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Wing CommanderRating:
Release Date: 17 December, 2002 Retail Price: $9.98 OUR Price: $9.98 You SAVE: $0.00! Cast: Complete Cast (12 total) |
Wing Commander Reviews
Certainly entertaining
Being a fan of all of the Wing Commander games, I found this movie directed by Chris Roberts to be consistent with his style. The music, sound, and video are excellent. Although some may find the technical parts of this movie bring it down, I find that it does a great job of entertaining.
The only REAL flaw is that Chris Roberts tried to put too much into this film. He should have made this into a trilogy with time for character development, introducing the Kilrathi (with understanding their strong distaste for humans), and build up to a massive conflict between the Kilrathi and Earth.
Good try for a video game director and creator.
"Not as bad as it's made out to be, but not great either!"
Wing Commander, which is of course based on the popular video game series centers around a war between humans and the Kilrathi, a malevolent alien race bent on destroying earth several centuries in the future. The heroes are a rag tag group of fighter pilots led by Lt. Blair (Freddie Prinze Jr.) and his sidekick "Maniac" (Matthew Lillard). The plot revolves around the Kilrathi discovering a means of "Warp Jumping" into earth territory and the humans desperate attempt to prevent them from doing so. I have never played the video game but have always been a fan of sci-fi. A word to the wise, if you go into this movie expecting a Star Wars like extravaganza, you will be dissapointed. If you go in with the mindset of it being a low budget sci-fi "B" movie, you will be pleseantly surprised. In other words this movie is neither great nor horrible. The special effects are so-so, the plot is very thin and cliched, and the acting with the exception of a few characters is only sub-par. Basically, it's not going to win any awards. However, this can still be a very entertaining and interesting movie for the open minded. It's kind of cheesy in a old fashioned b movie style, but that's kind of cool at times. If you put physics, realism and technicalities aside, the movie works on a basic good vs. evil level. The action sequences are entertaining (although every one is a ripoff of either Top Gun, Star Wars, or Das Boot). If you are a fan of any of the above movies you may enjoy this movies alternative take on them. Harmless sci-fi romp that is good if you have nothing else to do on a Saturday afternoon.
Positives:
1. Warp Jumping Idea and special effects associated with it (much cooler and more realistic than the "Hyperspace" or "Warp Speed" used in Star Wars or Star Trek).
2. Battleship Designs (very militaristic, realistic and functional looking unlike the Millenium Falcon or the Enterprise)
3. Multi-national and Multi-ethnic characters representing humanities unity in the future (British, American, French, Irish, Black, White, and Asian all working together to kill an alien threat. That's definetely cool.)
4. Sexual equality in the future, despite the friendly competative banter (in the future we have gotten over most of the double standards associated with the sexes. Here, women are equal fighter pilots, commanders and even sexual "players" as men. Basically they have balls and are still sexy).
Negatives:
1. Plot (kind of weak and unoriginal. The aliens destroying the earth thing has been a mainstay in Sci-fi serials since the 50's and the fighter pilots and battleships in space has been done often and better by some more notable sci-fi movies and shows.)
2. Acting (especially by the star of the movie 'Prinze' was pretty lame. He is just not believable as a hot shot fighter pilot. He should stick to brainless teen slasher or comedy movies)
3. The Bad guys (These Kilrathi have to be some of the most rediculous looking aliens seen onscreen. They are not scary or threatening in any way and remind you of the aliens in "Galaxy Quest". At least that film was making a mockery of Sci-fi, but this one actually takes itself seriously)
4. Any Special Effects involving weapons (It's extremely dissapointing that in 500 years, we are still using projectile weapons in the form of machine guns and cruise missiles. Where are all of the lasers, plasma weapons, and photon torpedoes? Even the aliens are using machine guns! Maybe they were trying to be original or something, but with the exception of the "Skipper" cloaked missile, the weapons were lame.
5. Obvious scientific and physics errors (I think that most people with a high school level education know by now that sound doesn't not travel in a vacume. Because most other sci-fi shows often ignore this principle I can make exceptions for the sound of the engines, guns, and explosions. But what the hell was all of that sonar pinging and whispering about? "Quiet or they will hear us". No they won't! Sonar wouldn't work in space. THEY ARE NOT ON A FRIGGIN SUBMARINE OKAY, THEY'RE IN SPACE!)
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