Prometheus Trap (2012)

So much average

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Given its cost to make it, I wouldn't dead pan this one. Given what was produced, I think it's worth a look. I only came across this one as I saw it in the $5 range clearance pile at a Sam's and never recalled ever seeing this one touted in the theaters.Being caught in a time paradox loop always has it set of consequences. I found no problem with the acting - hey, they are folks trying to get a start and make a living, BTW. Sets were what they were for the budget but then think about it... in the future, salvage ships, and freighters won't be state of the art space ships. They will be what we have now for freight, dump trucks, and pickups - things held together sometimes with bubble gum and bailing wire. Yes, I'll agree with previous comments that the ending lacked. I wouldn't have written it that way. Also, no explanation as to how the "time gun" came into being and why it was being transported (unless to prevent the mentioned war on Earth). By the fourth iteration, I would have liked to see the androids being in charge to keep the humans from self destructing with a better ending. For true Sci-Fi fans who don't want the horror aspect (Don't get me started on Event Horizon where so much acting potential was wasted.) I feel Prometheus Trap is worth a once over. Again, not top rate, but not desperation time either.

This is one of those "rides the coattails" movies, similar to how Atlantic RIM came out about the same time as Pacific Rim. This came out about the same time as Prometheus. Only, in this movie's case, the naming similarity is where the similarities end. Whereas Prometheus was just...absolute tripe, coated in a butt-load of special effects, this was very well done. With...some less than stellar special effects, which is the only thing that took a point away. So basically, Prometheus is the lesser movie in this case, in my opinion.I'm not going to enable the spoiler tag, since by the time you reach this review, you'll know the basic premise of the movie, it's groundhog day in space. There's no aliens, no weird plague, no possible looming all out war, no weird planet. What it does have is far better. I would suggest watching this, seriously, it's just that good.

This is not the Alien prequel, Prometheus. That is a different movie by a similar name. The cover art certainly made no sense for this film.This is a "Groundhog day" type of plot in space where a sleeping crew is diverted to investigate a missing space ship to retrieve a mass destruction time weapon intended to wipe out a planet from time... namely earth (based on what I gathered from the female engineers motive).The main problem with this movie is the poor audio quality. It is difficult to determine what is being said by anyone or anything. Lacking subtitles or closed captioning, there is no way to supplement the inability to hear the muddy dialogue.It is also difficult to realize some crew are not human until the second android is found. It is nearly impossible to discern the physical location of the characters with the fog machines & odd camera angles which often cut off their heads, bodies and entire crew members.The identical wigs on the females & android also makes it extremely difficult to separate them.Too many tight shots at weird angles such as a 45 degree from floor level to ceiling & often not squared nor level; make it nearly impossible to follow their trek through the ship. Hence, impossible to understand their progression, location & purpose or accomplishments in the story. By adding fog & bright lights behind the fog and cast, it obscures the scenes even worse.This director & camera crew clearly did not understand the impact of bright lights targeted at the cameras & how it affects the lighting levels & quality of the imagery. Bright lights will cause any auto leveling camera features to close down the lens apertures or iris & darken the faces. It also causes glare artifacts & reflections in the anamorphic lenses. Even worse are the bright uniform & background panel lights which glare in tight shots.The Camera work is quite awful & continuously cuts off the top of their heads in every scene while the blinding shoulder lights on the uniform Epilets distort the light & color levels in each shot. Only a grade school child would frame a face between the chin & eyebrows or cut off the top of the heads in every shot regardless of subject framing distance.Too many film crews are using nose hair closeups these days with no clue as to lighting. They spend a fortune on set design but we never get to see any of it due to the nose closeups. Doesn't anyone have professional training on cameras & lighting anymore? As for the story, it wasn't bad. It could have been better if we could have heard the dialogue. As with Groundhog day, the events would restart each time they died & the events were slightly modifiable each time. At the final ending, it appeared the time weapon was the only survivor which halted the cycle. But it still wasn't fully clear whether the others were elsewhere or removed from existence or time or simply destroyed. It appears that the crew was killed by the female android & the weapon saved & ready for instructions for its next target. Difficult to be certain with so many film problems. The movie could have been quite good with more funding for a better quality crew, cast & direction. Also quite viable as an excellent Outer Limits episode. They should bring back the series for clever episode plots like this.

...it's a trap! I accidentally rented this 'film' instead of Prometheus due to the name similarity. In years past, I was a big fan of the Alien films. Sadly, The Prometheus Trap bares little to no resemblance to the science fiction epics that came before it. If I had the capability to go back in time and un-watch this film, then I would undoubtedly do so. **PLOT**I did not specifically reject the plot, but I did conflict with the fact that it bore little to no resemblance to any of the preceding Alien franchise films.**CAST**C-list stars at best, people pulled off of the street and given $100 for their day's work at worst.**Production value**Poor. This film would have sorely benefited from at least one special effects person. It would seem that all of the special effects were produced by a 15 year old with a pirated copy of 3DS max.**SPOILERS**1.) There are no aliens. 2.) The film is literally the rehashing of a single scene over and over and, rather painfully, over again. 3.) It is painful to watch the entire film. Save yourself the burden.