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Wing Commander (1999)
Plot: The movie is based on the extremely popular series of video games by the same name. The plot according to the official website:
Earth year 2654. The Confederation is engaged in a brutal war with the vicious, bloodthirsty alien race, the Kilrathi.
The Kilrathi have captured a computer navigation device, which they plan on using to jump behind enemy lines and attack Earth. Only three brazen young space pilots and their elite fighter squadron stand in the way of their planet's destruction.
Christopher Blair is fresh from the Academy, but his inexperience belies his incredible navigational skills. He has a genetically inbred gift - an inate feel for the stars and for space-time itself. Blair's buddy, Todd 'Maniac' Marshall, is a brash, irresponsible fighter jock with a slightly crazed gleam in his eye. He likes to do things his way, and if he breaks a few rules, so much the better.
Their wing commander is the strong-willed and beautiful Jeanette 'Angel' Deveraux, the leader of the fighter squadron. Deveraux's laser-like focus and leadership skills mask her growing attraction for Chris.
With nothing but their own rebellious ways in common, Deveraux, Blair and Maniac will come together to face a seemingly invincible enemy -- with the future of mankind at stake.
News:
3/1/99
Here we have a review from a test screening this weekend. He doesn't sound happy:
I liked the video games, but mostly because my favorite actor, Malcom McDowall was in it. The film has replaced him with David Warner from Tron and the character is not good anymore. Fred Prinze Jr. plays Mark Hamill's character and they've tried to make it more "cool" with dialogue that wouldn't work in the video game. The young cast is all 20-somethings with standouts being Maniac (the guy from Scream) (Matthew Lillard) and the foxy Saffron Burrows.
They fight the Kilrathi again, and while I like the cat aliens, they are kind of cheesy in this. The effects are either really great or really bad. I think they had different companies do different things. The film starts off with some really cool visuals, and I think that's good for it, but the film gets kind of overly patriotic and boring later on. I'd give it 3 stars.
Cheesy special effects and dialog that wouldn't be good enough for a video game. I can't wait to see this one, it has bad written all over it. Thanks to the CHUD Report.
1/25/99
Yet another link to a trailer for Wing Commander. 11.7MB MOV
1/23/99
The official site is finally open. Not exactly big news, but it's been a slow news day.
1/19/99
Trailers are now available for the upcoming video game based sci-fi action flick. Be warned, they're huge.
26MB AVI Lo-Res Location 1, Location 2
33MB AVI Hi-Res Location 1, Location 2, Location 3
11MB AVI
1/18/99
In case you couldn't wait for March 12th for this movie (like you really intend to stay after the Star Wars Episode I new trailer), Cinescape was kind enough to provide this plot synopsis. Keep in mind that this was written by Fox, which is why it sounds a bit corny.
Earth year 2564. The Confederation is engaged in a brutal war with the vicious, bloodthirsty alien race, the Kilrathi. The Kilrathi have captured a computer navigation device, which they plan on using to jump behind enemy lines and attack Earth.
Only three brazen young space pilots and their elite fighter squadron stand in the way of their planet's destruction.
Christopher Blair (Freddie Prinze, Jr.) is fresh from the Academy, but his inexperience belies his incredible navigational skills. He has a genetically inbred gift – an innate feel for the stars and for space-time itself.
Blair's buddy, Todd 'Maniac' Marshall (Matthew Lillard), is a brash, irresponsible fighter jock with a slightly crazed gleam in his eye. He likes to do things his way, and if he breaks a few rules, so much the better.
Their wing commander is the strong-willed and beautiful Jeanette 'Angel' Deveraux (Saffron Burrows), the leader of the fighter squadron. Deveraux's laser-like focus and leadership skills mask her growing attraction for Chris.
With nothing but their own rebellious ways in common, Deveraux, Blair and Maniac will come together to face a seemingly invincible enemy…with the future of mankind at stake.
The video games were unusual in that they contained live action video starring actual movie actors. Mark Hamill (Star Wars), Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange), John Rhys-Davies (Raides of the Lost Ark) and Tom Wilson (Back to the Future) were among the featured actors. None of them will appear in the movie. Freddie Prinze Jr., Matthew Lillard, Saffron Burrows, and David Warner will take over the roles for the movie. The movie has been made on a very low budget for a sci-fi flick, $27 million.
Images:
Thanks to Dark Horizons for the images.
Reviews:
3/9/99
Dark Horizons posted this review today.
