Wing Commander

This has been one of my favorites since it came out! The fact that it bears little to the videogame series is ok, once you sit back and decide to just love the characters!You've got some heavy hitters here: David Warner, Tchéky Karyo and Jürgen Prochnow to name a few, and of course, the awesome Matthew Lillard and even Freddie Prinze, Jr! The story is pretty similar to movies such as Run Silent, Run Deep, and Das Boot, but with enough character development to add some spice!There's something for everyone here: Overcoming prejudice and bias based on heritage; interracial romance; action; secret agents!; and even a hero who uses paranormal abilities to calculate jump trajectories by feel.Seriously, this movie amps up the excitement, hitting all the bullet points one needs for an enjoyable few hours of mindless entertainment. It's not one for hard science fiction (although the space battles, especially between ships of the line, are decent enough, from a physics standpoint.)I've always loved the subtle parts of this movie: the nihilistic attitude of how the pilots deal with comrades death by telling that anyone dies in action "never existed." The nods to how trusted Paladin really is, because he's a rogue, but his instincts are dead on. The diverse crew of the "Tiger Claw," which was pretty progressive for its time.On the surface, this seems a cheapish B-flick. It's much, MUCH more!Enjoy the story, the effects, and the fun of watching Matthew Lillard just chew through every scene he's in!

Wing Commander is a film that I didn't appreciate at the time but do now. All I saw at the time were the flaws and boy does this film have some flaws. There's what is essentially WWII combat in space. The love story is an annoying distraction. The Kilrathi are horribly realized. The script has some of the corniest lines you'll ever hear.So of course it stinks, right?I thought that until I realized I would watch it if I caught it on TV. Then it began to dawn on me, it's a fun film. Sure there are gaps in science and in plot. However if you can just relax and realize it's a 50's sci-fi film in 1999, you're in for a good time. The effects hold up well since they used models and not CGI which dates quickly. The action is easy to follow and understand. Meanwhile the plot is simple and direct.If you're just looking to be entertained, this film is a good choice.

I have never seen (nor previously heard of) the computer game of the same name so I can only rate the movie on its own merits. I would have given Wing Commander four stars, but since someone who hasn't even seen the movie seems to be trolling it with nonsensical 1-star ratings, I'll chip in another star to offset the troll. The film is mostly unblemished by any noticeable political or social agenda (other the nonsensical notion that women make better fighter pilots, but that dates back 50 years to misrepresentation of the writing of Robert Heinlein and the film doesn't dwell on it) and contains no gratuitous nudity, foul language, or bad grammar; which might explain why the trolls don't like it.It's humans vs. bad guys in a spaceborne adventure that oddly has gravity to deal with even outside the spacecraft. The sets and effects are nicely done for a 1999 film, perhaps not the best ever produced but certainly in the same league. The script was pretty good, convincingly delivered by good actors whose performances might have been better if they had better material to work with. Direction seemed average for Hollywood major releases but the cinematography felt a little off throughout the film.Most of the human subplots could have been better developed and the whole theme about the past war between Pilgrims and Earthlings should either have been far better developed or omitted entirely. It appears that this is a continued subplot from the computer game so perhaps the filmmakers were thinking fans would already know what it's all about.

So...this is a thing. To be honest, I didn't really know what I was getting myself into when I decided to rent this movie. I never saw or heard of it when it first came out, and it's based on a videogame that I've never played, but I do remember seeing a scene on tv that has those weird cat aliens so I guess that's what peaked my interests. The movie overall is ok, with ok acting and CGI effects ranging from decent to poorly aged. I'm really disappointed the we don't see much of the Kilrathi in person until near the end, and even then they're not very impressive looking. I was surprised that both Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard were in this, it must have been weird for them when they reunited in those live-action Scooby Doo movies years later. So Wing Commander was an ok movie, it's neither bad nor good but it's something that I wouldn't mind watching again when there's nothing to do. I will tell you one thing, I tolerate this movie more than Starship Troopers.

In light of the mass of sci-fi pics out there, I gotta give this 4.5, rounded up to 5 stars, because it meets all the qualifications of a great and timeless story. Effects are good enough, characters are not contrived other than being extreme versions of reality, which is as a movie should be, and the core themes are soulful and full due to character development rather than bastardizations of superficial memes or politics or distracting 'special' effects. A pure-hearted outcast saving the earth with heroism and integrity, sometimes contrary to the rules of the by-the-book military leader, is all good in my book. Glorifying military power is certainly problematic these days, but the good-vs-evil picture is pure here, and it's always good to question authority with a pure heart and friends to guide you. Don't go looking for this kind of clarity in real life with a real gun in your hand if you're not fighting poachers or child-soldier kidnappers, but the message of a warrior heart in service to the greater-good is one thing I love about movies like this.

Good plot, all star cast, high production values and good fighter scenes... so what was off?The dialogue was often shallow and many characters were frankly juvenile, the acting felt rushed, continuity was weak and many details were skimpy or out-and-out botched. Shame the writers couldn't have got David Weber (Honourverse creator) to write: It's unrecognisable as a professional navy!That said I've seen it a few times and enjoy it each time. I played and enjoyed the original game (that had better depth to its dialogue). I am won over because of the underlying world building and combat carrier feel: The plot dynamics do work very nicely. But it is deeply flawed.See what you think; try before you buy

I was a big fan of the computer games - Wing Commander was the first game I bought for my 386 PC back in the day - so when I randomly ran into this film I immediately bought it.The acting and storyline were both good; although it was let down by trying to rush through too much near the end. It was fairly true to its computer game roots so won't disappoint avid players, but there were a few scenes where I was left thinking "that character wouldn't do that in the game!".As a DVD, it would benefit from re-mastering the sound a bit, and definitely expanding into some wide screen encodings. While I'm not going to give any spoilers in this review, I will say that you will miss a few important things if you "zoom" so that the screen is filled but the top and bottom are chopped off, and stretching horizontally just looks wrong. But if you're content to have black borders at the sides, the film is well worth watching for sci-fi fans and fans of the computer game series.

OK.This is a review for the Italian Region 2 DVD release, authored/manufactured by Pioneer (ASIN B000SL1W5I). It does have an English audio track so this isnt a big problem if you can navigate the initial Italian menus.On the plus side the picture is properly encoded PAL Anamorphic Widescreen. On the down side the Picture and Audio quality could be a bit better.Regarding the audio, the Italian language track has Dolby 5.1 channels, whilst the English track only has Dolby 2.0.

Saw it on the BBC years ago and always wanted it. It's a good sci-fi movie

Ok