The script writers for 'Prometheus 2'

Oh dear .........that doesn't sound
Good 

At alll ......
Ominous ......

Transcendence is currently high up on my ‘to watch’ list. I would like to see how it compares to ‘The Machine’, which seems to have a similar subject matter. I’m curious to see how the two compare and if the reviews that are out at the moment are down to the subject matter, rather than pointing a finger purely at the script writing.

I’m going to remain open minded on this for now, and whether or not it creates any cause for concern about P2.

@Batchpool, trust me, I am remaing open minded/hopeful for 'P2'.  However, with 'Transcendence', it doesn't sound like it is an issue with the subject matter because, from what I can gleam from the reviews, it starts off well and has some interesting ideas that are squandered or never fleshed out.  That doesn't say "subject matter" to me, rather "story/script incomplete/not thought through".  And I know that how a writer does on one movie doesn't mean a thing about how they will do the next, especially when there isn't a lot from Paglen to "paint a picture" in terms of his talent.  Besides, maybe the combination of Paglen and Green (and Scott, of course) will be great.  Paglen could be an incredible idea guy, while Green is good at filling in the gaps and fleshing things out.

It's best not to jump too readily to conclusions, many things are excised from a script before shooting. Besides, remember that horrendous Batman and Robin movie? Well the man who wrote the script for that wrote the Oscar winning 'A Beautiful Mind', so keep that in mind. Many screenwriters have to wipe their ass before shitting out a gold nugget. 

Well someone better start pushing cause i don't care if the person gets hemorrhoids, we need that nugget now. If someone has to than as a last resort grease up their arm, and pull it out manually.

BM metaphors eh...

I think the first poster is right in questioning Paglen's talent. The reviews for Transcendence are terrible and his writing is singled out in some of them.

However, we ought to remind ourselves that Scott brought in another writer to polish Paglen's draft for Prom 2.

And, of course, just because Paglen's first script was bad doesn't mean his second will follow suit.

Poor Jack Paglen. He is doomed right out of the box. 

How much of the final script was down to Paglen though? We all know how much the studios enjoy meddling with the original scripts. A good example of this is the meddling by David Giler and Walter Hill with the original script for ALIEN by Dan O'Bannon and Ron Shusett, they wanted to change everything. It was only because Ridley was adamant that most of the script was to be kept intact, that we got about 80% of O'Bannon and Shusett's script.

So, it makes me wonder how much of Paglen's script was changed for Transendance.

Well i was looking forwards to Transendance when hits pictures here, it previews today... may now have to give some thought as weither to wait for it to come out on DVD/Stream Services like Netflix or purchase via Cable TV

As not sure want to wast £8-9 if movie not too good lol

"from what I can gleam from the reviews, it starts off well and has some interesting ideas that are squandered or never fleshed out.  That doesn't say "subject matter" to me, rather "story/script incomplete/not thought through". "

Sounds a lot like what you could say about Prometheus, at the end of the day though i guess we cant judge a movie or script based upon a writers previous drafts, not every writter can produce a great draft every time, some could have some disapointing ones but then pull of a master peice.

So guess we still got to stay optimistic for now ;)

I want to remain optimistic. I really do.

But no due diligence was performed on Paglen's script for Transendence. He was out of his depth, frankly, and it showed.

I'm a software engineer. If I had the cliched 'source code' for an AI, moreover an AI that was cleverer than me and basically put itself together, that wouldn't do me any good whatsoever if I wanted to destroy it. Especially if it had jumped medium and started bettering itself with the aid of nanotechnology. The writer just doesn't know enough stuff.

Crap I'll reserve judgement till I see it though I guess :(...

"The writer just doesn't know enough stuff"

But i guess alas we have to remember its Sci Fi which means Fiction i think its like Prometheus when many from a more Scientific Background attacked the movie for how flawed some of the Science was, and not forgetting that the Sci in Sci Fi does not mean its Scientifically correct or plausible.

I mean the JJ Abrahams Star Trek Science in some parts was laughable...  to me i think from the look of the trailers the movie could be like Prometheus and trying to be too clever and trying to push some boundaries but ultimately ending up a bit mish mashed.

I may still go watch it next week as i got a buy one get one free ticket and ill pass judgement then, but i guess also if the movie is a bit naff!  Well maybe we cant all jump the gun and assume Prometheus Part 2 could be.

And to be fair a number of movies have the draft changed by other writters sometimes for better and sometimes for the worse.  i.e Alien 3

Well the early scripts Ive read online for Prometheus read better than what we got... So what the hey!

BTW Ive heard that Tancendence is pretty good.... As we saw with A3 re-writes and producers getting involved usually = a fucking mess.....

I don't really follow reviews or know any critics specifically, but this one by Chris Nashawaty... Ouch.  His EW Review

Some excerpts specifically about the script...

"Artificial intelligence isn't just the villain in the muddled techno-thriller Transcendence. It's also an apt description of the film's script: a cockamamie mishmash of Big Ideas and TED Conference buzzwords that sound smart, but don't compute."

"the script by first-time screenwriter Jack Paglen is so full of half-explained cyber-nonsense and wheezy, kneejerk man-vs.-technology clichés, it borders on the ludicrous."

"Watching it all unfold and slowly go off the rails, you can't help but wonder what Pfister's mentor, [Christopher] Nolan, might have done with the same material. My guess is he would have sent the script back for a Page One rewrite for starters."