Finally, the dust has now (hopefully) settled after the mixed feelings of Ridley Scott’s Prometheus. It left a lot of fans lost for words for very different reasons. What’s more, enough time has now passed to peruse over the film’s trailer and (having seen the movie twice myself) really pick up on some of the footage that the few minutes of trailer reveals.
As previously touched upon, it is sometimes interesting to look back on a trailer once a film has been experienced and is fresh in one’s mind, because the power of hindsight offers a far more educated and eye-opening view of its trailer contents.
Perhaps the most fitting example of this is the Prometheus trailer released a few months prior to release. Not interesting for the spoon-feeding of the plot per se, but more to do with the nuances and imagery one notices if it’s re-watched having seen the film.
Synopsis
A team of scientists discover a potential clue to uncovering the origins of mankind, leading them on a space journey to seek answers to that all important question: why are we here?
Trailer
*If you’ve not seen the film then the analysis that follows contains spoilers*
What the trailer reveals
As mentioned above, this trailer has far more meaning if you’ve seen the film. The fantastic music sets up the atmosphere of the Alien-style movie, as it does a pretty explicit job of establishing the premise. It runs through the key moments we build up to in the film, but this isn’t the most revealing or indeed worst part of this well made trailer (I say well made because without any prior context, it looks like a fantastic sci-fi tale).
When the intensity is heightened, then we begin to see snippets of spoilers and reveals, not to mention important imagery that would have been nice to experience first-hand in the movie, such as the derelict alien craft and its tunnels, the chamber containing the mysterious canisters, the xenomorph wall sculpture, etc.
However, even more distressing after having the tone and ethos of the film spoilt are the things that shape the entire film. Things like:
- the hologram map revealing the Engineer’s spacecraft (or ‘croissant’ as it’s referred to amongst franchise fans)
- the reveal that the Engineers are/were off to destroy Earth (according to David)
- the crash between Prometheus and the ‘croissant’ mid-air
- the ‘rise’ of the Engineer
- a long awaited reveal of the Space Jockery (Engineer) in his control-panelled seat as we see in Alien
- Shaw’s (Noomi Rapace) direct contact with the Engineer
- the ‘croissant’ crash and (what would seem) the inevitable squishing of both Vickers (Theron) and Shaw
My experience — having some prior knowledge and love for the Alien franchise as well as desire to avoid spoilers for this movie — was largely one of ignorance. I didn’t quite make all these connections prior to seeing the film, or really understand what the relevance of some of the shots were in the context. I might have been alone with my passiveness. It was only having seen Prometheus that it became a lot clearer how explicit the trailer actually was.
Oddly, I don’t feel it ruined the film for me. Yes, it perhaps shows too much and offers too much detail exposition-wise, but it didn’t consciously register with me that major spoilers were pictured, yet surely will for countless others.
The point in question is whether this fundamentally ruins the film before you’ve seen it. And the answer is still ultimately a yes, but isn’t as blatant to the obvious extent it is after seeing the sci-fi adventure in the cinema. It’s therefore a tough one to judge, but if the viewer is particularly perceptive and analytical, then a fair few of the shots can be interpreted and rationalised into spoilers.
Ultimately, the individual can judge the extent of the spoilers on offer here, but as someone who’s seen the film and revisted the trailer (and who perhaps wasn’t the most perceptive when viewing the it), I profess, in hindsight, that it is indeed riddled with key plot reveals and spoilers that take place towards the end, regardless of being aware of its context or not.
Spoiler rating: 8/10
