Wing Commander 'the game' is actually a movie. It has real actor acting in a movie disguised as an ingame video. If all the ingame video stitched together it will form like 1 episode of a sci-fi series...
However the game itself aren't soo good. Later space-sim is better at telling stories ingame than Wing Commander. When compared to those space-sim, WC is like point and click + video of ship flyby & people screaming/talking.
I Definitely would have put Jake Busey....hang on, I just realised it's gary's kid! Anycase, him as maniac. Don't know about blair. And then there's the hairless kilrathi (or my tv was too small) and the changing of nationalities of angel and paladin. WHY why why??!
I haven't seen it in a while, but I loved this movie when I was younger. I should watch it again to see what I think of it now. I didn't even know there were games until the other day. Had no idea it was a video game movie.
I can't speak for everybody, only for myself: There are certain good points in the movie like the music and the special effects. The reason I don't like it very much is because it doesn't stick to the games at all.
Its the hate, that they did not take the storyline and the actors of WC3 or better.. WC4. Especially WC4 was epic and lets this movie be a piece of shit in a direkt compare.
the part that really kills me is when the fighters drop down when their off the deck. Also really needed to be more star fighter based like the video games.
take a look at some 50s classics the special effects, sometimes really bad for the time let alone comparing them to todays, but they get lifted by the actors ability to make you believe in what they are saying, if they dont believe it, it absolutly shows, thats why its called acting, if they cant suspend your disbelief well it drags the film down, and here we have several actors who come accross as being embarased to be doing this film, is that the directors fault for not putting them right
all film buffs know, you except films for what they are, and take them on merit for what they are, a FILM, wing commander is a excelent film up there with the best of them and time will show that it will become a classic, although having said that some of the acting is very, over the top, not even up to 50s sci fi classics, yes they should have replaced a few actors, maybe the director,or got them to act properly, i think to a lot of actors sci fi is seen as 2nd rate & dont give their best
@pmccullo123 ---------->$30,000,000 is not a shoestring budget...no, I am not complaining about the special fx in the movie, that was OK, but the dialogs just blew stray goat. Compare the dialogs in WC movie to WC4.....I still can't understand why they didn't re-use the cast from the WC game series. And I was disappointed that they didn't cover the Kilrathi 1 bit. I was hoping 2 see some footage on their PoV too. It reeked of cliche. U don't need a huge budget 2 make a good film dude.
Loved the movie! Never played the games, and I watched the TV series as a kid. Yet I still think it is amazing no matter how you put it. Well done film but what would be just as amazing is a Battlestar Galactica like series for Wing Commander and make it as dark as you could to show the real hardships of war with these heroes emerging to save the Terran Confederation from the Kilrathi.
The battle scenes were the best, but everything else was shit, if I remember the plot for the original game wasn't it locating and destroying the Kilrathi's sector headquarters not repelling an attempted Kilrathi invasion of Earth
I already see this movie on tv, and I only say in every scene WTF? why dont use the original actors of the game??? the game`s magic comes form the actors work, the chemistry is unique, and in this movie all this is lost, regular movie if you didn´t know about original actors and game, why they don`t use same actors?? WTF???
WW2-inspired naval battles in space; a cast full of Thespians and teeny-bopper actors; giant, bald, anthropomorphic cats; a liberal selection of contrivances and plot holes. What's not to love? One of my favourite films. The only thing that could have made it better would have been if they hadn't edited out the ridiculous subplot with the traitorous cat-lovers.
I loved this movie. I actually thought it had a good plot to it! I think most people's complaints was that it didn't follow the games closely enough.. But I only ever played the first game on my 286 and never played any of the others, so I thought it was a great movie.. sure the special effects could have been better, but I don't think props and effects make a movie, the story does, and the story was good on this movie.
@adric22 -- didn't follow the game closely enough?? It barely followed the game at all!! The only relation it had to the game was names. The Kilrathi were way off, Angel was supposed to be French, Maniac was completely different to the iconic character of the games, and Tolwyn can only be played by Malcolm McDowell...
...the movie was ok!i liked it...especially since nobody is doing movies like that anymore...the bad thing about the movie is that those cheap motherfrakers didnt buy all the rights of WC...so the fighters looked really like piece of shit with wings...and the teenage thriller actors just didnt get the point...
and now that WC doesnt exist anymore this ... thing... is the only thing left...cause my pc is so freaking advanced that i cant play the old good WCs anymore...
yeah, this movie was lame. i remember seeing it in the theater, it's one of those experiences that stand out because of it's assness. i can still hear ppl's groans and moans at the lame ass dailogue in the theater. ranks up there with battlefield earth...
This move was a huge disappointment. The fighters looked like rejects froma World War II movie, and the acting was dreadful! I walked out of the theater with my head hung in shame. I still can't believe Chris Roberts dropped the ball on his own saga.
This movie was under rated on two points: The process of which the special effects were produced in-house by Chris Roberts' own company, and the soundtrack. Other than that the acting was terrible, the story was even worse, and the lack of Mark Hamill, Malcom McDowell, and Tom Wilson is just inexcusable...
Re: Dilandau3000 : What they should do is forget all about this movie, and make a movie out of one of Forstchen's Wing Commander novels, preferably Fleet Action"
You know, that is EXACTLY, almost word for word what I was thinking after seeing this movie. Great book, would have made an awesome movie instead of this Cluster F***k of a script, and joke of a cast. Yet for some reason, in-spite of all that annoys me about this movie, it really does entertain you against your will.
