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El Cosmico looks at WING COMMANDER
Seldom does this happen, but I have to say this... This review says nearly everything I feel about this movie. I bought my first computer to play WING COMMANDER III, then upgraded for IV. When I went to see the movie, I pretended in my mind that I was there to see a movie along the lines of THE LAST STARFIGHTER or BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS. And for a bit, I thought that's what I had received. But then... reality came creeping in, and the thought hit me... Where the hell was Mark Hamill, John Rhys Davies, Malcolm McDowell, Ginger Lynn and Biff from BACK TO THE FUTURE? I mean you are making a science fiction movie knowing that it will be coming out the same year as STAR WARS EPISODE ONE. Your movie is based on a video game starring LUKE SKYWALKER as your main character. But instead you go with Freddie Prinze Jr. I don't understand. The film's effects were very nice and I liked the film more than the recent installment of Star Trek, but... it was riddled with porblems. And for now, I'll let El Cosmico tell you about them. On Tuesday I have a q&A that I'm doing with Chris Roberts at SXSW and I hope to have a very frank discussion about the difficulties of making the move from Video Games to Feature Films as well as what he learned from this project. I consider the film to be a Saturday Matinee film. And for now... here's El Cosmico....
Good day, Harry.
I have been instructed to send you a review. There were many emotions
expressed by the others I joined at the premiere which somehow have, in
their confluence, brought this task to me. I probably do not need to
elaborate on such matters. This being said, I give you my review, to do
with as you wish. You may choose to not publish it, and I will understand.
If you wish to credit me, please use the name El Cosmico.-
First, I should say that this film demonstrates some very competent
special effects work, and in doing so, improves Austin's general ability to
produce quality films independently of more traditional means. This is a
fine accomplishment, and Digital Anvil should be commended for it. Second,
a consideration in judging the film is that it was created in a fairly short
span of time, on a very limited budget. For the latter reason alone, this
film will likely be quite profitable, which is not at all an undesirable
thing. Also, the director seems like a nice fellow, and it's his first
film. However...
The reality we inhabit for most of our lives is a confusing one, full of
things which cannot be known. Human culture attempts to make sense of
things, and for a time, many of us can imagine that there is sensibility in
the world we encounter. Human culture, however, also has the ability to
confound.
I experienced such a confusion during most of my viewing of Wing
Commander: The Movie. It reminded me of journeys into alternate perceptions
of realities that I have had. During such adventures, amidst the great
confusion, there is often a clarity to be distilled from the senseless.
The after-party, with its yummy finger foods, free liquid, and
delightfully formed waitresses almost disarmed me. My frustration arose
again when I realized that the femme I was visualizing pleasure with was
probably on the south side of legal. Perhaps she would lie to me about her
age, I thought. Then again, sometimes one must act against legal concerns
when issues of justice are concerned. After all, can one legislate love? I
think not. The matter left me when I was distracted by the barmaid's bosom.
This led me to miss out on a free refill of my beverage. More frustration.
I left and drove home listening to Santana-You Just Don't Care. Thinking
about the responsibility of telling the truth, and wavering, I felt like I
was being accused of kindness and understanding. As Soul Sacrifice began, I
pictured a ghostly bracelet around my wrist, with the glowing words, "What
Would El Cosmico Do?"
I would warn the world of an industry which seeks to extract around
seven dollars from innocents...in exchange for something of less value. If
I could bargain with the ticket counter, like a market vendor in Marrakesh,
I think I would try to take the fellow down to a couple of bucks and a beer
on this one. Perhaps I would simply walk away.
I kept asking myself if this film intended all of the great number of
cliches I perceived, or some of them, or perhaps even none. I came away
without clarity on this matter. I am sure, for instance, that the Das Boot
reference, complete with Jurgen Prochnow, was intended. I don't think,
however, that it was meant to be quite as ridiculous as it was, or as
lacking in continuity and quality as it was.
From this entire experience, I am able to recollect the following
disturbing puzzles:
Aren't the Kilrathi supposed to be cat-people? If so, who were the stiff
and ugly rubber people who kept hanging around and fucking shit up? Why did
the stand-up model in the lobby look better than the ones on screen? Why
must people keep casting the fellow who played "Maniac" in films that I see?
Can Freddie Prinze Jr. spend more than a few moments without his mouth
hanging open? I mean, can he? Surely one Keanu Reeves is enough for the
world. This is not a niche which needs expansion. Please let The Matrix be
a cool movie...oh please. How could the makers of Eaters of The Dead change
the name? That has to be the coolest name ever and you people are changing
it? Are you on crack?
Okay, back to this particular pelicula. More questions. So we've got
this precious AI navigation unit which must be safeguarded at all costs from
capture. Its self-destruct mechanism malfunctions after someone sneezes or
something, just when the rubber people are about to enter the room and take
it. Of course, it is housed in an impenetrable chamber, so it cannot be
destroyed. Then, the rubber people steal it from the impenetrable chamber.
After they are in possession of it and are going to use it to invade Earth,
the humans attack the rubber people ship which houses it, and have the
option of taking it home, but they leave it. If there was a word which
illustrated the concept of a question mark better than "huh?" I would use
it.
There is also a morality system in which pilots deny the existence of
fellow pilots who have met their doom in combat, because it is apparently
too painful to deal with. Again, I say "Huh?" Who are these wimp-asses?
Are these people soldiers or not? Do we want people with such repression
piloting our spacecraft? Even more puzzling, how is it that Freddie manages
to convince these people to abandon this system of repression that they have
apparently maintained for quite a long time with just a few short words? I
was so unconvinced by his speech on the matter that I almost decided that
from then on, I should repress all of my own emotions. This feeling soon
lapsed as I wondered why the Kilrathi command ships looked exactly like the
human command ships...even the bridges looked the same. Did they both hire
the same production designer? There were also some problems with the motion
effects on the Rapier fighters, which just looked dingy and not-quite-right.
I must also wonder how Jurgen Prochnow was convinced to utter invectives
against "Pilgrims" on so many occasions while keeping a straight face.
Surely, at some point while reading the script, the fellow must have
mentioned to someone, "Look, I think they get the damn point. Pilgrims
suck." We're never quite sure why people hate the Pilgrims so much, and
when an attempt at explaining the issue comes up, I repeated the mantra of
the evening, "What the hell? Is this supposed to be over-the-top stupid
funny, or is it just really bad?" I think it was probably pretty bad.
Keanu, I mean Freddie, also seems to have trouble dealing with the issue, as
well as every other issue. This is merely a symptom of a greater problem
with the film, which is the effort to cram a great deal of background
information into a very short amount of time, through the use of bad
writing. Imagine trying to explain Kabuki in 30 seconds while you are drunk
off your ass. The listener's reaction would be similar in both cases.
There are more things I could complain about, but it's all the same sort
of stuff, and I'm sleepy. I don't like saying bad things about something
that people have worked hard on, but this movie just wasn't good, and that's
all there is to it. I think teenage girls who dig Freddie will probably
like this movie. I'm sure it will make plenty of money. I think that if
there's a sequel, it will probably be better. If it's any indication, I
overheard some people who work for either Digital Anvil or Origin (the
company that made the video game series) express anguish at watching this
film, feeling that it was bad, and not even faithful to the original story
line.
