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- Problem with Synthetics: Episodes 1 & 2, The
Problem with Synthetics: Episodes 1 & 2, The
Updated
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Genre:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2012
Original Running Time:
245 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
143 minutes
Available in HD:
Additional Links:
Synopsis:
**12/2023 Complete Rebuild. Please change list.
"Paradise" is easily one of my favorite franchise-saving fanedit of all time. It highlights what is great about the prequels, and ditches everything else. I watched it endlessly.
Over time, I wondered - what would a chronological edit look like? And after having gotten the blessing of jobwillins himself, I began to experiment. The initial simple chronological re-edit lost all the magic and tension that made Paradise great.
But I kept playing with different ways to try to keep the "David-centric" story, and settled on this two-episode format. This is an admittedly inferior re-imagining of Paradise, but still a fun and different way to focus on the deeper questions raised in these films, each about 70 minutes.
.
"Paradise" is easily one of my favorite franchise-saving fanedit of all time. It highlights what is great about the prequels, and ditches everything else. I watched it endlessly.
Over time, I wondered - what would a chronological edit look like? And after having gotten the blessing of jobwillins himself, I began to experiment. The initial simple chronological re-edit lost all the magic and tension that made Paradise great.
But I kept playing with different ways to try to keep the "David-centric" story, and settled on this two-episode format. This is an admittedly inferior re-imagining of Paradise, but still a fun and different way to focus on the deeper questions raised in these films, each about 70 minutes.
.
Intention:
And while I was editing these anyways, I wanted to address continuity issues mentioned so often in these prequels and make this truly an Alien Prequel story.
- David is undoubtedly now the source of the xenomorphs (we reveal only the baby trilobite from the Prometheus episode, and only seeing more once David begins tinkering, and his monologue in his lab is adjusted to support this.)
- No chestburster scenes or terrible Xenomorph confrontations. (Trying to honor the original Alien movies.)
- Prometheus does not land on LV-223. (Remove all mention of the planet name.)
- Better connect it to the Juggernaut in Alien. (A juggernaut closes in on the Covenant in the final shots.)
- Remove or minimize stupidity of crew decisions to be less obvious and maddening. (As much as footage an narratives allow of course.)
- David is undoubtedly now the source of the xenomorphs (we reveal only the baby trilobite from the Prometheus episode, and only seeing more once David begins tinkering, and his monologue in his lab is adjusted to support this.)
- No chestburster scenes or terrible Xenomorph confrontations. (Trying to honor the original Alien movies.)
- Prometheus does not land on LV-223. (Remove all mention of the planet name.)
- Better connect it to the Juggernaut in Alien. (A juggernaut closes in on the Covenant in the final shots.)
- Remove or minimize stupidity of crew decisions to be less obvious and maddening. (As much as footage an narratives allow of course.)
Other Sources:
Paradise by Job Willins
Bluray Deletes Scenes and Extras
Bluray Deletes Scenes and Extras
Special Thanks:
Job Willins of course, for his amazing inspiration and for allowing me to tinker with his art.
Daydream in Blue for countless viewings in extremely early drafts compared to now.
Malthus for giving an early draft a look and giving great feedback.
Last Impressions for solid feedback in the threads.
ClosertoGod for multiple audio reviews.
Daydream in Blue for countless viewings in extremely early drafts compared to now.
Malthus for giving an early draft a look and giving great feedback.
Last Impressions for solid feedback in the threads.
ClosertoGod for multiple audio reviews.
Release Information:
Digital
Editing Details:
Show, don't tell principles effect.
Smaller more focused storylines with less main character focus to highlight the philosophical questions presented in the films, and cutting screen time and interest for characters that make glaringly bad decisions.
Smaller more focused storylines with less main character focus to highlight the philosophical questions presented in the films, and cutting screen time and interest for characters that make glaringly bad decisions.
Cuts and Additions:
All scenes have minor edits to dialogue and visuals for better pacing, continuity, and storytelling.
