Wing Commander (1999)

Blair, a fighter pilot, joins an interstellar war to fight the evil Kilrathi who are trying to destroy the universe.

Director:

Chris Roberts

Writers:

Chris Roberts (characters), Chris Roberts (story)

Stars:

Freddie Prinze Jr., Matthew Lillard, Saffron Burrows

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Freddie Prinze Jr.	...	Lt. Christopher Blair
Saffron Burrows	...	Lt. Cdr. 'Angel' Deveraux
Matthew Lillard	...	Lt. Todd 'Maniac' Marshall
Tchéky Karyo	...	Commodore James 'Paladin' Taggart
Jürgen Prochnow	...	Cdr. Paul Gerald
David Suchet	...	Capt. Jason Sansky
David Warner	...	Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn
Ginny Holder	...	Lt. Rosie Forbes
Hugh Quarshie	...	Lt. Obutu
Ken Bones	...	Admiral Bill Wilson
John McGlynn	...	Richard Bellegarde
Richard Dillane	...	Lt. Hunter
Mark Powley	...	Lt. Polanski
David Fahm	...	Lt. Knight
Simon MacCorkindale	...	Flight Boss (as Simon McCorkindale)

Storyline

In the mid-27th century, the Terran Confederation is at war with the felinoid Kilrathi Empire. After destroying a Terran base, the Kilrathi have seized a NAVCOM unit with the hyperspace jump coordinates to Earth. With Terran reinforcements scheduled to arrive two hours after the Kilrathi hit Earth, it falls upon the starfighter carrier TCS Tiger Claw to keep the Kilrathi busy.

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Plot Keywords:

fictional war | alien | based on video game | space fighter pilot | space fighter | 

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Taglines:

At the edge of our universe, all hell is about to break loose.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The concept of the Pilgrims, a breed of human that possessed a natural ability for space navigation, was created for this film and hadn't previously been mentioned anywhere in the Wing Commander franchise.

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Goofs

Early in the movie, during the Kilrathi attack on the Pegasus station, the computer screens repeatedly make reference to a "breech" of the station. The correct word is "breach." They mean completely different things.

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Quotes

[about a show-off fighter maneuver Rosie's just done while landing]
Angel: I hope it felt very good.
Rosie Forbes: Better than sex.
Angel: Bullshit.
Rosie Forbes: Better than sex with myself.

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Crazy Credits

Voice of Merlin: ?

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Alternate Versions

The film was originally shot with a sub-plot involving Admiral Bill Wilson as the traitor that compromised the Pegasus station. There were a number of scenes between Wilson and Bokoth, the commander of the Kilrathi battle group, but since the Kilrathi puppets weren't realistic enough this sub-plot had to be cut out. There was also a knife fight on board the Kilrathi ConCom between Blair and Commander Gerald. Wilson goaded the two into the fight but when they decided to cut the traitor sub-plot the scene was edited so that Wilson never appeared in it. However, after a test screening with the knife fight, the viewer reaction to the edited scene was mainly confusion so the fight was ultimately cut out. If you look closely, when Paladin gives Blair his Pilgrim Cross Blair has a bandage on his hand. This was because Gerald wounded him in the knife fight. Blair used his Pilgrim Cross knife to kill Admiral Wilson and basically end the fight, proving to Gerald his loyalty to the Confederation.

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Connections

Featured in The Best Ever!: The Worst Ever! Game Movies! (2013)

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Soundtracks

Cross the Line
Written by Chris Andrews, Ashley Bates and Mau
Performed by Cuba

User Reviews

it's ok...

the movie was about what i expected... they obviously blew the entire budget on effects. amusingly, wc 3 and wc 4 (the games) had better casts than the movie (Freddie Pinze Jr vs Mark Hammil, Mathew Lillard vs Thomas "Biff Tannon" Wilson, Tchéky Karyo vs John Rhys-Davies, and David Warner vs Malcolm McDowell).

the plot had some holes, the most dramatic moments came off as cheesy, and there were a few continuity issues with the games that will probably bother the more avid fans (skipper missles being used before the first game, even though they weren't introduced until wc2, bossman being dead before blair sets foot on the tiger's claw, etc).

on the upside, the special effects were pretty good. a few years ago (before the rise of mass numbers of special effects movies) i would have considered them outstanding. the fighters (almost entirely rapiers, and a few broadswords) have a wonderfully unique "world war 1 in space" feel. the rapiers, however, look uncannily similar to A-10 Thunderbolt II "Tankkiller" "Warthogs."

the best review i've heard came from a kid as we were leaving the theater. he was having trouble articulating himself, but finally settled on something like "that was the coolest humans vs futuristic aliens movie i've ever seen!"

basically, if you're looking for a fun mindless (and that is a very important word) space combat movie, this is a good choice. if you want a better cast, a better plot, and some interaction, skip the movie and get yourself a copy of one of the games.

Details

Country:

USA Luxembourg

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 September 1999 (New Zealand)

Also Known As:

Cesaret kanatları

Filming Locations:

Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,114,365, 14 March 1999

Gross USA:

$11,578,059

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$11,578,059

Company Credits

Production Co:

Centurion, American Entertainment Investors, Digital Anvil

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1