I too felt anguish. I don't care if it followed the original story line or
not. All I know is that the acting wasn't there, the dialogue wasn't there,
there was no plot exposition, no continuity, and, well, most of the effects
were pretty good. It was sort of fun at moments, but mostly not. That's
about all I have to say about that. I wish the filmmakers good luck at the
box office, and hope their next projects improve upon this one.
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+ Expand All
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Now that this has come out, can we just consider it to be the functional equivalent of what a "Battlestar Galactica" movie WOULD have been, and just forget the whole BG project? Please? Pretty please, with sugar on top?
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WC (yes, those are the unfortunate initials of "Wing Commander") is -in my view- still a very peculiar breed of project. Some sort of mix between a first-time film and a major sci-fi studio release. Judging from the images I've seen, the film seems to be competently produced and well beyond its measly budget. My hope is that ANY unkind words might help the first-time filmmaker at helm. He should know what he did right and -by Jove- learn what he did wrong. If he doesn't... if his eyes remain closed to these facts... every drop of sweat, ink or blood splashed on this pages, will be wasted. Oh, and I do join Pope Buck in his prayers for the death of Battlestar Glactica. Please, do not impose this Nietzschean punishment unto an industry that keeps moaning about the need of "lower budgets". Whomever is dreaming of bringing back BG should Biblically be struck blind, impotent and die slowly.
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Man...All these negative reviews in such a short amount of time, its scary. I still want to see the flick despite the warnings I'm hearing. I wont pay full price but it looks like I'll get bilked for $4.75 again because most of my freinds would rather go to a matinee than see a flick durring twilite hours, ugh.... DAMN, I missed seeing the STAR WARS trailer on the news last night...too bad...:O) McK
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I whole-heartedly agree. I saw this movie last night at a free preview showing, hoping at least to catch the trailer before it. Unfortunately, in what I can only understand to be some sort of cruel joke by the projectionist, the only trailer that played before the movie was that of "Never Been Kissed." Much of the audience booed. Anyhow, Wing Commander is a wretchedly awful movie. Really. It makes very little sense, it has more inconsistancies than my brain can handle, and Matthew Lillard makes me want to break his face. I think one of the main problems with this movie is that it never gave any form of identity to the enemy. The Kilrathi were mentioned at the beginning, and we saw fleeting glimpses of them as they attacked a space station, but from then on, until their faces are shown near the end, we have no way of identifying them whatsoever. The bad guy of a movie, especially a movie like this, is SO important. We have to feel evil in the enemy, we have to understand who these people are fighting against and why if we're even going to begin empathizing with them. But in this movie all we see are ships flying around, and it just doesn't make sense. Perhaps the intent was to keep the appearance of the Kilrathi a secret until near the end, but to make something like that work the rest of the movie must play accordingly, and it doesn't. And when we finally do see the rubber-skinned animatronic Kilrathi, there is nothing dramatic about their sudden appearance at all. It's almost as if we've been seeing them through the whole movie, which would have made a lot more sense. And wow, those Kilrathi were baaaaad (looking, that is). They had the general appearance of Michael Jackson about halfway through his transformation in the "Thriller" video. The space battle effects were pretty good, I don't know what happened when they got to the rubber guys. Ran out of money, I guess. I also enjoyed the countless plot holes and little silly things throughout the film. Like the just-after-sex scene, where both people involved are wearing all their clothes? I guess the year 2600 has brought about incredible advancements in penis technology, if they don't even need to take off their pants. And the main control center on their battlecruiser or whatever looked straight out of NASA, 1968. Wouldn't they be slightly more advanced-looking six hundred years from now? I swear I saw an five and a quarter inch floppy drive on one of those control panels. I also liked the random putting-on and taking-off of the oxygen masks in their WWI fighter jets - oops, I mean spaceships. Oxygen masks are helpful in a plane, when there are pesky things like air pressure to worry about, but what possible use can it have in a spaceship, especially when they seem to be able to breathe just fine without it. I could go on like this for hours, about the LAME "love story" between Keanu Prince Jr. and that girl (a couple scenes of which inspired more than a few "Titanic" jokes from the audience), or the horrid "space vaccuum sucking people out" scene where one guy is holding onto a rope desperately trying not to be sucked into space, while just behind him two people are WALKING ACROSS THE FLOOR, not seeming to have too many vaccuum-related problems. Perhaps what made this movie even worse was that it fell in a way under the shadow of Star Wars, and I couldn't help but compare the two throughout. Mostly I remembered the epic feel of Star Wars, how soooo much happened in two hours that you'd swear you'd spent a lifetime with Han and Luke and Leia; with Wing Commander, I could barely believe five minutes had passed when the movie was over. Films like this give the sci-fi genre a bad name, and continue to snuff out hope that there will EVER be a good video game-to-movie translation. If you're looking to see the trailer today, for goodness sake try to find it in front of a better movie than this one, unless you can find a playful audience willing to make cracks all the way through it.
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I'm going to have to watch the trailer and then sneak into another movie? Ok. I think I can manage it.
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Being a avid Wing Commander fan... I enjoyed the movie. Sure...there were deviations from the game's storyline. But...there are some things that would take nearly an entire movie by themselves to explain. So I would guess that is why they altered the storyline a tad. Its just one of those things...get over it.
And for those people who keep comparing this movie to TPM...get a friggin LIFE!!! The ONLY similarities between these two movies is the fact they both take place in Space, and the characters fly around in space ships...thats it.
Bottom line is...if you want an entertaining space action flick...with lots of stuff blowing up...go check this movie out.
If you want drama...go check out October Sky or something.
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I want to see Wing Commander as much as I want to run my genitals through a lathe. On the other hand, tonight I'm taking my nephews out for an evening at Pizza Funtime and then over to the Salem Tri to catch Baby Geniuses. Man, it's Miller Time! If I'm lucky, the film will snap two minutes in and we'll get to watch something even better like "Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn".
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...my life is officially complete with someone referncing Metalstorm in the Talkbacks! I think we have officially talked about every lame ass sci-fi project ever in the Talkback. Thank you!
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I just got back from the theater. I went for the sole purpose of seeing the trailer to The Phantom Menace. I asked the girl in the booth which film I had to buy a ticket to in order to achieve my goal and she said Wing Commander. Well when I first saw the WC trailer on TV I had my doubts and having read numerouse negative posts I elected to punch Elvis (bail out) after The Trailer. I'm smart enough not to step in a steaming heap of shit. Oh yeah, the Phantom Menace trailer FUCKING ROCKED!!!
