Fictional Science: 100 Glaring Logical Issues With Prometheus

Part 4 – The Arrival on the Planet (0:23:00 – 0:44:50)

24. How does the Prometheus just happen to land exactly where they want to be as soon as they arrive? No scans of the place, no geological surveys; the Prometheus just happens upon a massive alien structure where all the film’s action will take place the moment they arrive.

25. Why is Holloway so insistent that they enter the structure right away, when it’s almost night? No scientist would ever lack that much caution. Nobody on that crew would go along with him. Does no one worry about safety?

26. Why does Holloway want to know if the structure is natural or not? How the hell could it be natural? It was obviously constructed. Not five minutes ago, he uttered the words “God doesn’t build in straight lines,” so why does he assume God builds architectural formations?

27. How does the crew know where to go in the structure? The Geologist says “Pops are saying this way,” but it’s all just one big circle, and they don’t even know what they’re looking for yet, so what sort of directional measurements are they using?

28. Why does Holloway take his helmet off? What if the scans were wrong? He would die almost instantly. Even if he had complete faith in the scans, no scientist would ever do something so unsafe, not just for their own health, but because exposing one’s breath to their surroundings could contaminate the archeological site. And why, then, does everyone else just go along with Holloway, take their helmets off, risk their lives, and contaminate the hell out of the incredible alien cavern?

29. Provides wrong definition of ‘terraforming’ when explaining presence of breathable atmosphere. In a theoretical terraforming process, the whole planet would be covered, not just one contained outpost, and the other goal would be to make the earth arable for crops. Whatever this is, it is not the result of terraforming.

30. How does David know how to enter codes into the walls and read the written language fluently? Even if the alien alphabet were somehow connected to primitive Earth languages, David could not magically become fluent from such minor amounts of information. And even if we ignore that, how on earth would David know anything about this complex code system on the wall that have no basis in human communication? Where would he derive the knowledge from?

31. Where did the Prometheus security officer go? Before the crew disembarks, Shaw speaks to a security officer, who demonstrates his weaponry. Where did he go off to? Once they enter the structure, he’s just gone.

32. Why would the Geologist run away terrified upon seeing the dead body? Actual Geologists also study fossils, and since the body is thousands of years old, it has been fossilized. He should be fascinated by the opportunity to study alien fossils, but instead, he runs away. And why would the Biologist – whose mission in life is to study organisms – be frightened by the chance to study an extraterrestrial corpse?

33. Why does David just start messing with stuff in the room? Yes, David has a ‘curious personality,’ but wouldn’t the sophisticated android be programmed to least know and follow the scientific method, operating with caution and documenting his findings?

34. “I think we’ve affected the atmosphere in the room!” Why would they not have thought about that before, like when they took their helmets off in the first place, which automatically affects the atmosphere? They could have destroyed the single biggest scientific find in human history because they were so gung ho, and when they see the atmosphere changing, nobody takes personal responsibility for the mistake.

35. What’s the giant face on the cliff? When the crew runs away from the violent sandstorm, we see a giant face in the side of the cliff, a big carving like Mount Rushmore. Why is it there? What is its purpose? Why do we never see anything about it again?

36. Shaw and Holloway should be dead from sandstorm buffeting. Shaw is flung across the entire cargo bay, hitting the back wall hard, but even ignoring that, there’s no way the spacesuits would protect them from that volume of sharp, dangerous, fast-moving sediment.

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