Movies-TV

It's a shame that the computer games were better movies ...

Terrible. A slap in the face to Wing Commander fans, and sci-fi fans in general. This had the potential to be so much more (as shown by the PC games).

Star Trek meets Das Boot?

This is an interesting movie. It seems to faithfully represent the characters and situations in the original Wing Commander games, so fans of the original games should find this familiar territory. From an outside perspective this movie seems to have "borrowed" elements from many popular films such as Star Trek, Star Wars, and even Das Boot. Jurgen Prochnow plays a racist commander of a starship that operates suspiciously like a submarine; in fact a good deal like a certain German U-boat which Prochnow once commanded.At points this movie was cheesy and too reminiscent of other movies in its genre, but overall not too bad.

Awesome!

I found Wing Commander to be the best Sci Fi film to be released in the last Fifteen years. I did read the book before I saw the film, so I knew the whole story including what was cut out. There was entire plot branch that was fairly integral to the overall story that had to be cut out due to technical reason, but even without it the film was extremely well done. Even though it didn't encompass the original look of the games it did convey the overall spirit of the story. Considering they only spent 27 million dollars on it I would dare say that it is a much larger and better acheivement than the entire Star Wars series, and a better film I might add.

not worth seeing, for any reason

Well, you already know by now that this might be the worst movie ever made. Certainly a contender for the Top Ten. But you might be like me and think, "If it is that bad, it might be good." We learn from our mistakes, and we can learn from other people's mistakes too, so sometimes it is fun to sit back and imagine the writer/ director/ cast and say: "What WERE they thinking?"I was wrong. It is not fun. It's very very painful. I had to watch the video over a week in 20- minute chunks, I couldn't take any more than that. Someone should be locked up for this film, it is a crime against humanity. Actually, that is not true. I crewed once on a film where, very early into the shoot, everyone except the director and DP realised it was mince. (The director and DP might just have been faking their enthusiasm better). The shoot became a real trial of endurance for everyone involved, like being trapped in a train carriage where there is a raving nutter and everyone pretends nothing is happening, desperately praying for their station to come round. My sympathies to the crew of Wing Commander."Based on a video game." Doesn't that kind of say it all anyway?

Cool and entertaining...

Why has everyone given this movie such a bad review, and an even worse score out of ten? I think it deserves more, because it is cool and entertaining. The plot isn't too original, but it is done in style. The storyline isn't too difficult to follow. The action sequences are cool, with some great special effects. Also, the acting is quite good. Freddie Prinze Jr - although usually a bad actor - shines in this. Saffron Burrows has her usual annoying voice, but is quite good. Matthew Lillard is on top form as usual, and the rest of the supporting cast - Suchet, Prochnow and Karyo - all do well. I just wish it had been given better reviews.

A Star Wars fan speaks out.

All right, the first reason I saw this movie was to only see the 2nd trailer for Star Wars EP1. After that I figured I'd leave the movie and blow some money in the arcade. But as the EP1 trailer ended, I felt I should at least try to get the feel of Wing Commander. And as I sat there in front of the screen, I realized I didn't regret seeing the movie. Wing Commander reminded me of the WWII era of our century, where people died left and right to protect their homeland. I also liked the fact that the carriers and fighters did look like those of WWII. This was not a bad quality of the movie, it gave it a sense times gone by. The special effects did stand on equal with those of EP1, (and that coming from a Star Wars fan tells you they were good.) The cast performed a little stiff, but it didn't really take away from the movie. (I'm sure they didn't have the sense of storyline that the WC games had.) All in all this was a good Sci-Fi flick of the summer that wasn't Star Wars.

Sub-par film. Poor development. Didn't stay true to the game.

I was on spring break and I decided to see Wing Commander for several reasons. First off, I wanted to see the new Star Wars:Episode I trailer. Second off, I had some time to kill with some friends and everything else playing at the theatres didn't peak our interest. Finally, I am a big fan of the PC game series and Wing Commander 2 ranks as one of my all time favorite games. The movie started out poorly for me as they forgot to put in the SW trailer :( (This was probably a sign from above of the agony to come). Oh well.Anyway, the movie, Wing Commander is directed by Chris Roberts, the original mastermind of the Origin created computer game, so I was expecting some sort of tie in with the game at least. I didn't get what I wanted, however, as Roberts pillaged what was an excellent computer developed cinematic world into a commercialized and compromised movie. The Kilrathi in the PC game were enormous catlike, furry creatures. The Kilrathi in the movie were portrayed as these rubber walruses with a goatee. I was confused naturally.The storyline was pretty basic. The terrans are trying to save Earth from a Kilrathi invasion...Blah, blah, blah. The acting was mediocre with the only believable performance by Matthew Lillard (Maniac) and some good moments from Prinze (Maverick "Blue Hair" Blair) and Karyo (Paladin, who I thought was supposed to be Irish in the PC game last time I checked?).In all honesty, I can't blame the actors for making this film bad. I can however blame the screen writers, Chris Roberts (director) and Kevin Droney for writing a horrible script. There was a decent bit of action, but what Roberts missed was actual character development. That's what made the Wing Commander computer game series so enjoyable. The cinematic scenes!Anyway, Roberts butchered the chance for an actual developed sci-fi action drama, so don't bother wasting your money in seeing this movie. Only go and see this movie if you're a masochist or an oldschool wing commander fan who wants to see brief moments of nostalgia. 4 out of 10 on the IMDB scale.