Or better yet, make a TV series, base it on the books and games, start with the first attacks of the war and end with Heart of the Tiger. One season per book/game. And if you haven't read "fleet action" and "end game" two AWESOME AWESOME books.
And if they DID make a series out of it, don't make the mistake of making another "kid friendly" thing, which is one of the biggest points of what made the first Star Wars great and the "new" trilogy suck.
GREAT game series... horrible movie. I only wish that Chris had been able to follow it up after 3 (or is it 2? I can't remember. It has been years. I grew up playing the series).
I remember opening night for this was pretty crowded because it was one of the first movies to have the Episode 1: Star Wars trailer. Some people actually bought tickets to this twice just to see the trailer a second time.
this film was definately not given the credit it deserved, it was filmed as a boys own adventure and thats how it comes across, very similar to space above and beyond!.
opening seen jungle, terran marines sound of the jungle low frequency growl, the marines are scared they start to panic fire there guns at nothing.CRASH! a scream and one is gone a trail of blood. the kilrathi are cats and they play with there pray..
After Wing Commander 3 and 4 which set the bar for what a film could and should of been - this was just bad! The acting sucked, the Kilrathi looked awful! And why was the scotsman french (highlander again), the french woman english - agh this film sucked walls balls!
I've never played the games (a little to early for me) but I love this film, for me its up there with the great fighter pilot films like the Blue Max and the Battle of Britain. As to why people don't like it, well who knows? But remember lots of great films performed poorly at the box office.
wing commander was the pre next gen BSG it was almost as epic in its battles than BSG so why does everyone think it is bad? BECAUSE OF THE FLIGHT PHYSICS? they were just like vipers and they were as realistic as hell
I disliked this movie the first time. I was ambivalent and slightly negative the second time. On the third viewing I began to enjoy it and on the forth I've begun to like it. Oddly enough this is one of four movies that I can rewatch.
My theory is that I'm essentially cutting out significant sections of dialogue and plot. I know that they are coming and can ignore them. The rest of the movie, now relatively plotless produces a sort of self-consistent atmosphere.
This movie was awful. The people who went to see it were the fans of the game franchise, and as such, we wanted the movie to represent those characters and those situations. The characters are NOTHING like their game counterparts. Pilgrim? What the fuck? Who would hate the first space explorers? Why is this even in the movie?
Roberts makes these AWESOME Kilrathi for WC3 and then they completely change for the movie? Why? If you can make it work in the game, you can make it work onscreen.
I just hated this movie for so many reasons. The hairless Kikrathii, Blair being somekind of mutant, Angel being made English when she was supposed to be French, Paladin being French when he's supposed to be Scottish and all the ships were so damned ugly. What the hell were they thinking?
I think it's hilarious that the game Wing Commander IV had a better cast, a better script, and a better plot. So the logical thing to do would be to discard all the canon and taint the good name of Wing Commander forever.
Some day Wing Commander will get a proper send-off. Till then, expect to be haunted by an angry ghost, Chris Roberts (though I don't know how you'll sleep at night when your house is bombarded by a phantom Tiger's Claw). And Admiral Tolwyn would be a terrifying ghost.
This was one of only three films that was released with the theatrical trailer for Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). Many people paid admission to see the trailer and then walked out of the theater.
2454? What the crap? Wing Commander takes place in the 27th century. Wow, just shows you how bad this movie is that even the trailers can't get it right.
Here's what Gametrailers had to say about this film:
"How could a film directed by the creator of the video game series its based on, in this case Origins system programmer Chris Roberts, drift SO FAR from the source material?
Casting Fred and Shaggy as the leads is a start, and especially after Wing Commander 4 was graced with accomplished Thespians like John Rhys-Davies, Malcolm McDowell and Luke Skywalker... we mean Mark Hamil..."
You know, when you watch the 1st 30 secs of this it actually looks like a good movie. Then it goes down hill. Good concept and storyline. Just horrible acting and directing. This movie sure did destroy some careers.
Dede I just realized you summed it all up, in that single phrase.
Its like a guy is having the time of his life reading a porno mag, and suddenlty, out of nothing shows up a 2 tones ultrafat lady, with freckles, braces, 2cm crystal glasses for Myopia, volcanoe warts all over her butt and a body afro naturally build from the hairs on her back.
He thiks for himself: - Oh man, this monster sure did destroy my boner.Oh well, gess I'm a priest from now on.
There is very little wrong with this film. Just some individuals are either too dumb or too young to appreciate films that don't have a big advert budget. This film was made without any money left for promotion and that's deadly since Americans base their consumption choices from what they see on the telly.
The budget wasn't the problem. I can even excuse the casting. The plot, however, was barely serviceable; mostly because there was a 'traitor' sub-plot cut out from the film, and so much of the film's tension alludes to that, but never reveals it, leaving a lot of it superficial.
Underrated? I don´t agree. This movie was just bad. I thought the games had much better actors, special effects and costumes than this movie. Leaves me wonder whether the games actualy had a bigger budget than the movie.
What they should do is forget all about this movie, and make a movie out of one of Forstchen's Wing Commander novels, preferably Fleet Action. Now there's a good story that's true to the WC universe.
The only thing they can keep from this movie is David Warner, since his performance is a closer match to Forstchen's depiction of Tolwyn than Malcolm McDowell's (even though McDowell is one of my favourite actors).