Main Changes as of 12/2023:
Episode 1
Opens with a trimmed Weyland Ted Talk.
David's "birth" from Covenant used for David's intro, dialogue adjusted.
All Prometheus footage before the ship in space are removed, we begin with David.
Removed David looking into dreams.
-Re-added and tightened scenes of Crew awakening from cryosleep.
Weyland's presentation trimmed.
Holloway's presentation trimmed and graphics for LV-223 are removed.
Prometheus ship planet landing sequence trimmed.
Crew interactions in the dome trimmed for to remove focus on anyone but the doctors and David.
Xenomorph mural reference removed.
Paradise deleted scene of Shaw debreifing the room with Country Roads cover used.
Vickers confrontation with David in hallway moved to later.
Shaw "DNA" discovery trimmed for less information.
David's tainting of Holloway's drink adjusted for more subtle finger drop into drink.
Scenes of crew left in dome removed.
-Tightened discussion of Shaw's physical issues.
-Re-addedVickers and Janek scene, trimmed to only highlight Vicker's questionable status as a human.
Removed worm in Hollaway's eye.
-Move Vicker's hallway confrontation with David to after he returns from cutting off his camera.
-Added Fifeilds return from deleted scene.
-Re-added Vicker's scene with Weyland.
Vickers dies before she can escape the Prometheus.
Shaw is killed by the falling Juggernaut.
-New prologue explaining the effects on the Weyland Corporation.
End of Episode 1.
Episode 2
-Begins with "birth" of Walter as an all new commercial from Weyland Yutani, designed to mimic an Apple ad.
Paradise intro of Walter with Beatles music used.
-Added and trimmed deleted scene of Walter giving Daniels weed.
Bridge discussion scene dialogue trimmed.
-Readded and inserted part of the deleted scene of the funeral.
Covenant repair scenes trimmed for pacing.
Transmission discussion scene trimmed for logic. (removed things like "declention")
Trimmed Lander arrival sequence.
Recon team scenes trimmed for pacing.
-Trimmed Ledward scenes of him getting infected.
-Trimmed Chris getting infected.
-Prometheus aftermath from Paradise used as a guide to begin David's introduction, and "The Crossing" trimmed and rescored to finish it.
-Oram and David interaction highly trimmed to show David as the creator of the Xenomorphs.
Oram looking into a pod removed, and Oram's chestburster scene removed.
-David's genocide scene trimmed and moved to after Walter finds Shaw's body.
Xenomorph confrontation on both the Lander and the main Covenant ship removed.
Final sequence based on Paradise, with David making a transmission back to earth. Now with the Wagner song replaced with the same piano music from Davids time alone at the beginning of Part One.
-Final shot adds an updated juggernaut cruising into frame following the Covenant.
Main Changes as of 12/2023:
Episode 1
Opens with a trimmed Weyland Ted Talk.
David's "birth" from Covenant used for David's intro, dialogue adjusted.
All Prometheus footage before the ship in space are removed, we begin with David.
Removed David looking into dreams.
-Re-added and tightened scenes of Crew awakening from cryosleep.
Weyland's presentation trimmed.
Holloway's presentation trimmed and graphics for LV-223 are removed.
Prometheus ship planet landing sequence trimmed.
Crew interactions in the dome trimmed for to remove focus on anyone but the doctors and David.
Xenomorph mural reference removed.
Paradise deleted scene of Shaw debreifing the room with Country Roads cover used.
Vickers confrontation with David in hallway moved to later.
Shaw "DNA" discovery trimmed for less information.
David's tainting of Holloway's drink adjusted for more subtle finger drop into drink.
Scenes of crew left in dome removed.
-Tightened discussion of Shaw's physical issues.
-Re-addedVickers and Janek scene, trimmed to only highlight Vicker's questionable status as a human.
Removed worm in Hollaway's eye.
-Move Vicker's hallway confrontation with David to after he returns from cutting off his camera.
-Added Fifeilds return from deleted scene.
-Re-added Vicker's scene with Weyland.