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Mar 12, 1999 3:33:05 PM CST
If you're gonna review a movie, make damned sure you either paye
by angry
I'm sick and damn well tired of people like all of you first, you complain that Mark Hamill and rest aren't in the movie. Well, then the characters would be around 40 years old, and there'd be a LOT, and I mean A HELLUVA FUCKING LOT more unanswered questions for you. Second, you're complaining about how some things aren't explained enough. Well, just imagine how much worse it would have been if they woulda started with the characters over 40 years old. You'd be whining even more. THIRD, this movie was made with a budget lower than a Jim Carrey movie. Cut them some friggin' slack! FOURTH, STOP COMPARING IT TO STAR WARS. THIS IS A SCI-FI WAR MOVIE, NOT SCI-FI FANTASY! FIFTH, the PILGRIM thing WAS explained! So many people are angry at the Pilgrims because of a CIVIL WAR THAT WAS STARTED BY THE PILGRIMS! PAY ATTENTION TO THE MOVIE NEXT TIME! (specifically Paladin's explanation to Blair) SIXTH, I've read critics talking about how the space sequences are "too dark". WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH THAT!? I'm sorry, but, SPACE IS DARK! SEVENTH, there would have been no point in removing the NavCom AI from the Kilrathi communications ship at that point because the Kilrathi ALREADY KNOW THE LOCATION OF THE JUMP POINT!!! EIGHT, I'm sick of people that never pay attention in a movie, and then suddenly think they know everything about it! NINTH, REFER TO MY FIRST POINT! TENTH, the movie wasn't even made by a real movie company! DIGITAL ANVIL IS A COMPUTER GAME COMPANY. It's THEIR first movie, and it's also Chris Robert's FIRST MOVIE! ELEVENTH, Chris Roberts himself even knows that the Kilrathi don't look good, but, as he said in an interview not long ago, if he had the available funds, he would have reshot all the sequences, but, with a measly budget, they were forced to stick with the fakey Kilrathi. TWELFTH, PAY ATTENTION TO THE MOVIE NEXT TIME YOU SEE IT (I can't stress this enough 'cause I'm sick of people reviewing it when they really haven't seen it)! I'm not nearly finished, but, I'm just so damned sick and tired of people nit picking a movie when they don't know a damned thing. I'd like to see you make a better movie.
-Mr. Grimm
grimmr@hotmail.com -
I have not seen the movie, but a few things:
First-relations to the game. Someone said something along the lines of get over it. Though I don't think it should follow the game tottally, its should to some degree. Otherwise, its not wing commander. ONe thing they should have used is the helmets from the games. Not those WW2 looking helmets. Same problem with the amercian godzilla, it did not follow the jappennese version to really be godzilla.
The kilratahi-from what I've heard and seen(on the net), I'm dissapointed. I think they should have been CGI and looked like they were half-cat from the game. These were neither. And no prince tharkath? He really personifed what the kilrathi were about the game. One of the best villians in all of computer gaming. He's what really made me like the kilrahti. If they do make a sequel, he better be in it. Afterall, tharkath wassn't in the orginal game either. -
Jeez, did you forget to take your medication today or what?
I just got back from a matinee showing to see THE TRAILER (yes, it deserves all caps)was the main reason I went at all, but decided to watch this pitiful attempt at a movie.
Look, I'm dreading The MATRIX because of Keanu...the plot sounds great and the effects on the ads look awesome, but Reeves has a tendency to act like a piece of fossilized driftwood no matter what film he's in. Frankly, Freddie (who needs a beatin' just for spelling his name like that, to begin with) apparently went to the same acting school.
So yeah, I would advise anyone to stay away... I went in to this movie with zero expectations... never played the games, didn't know the characters or their backstory. And it still sucked. A bad movie is a bad movie. Bottom line.
Now SPAWN.... THAT was a good movie... ;-)
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Okay, all you jerk-offs who don't know how to critique, BACK THE HELL OFF! I can't believe you people! How can you expect DA to make the movie totally based on the game? It's friggin' stupid! The storyline is totally different because IT TAKES PLACE A SHORT WHILE BEFORE THE GAME! And for anyone about to counter with a 'but in the game, Blair just arrived', that's not true. In the beginning of WC1, you 'lost' a simulator mission and found yourself in the rec room. I haven't even seen this movie yet and I know more about it than most of you dorks that have seen it! Everything (save the SFX) looks so cheesy because, HELLO, THIS MOVIE WAS ONLY MADE WITH $27 MILLION! And the old-fashioned look on everything was intentional, all the WW2 stuff; Roberts put that stuff in there on purpose! You all are moaning and wailing because the movie has nothing to do with the game. What's the point in making the movie if it's the exact same thing as the game? And for you people whining and groaning because Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell, Tom Wilson, et al, aren't in the movie: you're stupid! Not even the most advanced makeup in Hollywood can de-age those people from their 40s-50s all the way back to their 20s-30s! Get a freakin' clue! No matter how bad this movie turns out to be, you won't see me crying and pouting because I spent $8 on a flop. No, I'm a loyal fan to the WC universe, and I'm going to stand proud! Save for Angry, you all disgust me.
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Ok. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to work the Sun. matinee thing. Dark says see another movie first, then sneak into TPM trailer. Well, I could do that. But seriously, I know nothing about the Wing Commander game - does it suck that badly? It doesn't stand on it't own if you know nothing about it? I still haven't seen Thin Red Line; --Better choice? I'll take opinions, please.
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I haven't seen this film, so I can't say if it's any good or not. What I can say is that there is no excuse for making a bad movie. Low budget? First time director? First film for the "studio"? Who cares? All that is important is what ends up on the screen. If you don't have enough money to make the film properly, don't make it. If your director isn't ready to make this kind of film, get a different director. If this is your first film and you can't deliver, what were you thinking? Nobody wants to accept responsibility for their actions anymore - look at the people suing McDonalds after they spilled hot coffee on themselves. Face it, if you make a bad film, it's YOUR fault. If you make a good film, it's YOUR fault. Deal.
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If I had never heard of Wing Commander, I wouldn't have minded the $4.50 I shelled out to see this. I've paid more for much worse ("Excess Baggage", anyone?) But I'm very familiar with the Wing Commander universe, and the games and books are so much better than this movie was. The characters were totally different from their game/book personas - Paladin is supposed to be SCOTTISH, Blair and Maniac are rivals, not friends, etc. etc. Angel was the only decent casting in the entire movie. There wasn't nearly enough screen-time for the Kilrathi. I want to KNOW why they're so bad - why "emotion is what separates us from the Kilrathi". And that was probably the most disappointing ending I could think of. Talk about anti-climatic. Like I said, if I never heard of Wing Commander previously, I wouldn't have cared. But it could have been so so much more.
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Yes, I so VERY MUCH THE HELL AGREE AND HAVE SAID SO BEFORE...these assholes spend buku bucks and churn out one piece of shit after another. They see it before it comes out - don't they know these things are shit? How does it happen? Especially when most stuff can be FIXED before the film is released. I guess we can only blame 2 things: 1) idiots will pay and see these things, thereby justifying their extistence, and 2) the film industry is just that; an INDUSTRY. Business people get involved where they have no business sticking their noses in. Money decisions are made that leave the viewer just screwed to hell. (This has been an extremely sore point with me for a long time.) I can't tell you how many times the lights have come up and I have said to myself, "How the hell did that make to the theater!! I'm just glad that there are quality things to see. Albeit tooo toooo few! To the second poster - you started talking about all the characters again, and I reallydon't know anything about them. Would someone like me dumbfounded, or should I just see something else?
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OK, I just saw the movie. I have played every Wing Commander game since WCIII, and here's what I think. The graphics were fairly good. On a 10 point scale, they'd probably get a 7.5 or so. However, they made about a MILLION mistakes between the game and this movie, and in the writing in general. For instance, after the Kilrathi nuke the craters, they have a hull breach in the cargo bay thingy, five hours of life support left, and the other ships are off chasing a decoy. Maniac saves Blair's butt from a hole, then gets all bloody because the cord is wrapped too tight. We almost instantly went to that from the scene with that lady dying. Then, we make another huge jump to Blair going to see Deveroux.