I liked that they used the real actors and didn't hire other people just so the looks match. But then again, why would they not use these actors? Biff and Luke Skywalker, come aaaahn ;)
This movie is sort of a guilty pleasure of mine. I loved the first three WC games (kind of lost interest after the Kilrathi were no longer the main enemy). It's amazing how they managed to take such an awesome series and turn it into such a crappy movie. But still, I enjoy it for some reason. I even saw it in the theater.
definately underated, it was covered by all the splashes made by star wars phantom menace at the time. very stylish story. hell, the effects sure are good for 1999!.
I loved the game - awesome story, the action was great, the styling was brilliant. The sounds and visuals as you run to your awesome fighter, the lowering of the helmet, brilliant game. So how do the screw it up sooo bad?
Director" so we have this new film to make guys...but how about instead of cool fighters....we put in WWII styled space planes, and we'll get rid of the popular helmets and give them wwI skull caps and plastic monocle...and we'll make the TigersClaw into a space submarine"
Ive not had the good fortune to play the wing commander series but after watching this unk of shit I feel compelled to track the games down an tforce them to work on my system, just so I can see how much better the games are cause something tels me this film falls short of matchinf up to its source material,,,,just a hunch
i agree .. wouldn`t it be under the franchise of wing commander, it would be a good movie ... but i think today they would be successfull, when they start it again ... a complete restart like batman returns you know ? A new movie which orientates himself on the Kilrathi Conflict (without the pilgrim stuff, just the normal LT Blair, Paladin, Iceman, Maniac, Angel, The Tigers Claw and the Vega Sector Conflict) ... CGI Kilrathis who are strategic and intelligent like in the games ... yeah nice :D
Apparently, in the first draft Blair was a Border Worlder, which meant he had a personal stake in the war, even though he wasn't trusted by his shipmates.
I once heard that Chris Roberts cried when he saw the final cut, and I don't blame him. This movie had incredible potential and was absolutely horrible.
I think the reason for the hate was that this movie barely followed any of the storylines, characters, or even ship designs of the games. The fans of the games were the ones the felt let down by this. As a standalone sci-fi movie it was only ok. The acting and plot were still second-rate at best.
I enjoyed it. Far more gritty than Star Trek or Star Wars. Loved the WWII sub-style scenes and the battleship designs were AWESOME. The acting was second rate and the plot was mediocre. It feels like the pilot to a TV series rather than a film. But still good fun and underrated.
And I quote: "the acting was second rate and the plot was mediocre." I'm pretty sure that's exactly how the movie was rated, so I'm not sure how we can consider this "underrated."
The truth is, Chris Blair underminded his own universe by including some half-baked stuff about "Pilgrims" rather than just going with a good, gritty, space military drama. Much like the reimagined BSG, it's better when it's more realistic.
trashcan-spacefighter-with-a-chaingun-on-its-nose and space sonar. Other than that the movie was surprisingly enjoyable, even saw that in the theater.
I've got the movie on dvd, but I really hoped it would follow the game format more than anything. Agreed though, this could be good if someone was able to get a decent budget.
IMO there were not enough space battles in this movie. A 10-15 Minute Space Battle with Capital Ships and Scores of Fighters at the end would have been cool.
BTW: I love the designs of the Spaceships, especially the Kilrathi-Battleship.
This film had a poor plot, some bad acting, and alot of basic scientific mistakes... Yet.. I freaking love this film! When I think classic space battle film this movie comes to mind! "Give em a broad side Mr. Gerard!" classic
Battlestar Galactica should've taken a few pointers from this. Maybe even recast Apollo from Jamie Bamber to Matthew Lillard. That would be frackin' awesome!!!!111
@shamusmac123 Are you saying you would replace Jamie Bamber with some other dude?? Jamie Bamber's acting in BSG was awesome ... I couldn't even imagine BSG without him.
do you want to know what an underrated sci-fi movie is?
watch Starship Troopers,it's much better than this shit
PIOXIIIROCK 6 days ago
Wing Commander 'the game' is actually a movie. It has real actor acting in a movie disguised as an ingame video. If all the ingame video stitched together it will form like 1 episode of a sci-fi series...
However the game itself aren't soo good. Later space-sim is better at telling stories ingame than Wing Commander. When compared to those space-sim, WC is like point and click + video of ship flyby & people screaming/talking.
WC movie (above) is a proper movie.
xponen 6 days ago
Is it bad enough that the trailer is better than the movie? Yes.
Honestly, just play the games.
GadgetAckman 3 weeks ago
I Definitely would have put Jake Busey....hang on, I just realised it's gary's kid! Anycase, him as maniac. Don't know about blair. And then there's the hairless kilrathi (or my tv was too small) and the changing of nationalities of angel and paladin. WHY why why??!
strohberries27 1 month ago
WOW amazing
gtvapsamtik 2 months ago
This movie = facepalm
danny6290 2 months ago
Honestly, the only major flaw of the movie was having Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard as the leads. The rest of the movie was alright.
ForceMaximus84 2 months ago
not bad movie....But it could have been MUCH better and the space fighters are a joke...they look like fucking WW2 aiplanes...
Ulver27 3 months ago
loool i remember walking into the theater sitting down watching this movie for about 5 minutes and walking out......
thefatman69dude 4 months ago
Were they going for a "Das Boot" in space when they have Jürgen Prochnow there fireing torpedos?
KonChul 6 months ago
Wing Commander: Prophecy!!
jmbhjsbsj 6 months ago
Freddie Prinze Jr...The Channing Tatum of his time.
