Prometheus Trap (2012) Poster

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2/10
How not to make a movie for $5,000...
kad3t22 December 2012
It's not a coincidence that Prometheus Trap came out same year critically acclaimed Prometheus did. But it had to be a mistake having a budget of around $500,000 for it. I mean it looks as if it was all recorded inside a walk-in freezer using early 80's computers as props and a slightly failing smoke machine. Special effects look like my failed attempts at basically anything in 3D Studio Max or Blender and I failed for free. Acting is average at best and even though the basic story line is not terrible (although I'm far from saying that it was any good) the execution lacked in all areas and the flick ended up being just plain boring. I'd avoid it at all cost if I wasn't so bored beyond belief that I had to resort myself to watching all straight-to-DVD crap this coming Xmas season...
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1/10
Yeah.... No.
txsoldier4514 January 2014
OK, first I realize it had a limited budget and that it went straight to DVD, but it was horrible. Using garment bags and vacuum hoses for their "hyper sleep chambers" was so junior high school play that it wasn't even funny.

Also the camera shots were terrible. Mostly focusing on faces and did a horrible job of that. I realize they didn't have a lot of money for sets but a wide angle shot showing more would have helped it seem not like someone was using their camera phone to video tape it.

And I never understood why the captain got so angry at being called "Ma'am".

Don't buy, don't rent it, if its on TV for free if you want something on to fall asleep to give it a shot.
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1/10
One of the worst scifi movies ever made
Dberg-111 November 2013
Warning: Spoilers
I watched this movie with a friend and I think we both felt this movie was one of the top ten worst scifi movies of all time and I am devoted fan of the genre.

The sets were worse than those I saw back in the 50's down to lockers from high school with names on them written on masking tape. The main console looked like a Motorola mobile police unit and the bridge was awful with no detail at all.

Suffice it to say the acting was juvenile and totally unconvincing. The two spaceships were lit up like Christmas trees and covered with lights that were blurry - even though with no atmosphere they would not be flickering.

The whole movie probably cost around $25.00 to produce. Avoid at all costs. A total waste of time.
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1/10
Another high school project
cdnkelly22 November 2019
Another high school project with nothing but close-up shots of the actors. Extremely poor excuse for sets and background. Acting was low B-movie scale. Some sceens made no sense at all.
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1/10
Health warning! Will melt brain cells and put you in a coma very quickly! Awful!
sammieboo_uk27 September 2020
I love a cheesy b movie but this is a true z movie. Only managed 5 minutes! Awful Acting! Sound! Camera work! Script! Sets! Please do not waste a single brain cell on this terrible film. You have been warned.
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5/10
Only For Those Who Find Time-Fi Movies Intriguing
jesussaddle21 December 2013
Okay, not as horrible as you think if you can handle original 1960s sci fi like outer limits, which live on story development rather than eye candy. I "watched" this as background audio and eventually became engaged enough to pay some attention. One watch through left me some questions, so I am not really sure if it deserves a 3 or a 6. So I'm giving it a 5 because you know some of us need to support the mere fact of an unusual and unpredictable story in a mainstream DVD release.

Just watch if you are intrigued by time travel story lines and theories.

Acting across the board felt passable, but the patience of the producers deserves credit. Not an easy undertaking with so much happening with visuals relying on a paper thin budget. I'm sure direction and a few actor choices could have improved the film. Music wasn't terrible. Worst choice in the movie for me is the way the radio communication between various space personnel is over-done, making it indecipherable on my low grade DVD box.

