Wing Commander (1999)

Director:

Chris Roberts

Writers (WGA):

Chris Roberts (characters)
Chris Roberts (story)

Release Date:

12 March 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

At the edge of our universe, all hell is about to break loose.

Plot:

Blair, a fighter pilot, joins an interstellar war to fight the evil Kilrathi who are trying to destroy the universe.

Plot Keywords:

Fighter Pilot | Spin Off | Aircraft Carrier | Spin Off From Video Game | Outer Space

Cast

Freddie Prinze Jr.	...	1st Lt. Christopher Blair
Saffron Burrows	...	Lt. Cmdr. 'Angel' Devereaux
Matthew Lillard	...	Lt. Todd 'Maniac' Marshall
Tchéky Karyo	...	Cmmdre. James 'Paladin' Taggart (as Tcheky Karyo)
Jürgen Prochnow	...	Cmdr. Paul Gerald
David Warner	...	Adm. Geoffrey Tolwyn
Ginny Holder	...	Rosie Forbes
Hugh Quarshie	...	Obutu
Ken Bones	...	Adm. Bill Wilson
John McGlynn	...	Belegarde
Richard Dillane	...	Hunter
Mark Powley	...	Polansky
David Fahm	...	Knight
Simon MacCorkindale	...	Flight Boss
Fraser James	...	Helmsman

Also Known As:

Wing Commander: Space Will Never Be the Same (USA)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual references and sci-fi action/violence.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA | Luxembourg

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:10 (original rating) | Iceland:LH (video rating) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12/9 | France:U | Germany:12 | New Zealand:PG | Norway:11 | Peru:PT | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:T | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Company:

Carousel Picture Company, The

Trivia:

The voice of Merlin (listed as "?" in the credits) is 'Hamill, Mark', who played Christopher Blair in the Wing Commander CD-ROM games.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the Kilrathi are attacking Pegasus, they blast open both doors to the Command and Control room to enter. In the video on the drone seen by the Concordia Battle Group, only one door behind Admiral Wilson can be seen falling open.

Quotes:

[Explaining why no one mentions dead pilots]
Angel: In all likelihood you're going to die out there. We're all going to die out there, but none of us needs to be reminded of that fact. So you die, you never existed.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Troldspejlet: (#23.11)" (2000)

It's really not that bad...

Well, I've seen it twice now. I'm sure that says something. The one thing that I told myself as I went into the theater was "This isn't the game". Too many people were expecting Mark Hammil, or Biff from Back to the Future, and were miffed that the movie didn't include them, or anyone that looked like them. So far, I haven't heard anyone say complain that Val Kilmer or George Clooney didn't LOOK like Michael Keaton; the portrayal of their character is a different story...

I'll admit, the movie had a cookie-cutter plot. Young guy doesn't realize his potential, young guy is mocked, best friend stands up for him, young guy saves the day. That, and the standard "Have someone how loves and loses, and someone who falls in love at the end." But, then again, how many movies have been made that have a cookie cutter plot?

I was quite impressed with the acting. I'll admit, I haven't been a big fan of the teen slasher movies, so this was my first experience at seeing a lot of these guys. The young Blair was portrayed exactly as I would have expected, not too sure of himself, too willing to scurry into a corner rather than face confrontation. Maniac was great; much better than the poor portrayal in the last 3 iterations of the video game. I mean, let's face it, Maniac's character was completely re-done in WC3, to make him exactly like Biff. And Paladin was excellent. Not anything like the Paladin of the games (it took a while to get used to a non-scottish Paladin), but a very good, dark, but fatherly figure.

The effects were incredible, especially when you consider the (relatively) meager budget the film was done on. Yeah, the NavCom looked like a car battery, and the Kilrathi were lacking. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if the original intent was to NOT show the Kilrathi at all; someone decided this would be too artistic of a move, and created some cheesy looking aliens at the last minute.

My favorite aspect of the movie, though, was how it abandons the standard "Everything is bright and pretty and technological in Sci-Fi". The ships were beat on. The cruisers looked like they had to be held together with bailing wire. The bridges of the vessels were dark, cramped, and simple. The ships shot bullets, rather giving us bright and technical laser beams. Also, humanity wasn't portrayed as being perfect; there were factions, and racism, and everything else that we experience on earth today.

I'm just waiting for the DVD...