MrCure4 6 months ago
0:31 Lieutenatn Christopher Blah, reporting for duty, dude.
LoL, shades of Keanu Reeves
DragonSpikeXIII 6 months ago
The Cutscenes together with the storyline from Wing Commander 4 destroys this shitty movie in every aspect!
RonTaboga 7 months ago
Gotta appreciate its corniness. If you seperate yourself from expectations, then it's not that bad, really.
Zeanu 7 months ago
Just finished watching it again after several years. Get's better every time :)
groovemastervargas 8 months ago in playlist my favez
@groovemastervargas Indeed, military SF at its best not to mention the actors, Jurgen Prochnow, David
Warner, Tcheky Karyo and David Suchet.
svartekaptenen 8 months ago
I haven't seen it in a while, but I loved this movie when I was younger. I should watch it again to see what I think of it now. I didn't even know there were games until the other day. Had no idea it was a video game movie.
CaptVickHartnell 8 months ago
This movie wasn't perfect but it wasn't THAT bad either.
I particularly enjoyed that scene where they board the Kilrathi ship with the marines, back then it reminded me of StarCraft.
Biankito 8 months ago
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Best thing about this movie was Matthew Lillard.
juicycoutureee 9 months ago
The Game! Kickass! The Movie! Suckballz!
norc24601 10 months ago 5
"Freddie Prinze Jr. couldn't command wings at a KFC."
Goddamn do I love the Spoony One.
apvideogame 10 months ago 10
wow caugfht out yes i did mean aaceppppptttt im a terrible sppppellher
Gail940 10 months ago
"Commander, emotion is what separates us."
sethmasta 10 months ago
the programmer chris roberts is an programmer.but not an FILM-DIRECTOR !!!!!
XXplaythegamesXX 10 months ago
wing commander as movie is never underated.its just shit , n stay shit,ready.
AS SIMPLE AS THAT !!!!!
XXplaythegamesXX 10 months ago
This is a good sci-fi movie.I just don't know why people don't like this one. :/
Sandett 10 months ago 3
@Sandett
I can't speak for everybody, only for myself: There are certain good points in the movie like the music and the special effects. The reason I don't like it very much is because it doesn't stick to the games at all.
FekLeyrTarg 8 months ago 2
I actually liked this movie lol XD Don't really understand the hate for it, there are FAR FAR WORST movies than this
alcibiade666 10 months ago 3
@alcibiade666
Its the hate, that they did not take the storyline and the actors of WC3 or better.. WC4. Especially WC4 was epic and lets this movie be a piece of shit in a direkt compare.
RonTaboga 7 months ago
Lol, when you have no other options left, you will send out the flying gatlings! Hell, yeah! It's has to be a great film!
uTonceig 11 months ago
i believe this movie set the record for war movie cliches per minute
AMC2283 11 months ago
Chris Roberts has plan to made 3 wing commanders movie but this movie vas so bad and awful they cancel all projects.
xsf908 11 months ago
the part that really kills me is when the fighters drop down when their off the deck. Also really needed to be more star fighter based like the video games.
jvry8c 1 year ago
take a look at some 50s classics the special effects, sometimes really bad for the time let alone comparing them to todays, but they get lifted by the actors ability to make you believe in what they are saying, if they dont believe it, it absolutly shows, thats why its called acting, if they cant suspend your disbelief well it drags the film down, and here we have several actors who come accross as being embarased to be doing this film, is that the directors fault for not putting them right
Gail940 1 year ago
all film buffs know, you except films for what they are, and take them on merit for what they are, a FILM, wing commander is a excelent film up there with the best of them and time will show that it will become a classic, although having said that some of the acting is very, over the top, not even up to 50s sci fi classics, yes they should have replaced a few actors, maybe the director,or got them to act properly, i think to a lot of actors sci fi is seen as 2nd rate & dont give their best
Gail940 1 year ago
@Gail940 i believe you meant "accept films for what they are..." not "except"... *sigh*
button4boy 1 year ago
All you haters.... who cares... awesome movie. SO they didn't have the budget to do everything your way. Still kicks butt.
pmccullo123 1 year ago
@pmccullo123 its a decent film :)
Krigarkaj 1 year ago
@pmccullo123 ---------->$30,000,000 is not a shoestring budget...no, I am not complaining about the special fx in the movie, that was OK, but the dialogs just blew stray goat. Compare the dialogs in WC movie to WC4.....I still can't understand why they didn't re-use the cast from the WC game series. And I was disappointed that they didn't cover the Kilrathi 1 bit. I was hoping 2 see some footage on their PoV too. It reeked of cliche. U don't need a huge budget 2 make a good film dude.
xxxdieselyyy2 1 year ago
Chris Roberts will take this shit to the grave with him
rekkapower 1 year ago
BEST MOVIE EVER !!!!!!!!!
FearLancer2 1 year ago
@DtrainBigHammer yar not alone dude i like the movie too and for its time it had a great CGI
DeadSmile187 1 year ago
this moive was ok to me
Arc520 1 year ago
That Taggart guy was the only actor who didn't really suck.
Zardul 1 year ago
this is possibly the worst low budget peice of shit film ive ever seen, and ive watched war of the worlds 2
MadmanJoE100 1 year ago
it maybe just me I am wondering why they didn't stick to the same year as of the game-so the movie takes place 200 years before the game itself?
thedoctor42209 1 year ago
@DtrainBigHammer You aren't the only guy who liked it. Besides, the movie was actually based on a novel not a game.
retepish 1 year ago
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Loved the movie! Never played the games, and I watched the TV series as a kid. Yet I still think it is amazing no matter how you put it. Well done film but what would be just as amazing is a Battlestar Galactica like series for Wing Commander and make it as dark as you could to show the real hardships of war with these heroes emerging to save the Terran Confederation from the Kilrathi.