As for the Pilgrim thing, will these people ever stop with it?!? That whole concept really pissed me off. It was just stupid! As for Paladin, I saw him being a Pilgrim and a Commodore from a million miles away! The Kilrathi- not even close to what they're supposed to be. The claws are built in!! They're a warrior race, that's what they do! And do you think that in 700 years, humans might evolve past the bullet? I mean, they were still using bullets to fry the Kilrathi on that ship. They should have lasers or something. The Kilrathi did! And with the NAVCOM, come on, take it with you!! What are you people, stupid? JEEZ!!!
The Kilrathi had to be idiots. They see the quasar thing at Beacon 147 at the end. "That's not the Confederation fleet!" DUH!!!!!!!
As for the plot, that was pretty good. But all these inconsistencies made it pretty stupid. That's all I have to say. -
BACK TO THE FUTURE rocks!!!!
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...Yawn... saw it, not impressed (I've been watching anime this week, and Holywood doesn't have the balls to compete (visually)...)
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Based on the hit video game! Terrorist group of rebels from four former communist states(The Tetris!)launch laser-shooting sattelite into orbit. Satellite blows up buildings in Moscow! Heroic Ex-Cosmonaut Alexi (David Hyde Pierce) gathers together ragtag group of masons to go to moscow, save citezens from the falling bricks! And when they finish, just like at the end of the Game Boy version, local fiddlers celebrate and space shuttle is launched! Space shuttle destroys the Tetris Sattelite, and Ally Dr. Mario gets his own spin-off movie! It's Goldeneye meets Armageddon meets Wing Commander! Coming Soon! Directed by Ivan Rietman! It'll be cool! If it's successful we may yet see Pac-man and Q*bert!I hate Video Game movies!
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i don't know the wing commander universe and so am not qualified to judge this poor besieged film...especially since i haven't seen it either. but it does seem a pity that we lost Mystery Science Theatre 3000 before it could do a number on this one. hey...maybe for the MS3K theatrical sequel? i'd go.
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How could Chris Roberts POSSIBLY make this many blunders??? No bad guys? These are BASIC rules of story !!!
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As the runt-kid videogame tester says at the beginning of the live-action version of "101 Dalmatians" - what you need for a good villain is "THE DESIRE TO ANNIHILATE THEM."
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I tried to tell everybody this piss-poor excuse for an MTV dramatic series (Think "Real World") would stink. I ask again: WILL THE ALIENS WHO STOLE CHRIS ROBERTS' BRAIN PLEASE RETURN IT ASAP ?????
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You don't have to be a Wing Commander fan to wonder what happened here. Get a hold of a copy of the WC IV preview trailer, and compare it to this piece of sheee-ite. Working with a GREAT cast (Malcolm McDowell, Tom Wilson, Mark Hamill, John Rhys-Davies) and some decent writing, Mr. Roberts managed to create a pretty engaging story and coax some quite passable performances from these folks, all of whom were much bigger than he.
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Perhaps that was the problem. When working with such star-power, our hapless gamer/director stayed humble, and clear-headed. When working with such neo-brat-pack refuse as Lillard & Prinze, maybe he just got a big head. After all, who doesn't like to play a quick game of: "Hey, let's see how fast we can piss away $27 million dollars!"
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I have downloaded the LETTER-BOXED, 25 meg, QuickTime 3.0 version of the newest STAR WARS Ep. 1 trailer, and (once again) IT IS AWESOME !!! The stereo sound ROCKS, and the video is RAZOR sharp. Maybe, just maybe, I can bear missing this trailer on the big screen, so I don't have to endure this massacre of a once-promising idea.
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Sorry, Chris. You blew it.
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Tetris: The Movie! Now you're talking! That's one of the funniest posts I've read in a while. Anyway, I saw a free sneak of "Wing Commander" earlier in the week and some more than a couple folks decided to walk out, while thers snickered. The problems are too numerous to mention, besides, it ain't worth it. Posters that were given away free before the show littered the floor afterward. Our only solace was that it was free. Maybe less demanding viewers will get their moneys worth. I found it laughable.
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If he really could shit a better movie for $27MM, then I guess I better see another movie before I sneak in WC for the trailer. Sheesh. If it's only half as a bad as "Species II", it's a sad day in H'wood. Kryke. (Oh, but I do vote heartily for "Tetris, the Movie". Might as well make "Yatzee, the Movie" while you're at it.)
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Three words (and a number): Mystery Science Theater 3000!!
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Why is it that every review has to sidetrack somewhere to a wonderful pair of breasts. I have nothing against breasts and beautiful women, but in a Wing Commander review? I mean, at least talk about some chick who's actually in the movie if you want to go off for a paragraph or two. I know that guys like breasts, but it's a movie review damn it! I guess some people just can't focus a short review of a movie on the actual movie.
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Amen. You both are preaching to the choir here...well...at least to me...the majority of these wannabe movie critics are just too damn busy nit-picking...rather than paying attention to the damn movie.
Ya know...I was going to go on a rant about the whole hangar door breach...and how it would take a few minutes before a massive hangar like that would be effected by a breach like that. But then I would be stooping to the nit-picking, loserfreak level. God...even thinking about it makes me feel like getting a pocket protector... I think its time for another beer. -
I just got home from my WC experience and I gotta say, it was really cool to see all the advancments in special effects tech during the 2 minute Phantom Menace trailer. It was then agonizing to sit thru 99 minutes of Wing Commander and see none of them put to use. I mean, Jeez, they used the lame "Frozen in time" crap that I got bored of after seeing it in a billion beer and SUV commercials and TV for god's sake. And when the damn Muppet looking Kilrathi(or whatever they hell they were called)showed up...well at least it was entertaining to poke fun at.
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What I was referring to in my comment about the hangar door breach...was in response to an earlier post where someone had made a comment about how there were some people in the background of the scene that didn't appear to be having any 'vacuum related problems'.
Just wanted to clear that up so our nit-pic...um...overly observant individuals wouldn't get their pocket protectors in a tizzy. -
I want to know more about the "south of legal" waitress, Mr. Cosmico. More details, sir!
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What I was referring to in my comment about the hangar door breach...was in response to an earlier post where someone had made a comment about how there were some people in the background of the scene that didn't appear to be having any 'vacuum related problems'.
Just wanted to clear that up so our nit-pic...um...overly observant individuals wouldn't get their pocket protectors in a tizzy. -
If you like good production design (although its far too darkly lit), see this movie. You only have to see it for the first hour or so to gain all the lessons to be learned, then get out of the theater and get on with your life. I think this film was made by sci fi tech heads and history buffs (like myself) but they really fell down when it came to story structure and character development.
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huurm... boy, I can't remember the last time I went to a movie specifically for the production designs... mebbe I'm outta touch?
to all theatre owners: BURN THIS PRINT NOW!!! This has no place occupying the same breathing space of THE TRAILER, let alone have it tacked on to the beginning of this horrible, sad little movie....
