Wing Commander

Rating:
Summary: A Much Underrated Space Adventure Film
Review: Unfortunately, "Wing Commander" has gotten blasted quite a bit by Hollywood critics and many viewers for a lot of reasons. The Hollywood people don't like it because its not Shakespeare. Many of the viewers didn't like it because they were players of the Wing Commander game and the movie is different from the game.

However, when judged on its own merits, "Wing Commander" is a decent space adventure film. So what if it is not Shakespeare and so what if its different from the game? This film combines fantastic special effects, great battle sequences, and rather compelling characters and character conflicts. We have Lt. Blair who must deal with his half Pilgrim heritage. We have Lt. Marshall who's recklessness gets him into trouble. We have Lt. Commander Deveraux, a woman who's cold exterior is her defense against loosing friends to the war. Then there is Taggert, a wise space pilot who has a hidden identity.

All of this makes "Wing Commander" a space adventure film worth seeing. If one does not nitpick the film to death, "Wing Commander" is a fun and enjoyable film for science fiction fans. Don't listen to the critics and the disgruntled fans of the Wing Commander game. If your looking for a fun scifi film, get "Wing Commander".

Rating:
Summary: Could have been better...
Review: Well there were a few things that I disliked about the movie adaptation of the game. For one about all of the budget in special effects and design must have been drastically low as compared to the amount they probably paid the actors to star in it. The ships look like modified WWII fighter jets and the carriers like submarines. None of the ships look anything like those in the games. Freddie Prinze Jr. does a pretty good job as Christopher Blaire and Saffron Burrows has a pathetic french accent (as Angel was french). The guy who plays Paladin also lacks the proper Scottish accent. They went for the well known actors but didn't go for the stuff that made the game great. I suggest renting it when you want to watch it or wait till the price goes down to about $13 if your a Wing Commander fan. Otherwise, have at it.

Rating:
Summary: Tchéky Karyo
Review: Worth watching to see Tchéky Karyo as "Paladin". It's a shame he doesn't get to play an even stronger part in the movie.

Rating:
Summary: disappointing.
Review: Good effects and sets. Decent acting considering the juvenile and inane plot. This flick had some potential but fell on its face. No really decent space battles and THAT'S WHAT WING COMMANDER IS ALL ABOUT! I won't even get into the stupidiocity of hearing explosions in space since they are de'riguer for Hollywood. (Bump to the reviewer who caught the idiocy of the crewmen listening to the Kilrathi destroyer cruise by (this scene stolen from 'The Enemy Below'.)) The biggest casting mistake is using the MTV "actor" wannabe Matthew Liddiard who gave his repetitious SLC Punklike performance. Casting directors would be well advised to stay away from this egregious non-acting clown. He even makes Steven Segal look good.

Then we're expected to believe that soldiers would have a policy of forgetting their fallen comrades. Never happen. Not in a million years. Then we're to believe that there is going to be a love interest or even any opinion worth hearing from a 22 year old wetbehindtheears male cadet and a several years older female Wing Commander. Never happen. Not in a billion years. And speaking of Wing Commanders, Angel was the Wing Commander so why was the movie about Blair? More stupid plot. Some barely housebroken academy grad advising a long experienced commanding officer on how to motivate people? Hardy har har har. Never happen. Not in a Trillion years.

Fortunately for Hercule Poirot, he gets himself killed off early in the movie, so his career may be safe. But Jurgen Prochnow must be planning an assassination for whichever agent convinced him that this movie would be a good.

The Kilrathi are merely cannon fodder. In fact they are so slow moving, stupid, gullible and inept that it is impossible to believe that they could be a threat to anyone.

Verdict: Mindless Sci-fi romp that suffers from terminal plot holes. The biggest being that we are to believe that with a major interstellar war in progress the Earth itself would be left defenseless. This is lazy screenwriting at its worst. Just slam something together and hope name recognition gets the computer geeks to throng to it. Worse than lazy, this is Hollywood cynicism at its worst.

Rating:
Summary: One of the worse sci-fi movies ever.
Review: This movie was one of the worse sci-fi films I had ever seen.The acting was boring and so was the storyline.Where were and who are the bad guys during most of the movie?I like Battlestar Galactica and the two earlier Star Wars movies better because they tell more and give more exposure to the bad guys than Wing Commander.Only the special effects gets high marks.In an earlier review I announced I am working on my own space war epic and had I written Wing Commander I would had done a better job not only with the writing,but the casting.

Rating:
Summary: Decent sci-fi; non-fans stay away.
Review: For someone who's not a fan of the sci-fi genre, evaluating Wing Commander is pointless. As a sci-fi it's very good, even for people who aren't familiar with the popular computer game series that spawned the movie.

What's nice about this film is that the story is everything. The acting is all right--not bad, but in general not fabulous either. But what this film delivers is essentially a classic World War II submarine/carrier story set in space. It's got action moments and tense waiting game moments, but the story focuses mostly on the fighter pilots (for obvious reasons) so there's plenty of gunfire and stunt flying to go around.

The effects serve the story here, not vice-versa. Bullet time was thrown into one pulsar-jump sequence, following its brief success in Lost In Space and before it was used so extensively in the Matrix; previews sadly made the movie seem like an excuse for that effect, but the movie stands up just as well without it. Nothing looks especially CGI or goofy. Not too much flash, not too little.

The music is plenty good, the story is plenty decent, and the effects don't smother everything else. It's good sci-fi, which is rare enough to begin with, and worth your time if you appreciate the genre.

Rating:
Summary: Good... If you check your brain at the door
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: Tchéky Karyo
Review: Worth watching to see Tchéky Karyo as "Paladin". It's a shame he doesn't get to play an even stronger part in the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Decent Movie
Review: I got this movie ...on VHS. Yeah its a good watch,...

Rating:
Summary: You can lead a director to water...
Review: Some of the space battle scenes are pretty good but the film as a whole is blech!!
How could they screw this one up?? I mean, did anyone involved with the movie play any version of W.C.? The fighters in the movie look ridiculous and Freddie Prinz Jr. was a terrible choice for the lead. I love the scene where the good guys are hiding on an asteroid and a Kilrathi battlecruiser is passing over. Jurgan Prochnow tells everyone to be quiet since any sound might give them away....IN SPACE?? Hoo-boy, what a dumb technical gaff.