MuttonChopCartoons1 1 year ago
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MuttonChopCartoons1 1 year ago
DAVID SUCHET!?!?!? What are you doing here? you're Hercule Poirot!!!
xxPatheticEmoxx 1 year ago
The battle scenes were the best, but everything else was shit, if I remember the plot for the original game wasn't it locating and destroying the Kilrathi's sector headquarters not repelling an attempted Kilrathi invasion of Earth
snakes3425 1 year ago
I already see this movie on tv, and I only say in every scene WTF? why dont use the original actors of the game??? the game`s magic comes form the actors work, the chemistry is unique, and in this movie all this is lost, regular movie if you didn´t know about original actors and game, why they don`t use same actors?? WTF???
swccmty 1 year ago
My buddy is wearing a Kilrathi suit for Halloween. Its looks freaking awesome.
Muglosx 1 year ago
Is this film a joke?
jamesthemod 1 year ago
The trailer is more entertaining than the movie itself. What a wasted opprotunity.
izodfan 1 year ago
WW2-inspired naval battles in space; a cast full of Thespians and teeny-bopper actors; giant, bald, anthropomorphic cats; a liberal selection of contrivances and plot holes. What's not to love? One of my favourite films. The only thing that could have made it better would have been if they hadn't edited out the ridiculous subplot with the traitorous cat-lovers.
etnlIcarus 1 year ago
I recall the battle at the end was pretty good, with the Tiger's Claw going toe-to-toe against a Kilrathi capital ship.
Pity the rest of the movie was dross.
DefconWarningSystem 1 year ago
I loved this movie. I actually thought it had a good plot to it! I think most people's complaints was that it didn't follow the games closely enough.. But I only ever played the first game on my 286 and never played any of the others, so I thought it was a great movie.. sure the special effects could have been better, but I don't think props and effects make a movie, the story does, and the story was good on this movie.
adric22 1 year ago
@adric22 -- didn't follow the game closely enough?? It barely followed the game at all!! The only relation it had to the game was names. The Kilrathi were way off, Angel was supposed to be French, Maniac was completely different to the iconic character of the games, and Tolwyn can only be played by Malcolm McDowell...
rayjaymor 1 year ago
i really liked the music though!
techstepman 1 year ago
...the movie was ok!i liked it...especially since nobody is doing movies like that anymore...the bad thing about the movie is that those cheap motherfrakers didnt buy all the rights of WC...so the fighters looked really like piece of shit with wings...and the teenage thriller actors just didnt get the point...
and now that WC doesnt exist anymore this ... thing... is the only thing left...cause my pc is so freaking advanced that i cant play the old good WCs anymore...
techstepman 1 year ago
yeah, this movie was lame. i remember seeing it in the theater, it's one of those experiences that stand out because of it's assness. i can still hear ppl's groans and moans at the lame ass dailogue in the theater. ranks up there with battlefield earth...
Conduit13C 1 year ago
i'd rather watch Starship Troopers 3 playing backwards in caveman audio :o then watch this again lol
Joelfan14 1 year ago 2
This move was a huge disappointment. The fighters looked like rejects froma World War II movie, and the acting was dreadful! I walked out of the theater with my head hung in shame. I still can't believe Chris Roberts dropped the ball on his own saga.
nonalignedspace 1 year ago
I WANNA SEE THIS MOVIE :'D
ImAFanOfTails 1 year ago
This movie was under rated on two points: The process of which the special effects were produced in-house by Chris Roberts' own company, and the soundtrack. Other than that the acting was terrible, the story was even worse, and the lack of Mark Hamill, Malcom McDowell, and Tom Wilson is just inexcusable...
CrackerzCheeze 1 year ago
@CrackerzCheeze RIGHT ON!
nonalignedspace 1 year ago
Re: Dilandau3000 : What they should do is forget all about this movie, and make a movie out of one of Forstchen's Wing Commander novels, preferably Fleet Action"
You know, that is EXACTLY, almost word for word what I was thinking after seeing this movie. Great book, would have made an awesome movie instead of this Cluster F***k of a script, and joke of a cast. Yet for some reason, in-spite of all that annoys me about this movie, it really does entertain you against your will.
Rankoupa 1 year ago
Part 2
Or better yet, make a TV series, base it on the books and games, start with the first attacks of the war and end with Heart of the Tiger. One season per book/game. And if you haven't read "fleet action" and "end game" two AWESOME AWESOME books.
And if they DID make a series out of it, don't make the mistake of making another "kid friendly" thing, which is one of the biggest points of what made the first Star Wars great and the "new" trilogy suck.
Rankoupa 1 year ago
GREAT game series... horrible movie. I only wish that Chris had been able to follow it up after 3 (or is it 2? I can't remember. It has been years. I grew up playing the series).