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huurm... boy, I can't remember the last time I went to a movie specifically for the production designs... mebbe I'm outta touch?
to all theatre owners: BURN THIS PRINT NOW!!! This has no place occupying the same breathing space of THE TRAILER, let alone have it tacked on to the beginning of this horrible, sad little movie....
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Well.... Hmm..... I think the best part of the movie was when the film broke, giving us an excuse to ask for free tickets, which we got (good for _any_ movie, WooHoo!)....:)
I've got some questions I was wondering if anyone could answer....
1. Why were bicycle helmets part of the pilots dress uniforms?
2. Why did Blair have a switchblade cross?
3. Why did the wrecked fighter _fall_ off the flight deck when pushed, considering that there isn't any gravity in space?
4. For that matter, why did the fighters dip & rise as they flew off the end of the flight deck, like airplanes getting lift from their wings?
5. If they could push the wrecked fighter off the side, why not push it inside, where they might have saved Rosie?
6. Point 147 (the glowing blue thing that Blair lured the Kilrathi warship into) is closer to the earth than Venus? I thought it was out in the "wilds"
of space, only discovered by the Pilgrims. (Remember, the Earth fleet was _at_ Venus, and their commander said the Kilrathi warship would reach earth
before they would....)
I'm actually wondering if anyone has explanations for these things, explanations that are logical in the context of the movie. We've already solved a couple of questions we had initially:
Why didn't they take the navcom thing that the Kilrathi had captured?
Because it wouldn't have stopped them, they already had the coordinates for earth & had given them to the invasion fleet.
How was the Kilrathi battleship chasing Blair able to reach earthspace before the rest of the fleet?
Because they followed Blair, who was using a "shortcut" that isn't on any of the maps.
Anyway, it was cool seeing the Episode 1 trailer.... I'm finally excited about seeing the movie. To be honest, up until now I've been looking forward to it, but not _excited_ about it. Lucas's post-StarWars flicks (and his
bizarre editing of the "enhanced" Star Wars flicks) have been questionable, at best (Howard the Duck? Willow? ). But now, dang it, I'm ready to see it on opening day, though maybe not excited enough to camp in line to get a ticket. -
"Tetris the Movie". What a concept. Maybe we can slap a "Pong: the Prehistoric Menace" trailer before that movie.
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Let me start off by saying that I know nothing of the game and I actually wanted to see this movie even before I knew TPM trailer would be attached. So I went. Boy did this thing SUCK! I never ever thought a sci-fi move could be this bad. Thank you to whoever mentioned Metalstorm, because I was trying to think of another sci-fi movie I've ever hated and I couldn't think of one until Metalstorm was brought up. Granted, this movie wasn't THAT bed, but it was close. The FX were decent. Not great by any means, but they were OK - TV quality. My only real problem was the story... or should I say the lack thereof. The director should never be allowed behind a camera again, because I seriously don't see how anyone could do worse (even if they just pointed a camera and shot). I thought it was perhaps a case of the fanatics on here being hard on a new attempt a video game-to-movie. Not so. This movie gets half a star (out of 4). It's the worst movie I've seen in years. PS- I actually like Freddie Prinze, Jr., so that should only serve to prove my other points.
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heh, you poor star wars idiots, obviosuly you hate the WC movie. The Wing commander game series utterly and totally ruins any pathetic lucas arts attempts at making star wars games anyway. And personally i thought the stories of wc2,3 & 4 were wayyy superior than any luke and leia cheesy shit. Dunno how such a large bunch of assholes love star wars in the first place. except for ESB none of em are even close to being fun to watch.
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And the question is answered as to why the mad muppets were up in their feline arms to destroy humanity. If that's as far as we've gotten in 600 years, if we're still having to load our own torpedos..and still calling them that...we deserve it. No excuses, no diplomatic get out of obscurity free card, you had your chance, now your oatbake. A thousand other questions, a thousand other incongruities, and a mad chorus chanting why-oh-why from beyond the gates. The question that I really have is this: $27,000,000 is a lot of money, I don't care what the average is today. Surely at some point, as those pennies were skittering down the cinematic steps, somebody had to look at the script and say "the hell?". Agreeing wholehartedly with former postings about nitpicking, almost everything could have been overlooked if it had been written well. I mean, even x-wings manuvered like they were in atmosphere. It's cool, it's cinematic; dramatic license is the right of every director/writer. But there is no excuse for a script this bad. "you're a pilgram? why didn't you tell me earlier?" Because it's so transparent, I thought you would have figgered it out by now. Establish a reality, and stick to it. They did pretty well in the sticking department...however, they failed to do the establishing. In plot, in characters, in simple human interaction. I have faith that just about every plot hole could have been explained away... and not by resorting to the tedious exposition that was used in the final product. The holes were simply plugged...badly. Why are the good writers getting scrawd whilst tripe such as this is allowed to be butchered with a 27mil machete? And the fact that everybody and their dog can meddle with a script only goes so far. It is the writer's duty to hold the story together with more than chewing gum. The only recorse I can take is the distant hope of credited pseudonym's. Sorry fer the meandering, I really shouldn't do this at 4 in the morn.
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And the question is answered as to why the mad muppets were up in their feline arms to destroy humanity. If that's as far as we've gotten in 600 years, if we're still having to load our own torpedos..and still calling them that...we deserve it. No excuses, no diplomatic get out of obscurity free card, you had your chance, now your oatbake. A thousand other questions, a thousand other incongruities, and a mad chorus chanting why-oh-why from beyond the gates. The question that I really have is this: $27,000,000 is a lot of money, I don't care what the average is today. Surely at some point, as those pennies were skittering down the cinematic steps, somebody had to look at the script and say "the hell?". Agreeing wholehartedly with former postings about nitpicking, almost everything could have been overlooked if it had been written well. I mean, even x-wings manuvered like they were in atmosphere. It's cool, it's cinematic; dramatic license is the right of every director/writer. But there is no excuse for a script this bad. "you're a pilgram? why didn't you tell me earlier?" Because it's so transparent, I thought you would have figgered it out by now. Establish a reality, and stick to it. They did pretty well in the sticking department...however, they failed to do the establishing. In plot, in characters, in simple human interaction. I have faith that just about every plot hole could have been explained away... and not by resorting to the tedious exposition that was used in the final product. The holes were simply plugged...badly. Why are the good writers getting scrawd whilst tripe such as this is allowed to be butchered with a 27mil machete? And the fact that everybody and their dog can meddle with a script only goes so far. It is the writer's duty to hold the story together with more than chewing gum. The only recorse I can take is the distant hope of credited pseudonym's. Sorry fer the meandering, I really shouldn't do this at 4 in the morn.
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My God, people. Don't you have anything better to do that to wine about a movie. Get a life. Bottom line: no matter how bad you thought the movie was, it's gonna make a hell of a lot more money than you'll see this year. Out.
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By the way, David Arnold and Kevin Kiner's score rocked! Heh heh. :)
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Mar 13, 1999 7:30:05 AM CST
Wing Commander - I keep flushing but the damn thing keeps bobbi
by nordling
Look, the SPX were good, and for 27 mil they were pretty impressive. The sets weren't bad either. And I actually liked Matthew Lillard. Other then that, well, this was pretty bad. But I've got no real complaints. First, I was so jazzed about the trailer that was like looking at the face of God that any movie that came after it would pretty much look like shit. Second, it was fun poking at the Kilrathi - they looked like reject costumes from an old H.R. Pufenstuf show.