If you just must consume time travel flicks until you burst, you may explode on this one, or on Lunopolis.
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1/10
In the words of Admiral Ackbar of Star Wars fame...
blenz330 December 2012
Warning: Spoilers
...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.
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5/10
Not bad, worth a look for true Sci-Fi fans.
starhopper4575 April 2014
Warning: Spoilers
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.
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9/10
Excellent movie for such a small budget.
googol-dot21 November 2013
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.
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7/10
True Sci-Fi film
Of course, if you expect to see the remake of Alien, if you expect fancy design and computer animation, if you wanted to see the other Prometheus film, you will be disappointed. BUT: This film is great. It is far away from main stream. It deals with the characteristics of "time" very well. It shows how the characters try to escape the logical constrains the time implies on them. This is extremely well done. The setting fits well to a low budget film. Still, it is thrilling to see. The only down side I saw was the movement of the star ships. These were kind of badly animated, inadequately moving in space. If this was not the case, this film can be positioned on the same level as 2001 - Odyssee is space.
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1/10
Crowbars in Space? Time Loops Make this Seem Days Long.
bnastali5 June 2021
Lack of imagination, plus a budget unequal to the task, nets a film called Prometheus Trap. If you like time warp movies (Ground Hog Day) this might be your cup of poison tea. With ideas ripped from Alien, but ZERO clue how to make use of them, this mish-mash plods along like a one-legged centapeed.( Spellcheck, not worth getting into.) Coming out of cryo-sleep standing up in a plastic bag with a hose stuffed n your mouth is a terrible way to start the day, or a movie. Things actually devolve from there, and our astronauts change into their space gear in what looks like a junior high locker room. Fights feature actual crowbars, which are usually not standard issue on spaceships! Props appear to include a fish-finder, random padded-cell wall coverings, helmets (that get a special after film credit) that have a rusty 50's diver bell vibe, and costumes are worse, with tiny elbow and knee coverings, black long underwear, and headsets from the 1980's call centers. You will wish for the end to come many times before a lame zinger FINALLY brings this mammothly awful film to a tattered close. WHY does the ghost spceship feature big numbers painted on the side like an intergalactic one-armed bandit?
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1/10
Rubbish
daviddelamancha6 November 2020
I try to watch low budget movies to support artists and filmmakers but this is utter rubbish. The actors are ok but the sets look like they didnt even try. Most of all i am really annoyed by the directors panning and closeups of the actors when it clearly doesnt call for it. Also, why did he need to shoot into the light so much? Everything is washed out. Hope i never come across this teams work again.
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1/10
Breathtakingly awful
lopezpatricia-0613915 January 2020
I'm sorry I could not get past the first five minutes. Because the camp androids acting was so bad he took the lead but not by far they all stink and should be ashamed of them selfs. ALSO. The opening scene where they are In wedding day dress bag holders with dishwasher exhaust pipes in their mouths. HOW DARE YOU OFFEND ME WITH THIS GARBAGE, HOLLYWOOD
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10/10
How did a movie so good get such low ratings?
the_doofy26 October 2015
I keep asking myself this, and I think the answer is in how I came about to finally watch it --When I first ran across this movie on one of the numerous lists I peruse to discover unknown gems, I clicked into the movie and immediately saw a naked woman looking at me --I decided I was not in the mood for smut and clicked out of it. Later having forgotten about it i ended up looking at the nude woman again, and left again.

Eventually I found myself in the mood for some sic fi goochy and decided to look up the nudey woman movie. 20 minutes in I realized there was not going to be any goochy and once again left off.

Eventually I decided to watch the dam thing and was stunned to find it one of the most intellectual sci fi movies I have ever watched, and I watch a lot of them, old and modern.

In summary i think people who are searching for an excellently scripted sci fi flick immediately turn away from this movie with its pointless intro, and give it a poor rating. Those caught up with the intro begin to watch it, get frustrated at the plot development, wondering when the porn will kick in, give up and give it a poor rating.

I got my wife to watch it and she found movie very engrossing. I got a movie buddy of mine who is a modern traditional eye candy special effects person to watch it. I had to fight him over the stupid iPod that he brings out when he believes a movie to be boring, and at the end of the movie (minus the i pod), he thanked me and said it was one of the most intelligent sci fi's he had watched in years.

This movie is for mature audiences who place script and plot development and acting above eye candy and opening sex/violence in the first five minutes, anyone not fitting this category will not finish the movie and if they do they will not enjoy it. I suspect some of the people writing the reviews have not actually watched the whole movie
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6/10
Good enough to watch twice
anstia9 January 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Most viewers will be expecting "Prometheus", the "Aliens" prequel. What you need to expect is a film on a extremely lean budget that has nothing to do with aliens.

The creators of this film have made excellent use of their tiny budget. Things look a little "70's Dr Who", but it's easy enough to recognise what each prop is meant to represent. Re-use is key, and they really go to town with this concept.

The writing is a little uneven, but it carries the film. The androids are well-played, and the other characters are adequately portrayed.

Time as a concept, in Hollywood movies, is often either poorly understood or hideously belaboured. Here, it is neither.
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6/10
Decent plot. Not affiliated with "Alien"
midge562 April 2013
Warning: Spoilers
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.
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7/10
its not Aliens, but what is?
Sure, the class of flick like Aliens, none can match it. but if you like puzzles and time loops, watch it. Bit of a stretch to disregard the lack of budget, but they made a movie I like to see again some day. So, if you like SF, time loops, and not overly in need of high budget movies, you like it. Sit back, enjoy and relax.
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6/10
Gets better as the story unfolds
Viewer11112 March 2020
Prometheus Trap, is not at all part of the Alien movies, but it has a descent plot, above average acting, and adequate special effects. Not a big budget film, but interesting enough to keep me watching. Plot and character driven with twists. I like it more than I thought I would at first. Watch all the way through, it is better as the plot unfolds. Thoughtful.
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6/10
Surprising Low Budget Gem
jcbesq8 December 2020
One of the other reviewers has already commented on the herky jerky camera work and the "into the light source" shooting. Those issues aside, this is not badly written (or acted). In fact, the screenplay is probably a bit above the reach of most of the cast - with one exception. Michael Shattner (as android Finn) is a sly anti-hero who gradually manages to anchor our sympathy as his own motivations begin to focus.

Also not bad is the actress in the counterpart role as Artemis - although her part is slightly less realized, the scenes with her and Finn are compelling and ultimately provide the true motor for the film.
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