AlmegaOpha 1 year ago
I remember opening night for this was pretty crowded because it was one of the first movies to have the Episode 1: Star Wars trailer. Some people actually bought tickets to this twice just to see the trailer a second time.
critias7 1 year ago
Looking back how in the world could they replace Mark Hamil, Luke Fucking Skywalker, with Freddy Prinz Jr.
snakes3425 1 year ago
this film was definately not given the credit it deserved, it was filmed as a boys own adventure and thats how it comes across, very similar to space above and beyond!.
omegaman09100 1 year ago
...omitting the point that the starfighters only looked like old WWII planes with shorter wings... :(
lestef23 1 year ago
The Kilrathi were not even furry Liontaurs, they were just a bunch of stupid orcs
lestef23 1 year ago
the Nostalgia Critic needs to review this
OverLordRyan 1 year ago
sorry about the spelling to many ciders hic.
brybish 1 year ago
opening seen jungle, terran marines sound of the jungle low frequency growl, the marines are scared they start to panic fire there guns at nothing.CRASH! a scream and one is gone a trail of blood. the kilrathi are cats and they play with there pray..
brybish 1 year ago
the kilrathi are cats this movie did not do the WC games justice. oh and don't get me into the physics.
brybish 1 year ago
What were they thinking when they made the Kilrathi hairless?
tmaz85 1 year ago
underrated my ass, movies was garbage with shit actors and a stupid plot.
theduder27 1 year ago
have this movie, totally sucked! only filled with effects and sissy boys!!
VH12th 1 year ago
i havent seen the film but i must say it looks nice with those effects but yes they should have taken the same actors they had in the games.
TheItalianoMafiosi 1 year ago
the 2 fucktard'd frat boy faggots they put as the leads finished off this turkey of a movie
DaytonaRoadster 1 year ago
i remember the fighters looked like chaingun glued in front of a trashcan!
seminolePP 1 year ago
After Wing Commander 3 and 4 which set the bar for what a film could and should of been - this was just bad! The acting sucked, the Kilrathi looked awful! And why was the scotsman french (highlander again), the french woman english - agh this film sucked walls balls!
carmelknows 1 year ago
I've never played the games (a little to early for me) but I love this film, for me its up there with the great fighter pilot films like the Blue Max and the Battle of Britain. As to why people don't like it, well who knows? But remember lots of great films performed poorly at the box office.
Fulkderais 1 year ago
wing commander was the pre next gen BSG it was almost as epic in its battles than BSG so why does everyone think it is bad? BECAUSE OF THE FLIGHT PHYSICS? they were just like vipers and they were as realistic as hell
KoutaSeto 2 years ago
I disliked this movie the first time. I was ambivalent and slightly negative the second time. On the third viewing I began to enjoy it and on the forth I've begun to like it. Oddly enough this is one of four movies that I can rewatch.
My theory is that I'm essentially cutting out significant sections of dialogue and plot. I know that they are coming and can ignore them. The rest of the movie, now relatively plotless produces a sort of self-consistent atmosphere.
My recommendation: Watch again
Hrimpurstala 2 years ago
didn't this movie bomb like
Battlefield Earth?
rokk069 2 years ago
This movie was awful. The people who went to see it were the fans of the game franchise, and as such, we wanted the movie to represent those characters and those situations. The characters are NOTHING like their game counterparts. Pilgrim? What the fuck? Who would hate the first space explorers? Why is this even in the movie?
Roberts makes these AWESOME Kilrathi for WC3 and then they completely change for the movie? Why? If you can make it work in the game, you can make it work onscreen.
AdventureJones 2 years ago
@AdventureJones
The problem is every director has his own vision
for video game movies. It's just too bad no
one is ever around to let them know that the
fans aren't interested in what the director wants.
rattlehead66666 1 year ago
@rattlehead66666 yeah but....CHRIS ROBERTS directed this...
KrassoSzoreny 1 year ago
@KrassoSzoreny
Sorry , I'm not familiar with his work.
rattlehead66666 1 year ago
@rattlehead66666
Chris Roberts created and directed the wing commander games (1-4) and universe before attempting cinema.
KrassoSzoreny 1 year ago
I just hated this movie for so many reasons. The hairless Kikrathii, Blair being somekind of mutant, Angel being made English when she was supposed to be French, Paladin being French when he's supposed to be Scottish and all the ships were so damned ugly. What the hell were they thinking?
weldonwin 2 years ago
sucky movie but i digged the design of those terran fighters...reminded me of old Migs in a freaky way :D...also good music
SulocoCZ 2 years ago
i agree those terran fighters locks old mig-21
soviet1970 2 years ago
have not seen or heard this movie since I was about 5.
yemo34 2 years ago
I think it's hilarious that the game Wing Commander IV had a better cast, a better script, and a better plot. So the logical thing to do would be to discard all the canon and taint the good name of Wing Commander forever.
Some day Wing Commander will get a proper send-off. Till then, expect to be haunted by an angry ghost, Chris Roberts (though I don't know how you'll sleep at night when your house is bombarded by a phantom Tiger's Claw). And Admiral Tolwyn would be a terrifying ghost.
xxMachineGunKellyxx 2 years ago
This is still the only movie I fell asleep watching in the theater.
erich30 2 years ago
I agree it was an okay movie. the music was really good to. hope they do a remake and make it much more accurate to the games.
Sigma0283 2 years ago
yeah they should make a new one with the same music
whitee55 2 years ago
"c" movie.
Don't bother
Bra23we12 2 years ago
i love this movie, i agree it was extremely unrated, but it is an amazing movie,
ShadyRanger 2 years ago
This was one of only three films that was released with the theatrical trailer for Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). Many people paid admission to see the trailer and then walked out of the theater.
bjnboy 2 years ago
Why a so good game trilogy can become this bullshit ?!