Vickers dies before she can escape the Prometheus.
Shaw is killed by the falling Juggernaut.
-New prologue explaining the effects on the Weyland Corporation.
End of Episode 1.
Episode 2
-Begins with "birth" of Walter as an all new commercial from Weyland Yutani, designed to mimic an Apple ad.
Paradise intro of Walter with Beatles music used.
-Added and trimmed deleted scene of Walter giving Daniels weed.
Bridge discussion scene dialogue trimmed.
-Readded and inserted part of the deleted scene of the funeral.
Covenant repair scenes trimmed for pacing.
Transmission discussion scene trimmed for logic. (removed things like "declention")
Trimmed Lander arrival sequence.
Recon team scenes trimmed for pacing.
-Trimmed Ledward scenes of him getting infected.
-Trimmed Chris getting infected.
-Prometheus aftermath from Paradise used as a guide to begin David's introduction, and "The Crossing" trimmed and rescored to finish it.
-Oram and David interaction highly trimmed to show David as the creator of the Xenomorphs.
Oram looking into a pod removed, and Oram's chestburster scene removed.
-David's genocide scene trimmed and moved to after Walter finds Shaw's body.
Xenomorph confrontation on both the Lander and the main Covenant ship removed.
Final sequence based on Paradise, with David making a transmission back to earth. Now with the Wagner song replaced with the same piano music from Davids time alone at the beginning of Part One.
-Final shot adds an updated juggernaut cruising into frame following the Covenant.
Trailer
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Genre:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2012
Original Running Time:
245 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
143 minutes
Available in HD:
Additional Links:
Synopsis:
**12/2023 Complete Rebuild. Please change list.
"Paradise" is easily one of my favorite franchise-saving fanedit of all time. It highlights what is great about the prequels, and ditches everything else. I watched it endlessly.
Over time, I wondered - what would a chronological edit look like? And after having gotten the blessing of jobwillins himself, I began to experiment. The initial simple chronological re-edit lost all the magic and tension that made Paradise great.
But I kept playing with different ways to try to keep the "David-centric" story, and settled on this two-episode format. This is an admittedly inferior re-imagining of Paradise, but still a fun and different way to focus on the deeper questions raised in these films, each about 70 minutes.
.
"Paradise" is easily one of my favorite franchise-saving fanedit of all time. It highlights what is great about the prequels, and ditches everything else. I watched it endlessly.
Over time, I wondered - what would a chronological edit look like? And after having gotten the blessing of jobwillins himself, I began to experiment. The initial simple chronological re-edit lost all the magic and tension that made Paradise great.
But I kept playing with different ways to try to keep the "David-centric" story, and settled on this two-episode format. This is an admittedly inferior re-imagining of Paradise, but still a fun and different way to focus on the deeper questions raised in these films, each about 70 minutes.
.
Intention:
And while I was editing these anyways, I wanted to address continuity issues mentioned so often in these prequels and make this truly an Alien Prequel story.
- David is undoubtedly now the source of the xenomorphs (we reveal only the baby trilobite from the Prometheus episode, and only seeing more once David begins tinkering, and his monologue in his lab is adjusted to support this.)
- No chestburster scenes or terrible Xenomorph confrontations. (Trying to honor the original Alien movies.)
- Prometheus does not land on LV-223. (Remove all mention of the planet name.)
- Better connect it to the Juggernaut in Alien. (A juggernaut closes in on the Covenant in the final shots.)
- Remove or minimize stupidity of crew decisions to be less obvious and maddening. (As much as footage an narratives allow of course.)
- David is undoubtedly now the source of the xenomorphs (we reveal only the baby trilobite from the Prometheus episode, and only seeing more once David begins tinkering, and his monologue in his lab is adjusted to support this.)
- No chestburster scenes or terrible Xenomorph confrontations. (Trying to honor the original Alien movies.)
- Prometheus does not land on LV-223. (Remove all mention of the planet name.)
- Better connect it to the Juggernaut in Alien. (A juggernaut closes in on the Covenant in the final shots.)
