Wing Commander - Attacco alla Terra

People are way too hard on this movie. The acting is better than average and action is awesome. This alone makes up for the weak plot and so so special effects. And it moves at such a pace that it is impossible to be bored unlike Star Wars Episode 1 where I sat through that entire pod race scene wondering when it was going to end. I'm not saying that this is better than Star Wars but I could watch this movie over and over which is something I couldn't say for Star Wars. (***/****)

I finally gave into my curiosity and rented "Wing Commander" last night... and I found myself kinda... you know... liking it.

It is NOT great cinema or great science fiction -- everyone likes to climb all over this movie for scientific errors and not being close enough to the Wing Commander games. Well, scientific inaccuracies don't bug me (I'm an English major!), and I never played the Wing Commander game. Maybe that's the secret to enjoying this movie -- if you take it completely on its (meager) merits, it's not all that bad. It's nowhere near as good as classics like "Star Wars" or even somewhat similar films like "The Last Starfighter" or "Starship Troopers," but it entertained me. I dunno, sometimes you don't need your horizons challenged, you just want to sit back and watch aliens get blow'd up real good, you know?

I consider this a guilty pleasure.

First of all, I avoided this movie when it was first released because of the bad reviews. I never played the game so I had no idea what to expect.

I should know better...

I saw this movie for the first time on DVD, sat down with a low expectation, and cranked up my Dolby Digital 5.1 sound system. Was I ever BLOWN away! It was more than I expected and the characters were not as "forgettable" as some critics said. I found the performances of Tcheky Kanyo (Paladin) and David Warner (Admiral Tolwyn) were memorable. Saffron Burrows (Angel) was great, except that she handled her "crisis" at the end rather badly. But overall the movie was a treat. I would recommend it for anyone to at least rent this and check it out!

This film assembles one of the strangest casts of the late 1990s to play out a plot loosely based on the Wing Commander PC Game series. I have never played these games, but I was intrigued by the film for a variety of reasons, so I have now seen it a couple of times. I have to admit, I was more impressed and entertained the first time around. Sure, the film is reality-challenged, with several absurdities (misinterpretation of a black-hole, gravity problems etc), but I do not think that the film-makers were attempting to do anything as artistic as Star Wars nor anything as philosophical as Star Trek. This film, instead, fits solidly into the FUN, action-based sci-fi tradition, like Starship Troopers.

The plot is pretty cliché. Freddy Prinze Jr and Matt Lillard play young hotshot fighter pilots assigned to their first deep space mission. They are being delivered by Tchéky Karyo. As they arrive on a ship commanded by David Suchet and Jurgen Prochnow, they learn that the Sol System is about to fall under attack by Kilrathi invaders with a powerful armada. There is little time for complexity and character development as the single Confederation (earth) cruiser tries to make its way to a nearby jumpgate (basically the film's equivalent of warp ten or a "hyperspace button") before the Kilrathi do, fending off Kilrathi attacks the whole way. There are a couple of weakly explored love stories and a few surprises along the way concerning the identities of the characters, but there is little time for these to truly develop. So many of the characters do feel a bit one-dimensional, and the more intriguing plot points (such as "the pilgrims") are left unsatisfactorily explored.

I think this film would have made a better miniseries than a cinematic release. Given a little more breathing room, and perhaps time to consult with astronomers or even people with a couple of higher education science courses under their belt, this could have been a really good sci fi film. The cast was certainly decent (some of the European cast-members were very good); the money was obviously there, and the script would have been fine had it not been stretched by the overly ambitious scope of the film.

Bottom line: Entertaining with the help of a few drinks. Fun for action fans. Generally not recommended for the average moviewatcher.

I love SF

I own just about every SF movie made and have read upwards of 5000 SF titles. Wing Commander is a brilliant work of pulp war fiction based on WW2. Star ships with carrier decks. fighters with wings. torpedoes. Depth charging. Fighter cannons shooting bullets 'in space'. Hand loaded gun mounts.

And the science/.. how cheesy can you get.

The acting is above par for this type of flick. Prochnow is good and David Suchet outdoes all as captain.. what a great actor.

It all works.. And brilliantly. great music.. real nice graphics for the day -still stands up well today-

Star wars and the An*l Anti-SF BS Galactica bend over Wing Commander is here

MY all time favorites boys own SF romp

Nic