Built by the same director !!
WTF !!
Gauv01 2 years ago
1:01
...what...?
Minic15 2 years ago
2454? What the crap? Wing Commander takes place in the 27th century. Wow, just shows you how bad this movie is that even the trailers can't get it right.
Scike 2 years ago
Here's what Gametrailers had to say about this film:
"How could a film directed by the creator of the video game series its based on, in this case Origins system programmer Chris Roberts, drift SO FAR from the source material?
Casting Fred and Shaggy as the leads is a start, and especially after Wing Commander 4 was graced with accomplished Thespians like John Rhys-Davies, Malcolm McDowell and Luke Skywalker... we mean Mark Hamil..."
bjnboy 2 years ago
"... Chris Roberts has since confessed that he wasn't pleased with the thrilless appearance of the Kilrathi OR their feline video game counterparts.
Sixth's time a charm?"
bjnboy 2 years ago
You know, when you watch the 1st 30 secs of this it actually looks like a good movie. Then it goes down hill. Good concept and storyline. Just horrible acting and directing. This movie sure did destroy some careers.
memp6000 2 years ago
Dede I just realized you summed it all up, in that single phrase.
Its like a guy is having the time of his life reading a porno mag, and suddenlty, out of nothing shows up a 2 tones ultrafat lady, with freckles, braces, 2cm crystal glasses for Myopia, volcanoe warts all over her butt and a body afro naturally build from the hairs on her back.
He thiks for himself: - Oh man, this monster sure did destroy my boner.Oh well, gess I'm a priest from now on.
BurnRoddy 2 years ago
I kinda liked this movie. Hope the WC franchise will be resurrected soon...
Koseiku 2 years ago
Agreed it could have been better.
But I liked it. hehe
HoverTorque 2 years ago
worst movie i ve ever seen
Cesc9919 2 years ago 2
i am a member of an air force group,, wing commander is the highest rank in our force..
keyblade09 2 years ago
GIVE HIM A BROADSIDE MISTER GERALD!
antipryzm 2 years ago
There is very little wrong with this film. Just some individuals are either too dumb or too young to appreciate films that don't have a big advert budget. This film was made without any money left for promotion and that's deadly since Americans base their consumption choices from what they see on the telly.
wingatei 2 years ago
The budget wasn't the problem. I can even excuse the casting. The plot, however, was barely serviceable; mostly because there was a 'traitor' sub-plot cut out from the film, and so much of the film's tension alludes to that, but never reveals it, leaving a lot of it superficial.
MannPower 2 years ago
I respectfully disagree, for arguable reasons.
wingatei 2 years ago
Underrated? I don´t agree. This movie was just bad. I thought the games had much better actors, special effects and costumes than this movie. Leaves me wonder whether the games actualy had a bigger budget than the movie.
Audiophil85 2 years ago 28
The irony was that the movie was directed by the same guy responsible for the games.
Watcher3223 2 years ago
the film had a budget of 30.000.000.
part 4, the one with the most movie scenes, had a budget of 15.000.000 or so.
baldur909 2 years ago
@Audiophil85
the movie was alright.
moiriv415 1 year ago
@Audiophil85 totally agree man. Loved the games, hated the movie. Why? Bbecause it was nothing like the games!
ZombieDUG 1 year ago
@Audiophil85
ya the games were better movies but this movies still more entertainin than most of the garbage these days
rhynerisdead 1 year ago
What they should do is forget all about this movie, and make a movie out of one of Forstchen's Wing Commander novels, preferably Fleet Action. Now there's a good story that's true to the WC universe.
The only thing they can keep from this movie is David Warner, since his performance is a closer match to Forstchen's depiction of Tolwyn than Malcolm McDowell's (even though McDowell is one of my favourite actors).
Dilandau3000 2 years ago
selling my copy of wing commander 3 + 4 im sure some of you would like them?
my ebay name is muffiness1994
muffinness69 2 years ago
I liked that they used the real actors and didn't hire other people just so the looks match. But then again, why would they not use these actors? Biff and Luke Skywalker, come aaaahn ;)
MysticUnidonkey 2 years ago
BIGGEST mistake was not using the same guys from the games.
That was possibly the ONLY nail needed in the coffin of this turkey!
imperialpod 2 years ago 14
@imperialpod agreed!
And the game storyline was so epic
Slamdoxical 1 year ago
This movie is sort of a guilty pleasure of mine. I loved the first three WC games (kind of lost interest after the Kilrathi were no longer the main enemy). It's amazing how they managed to take such an awesome series and turn it into such a crappy movie. But still, I enjoy it for some reason. I even saw it in the theater.
The music is epic.
charlesajones77 2 years ago
definately underated, it was covered by all the splashes made by star wars phantom menace at the time. very stylish story. hell, the effects sure are good for 1999!.
oooh hot chick!
jxie93 2 years ago
not good at all compared to phantom menace
Swatrecon 2 years ago
I loved the game - awesome story, the action was great, the styling was brilliant. The sounds and visuals as you run to your awesome fighter, the lowering of the helmet, brilliant game. So how do the screw it up sooo bad?
Director" so we have this new film to make guys...but how about instead of cool fighters....we put in WWII styled space planes, and we'll get rid of the popular helmets and give them wwI skull caps and plastic monocle...and we'll make the TigersClaw into a space submarine"
EvilMrDogbert 2 years ago
Pretty much sums up my reaction when I saw this in the theatre. All I could do not to hunt down Uwe Bowl and go Kilrathi on his ass.
scumhunter1966 2 years ago
Except it wasn't directed by Uwe Boll.