- Remove or minimize stupidity of crew decisions to be less obvious and maddening. (As much as footage an narratives allow of course.)
Other Sources:
Paradise by Job Willins
Bluray Deletes Scenes and Extras
Bluray Deletes Scenes and Extras
Special Thanks:
Job Willins of course, for his amazing inspiration and for allowing me to tinker with his art.
Daydream in Blue for countless viewings in extremely early drafts compared to now.
Malthus for giving an early draft a look and giving great feedback.
Last Impressions for solid feedback in the threads.
ClosertoGod for multiple audio reviews.
Daydream in Blue for countless viewings in extremely early drafts compared to now.
Malthus for giving an early draft a look and giving great feedback.
Last Impressions for solid feedback in the threads.
ClosertoGod for multiple audio reviews.
Release Information:
Digital
Editing Details:
Show, don't tell principles effect.
Smaller more focused storylines with less main character focus to highlight the philosophical questions presented in the films, and cutting screen time and interest for characters that make glaringly bad decisions.
Smaller more focused storylines with less main character focus to highlight the philosophical questions presented in the films, and cutting screen time and interest for characters that make glaringly bad decisions.
Cuts and Additions:
All scenes have minor edits to dialogue and visuals for better pacing, continuity, and storytelling.
Main Changes as of 12/2023:
Episode 1
Opens with a trimmed Weyland Ted Talk.
David's "birth" from Covenant used for David's intro, dialogue adjusted.
All Prometheus footage before the ship in space are removed, we begin with David.
Removed David looking into dreams.
-Re-added and tightened scenes of Crew awakening from cryosleep.
Weyland's presentation trimmed.
Holloway's presentation trimmed and graphics for LV-223 are removed.
Prometheus ship planet landing sequence trimmed.
Crew interactions in the dome trimmed for to remove focus on anyone but the doctors and David.
Xenomorph mural reference removed.
Paradise deleted scene of Shaw debreifing the room with Country Roads cover used.
Vickers confrontation with David in hallway moved to later.
Shaw "DNA" discovery trimmed for less information.
David's tainting of Holloway's drink adjusted for more subtle finger drop into drink.
Scenes of crew left in dome removed.
-Tightened discussion of Shaw's physical issues.
-Re-addedVickers and Janek scene, trimmed to only highlight Vicker's questionable status as a human.
Removed worm in Hollaway's eye.
-Move Vicker's hallway confrontation with David to after he returns from cutting off his camera.
-Added Fifeilds return from deleted scene.
-Re-added Vicker's scene with Weyland.
Vickers dies before she can escape the Prometheus.
Shaw is killed by the falling Juggernaut.
-New prologue explaining the effects on the Weyland Corporation.
End of Episode 1.
Episode 2
-Begins with "birth" of Walter as an all new commercial from Weyland Yutani, designed to mimic an Apple ad.
Paradise intro of Walter with Beatles music used.
-Added and trimmed deleted scene of Walter giving Daniels weed.
Bridge discussion scene dialogue trimmed.
-Readded and inserted part of the deleted scene of the funeral.
Covenant repair scenes trimmed for pacing.
Transmission discussion scene trimmed for logic. (removed things like "declention")
Trimmed Lander arrival sequence.
Recon team scenes trimmed for pacing.
-Trimmed Ledward scenes of him getting infected.
-Trimmed Chris getting infected.
-Prometheus aftermath from Paradise used as a guide to begin David's introduction, and "The Crossing" trimmed and rescored to finish it.
-Oram and David interaction highly trimmed to show David as the creator of the Xenomorphs.
Oram looking into a pod removed, and Oram's chestburster scene removed.
-David's genocide scene trimmed and moved to after Walter finds Shaw's body.
Xenomorph confrontation on both the Lander and the main Covenant ship removed.
Final sequence based on Paradise, with David making a transmission back to earth. Now with the Wagner song replaced with the same piano music from Davids time alone at the beginning of Part One.