Ah, who am I kidding? You don't examine the toilet paper after you wipe your ass, you just flush the damn thing. -
I notice many of the people above are defending this movie because it's only a "first" movie, or because it had such a small budget. You know, Citizen Kane was Orson Welles's first movie, and it didn't have an incredible budget either. Sure, this is an exceptionally great movie, but even for others, money should not be required to make a good movie. I could care less about the special effects, provided there is a story and acting behind them. Babylon 5 had a relatively small budget and still had good acting and decent special effects. I think we need to stop apologizing for movies and start expecting more for our buck. We've somehow gotten into the habit of looking more closely at the budget of a movie than its merits, and that's when we're basically inviting companies to make nothing more than expensive crap. I blame movies like Wing Commander for the utter dearth of intelligent science fiction movies we see now coming out of Hollywood. Executives see this movie, assume that sf is nothing more than ray guns and cheesy special effects, and then chase after the same demographic with their own movies. Resist! A talented director with a modest budget can still do incredible things, and I think it is better to encourage them than to make excuses for the hacks who create shit with an expensive, glossy veneer.
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Mar 13, 1999 8:36:23 AM CST
I like dit better the first time..... when it was called TOP GUN
by jmanz
Okay,
I paid the fee.... I saw the trailer. I was happy. Then Wing Commander started. The entire audience was laughing through-out...
How many screen writers does it take to make a movie?
100.
99 to convince each other a video game is a good premise for a flick and the other one to rip off Top Gun.
Save your dough rae me.
-7 stars. :)
heh heh
Jmanz
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Well, I would have to give this 2.5 out of 4 stars. I couldnt give it a 3 for obvious reasons, but for the budget or for a first time director and for a game-to-movie film, it rocked! I can understand a bad review on it for some people, but do you have to totally tear the movie down? I mean, grow-up.
By the way, my dad liked the movie to and he has never played the game.
and whoever said the effects were worse that Bab5, he is a complete retard. -
A movie having a low budget is no excuse for poor effect. Are you kidding me? The effects in this movie sucked!!!! Good effects do not require a large budget. They require talent and direction! If you don't think you have the budget don't make the movie. Or get the money! There is alot of good effects work out there and that is your comptition. Aside from the effects the other production values suffered. The whole movie was lit like a dark british T.V. show. Don't get me wrong I like british T.V. but it's the wrong look for a science fiction film. Chris would do well to sit and watch a James Cameron film perhaps Aliens or The Abyss to see how Lighting and Camera movement can affect the viewer.
The production design had some good concepts but was not completely realized. The script!!! Please I have seen better writing on daytime soaps. Putting well known faces in a movie does not fix this problem. And last but not least... I know this is an issue most people don't know of or concern themselves with but a different stock of film would have helped too. In all I did not enjoy this movie due to it's missed attempts at quality work and ENJOYING A FILM IS WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT! -
Ok - to show my own age, I started playing the very first Wing Commander - and it accounted for a few lower grades in college. Ever since then, it has been the cutting edge for space sims on the PC. I was expecting the same for the movie. I was sorely disappointed. I could cut a good thirty minutes of insipid and inane dialog, and have a much better and tighter movie, and not lose any sfx shots. This was a painful experience to sit through, as bad as Godzilla, well, almost. It was unfaithful to the game(can you say fan base?) and had too many unrelated references. The WWII thing was incredibly inept, and Chris Roberts should have known better. Another thing - I watched this in a military town, and watching the military crap in this movie was painful. Since when do pilots become space commandos too? - going into the Kilrathi comm ship - give me a break. The games had better acting, plot, sfx, and characters. Pathetic, Chris. I'm going to go play Privateer 2 now just to get the bad taste out my mouth. Just awaiting May 19th...
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What the hell was this movie. I feel betrayed. This was nothing like Wing Comander at all. The battle scenes were boring. Blair i thought he was a great fighter pilot I didnot get that feel in the game. Well then the Kilrathi We saw them for 1.43 seconds or so. Theydid not justice to that. No dogfight scenes. No cool sayings from the Kilrathi. They should have let Wing Commander fans read the script first. Ughh that is it for now i am getting sick.
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...in comparison to most movies in general, sucked. That's right. BUT! It's NOT most movies in general. You can only do so much with $27 million. All the things said about the fake-Kilrathi are true. I coulda swore I saw a zipper on one of their backs. Chris Roberts, however, already knows this. He said if he had the money, he'd redo it, cause he didn't like the look of the Kilrathi. Why do you think they hardly showed up at all? One thing this movie definately could've done without is Jurgen Pronchnow's obsession with the Pligrims. I know they explained it, but enough is enough! We get the point after the first time he says it! Overall, though, I'm quite impressed with the movie, with such a low budget. The retro look was pretty cool (the olden helmets and stuff were intentional because this is before the game, that cool stuff hasn't been invented yet). I'm quite glad Mark Hammill and crew WEREN'T in the movie because, although their acting may have been better, THEY'RE TOO DAMN OLD!!! The sequel WILL be much better than this, and I look forward to it. Oh, and this movie isn't as good as Star Wars cause IT ISN'T SUPPOSED TO BE! IT'S NOT STAR WARS!
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Ok, it wasn't that great. Certainly no Oscar winner, but I had a good time. I've never played the game, so I don't know how faithful it was or not (and I don't know how much I would have benefitted from playing it, b/c the whole plot just seemed confused).
Anyways, it was pretty crappy, but in a good way. Sure, I snickered at the hull breech scene and when the wreckage of the ship "fell" off the runway, but I'm forgiving when it comes to kiddie sci fi.
And now for a comment for some posters: why do you have to yell at people to "get a life"? You know, this IS a movie discussion forum, so they DO have the right to nitpick all they want on the subject. They shouldn't have to worry about offending people with lower standards of entertainment. I for one enjoy almost all the comments, and I hope that you'd be open minded enough to at least listen to theirs as well.
-Brimley
ps- the trailer rocked -
I am amazed that some of you are defending this steaming pile of crap. I like Star Wars, but I'm no zealot, and I didn't expect this movie to be even half as good. I did, however, expect it to be at least watchable. It's not. And I'm easy. I don't think I've ever dissed a sci-fi movie EVER! I loved Aliens 3&4. I even thought GODZILLA was bearable! But this was just bad. The money can't be blamed. The movie could easily have made up for the lack of $$$ with adept design or acting or writing. This movie had none of those. Hell, ST:Voyager's Dark Frontiers movie was better and they only had around 3 mil or so! (No, I'm not holding it up to ST standards either, just pointing out the $ factor.) I just can't think of a single thing to defend about this movie, except that maybe it'll have good camp value on video.
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I hope you all know that Wing Commander will the #1 movie this weekend. But only for this weekend. Why, you ask? Simply. The trailer. Star Wars, that is. I went to a matinee and the theater was packed. It will probably make over 20 million this weekend, enough money to make a sequel. Enough to get a bigger budget. Enough to make a better movie. We can only hope.
