Wing Commander

This is not a Academy Award winner, nor is it an example of fine acting, nor is it a riveting plot with significant ties to philosophy, life, God, blah blah blah blah ... it's an action/sci-fi movie, so please leave your brain at door and just enjoy this for what it is.

I'm a fan of the Starship Troopers type genre (book was first, movie later) - lots of action, leave brain at door, watch the effects, enjoy the 2 hours of reckless fun! This film, like Starship and others like it, is *just* a fun film to enjoy! I never played the game - and this is the crux of my review - I played something else that seems to predate Wing Commander: "Descent: Freespace - The Great War". I couldn't help but think that there was SO much reference to everything about Freespace, it wasn't funny. The ships, the enemy, jump points, literally everything. It was like watching a movie of the game I just played. BTW, I still play Freespace from time to time - it's good fun.

I did briefly enjoy the "role reprisal" of Jürgen Prochnow in "Das Boot" - "reload tubes 1 and 2, fire when ready": said almost the same line in both movies.

Anyway, I enjoyed it; give it another go and see!

In the 27th century Earth is at war with the Kilrathi Empire. During an attack on an Earth space base, the Kilrathi capture a Navcom unit that will allow their ships to jump directly to Earth and attack before defences can be prepared. Earth turns to Starship Tiger Claw and it's small crew of fighters to stop the assault and ensure that the Kilrathi cannot attack Earth unannounced.

I haven't played the game, seen the game or even know anything about the game – so I'm relatively open and had no images of what the film `should' look like. I've read other reviews and have noticed many focus on the factual errors (like the anti-gravity bulldozers) and the spaceship design. Yes, these were poor things but they are not the only reason why this wasn't very good.

The `plot' seemed to require a history with the game – it was full of nonsense about pilgrims, wars etc, little of which was explained and made me feel like it was my fault for not knowing! Secondly the film felt like a game at parts. I mean that we had some action scenes then we had shots of Admirals talking that felt like it was an interlude between missions on a game. It certainly didn't feel like a scene in a movie.

The effects are a little daft but the WW2 designs are actually quite cool despite being totally impractical and unlikely. The space battles lack tension and simply aren't exciting in the least. The plot clichés are all over the place , ranging from loser come good to a poor love interest aspect.

Prinze Jr should not be allowed to make films if this is all the screen presence he can muster up. He is as vacuous as the space around him and it's hard to care for him. However he shines when beside Burrows who brings a new definition to the word `wooden'. I hate Lillard but at least he brings some energy to the film – he's still irritating but at least he's trying hard! Prochnow is actually alright and rises above the material. The WW2 theme continues in the mainly British cast. This is a little weird because the leads are mostly Yanks. It's also worrying to see actors like Suchet, Warner and several others hawking their wares in this sort of film. The support cast is deep in familiar faces from British TV and film – including the lead of Young Americans and Don Gilet. The only actress that really caught my eye was Ginny Holder who played a sexy love interest as Rosie. But she's black, and a side kick of sorts, and a love interest – so how long do we think that she'll survive?

Overall who cares about the WW2 design or the fact that the ship design is silly or that factual errors are all over the place. These are not reasons the film is bad – no. The poor acting, poor plot and dull `action' scenes that lack tension – these are the things that make this film bad and well worth avoiding apart from the pretty Holder.

The film has been critically panned and it bombed at the cinemas. But it's actually a pretty good film. Yes it isn't technically the best, nor is it scientifically plausible. And for devotees of the games it kinda screws with history, but for all that it is a good ride. You watch it and appreciate it. Saffron Burrows is great. David Warner and David Suchet excel in their (small) roles. It's a shame John Rhys-Davis and Mark Hamill don't reprise their roles, but their replacements do well enough.

You get caught up in the story, and the visual effects are fantastic, aided by good acting with the actors working well together.

So overall I would recommend this film. Don't expect it to be fantastic, but just enjoy it. It's a fun film and a worthy addition to Wing Commander lore.

I was intrigued, after hearing many different points of views on this movie, to go see it. So I go to this used tape store, (why rent it for $5 when you can buy it for $2?) and buy it. I just wanted to see which side I agreed with. Most people that stated their opinions, said that this movie was a waste of time. Other people said it was the best movie they've ever seen, but I'm guessing they were fans of the video game or the 1977 version of this movie, both of which I've never seen. To go straight to the point and make it easy for those who don't know whether to see it or not, I'll let you decide for yourself based on my opinion. So to make it simple I'll just say the good and bad stuff about it.

Bad Stuff:

~Freddie Prinze Jr. sucks at acting. There's no other way to put it. I got very bored watching his one expression and monotone voice.

~Right from the beginning, I thought the music was terrible. Music is supposed to drag you in from the beginning and give you a sense of what's coming, (think "Jaws.") This just made me feel like I was about to see Captain America.

~The alien make-up was so extremely ridiculous that they looked like overgrown house pets. Not scary at all.

~I got tired of hearing people state the obvious. "Hey! I think something's wrong!" Well, aren't you the sharp one. The exploding bombs and loud "red alert" beeping didn't give it away, did it?

~The story had it's boring moments. There were parts I didn't follow and soon didn't even care, because I had gotten so lost by then it didn't matter.

~*This may or may not be a downside* I wasn't sure if the accents in this movie were taken from the video game or original, but it was way too weird. We had a Scottish guy, a ton of Englishmen, Americans, and some Asians. How did they all get on this one ship?

Good Stuff:

~Matthew Lillard did a fabulous job. I'm so used to seeing him act like an a**hole, (no offense, think "Scream.") that I wasn't expecting the serious performance he gave. It blew me away how serious he had to be in some scenes, and he pulled it off beautifully. (Although I gave the movie 5 stars, I would like to give his performance a 10.)

~The plotline, although confusing, did have it's certain interesting moments. I don't know which came first, Starship Troopers or this, but I have a feeling one of them is a rip-off of the first. However, it certainly had it's moments that put you in suspense.

~The special effect were great. It reminded me a lot of Star Wars. And the battle scenes were exciting.

~The rest of the cast didn't do too bad a job of acting. I was able to feel sorry for most of them.

I gave this movie a 5. If you have nothing better to do, I suggest you watch it. I certainly have seen worse, (read my review of "Jeepers Creepers.") If you liked "Starship Troopers" this is a movie for you. However, if you want something more out of a Sci-Fi movie of this sort, I suggest "Pitch Black." *****/10

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. The graphics weren't up to say Episode1 standards, but were convincing enough (and I loved the raspy engine noise for the Rapiers). The acting was what I've come to expect from these younger American actors (as in good).

I'd say from an objective view point it's a good film. A bit lacking in certain areas, but certainly enjoyable.

I say "objective" simply because I have never been exposed to the hugely popular game series, so I was seeing this as a film, not as a spin off (in which case I'm sure it would come across worse, simply because when you're used to one set of actors portraying your favourite characters a new team will never fit the bill).

Overall not a bad way to spend my Wednesday evening.