-Final shot adds an updated juggernaut cruising into frame following the Covenant.
Main Changes as of 12/2023:
Episode 1
Opens with a trimmed Weyland Ted Talk.
David's "birth" from Covenant used for David's intro, dialogue adjusted.
All Prometheus footage before the ship in space are removed, we begin with David.
Removed David looking into dreams.
-Re-added and tightened scenes of Crew awakening from cryosleep.
Weyland's presentation trimmed.
Holloway's presentation trimmed and graphics for LV-223 are removed.
Prometheus ship planet landing sequence trimmed.
Crew interactions in the dome trimmed for to remove focus on anyone but the doctors and David.
Xenomorph mural reference removed.
Paradise deleted scene of Shaw debreifing the room with Country Roads cover used.
Vickers confrontation with David in hallway moved to later.
Shaw "DNA" discovery trimmed for less information.
David's tainting of Holloway's drink adjusted for more subtle finger drop into drink.
Scenes of crew left in dome removed.
-Tightened discussion of Shaw's physical issues.
-Re-addedVickers and Janek scene, trimmed to only highlight Vicker's questionable status as a human.
Removed worm in Hollaway's eye.
-Move Vicker's hallway confrontation with David to after he returns from cutting off his camera.
-Added Fifeilds return from deleted scene.
-Re-added Vicker's scene with Weyland.
Vickers dies before she can escape the Prometheus.
Shaw is killed by the falling Juggernaut.
-New prologue explaining the effects on the Weyland Corporation.
End of Episode 1.
Episode 2
-Begins with "birth" of Walter as an all new commercial from Weyland Yutani, designed to mimic an Apple ad.
Paradise intro of Walter with Beatles music used.
-Added and trimmed deleted scene of Walter giving Daniels weed.
Bridge discussion scene dialogue trimmed.
-Readded and inserted part of the deleted scene of the funeral.
Covenant repair scenes trimmed for pacing.
Transmission discussion scene trimmed for logic. (removed things like "declention")
Trimmed Lander arrival sequence.
Recon team scenes trimmed for pacing.
-Trimmed Ledward scenes of him getting infected.
-Trimmed Chris getting infected.
-Prometheus aftermath from Paradise used as a guide to begin David's introduction, and "The Crossing" trimmed and rescored to finish it.
-Oram and David interaction highly trimmed to show David as the creator of the Xenomorphs.
Oram looking into a pod removed, and Oram's chestburster scene removed.
-David's genocide scene trimmed and moved to after Walter finds Shaw's body.
Xenomorph confrontation on both the Lander and the main Covenant ship removed.
Final sequence based on Paradise, with David making a transmission back to earth. Now with the Wagner song replaced with the same piano music from Davids time alone at the beginning of Part One.
-Final shot adds an updated juggernaut cruising into frame following the Covenant.
Trailer
Trusted Reviewer reviews
2 reviews
(Updated: November 10, 2021)
Overall rating
9.7
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
9.0
Enjoyment
9.0
As much as I, like wakeupkeo, admire Job Willins' masterful edits, I struggled with the latter's non-chronological Paradise edit of Prometheus/Alien Covenant due to there just being too many characters, too many Fassbenders, and too many grey spaceship interiors to keep track of. This "anthology" cut is the perfect remedy to my problem, clarifying the themes and virtues of Scott's prequels, and successfully making the protagonists more likeable and less dementedly stupid. One quibble: I was a little bit fuzzy on Charlize Theron's character's fate at the end of Episode 1, some re-sequencing of that particular sequence might be a suggestion for a future revision. However, the tremendous re-working of the end of the Episode 2 adds so much resonance to this project and the Alien franchise as a whole, that nitpicks are easily forgotten. One of my favourite "rescue edits" to date, I'll be going back to this fanedit each time I rewatch my beloved xenomorph movies.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Overall rating
9.7
Audio/Video Quality
9.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
9.0
I must start this by admitting that I find both "Prometheus" and "Alien Covenant" a slog to sit through. Any possibilities they might have, and they did have them, were weighed down by sluggish pacing, uninteresting characters, bad lines, and sillier-than-silly moments (I consider the Idris Elba/Charlize Theron seduction scene, thankfully gone in this edit, to be the absolute worst seduction scene I've ever seen outside of "Shark Attack 3: Megalodon" and "Samurai Cop"). I've seen edits of "Prometheus" in the past (not of "Covenant" due to my long absence from this site) that did improve the film quite a bit, but weren't still there. I just got a little less bored and a little less unengaged.