I must say that movie itself was busted. It was pretty boring, though I did get a kick out of all the familar faces. The guy the Bad Boys (he even said "You shut up"!), the guy from Das Boot and the guy from Mystery. The special effects were pretty good. Better than most, really. Way better the Bab5. The acting was pretty bad. And yes, the ending was anti-climatic. Very. And for those who said, give the guy a break, its his first movie, or the dialouge was horrible, etc... whatever. I can deal with those things. I love the movies. I can deal with bad ones, but this one was real bad. Do yourself a favor and see the trailer and refund your ticket. **/***** By the way, if you have direct comments to this post, email me directly. -
"Do yourself a favor and see the trailer and refund your ticket" he saids? IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN. At least, not a General Cinema. They even put up a sign warning you at "Rugrats". And at Tinseltown, they warning you before you buy the ticket.
I don't usually have much sympthy for large corporations but in this case, they are right now. If you buy a ticket to a movie and walk out expecting a refund because you didn't plan on seeing that movie in the first place, that I would have to name you An Evil Spud. Certainly, you can leave, but as to how you could be so clueless to except your money back with the theater did nothing wrong is incredulous. You only deserved a refund of the film breaks, the sound is hosed, or the temperature unbearable, etc. Now have you have a prefectly good 35mm and digital sound going Full Tilt! -
...it was better than I expected. Sure, I don't expect much from films made from video games, but it was much better than Streetfighter and Mario Bros. A tie with Mortal Combat (maybe, I would like to see MC again).
I love the effect and the cliches. I was surprise by the "Pilgrim" angle. The bit about the denial of death is actually the tradition of many of the original people in Texas. Kiowa, Tonkawa, Caddo, etc. would grieve for the fallen and the loved one would given away all there possessions. Or in some cases, go off alone. But when the grieving was over, no one mentioned that person again. It was taboo.
I did not like the quesars - quesars are distant galaxies billions of light years away and I used to a WC universe that takes place in this side of the Milky Way Galaxy. I did not like the sound of the enemy hear on our hero's ship. The difference between space and the ocean is the ocean carries sound very well but space does NOT. See 2001 for a realistic example.
I did like that a lot of the manuvering of the spacecraft was not aerodynamic. Too bad, they have to have unexplained "artifical gravity" in the interiors of the spaceships. Even out the deck outside.
And the cats didn't look like cats. I want my Hobbs furry, not bald.
The worst part is it just seems too short. But I did enjoy.
BUT I HATED THE CRETINS BEHIND ME. Talk, talk, talk. From the beginning - I could hear Kennedy make not understand him. I had to get the management to silence the basturds. People, shut up at a movie. You can talk at home. -
I only wanted to see it because I heard the new Star Wars trailer was before it. Since fate was on my side the day before, I saw it on Entertainment Tonight. This spared me the torture of paying eight dollars to view "I Know What You Screamed in Space."
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I only wanted to see it because I heard the new Star Wars trailer was before it. Since fate was on my side the day before, I saw it on Entertainment Tonight. This spared me the torture of paying eight dollars to view "I Know What You Screamed in Space."
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I think you're all out of line. I plan on seeing Wing Commander and I'm not expecting The Spanish Prisoner or Shall We Dance?
I would give the Mortal Kombat duo slightly negative reviews as they had no story whatsoever and the first was really unrealistic with the finale the only cool part.
I would give a 7.5 to Street Fighter, an immensely entertaining though unrealist ic movie.
Super Mario(5) was pretty lame but surprisingly good-looking(obviously high-budgeted).
Double Dragon(4) was mediocre but video game movies aren't terrible ideas. Old TV shows(with exceptions like Mission: Impossible) are just awful. Inspector Gadget? The Avengers? The Mod Squad anyone? These are much worse than any of the video game flicks. THAT's a trend I would like to end because in the last month, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Family Affair, Battlestar Galactica and the Michael Douglas My Three Sons remakes all went into production at one stage or another. -
I sat in the theater yesterday and was on the edge of my seat for the first few minutes. Then the Star Wars trailer ended and a couple of dozen people got up and left. I wish i had been one of them. This was the sorriest excuse for a flim that I've seen. The plot was confusing, the script was pathetic, the actors were worse than any I've seen on UPN and I've seen better special effects on my P166. My only comfort was the fact that I at least had 2 and a half minutes of real entertainment.
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This can't be the movie they intended to make. How about "Wing Commander: The Director's Cut"?? Better! Let's go with another posters suggestion. "Pong: The Director's Cut".........
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A STRONG CONTENDER FOR THE WORST MOVIE OF ALL TIME. UP THERE WITH "HARD RAIN" & "TURBULENCE". NUFF SAID.
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I heard all the bad reviews of this and I read everyone making fun of it. I'm used to it, I'm the kind of guy that likes watching movies like Hard Rain they are fun to watch, so I thought I would still like Wing Commander, unfortunately after viewing the godlike trailer I sat back and watched a pretty half assed film. I mean come on, every line was either stupid or predictable, you could sense that you were watching a half assed Star Wars and they even managed to waste the talents of Matthew Lillard. That sucked. Too bad too.
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I'm sorry, but the IQ level related to this discussion of WC seems to be below that of Forrest Gump.
This movie sucked for one major reason. There was no script.
Don't make a movie based on a popular property without first thinking about what the story should be.
They should have lost the whole "Pilgrim" thing, as well as the "They never existed" bit, and tried to focus on these aliens threating to attack Earth.
Wake up people, the movie was bad, hell, it wasn't as good as what they had done for the games themselves. And now it looks like Todd Moyer is going to screw up Battlestar too. -
Okay, I saw the movie twice in a row yesterday. It wasn't phenomenal, but you gotta give the people credit. Everyone had some big shoes to fill, and though they didn't really succeed in doing it, they didn't do too bad. You people are expecting a movie exactly like the game or a Star Wars remake. The acting was pretty sad, and the plot had a lot of holes in it, but it was still good. I definitely have to agree the CGI was the best part of the whole film. Just back off, guys, like you could do any better. Look at it this way, if the film makes $40 million, we get an $80 million sequel. So go pay for tickets and leave the theater if you don't want to see the movie, it'll just help us to get a better sequel.
PS: Yeah, the trailer for "The Phantom Menace" was the best part, and I was expecting it to be the best. I'm a SW freak more than a WC freak, and I'm a huge WC freak. Double-bladed lightsaber baby!!! Oooh yeah... -
I wasn't expecting a remake of the computer game or another Star Wars - I just wanted a decent movie which didn't screw up the WC intellectual property (which it did, unfortunately).
And yeah, I think I *could* do better - you give me $40 mil, I'll make a better Wing Commander than this. I think anyone with a sense of continuity could write a better plot. A war movie where the enemy seems like an afterthought is never a good idea. -
I wasn't expecting a remake of the computer game or another Star Wars - I just wanted a decent movie which didn't screw up the WC intellectual property (which it did, unfortunately).
And yeah, I think I *could* do better - you give me $40 mil, I'll make a better Wing Commander than this. I think anyone with a sense of continuity could write a better plot. A war movie where the enemy seems like an afterthought is never a good idea. -
You know, all the dorks on this board that gripe about nitpicking seem to take all this awfully personally...hmm...wonder if they're Digital Anvil employees...?
