Every film fan should own at least a couple “Making-of” books.  These books might not meet the sheer wealth of material the special features DVD or Blu-ray can offer, but they can make great reference material you can pull off your shelf at any time or have sitting on your coffee table if you just want to kill some time and look at some gorgeous concept art.

The best making-of books offer an excellent blend of informative material coupled with high-quality images, and with the release of Prometheus, two new making-of books have hit shelves:  The Book of Alien and Prometheus: The Art of the Film.  One is an example of how to a making-of book wrong, and the other is an example of how to do it right.

Like its ill-fated protagonists, Prometheus‘ greatest sin is overreach, which is a shame for a movie that manages to grasp so much.  Director Ridley Scott has refined and polished his return to the Alien universe by creating a self-contained mystery that falters when he attempts to answer an unasked question of his classic 1979 film.  While he doesn’t come close to recapturing the magic of his original film (an almost an unfair expectation), he does manage to give Prometheus a unique majesty through gorgeous visuals, a thrilling pace, delightful sci-fi horror, and a slew of fantastic performances with a standout turn by Michael Fassbender.  However, some sloppy narrative shortcuts and a jumbled thematic through-line keep the flame from igniting into an all-consuming blaze.

Fox has done a pretty good job of keeping the lid on Ridley Scott‘s Prometheus.  Of course, everything will likely be known a month before the film opens, but for now: mystique!  The movie still indirectly ties in to Alien by exploring the mystery of the Space Jockey (the giant dead creature found by the crew of the Nostromo in the first act).  Says Scott:

Yeah, so there you have that… I always thought it was amazing that no one ever asked who he was, and why was he there? What was all that about? I sat thinking about this for a while and thought, “Well, there’s a story! And the other four [films] missed it!” So, here it is.

Hit the jump for more on what he had to say about the prequel/not-a-prequel, and why he removed the famous xenomorphs from the equation.  Prometheus opens June 8, 2012 and stars Charlize Theron, Noomi Rapace, Idris Elba, and Michael Fassbender.

Director Ridley Scott is returning to the Alien franchise he launched back in 1979.  Over 30 years later and now Scott is directing the prequel and revealed to MTV that it will be set 30 years prior to the events of the first Alien movie.  Said Scott:

“It’s fundamentally about going out to find out ‘Who the hell was that Space Jockey?’ The guy who was sitting in the chair in the alien vehicle – there was a giant fellow sitting in a seat on what looked to be either a piece of technology or an astronomer’s chair. Remember that?”

Indeed we do, Mr. Scott.  Hit the jump for what he had to say about creating a new female protagonist, having original artist H.R. Giger come up with some new designs, and setting up the backdrop of humanity’s terraforming of planets.