And then this edit happened. Suddenly, the first episode turned "Prometheus" into... something I actually like! By centering the narrative around David, it allowed the film to drop all the dead weight, and it allowed me to be able to concentrate in the stuff from the film that I always liked, namely the core themes, the production design, and Michael Fassbender's remarkable performance. Now it has a wonderful pacing and comes across as a lot more of a horror movie (which the original "Alien" of course was, one of the greatest horror movies ever). This one is a perfect 10 all around. Episode 2, though, while still very good, worked a little worse for me. Partially because the material doesn't seem to allow for this approach as flawlessly, and partly because a few things that I detested in the original cut had to stay here for narrative reasons. For instance, the flute sequence, which is so blatantly a sex scene hidden in plain sight that the lines come across a lot like something from a bad porn ("Blow to the hole gently", "Watch me, I'll do the fingering". LOL!!!), and the way the outcome to the David/Walter fight is filmed, which makes it obvious if it was the "good" or "bad" android the one who survived... exactly by trying too hard to hide it (to be fair, this does work better here than in the original as a side effect of the removal of the xenomorph, meaning less android heroics). But, as I said, the narrative needed these to stay, and it's not the editor's fault at all. Though they force me to detract one point from the enjoyment scale, as they still are what they are.
Editing was top-notch all through. I'm particularly impressed by the new title graphics. I would love to know how they were achieved. Visual quality was flawless in Episode 1, though interestingly presented a bit of artifact in Episode 2 (I did watch the version that had separate files for each). I must admit I'm a bit disappointed by the lack of subtitles, I always appreciate them and the fact that the previous Wakeupkeo edit I watched (Dick Tracy) did include them, made me somewhat expect them here too.
I also love the fact that Wakeupkeo presented this as an open series for other editors to contribute with episodes, which is both brilliant and generous. I'm still thinking what I would like to do for an episode, as I'd prefer something outside the obvious candidates. Will keep considering ideas.
Despite faults deeply ingrained in part of the source material, this is a tremendously remarkable edit. Apparently JobWillins' "Paradise", which I haven't seen so far, was the inspiration for this and might be even better, which means I should most probably be checking it out as well. In the meantime, this is highly recommended (and how is it possible that I'm the first person to review it? Come on!)
And then this edit happened. Suddenly, the first episode turned "Prometheus" into... something I actually like! By centering the narrative around David, it allowed the film to drop all the dead weight, and it allowed me to be able to concentrate in the stuff from the film that I always liked, namely the core themes, the production design, and Michael Fassbender's remarkable performance. Now it has a wonderful pacing and comes across as a lot more of a horror movie (which the original "Alien" of course was, one of the greatest horror movies ever). This one is a perfect 10 all around. Episode 2, though, while still very good, worked a little worse for me. Partially because the material doesn't seem to allow for this approach as flawlessly, and partly because a few things that I detested in the original cut had to stay here for narrative reasons. For instance, the flute sequence, which is so blatantly a sex scene hidden in plain sight that the lines come across a lot like something from a bad porn ("Blow to the hole gently", "Watch me, I'll do the fingering". LOL!!!), and the way the outcome to the David/Walter fight is filmed, which makes it obvious if it was the "good" or "bad" android the one who survived... exactly by trying too hard to hide it (to be fair, this does work better here than in the original as a side effect of the removal of the xenomorph, meaning less android heroics). But, as I said, the narrative needed these to stay, and it's not the editor's fault at all. Though they force me to detract one point from the enjoyment scale, as they still are what they are.