This is a movie???!!??

First of all, I went see this movie only because I heard it was going to be the first one to have the trailer for the new Star Wars movie. And it did and that was by far the best part of the experience.This is the kind of movie that really bothers me. Because when scripts or ideas are pitched to studio executives, they must sit around in a room and decide whether or not they are going to spend 40 million dollars on some film that they hope will give them a significnat return. With Wing Commander, I would like to know how anyone could actually read the script and say to themselves " Yea!!!! We are going to make a huge profit off this one. " How exactly do executives do it? How do they get paid the ridiculous amounts of money that they do and then give the green light to make unbelievably bad movies like this? I know sometimes it is a gamble because you never know what will succeed and what won't ( remember the unbelievable success of Lethal Weapon? No one saw that coming ) but at least when you gamble, there should be some educated reasoning behind it. And any educated person would tell you that this film was destined to fail right from the beginning. Freddie Prinze Jr. and Mathew Lilliard are not that big enough yet to carry a film by themselves, especially if they are working with the deck stacked against them. And plus, another film sort of like this one was scheduled to get released in mere months after this came out, and that film is called The Phantom Menace. And I think everyone could wait a few more months to get their fix than to catch some simple imitation called Wing Commander.I won't even get into the story because it is so simple that I'm sure you already know. Some bad guys want to take over the world and some good guys have to stop them.The story is uninteresting, the acting is okay and the direction is a muddled confusing mess. And to top it off they wasted Lilliard in this film. He deserves better than this. He has a presence on film and he makes almost every scene he's in better. Even in this film he was good, but he can't help something that is this bad.Don't waste your money or your inteligence on this piece of garbage. It is terrible. Bad Bad Bad. Awful.... You get the point!

Wing Commander

This movie is entertaining and the sound effects is great. Watching this movie makes me recall those characters I encounter when playing the Wing Commander game series. Too bad, Mark Hamill wasn't there as Lt Chris Blair. Perhaps much thought should have been given to the plot and fighting scenes. Wish there was Wing Commander sequel with an improved plot & story... I would love to see another Wing Commander sequel.

Passable Sci-Fi

Kind of like "Das Boot" meets "Star Trek" with some cheesy space planes that look like WWI fighters with gigantic gattling guns attached on front. While the space battle scenes took me right back to the days of Wing Commander I computer game, nothing else in this movie is really any good. The acting is average; however, the script is really terrible and fails to significantly develop any of the characters. Some people say that's artistic and sophisticated (ala Thin Red Line) but I prefer to be entertained.The second trailer for Star Wars was also playing for this movie... AWESOME... this may be the first genuine case of a trailer helping to promote the movie it's playing before!

Good... If you check your brain at the door

The story is paper thin. The Kilrathi were too stiff. There were too many holes in the plot. There were unrealistic physics. The list goes on...

So why did I like it? Maybe because I was not expecting much. The director, Chris Roberts, was the creator of the Game "Wing Commander", and he directed the cinematic scenes in two games. But that's all he had to his credit. In my book, he has done a remarkable job for someone not in the field. The budget of the movie was also restrictive. But that did not slow the show. And also to be noted is that the movie is based on a computer game. In movie history, that is usually a penalty.

The acting is on par... with the rest of the teen flicks out there (where acting performances rely mostly on good looks). The music is a amazingly good, however. You might replay a scene just to hear the music over and over (well... I liked it). The space flight action scenes are also well done.

But the plot hurts the movie. I think there were too many scenes that were cut-out, making the final product filled with unexplained scenes. I was mystified by the meaning of quite a few events.

The movie as a whole could be summed up as fun, light no-brainer. Do NOT consider it as a "gritty WWII in space" adventure, as the director assumed it to be during an interview. It is just entertaining, if you don't compare it to something like "Star Wars".

NOTE: Please contact me if you have a copy of WC (DVD). Mine does NOT have the French audio track, despite the cover info! Please confirm this! There might be an erroneous info!

Ranks among the worst movies I've ever seen.

As a science fiction fan and a cinemaphile in general, this movie was so bad that it was insulting. It ranks below Battlefield Earth as one of the worst, most poorly written, scripted and acted movies I've ever seen. It's so full of holes both in script and in concept that you feel embarrased for the writer. Every aspect of the sci-fi setting is borrowed from other movies and seemingly mashed together to make a space movie in spite of (or completely unaware of) the fact that they might not work together to make a believable story. There's conversations that a certain character will refer to when they may not have even been in on the particular subject matter. The relationships between everyone are inexplicably hostile. The fighters all look like World War 2 airplanes (why do you need wings in a short range space figher?) and go 'woosh' when they fly by (who knew there was so much wind in space!?). The enemies are cylon rip-offs. The plot is irritatingly trite and simple. You don't give a flying projectile about any of the characters and halfway through it's gotten just so bad in general you have to force yourself to keep watching just because you spent the 99 cents to the discount bin to rent it.Awful!