There is no excuse for making a crap movie. 27 million...is that so little? What about all the great movies that have been made for way less? What about a REAL filmmaker like Robert Rodriguez, who made a feature with FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS? If Chris Roberts was a real film director instead of a spoiled brat pretender with an inflated ego and absolutely no taste whatsoever, there's no way that Wing Commander could suck as bad as it does. Any moron can at least avoid sucking by making sure they get a decent script beforehand. It was only Chrises total lack of judgement and taste that allowed such a stink bomb to be unleashed on the public. Now everyone knows what a pathetic excuse for a film maker he really is.
And my final point, Angry and crew, is that VIRTUALLY EVERY movie has plot holes. JUST ABOUT EVERY MOVIE CAN BE NITPICKED. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? WHEN A MOVIE IS ENTERTAINING, PEOPLE don't NOTICE THE PLOT HOLES! If your audience is so bored and disgusted that they have nothing else to do, they'll pick your silly ass movie apart like a carcass. Wing Commander is a failure, a crashing failure, pure and simple, because it fails to entertain the majority of the people...can you deny that? The nitpicking is just a symptom...the movie is the disease. To blame the audience is just pathetic. -
I wanted to point out that "Battle Beyond The Stars", mentioned in the introduction to the WC review, is a hilarious and totally cool movie. All i gotta say is: we are Nestor.
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Contains spoilers (and other ground effects devices)
I wanted to like this movie. I REALLY wanted to like this movie. I hope that someone likes
this movie.
That being said,
That being said, I must say that this is a veeeerrrryyyy baaaaaaad movie. For those of
you who don't know me, I rarely dislike movies. I even enjoy most bad movies. I
suppose on some level, I had a visceral enjoyment of Wing Commander. The special effects
were FANTASTIC! Regretfully, effects, do not a good movie make. (While I didn't think
the Kilrathi themselves were fantastic, the look didn't bother me.) I did not even bother
me that this movies plot felt like a Wing Commander game (I thought that was kinda neat
actually). I even thought it was neat that they did a submarine combat like sequence with
depth charges.
However, it was poorly directed, it had a weak script, the acting was wooden.
I have a few questions about this movie (aside from those previously mentioned)...
Why didn't the ship's psychiatrist point out that 'such and such never existed' is not a
good coping mechanism?
Why were the Kilrathi going through the jump point one at a time? It was hinted that they
could.
Why didn't Paladin pull rank before the squad left the Tiger's Claw when he knew it was a
bad idea to leave the ship undefended?
When Paladin's ship docks, where is the medic he requested before he landed?
For that matter, how did Blaire (upon hearing that Paladin was requesting clearance to land)
manage to run from the bridge of one ship, to his fighter (which was instantly
refueled), fly to the other ship, get out and run over to Paladin's ship just as
Paladin was getting off of his?
Why didn't Angel shoot Maniac? I mean, we ALL wanted her to.
Why were the pilots used as assault infantry troops?
Why wasn't it BLINDINGLY OBVIOUS to Blaire that Paladin was a pilgrim? It's made obvious at
the beginning of the film.
Why did they have a bulldozer to push the damaged fighter off of the landing strip, but
no method to tow it in?
WHY DIDN'T JURGEN ACT?
Why didn't Patrick Swayze come out and say "It's my way or the highway?"
Those are all that I can think of at this point (there are more).
While this movie was not as bad as 'Pirahna II: The Spawning', 'Laserblast', or
'Wings of the Dove', it was worse than 'Devil's Advocate', 'Event Horizon', and
'Man in the Iron Mask'.
Wait a minute. I forgot something and must apologize. I've made a mistake.
'Wings of the Dove' was good, I just didn't like it.
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First of all, after I saw this movie had several beers...and I had to be at work less than two hours later. It really _could_ have been a good movie (I don't think it could have been a great movie, unless they started almost completely from scratch).
1) During dramatic space battles, do not film extensive footage of the pilots playing with the joystick. -- Yes, Chris, I can see how the joysticks look just like the ones in the game, thats nice, now show me stuff blowing up!
2)Don't introduce a plot hook you never intend to use.-- I think the idea of the Pilgrims was very cool. However they did _nothing_ with it. I think they intended for the animosity to function as some sort of conflict, but it mostly just fell on its face and never got back up.
3)Have a second grader read the script and find the plot holes and cliches. -- There were at least four scenes that I can think of where I knew word for word what the characters were going to say before they said them ("You didn't ask")
4)Get a military advisor.-- Even tho this is a sci-fi movie, it is a sci-fi war movie. I have never seen worse tactics or military discipline portayed in a movie (especially one that was supposed to be a creative interpretation of WWII Pacific Battles). And I'm sorry, but no space jockey is going to be doing boarding actions, thats the marines job. I'm sure that out there somewhere is a military officer whos a huge fan of WC who would have been more than willing to volunteer his time advising the film.
5)Do _something_ about the Kilrathi. They look like those pathetic bald cats, like Dr. Evil has. Using bad green lighting and smoke effects to mask how bad they look doesn't help. Use computer effects or masking tape or something, just FIX them.
And yes, before I depart I have to make one quick comment on THE TRAILER...
I _have_ to see "10 things I hate about you"...the trailer cracked me up! -
Wing Commander
Either a thoroughly incomprehensible movie or a daring exercise in the cinema of disorientation, and a painful viewing experience either way, Wing Commander plays like a sequel to a movie never made. As the film--an adaptation of a popular video-game series, which may explain some of its peculiarities but hardly excuses Wing Commander itself--opens, the story seems well under way. The descendant of a nearly extinct race of superhumans, or something, Freddie Prinze Jr. (She's All That) must engage in various starfighting antics to protect Earth from total destruction at the hands of a group of cheap, surprisingly cuddly looking bewhiskered space cats. With best friend Matthew Lillard (who at least seems to enjoy himself in some scenes) at his side, he then proceeds to do just that for the course of the film, though exactly what's going on at any given moment will be lost upon all but the geekiest, most carpal-tunnel-stricken Wing Commander players, if not writer/director Chris Roberts himself. Adapting his own creation, Roberts has taken no steps to make it palatable for anyone not already familiar with the little universe created by his games, making Wing Commander seem like the product of a schizophrenic given a
multimillion-dollar budget to re-create his private fantasy world for the general public. But it's an impressive spectacle. While the digital spaceship effects seem adequate enough, the long stretches between action scenes and the general cheapness of the other special effects--blinking command consoles, faces lit with red lightbulbs, actors with British accents--could have come straight out of Battlestar Galactica. Only those badly in need of a fix of Star Wars-inspired space-jockery need show up. --Keith Phipps
this review pretty much says it all.
Thanks to Keith Phipps of www.theonion.com
you guys kick mucho asso !!
red7ine -
My major comment about this film, never mind the inconsistencies or the fact that it trots out almost every war cliche known to man is this: I really think that a film about the backstory would have been 10 times more interesting that this film's plot. I was much more interested in the start of the Kilrathi War, and in the Pilgrim War, and for that matter how the Pilgrim's became Pilgrims. Pity we'll never see a film about the Pilgrims. ;)
-
I am at a loss as to why a review of this movie has to be this long. It is an enjoyable B movie. Nothing special.
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