Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger (1994)

When the Terran Confederation faces the possibility of humanity losing the war with the Kilrathi, Colonel Christopher Blair (Mark Hamill), who the Kilrathi have dubbed "The Heart of the Tiger", is summoned.

Director:

Chris Roberts

Writers:

Terry Borst, Frank De Palma

Stars:

Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell, John Rhys-Davies

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mark Hamill	...	Col. Christopher Blair
Malcolm McDowell	...	Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn
John Rhys-Davies	...	Gen. James 'Paladin' Taggart / Prince Thrakhath / Kilrathi in-flight voices (voice)
Jason Bernard	...	Capt. William Eisen
Thomas F. Wilson	...	Maj. Todd 'Maniac' Marshall (as Tom Wilson)
Ginger Lynn	...	Chief Technician Rachel Coriolis (as Ginger Allen)
Jennifer MacDonald	...	Lt. Robin 'Flint' Peters
Courtney Gains	...	Lt. Ted 'Radio' Rollins
François Chau	...	Lt. Winston 'Vagabond' Chang
B.J. Jefferson	...	Lt. Laurel 'Cobra' Buckley
Josh Lucas	...	Maj. Jace 'Flash' Dillon (as Joshua Lucas)
Julian Reyes	...	Lt. Mitchell 'Vaquero' Lopez
Yolanda Jilot	...	Col. Jeanette 'Angel' Devereaux
Barbara Niven	...	Barbara Miles - Newscaster
Jean Pierre Pereat	...	Bartender (as J.P. Pereat)

Storyline

The war with the Kilrathi has lasted for generations, now the Terran Confederation faces the possibility of humanity losing the war, and Earth being over-run by the cat-like race of the Kilrathi. In a desperate attempt to win, the Terran Confederation prepares to destroy Kilrah; the Kilrathi home-world, and end the war. But only one man is qualified; Colonel Christopher Blair (Mark Hamill), who the Kilrathi have dubbed "The Heart of the Tiger".

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Plot Keywords:

single player | playstation | space combat simulation | best selling video game | cult video game | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | War

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Certificate:

T

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally, Mark Hamill was being considered for Maniac rather than Blair. Chris Roberts was having trouble casting Blair, and after meeting Hamill, he realized that the man who played Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars film franchise would be an ideal choice to play the hero of this game, so the part was offered to Hamill and he accepted.

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Goofs

Hobbes appears much taller in the introduction cutscene (when Blair lands on the Victory) than he does in the rest of his appearances in the game's cutscenes.

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Quotes

Rollins: Still buying the fantasy that we're winning the war?
Blair: Well, why the hard-on for the opposite take?
Rollins: Because you'd have to be blind not to see that things are going bad and getting worse.
Blair: Excuse me?
Rollins: Fact: We haven't had shore leave in months. Fact: All we do is move from one defensive mission to another. Fact: Our entire force is constantly in retreat. Now is that just my imagination, or is the entire war effort unravelling before our eyes?
Blair: Fact: We have a communications officer aboard with far too ...

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Alternate Versions

The Playstation version of the game replaces two ground attack missions with cut scenes of the fighters running their attacks. In addition after the player drops the Temblor bomb on Kilrah another cutscene shows the fighter's egress before the planet begins to break up. Throughout the PC game there were originally news cast video scenes that hinted to the player various tactical advances on the part of the enemy. Unfortunately these were cut in the end.

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Connections

Referenced in James & Mike Mondays: Corpse Killer (2013)

User Reviews

A towering achievement in video games!

Four words to start this off: I love this game! I had been waiting a looooong time for the video game industry to create a mostly-live-action interactive video game of good quality and high-calibre acting, directing, and production design. Kudos must go out to director Chris Roberts and his talented team of actors, set production crew, and video game production crew. They did something that had never been done before. They not only created a fully realized, highly entertaining live-action video game. The also did it with a style, flair, and acting performances normally seen only in top-notch Hollywood films. Mark Hamill (of "Star Wars" fame) doesn't simply step into the lead role of Colonel Christopher "Maverick" Blair. He allows it to completely envelope him. It was also great fun to see renowned British actors John Rhys-Davies (of "Indiana Jones" and "The Lord Of The Rings" fame) and Malcolm McDowell (of "A Clockwork Orange", "Time After Time" and "Star Trek: Generations" fame) both hamming it up in their respective roles as General James "Paladin" Taggart and Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn. It was also cool to see Thomas F. Wilson (who played Biff Tannen in the "Back To The Future" trilogy) playing one of the good guys for a change, even though his character, Lt. Todd "Maniac" Marshall, and Col. Blair are rivals, and only sometimes friends with each other. This game is great fun, and highly recommended!!!

Details

Official Sites:

Origin Wing Commander 3 page

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

December 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger

Filming Locations:

Hayvenhurst Studios, 7021 Hayvenhurst Ave., Van Nuys, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Origin Systems Inc.

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1