MannPower 2 years ago
Ive not had the good fortune to play the wing commander series but after watching this unk of shit I feel compelled to track the games down an tforce them to work on my system, just so I can see how much better the games are cause something tels me this film falls short of matchinf up to its source material,,,,just a hunch
sajuuk212 2 years ago
This film sucked a lot of ass and managed to be worse than Phantom Menace.
YurAllStupid 2 years ago
Freddie Prinze Jr. = Epic Fail
kjb86 2 years ago 3
i agree .. wouldn`t it be under the franchise of wing commander, it would be a good movie ... but i think today they would be successfull, when they start it again ... a complete restart like batman returns you know ? A new movie which orientates himself on the Kilrathi Conflict (without the pilgrim stuff, just the normal LT Blair, Paladin, Iceman, Maniac, Angel, The Tigers Claw and the Vega Sector Conflict) ... CGI Kilrathis who are strategic and intelligent like in the games ... yeah nice :D
EmbersVoice 2 years ago
Apparently, in the first draft Blair was a Border Worlder, which meant he had a personal stake in the war, even though he wasn't trusted by his shipmates.
I once heard that Chris Roberts cried when he saw the final cut, and I don't blame him. This movie had incredible potential and was absolutely horrible.
avi8r1 2 years ago 2
How can you make awesome Interactive movie computer games, and then make this pile of crap? *sigh*
balboapension 2 years ago
OMG there are so many scenes that remind me heavily of Battlestar Galactica!
Kl4pp5tuhl 3 years ago
i loved this movie
funny
and mad as
evansaxon 3 years ago
I think the reason for the hate was that this movie barely followed any of the storylines, characters, or even ship designs of the games. The fans of the games were the ones the felt let down by this. As a standalone sci-fi movie it was only ok. The acting and plot were still second-rate at best.
jtno2 3 years ago
I enjoyed it. Far more gritty than Star Trek or Star Wars. Loved the WWII sub-style scenes and the battleship designs were AWESOME. The acting was second rate and the plot was mediocre. It feels like the pilot to a TV series rather than a film. But still good fun and underrated.
aribenzane 3 years ago
And I quote: "the acting was second rate and the plot was mediocre." I'm pretty sure that's exactly how the movie was rated, so I'm not sure how we can consider this "underrated."
The truth is, Chris Blair underminded his own universe by including some half-baked stuff about "Pilgrims" rather than just going with a good, gritty, space military drama. Much like the reimagined BSG, it's better when it's more realistic.
chillyche 2 years ago
1999
alteclansing3333 3 years ago
from what year is that movie???
Macnavor 3 years ago
Ohhhh I remember watching this back in the day! lol!
SmokiSounds 3 years ago
Great movie! Unique effects, cool backstory, I don't understand the hate either.
markkens 3 years ago
I don't understand the hate towards this movie. I think it was great! Not a masterpiece, but nonetheless it FUCKIN' ROCKED!!!
alcibiade666 3 years ago
trashcan-spacefighter-with-a-chaingun-on-its-nose and space sonar. Other than that the movie was surprisingly enjoyable, even saw that in the theater.
seminolePP 3 years ago
I thought this movie was the best Sci-Fi film I've seen since Star Wars.
SavageArms357 3 years ago
I've got the movie on dvd, but I really hoped it would follow the game format more than anything. Agreed though, this could be good if someone was able to get a decent budget.
DarSpar 3 years ago
i saw it. and its a great movie!
leckerpellwurst 3 years ago 2
Agreed....great movie....for what it was for...shame I do not have it any more.
JohnZaun 3 years ago
It had promise but it was pretty well messed up for some weird reason, some of it made no sense. Love story, didn't get that bit. Oh well.
DarSpar 3 years ago
no budget,the wingcommander franchise could be like "startrek". great idea and remember privateer who knows maybe some one will pick it up.
brybish 3 years ago
this movie rocked!
Elliot9UK 3 years ago 2
"The game man forgot."
cbob0080 3 years ago
WOW!!! I felt like I just watched the whole movie--- wait, the trailer showed the whole movie!
No wonder this movie failed, shitty advertisement coupled with SW Episode I. I loved this movie by the way... shame it failed.
SteelVelocity 3 years ago
IMO there were not enough space battles in this movie. A 10-15 Minute Space Battle with Capital Ships and Scores of Fighters at the end would have been cool.
BTW: I love the designs of the Spaceships, especially the Kilrathi-Battleship.
kuribayashi84 3 years ago
This film had a poor plot, some bad acting, and alot of basic scientific mistakes... Yet.. I freaking love this film! When I think classic space battle film this movie comes to mind! "Give em a broad side Mr. Gerard!" classic
EthanSurbaugh 3 years ago 3
I love Freddie, it's the great!
MarcelaRamalho777 3 years ago
Battlestar Galactica should've taken a few pointers from this. Maybe even recast Apollo from Jamie Bamber to Matthew Lillard. That would be frackin' awesome!!!!111
shamusmac123 3 years ago
@shamusmac123 Are you saying you would replace Jamie Bamber with some other dude?? Jamie Bamber's acting in BSG was awesome ... I couldn't even imagine BSG without him.
antred11 1 year ago
Well.... the space battles were.... good-ish. The acting... could have been worse, I guess... I just don't like Freddie Prinz Jr. he can eat a dick.
nosorab3 3 years ago