Editing was top-notch all through. I'm particularly impressed by the new title graphics. I would love to know how they were achieved. Visual quality was flawless in Episode 1, though interestingly presented a bit of artifact in Episode 2 (I did watch the version that had separate files for each). I must admit I'm a bit disappointed by the lack of subtitles, I always appreciate them and the fact that the previous Wakeupkeo edit I watched (Dick Tracy) did include them, made me somewhat expect them here too.
I also love the fact that Wakeupkeo presented this as an open series for other editors to contribute with episodes, which is both brilliant and generous. I'm still thinking what I would like to do for an episode, as I'd prefer something outside the obvious candidates. Will keep considering ideas.
Despite faults deeply ingrained in part of the source material, this is a tremendously remarkable edit. Apparently JobWillins' "Paradise", which I haven't seen so far, was the inspiration for this and might be even better, which means I should most probably be checking it out as well. In the meantime, this is highly recommended (and how is it possible that I'm the first person to review it? Come on!)
User reviews
8 reviews
Overall rating
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
9.9(8)
Audio Editing
9.9(8)
Visual Editing
9.8(8)
Narrative
9.0(8)
Enjoyment
9.0(8)
(Updated: September 09, 2024)
Overall rating
8.7
Audio/Video Quality
9.0
Audio Editing
9.0
Visual Editing
8.0
Narrative
9.0
Enjoyment
7.0
I will start by saying that I'm a big fan of Wakeupkeo's work. I have watched and reviewed many of his edits. He is one of my Top 3 faneditors! I was sitting for a very long time on this edit and I finally got around to watch it because I did an Alien marathon while waiting for Alien: Romulus.
Now, regarding the films that the edit is based on, I loved Prometheus, with all its faults, and I hated the theatrical version of Alien: Covenant. I say "theatrical" because there is a two and a half hour fanedit version from Wraith that completely saved the film for me! There is a reason why I mention both of these things.
Since I understand the faults of Prometheus, I was on board with cutting out dumb character decisions and other silly moments. But, since, as I said, I loved this movie, I thought that Keo went too aggressive with this. Cutting out roughly 50 min. from the movie was waaay too much for me. The same goes for Covenant, only this time we are talking about 80 min.! And I say 80 because I'm sure Keo took into account the half an hour's worth of deleted scenes from Covenant. He has at least one of them in his cut, e.g. the advertisement of the Walter model at the beginning of his Covenant part. Otherwise, there were some very clever cuts that removed unnecessary or dumb scenes to create a tighter narrative. Although, a couple of them created other dumb things. For instance, cutting out the scene where Fifield and Millburn are lost, which is a very welcome cut, makes you wonder why nobody from the crew realised they where missing until it was time to go back to the Derelict. But it's the lesser of two evils.
From the technical side of things, it was mostly seamless but there were a couple of scenes were the change was a little abrupt or the sound was cut off too quickly. But no big deal. What was actually very noticeable, was the bright scenes in Covenant, like in the med bay where they took the first guy that was infected and the alien came out of his back. Those scenes were like overexposed or something. The brightness was off the charts and you could barely see the faces of the actors.
Also, I think two hours and forty minutes are perfectly fine for a film, it didn’t need to be in two parts.
To conclude, if you have major issues with both of the original films then this is definitely the edit for you. I don’t see how something else could be done to change them drastically. This is probably the best you are going to get. But, for me, I’ll stick with the original Prometheus and the extended version of Covenant.
Thanks to anyone who read my review and thank you Wakeupkeo for all your hard work!
Now, regarding the films that the edit is based on, I loved Prometheus, with all its faults, and I hated the theatrical version of Alien: Covenant. I say "theatrical" because there is a two and a half hour fanedit version from Wraith that completely saved the film for me! There is a reason why I mention both of these things.
