Prometheus

As Ridley Scott's new sci-fi epic lands in cinemas this week, June 1, academics at the University of Warwick have given their views on the film - and the Alien films to which it is a prequel.

Dr Jack Cohen, Honorary Professor of the University of Warwick, and one of the joint authors of Evolving the Alien: The Science of Extraterrestrial Life, says he is glad the film avoided the usual design of extraterrestrials as humanoids with ridged brows.

He commented: "The Alien universe, which Prometheus may also be part of, at least avoids the more preposterous fictional universes where most of the aliens look exactly like humans - but with slightly different types of bumpy foreheads. Aliens are likely to be much more alien."

But he added: "However the key aliens of the Alien universe still draw too much on human's own fear images and this obscures more reasoned speculation what real aliens may look like.

"The life cycle of this particular fictional race of aliens also builds on those human fear responses to produce movies that are brilliant at exploiting our fears for fun but which are also filled with scientific impossibilities. We still just can't resist making our movie aliens all too human."

Dr Nicolas Pillai, researcher at the University of Warwick's Film and Television Studies department, said: "While its trailers promise spectacular special effects, Prometheus follows a very traditional science-fiction narrative pattern. Archaeologists with conflicting agendas unearth a Pandora's Box - the curse of Tutankhamun by way of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Erich von Däniken."

Dr Pilai continued: "It also promises to excavate the past glories of director Ridley Scott. Initially conceived as a direct prequel to his 1979 film Alien, the project has mutated into something more interesting, riffing at the level of production design and tone rather than plot.

"Given this allusional approach to personal history, it seems important that Scott's protagonist is British - despite being played by Swedish actress Noomi Rapace."

And he spots a Doctor Who reference in the story: "Raised in Teesside, Scott was a young BBC designer in the early days of Doctor Who and narrowly missed the chance to design the Daleks. By calling Rapace's character Dr Elizabeth Shaw - also the name of a Doctor Who companion in 1970 - the screenwriters slyly reference a road not taken in Scott's past."

Dr Pilai concludes: "Prometheus' success may lie in its acceptance of diverse influences.

"While previous prequels have been restricted by an inevitable narrative end point, Scott's new film draws upon a wealth of transmedia artefacts - philosophical tracts, Egyptology, a 1967 Doctor Who serial called Tomb of the Cybermen.