I just got back from the sneak preview of "Wing Commander" and I wanted to take the opportunity to let anyone who'se interested in going to see it know that they'd be better served saving the $6.50 and staying home to watch a test pattern. The film's just one standard set piece after another that puts our heroes in jeopardy without ever truly building suspense. Each one of these sequences is so contrived as to be laughable (at best) or just plain obvious and tedious. The special effects by Digital Anvil look as though they were generated on a P.C., leaving myself and my friends chuckling at the poor resolution and fuzzy edges. The aliens...well, let's just say that I expect to see more realistic looking aliens in the upcoming "Muppets in Space" feature. I now understand why the film was origionally slated for a direct to video release, which is where I expect it to show up within the next few weeks. The most unfortunate part of this experience was when the rep. who'd come along with the preview informed me that the copies that had been shipped on Saturday had the new "Phantom Menace" trailer (which I looked forward to relaying to you) but our copy had gone out on Friday and hadn't gotten the trailer. I can well imagine that we're going to have a repeat of the "Meet Joe Black" experience with people flocking to the movie to see the trailer and then scurrying for the door like roackes when the kitchen light comes on as soon as the movie begins. In case there's any question as to how I feel about this film let me say a final time, "DON"T WASTE YOUR TIME ON "WING COMMANDER!" - Ames
The first review is in and it isn't good. Captain Panaka sent in this report to Coming Attractions.
Since no one's managed to put two-and-two together, I'll mention the only reason Wing Commander is getting a theatrical release and not headed straight-to-video is because She's All That (starring Freddie Prinze, Jr.) opened to such big numbers. That's the only thing that saved this movie from oblivion.
Fox is now also planning on tagging the flick with the new 2 1/2 minute Star Wars trailer exclusively for its opening weekend. Given how weak WC is, they figure on grabbing all the loot they can the first weekend, since the grosses will plummet drastically based on bad word of mouth once people see it. But with Prinze, some competent marketing, and the Star Wars trailer, the film could double its budget back before vanishing from theaters in a month (which would only take about $50 million to do).
As for the movie, well... it's basically the indulgence of a cocky, inexperienced first-time director. It has all the usual mistakes, just magnified onto a larger-than-usual canvas. Most of the problems should've been caught (and could've been fixed) at script stage. For instance, the film doesn't even know who its main character is! It's too bad there wasn't a strong, experienced producer on board to steer this film where it should've/could've gone. There's some nice work here and there, but it's mired in a mess. For example, there's some decent visual effects (cool space battles), but the Kilrathi make-up is just... sad.
The cast is basically split between 'older' and 'younger' actors. The 'older' ones are good, though limited by their material. Tcheky Karyo really shines, and you can't help but wonder what he could have done with a real script. (Personally, I think he should have been the main character.) Suchet and Warner are solid, but don't have a lot to do. Quarshie is only glimpsed. Jurgen Prochnow is sorta surreal, actually, given the oh-so-obvious Das Boot rip-offs the film makes at every turn.
An aside: Prochnow's character keeps obsessing (somewhat irrationally) about the fact that Blair is a 'Pilgrim,' over and over, ranting and raving. It's annoying and meaningless, because his prejudice isn't based on anything rational. It's thinly explained way too late in the film to matter, and is one of many examples of poor writing and shallow character development the film is strewn with.
The younger cast is uniformly bad, except for Saffrom Burrows -- but she's grossly miscast. As the Wing Commander herself, she commands no authoritative presence. She just has pouty lips. Prinze, Jr. (Blair) is vacuous, dim and distant. He doesn't have the magnetism or charisma of a 'leading man.' In fact, it feels like he doesn't even know he's the lead in the film. Matthew Lillard (Maniac) is atrociously grating and annoyingly out-of-control, chewing scenery with reckless abandon. You want to shoot him. Ginny Holder (Rosie) doesn't exude any depth, nor inspire any interest -- which can be said of all four of these actors.
And, of course, we're subjected to ridiculous 'romance' subplots, pairing Prinze with Burrows, and Lillard with Holder. It's so absurdly stupid it's offensive. I mean, it comes out of nowhere, it isn't even marginally developed, and serves no constructive purpose for the plot. In fact, it often stops the film dead in its tracks (which doesn't take much).
Another example of the film's poor writing and shallow character development has to do with the gimmick of how pilots deal with the loss of a comrade. They just say 'they never existed' as a coping mechanism. This is played out with self-conscious, high melodrama. It's ridiculous, and is a lame attempt at giving the characters depth and building resonance, but it's a cheap, paper-thin gimmick that undermines any possible emotional investment in them.
Overall: while the film is quite an accomplishment for $27 million, it is an exercise in frustration. Fans of the video game who are satisfied with the level of storytelling they get from the CD-ROM's are in for a treat, with lots of solid effects work. Sci-fi/action film fans seeking a satisfying movie experience should probably just get up and leave after the new Star Wars trailer.
