Wing Commander

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 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.

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.

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!

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. (***/****)