Wing Commander

DVD was very entertaining.
DVD arrived in a very timely fashion.
DVD arrived in excellent condition.

Unrealized Potential

I can't say this movie was bad, but it was disappointing. The visual sequences are excellent, and the overall imagery of the movie was quite low tech and evoked both World War I fighter aces and the seafaring discovery of the Renaissance. The primary problem with this movie is that it tries to weave so many plot elements and types of statements into ninety minutes that nothing, even the military action, gets a proper showing. Without spoiling the plot, it contains two separate love stories, a statement about racial prejudice, and Hunt For Red October-esque submarine warfare sequences, in addition to the the usual dogfights and military psychodrama. The cast was rather devoid of any big names, which didn't help or hinder the movie, everyone put in a reasonable performance considering the (sometimes rather silly) script. In summary, if you like good visuals and are willing to sit through some confused plot elements and dead scenes, by all means go see Wing Commander.

This Movie is Underrated

I can't understand why this movie is rated so low. It is not a bad movie. There was an excellent cast; but there was also a good storyline.I played the game when I was a kid, it was a very well designed game and I found that the movie did adhere to what the game quite well.Freddie Prinze Jr., Saffron Burrows, David Suchet, David Warner, Matthew Lillard, an all star cast executed very well. Overall an entertaining movie to watch, good story, good cast all the ingredients for a top notch movie.8 Out of 10

By geeks for geeks

This movie is an expression of everything geeky that the world was in 1999, what with the dot com boom and the rapid infiltration and adoption of previously geeky domains, such as PC gaming, into mainstream culture.It was natural for Chris Roberts, who had lead the "Wing Commander" franchise through each successful sequel, to write and direct the movie, after all the games themselves had in a way pioneered the use of filmed cut scenes, and featured many very well known actors such as John Rhys-Davies and Malcolm Mcdowell.Due to Robert's influence, this movie feels almost more like fan-fiction at times. The story is not bad, certainly a little better than standard Hollywood fare, and there is a lot of attention to detail in the sets and especially the dogfight fx, that people who have played the games will instantly recognise and appreciate.Unfortunately there are also many bad points to be made. The dialogue and acting is very bad. The story, while mildly interesting, completely ignores the storyline as told in the games. But possibly the most annoying feature, was Robert's representation of the Kilrathi. He must have been running out of money by the time he reached those scenes (and there are only a few), because instead of the Kilrathi as they should be, majestic and brutal catpeople, they are portrayed more as rubber faced ghouls hidden in green fog. Most disappointing.If you've played the games, this movie is worth a view even if just for the nostalgia trip and because many of the scenes actually feel like they are right out of the games (whether this is a good or bad thing I'm not sure ;). If you're not a fan, then pass.

I had to use the bathroom 5 minutes into the movie, and I held it the whole time.

First off, I figured that it would be like "Top Gun" or something, but after the first 20 minutes, I was hooked! I NEVER left the theater once during Wing Commander. I liked the fact that the Rapiers shot bullets instead of lasers or sci-fi guns. And when the Tiger's Claw shot missiles, I thought it was a submarine!I think this movie was one of the best of 1999. Besides 'Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace' and 'Austin Powers'.

Good movie could be better

when I first saw this movie I was captivated by the special effects and the storyline. But being a big fan of the PC game I think a few things could have been better. First with the characters Paladin should have remained an Irishman, Angel was the one who was supposed to be a french woman. Although I think they did a good job at portraying Maniac's wild persona. Second, the fight scenes, in the gun battle on the Kilrathi ship the fighting just wasn't intense enough for me. there wasn't a sense of ergency that I was expectiong. It would have also been cool to see what the Kilrathi looked like in thier fighters and see thier perspective. Lastly the ending. I was left a little dissapointed. Now I've heard rumors of a second WC movie and if this is true there was no lead in to the next movie. It just kinda stops. But the ending goes pretty well with the quality of the movie. all in all I liked it.

Terrible a poor attempt at the science fiction genre

This was one of the worst movies i have ever scene.It was poorly put together,badly acted with a script weaker than that of an episode of teletubbies. After such an excellent trailer an exceptional film was expected,however the trailer was the Best bits of the film. I do not advise anyone to watch this.

No thrill

I spent probably hundreds of hours playing Wing Commander 1. I can still recall all the thrill of the action, patrols, dog fighting, etc. Then personalities - how I hated Maniac sometimes for his stupid behavior! Unfortunately the movie brings nothing from that thrill. It's just an average sci-fi movie loosely tied to the original computer game. I believe that they had to make stronger connections with the game. For thousands of people this movie could become a nostalgic memory of the action one could no longer feel but it didn't.