Since I understand the faults of Prometheus, I was on board with cutting out dumb character decisions and other silly moments. But, since, as I said, I loved this movie, I thought that Keo went too aggressive with this. Cutting out roughly 50 min. from the movie was waaay too much for me. The same goes for Covenant, only this time we are talking about 80 min.! And I say 80 because I'm sure Keo took into account the half an hour's worth of deleted scenes from Covenant. He has at least one of them in his cut, e.g. the advertisement of the Walter model at the beginning of his Covenant part. Otherwise, there were some very clever cuts that removed unnecessary or dumb scenes to create a tighter narrative. Although, a couple of them created other dumb things. For instance, cutting out the scene where Fifield and Millburn are lost, which is a very welcome cut, makes you wonder why nobody from the crew realised they where missing until it was time to go back to the Derelict. But it's the lesser of two evils.
From the technical side of things, it was mostly seamless but there were a couple of scenes were the change was a little abrupt or the sound was cut off too quickly. But no big deal. What was actually very noticeable, was the bright scenes in Covenant, like in the med bay where they took the first guy that was infected and the alien came out of his back. Those scenes were like overexposed or something. The brightness was off the charts and you could barely see the faces of the actors.
Also, I think two hours and forty minutes are perfectly fine for a film, it didn’t need to be in two parts.
To conclude, if you have major issues with both of the original films then this is definitely the edit for you. I don’t see how something else could be done to change them drastically. This is probably the best you are going to get. But, for me, I’ll stick with the original Prometheus and the extended version of Covenant.
Thanks to anyone who read my review and thank you Wakeupkeo for all your hard work!
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
Great edit of another great edit of two just ok movies! I think you're selling yourself short in saying that Paradise is so much better than this; obviously the two edits are quite different in terms of how they tell the story but I liked the simplicity and conciseness of this one as much as I liked the nonlinear structure of Paradise. Presenting this as two episodes thereby being able to show the end of Prometheus as a flashback in Covenant was very effective and straightforward. Both this and Paradise suffer from having to work with a truly terrible Act 2 in both movies where the characters are running around aimlessly getting picked off one by one with no escalating tension or clear stakes, but the brisk 70 minutes of both episodes minimizes that as much as one can. I was very glad to see the last section of Covenant completely cut so that David sneaking onto the ship is the climax of the two episodes.
As always, any problems I have with the story (very unmotivated and repetitive Act 2s as mentioned, unmemorable crew members that make inexplicably bad decisions) are with the original movies and not this edit. Well done as always!
As always, any problems I have with the story (very unmotivated and repetitive Act 2s as mentioned, unmemorable crew members that make inexplicably bad decisions) are with the original movies and not this edit. Well done as always!
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Overall rating
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
9.0
Enjoyment
10.0
Was a very good edit. When the first part was over I asked myself "what does he cut from the original ?" cause nothing is missing. I love the chronological construction here. Great work
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Overall rating
9.2
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
7.0
Enjoyment
8.0
This is a very good edit, as Wakeupkeo does fantastic jobs!
I made the mistake of not seeing the full versions of the movies in a very long time. Some of the cuts did not quite make sense and felt a little choppy. I found myself looking up plot points while watching. I understand there is not much one can do to smooth it out.
I did really enjoy it, however. Great visual and audio quality, and I look forward to Wakeupkeo's next edits.
I made the mistake of not seeing the full versions of the movies in a very long time. Some of the cuts did not quite make sense and felt a little choppy. I found myself looking up plot points while watching. I understand there is not much one can do to smooth it out.
I did really enjoy it, however. Great visual and audio quality, and I look forward to Wakeupkeo's next edits.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
(Updated: October 04, 2022)
Overall rating
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
8.0
Enjoyment
8.0
Removing the bloat of the original Prometheus with "David" helped me appreciate the theatrical movie more, and the Alien: Covenant "Walter" section helped me to understand the choices that were made in Prometheus. My biggest complaint is that Shaw's C-section leading right into old Weyland and David felt jarring and unaddressed in the Prometheus episode and I wish we saw more of the proto-xenomorph in the Covenant episode, but beyond that it was awesome. A solid 8 out of 10.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
