ridley Scott used silence as his main contributor to the suspense in this film created a film many will never forget. 

Ridley Scott; director of films like Alien, The Gladiator, American Gangster, Kingdom of Heaven, Blade Runner and more as finally released maybe his most hyped film yet, Prometheus. Ridley has often emphasised that the film is not a prequel to Alien, it’s prime aspect to consider is where the space ship found on the planet in Alien came from, and to ask the question of the Human race, where have we come from, why are we here, and where do we go when we die. 

As I’m sure many of you film goers and enthusiasts are extremely excited, you have to wait no longer, Prometheus lands in theatres tomorrow, so be sure to be there, I know I will. 

Peter Weyland: To those of you who know me: you will be aware by now that my ambition is unlimited. You know that I will settle for nothing short of greatness, or I will die trying. To those of you who do not yet know me: allow me to introduce myself. My name is Peter Weyland, and if you’ll indulge me, I’d like to change the world. 

Prometheus lands in theatres June 1st