Wing Commander is a science fiction film based on the same titled video game series, released in 1999. It was directed by Chris Roberts, the creator of the game series, and stars Freddie Prinze, Jr., Matthew Lillard, Saffron Burrows, Tchéky Karyo, Jürgen Prochnow, David Suchet and David Warner. Principal photography occurred in Luxembourg and post-production was done in Austin, Texas.
In France, the film was released by Universal Studios, whose animation division produced the TV series based on the video games, Wing Commander Academy.
Plot
Based loosely on the plot of the game, the story unfolds in the middle of an interstellar war between the Terran Confederation and the cat-like alien Kilrathi. The movie tells the story of Christopher Blair and Todd Marshall, young pilots assigned to the carrier Tiger Claw, as they fly their first combat missions. A massive Kilrathi armada is en-route for Earth and the Tiger Claw is assigned to fight a suicidal delaying action in order to allow the rest of the Terran fleet to reach Earth. Tensions exist between Blair and his fellow pilots due to the fact that he is part "Pilgrim". Pilgrims are a strain of humanity who have special abilities relating to interstellar navigation; they had previously fought a war against the Confederation.
Cast
Relations to other Wing Commander works
The film has been criticized by some fans for altering the visual style of the most recent Wing Commander games. The most notable shift between the games and the movie is the appearance of the Kilrathi. Although the movie's Kilrathi retain feline facial characteristics, they lose their signature fur entirely. Roberts has since said that this change was a result of his ongoing unhappiness with the appearance of the 'live' Kilrathi, none of which lived up to his internal vision. He had previously re-imagined the Kilrathi between Wing Commander III and IV, going so far as to completely redesign the Melek character between the two games.[1][2] Roberts, even after production of the film, was left unsatisfied with the results of the film version of the Kilrathi.[3]; some interviews imply that the puppets were built before the sets were completed, and were too large to be filmed without hunching over unnaturally.
Several changes in character backgrounds and nationalities were also made, as well as plot and name changes. The 'pilgrim' story is new to the film, although there is some resemblance to the borderworlders of Wing Commander IV. The carrier's name was changed to Tiger Claw, rather than Tiger's Claw. The visual appearance of the ships also changed radically; the Rapier fighters featured in the film were built from scrapped English Electric Lightning jet fighter fuselages.
Roberts cast actors that bore little physical resemblance to those who previously held the part. However, this was not the first time characters' appearances got an overhaul. Paladin, for example, has gone from being a thin fair-haired man in Wing Commander I & II[4] (voiced by Martin Davies) to being a large dark-haired Scotsman in Wing Commander III and IV[5] (played by John Rhys-Davies) to being a middle aged French accented Turk in the movie[6] (played by Karyo).
Wing Commander Arena, the latest game in the series, makes reference to the movie, including references to the Pilgrim War[7], while using ships and settings which first appeared in the main series of games.[8]
Reception
Wing Commander was panned by critics: its 9% 'rotten' rating on Rotten Tomatoes is amongst the lowest ever recorded on that site.[9] It is also considered a major box office flop: the total domestic gross of Wing Commander's theatrical run is estimated at $11,578,059, not nearly enough to recoup its $30 million budget.[10] Chris Roberts never directed another motion picture. He did, however, serve as a producer on The Punisher, The Jacket and Lord of War.
In 2009, Time listed the film on their list of top ten worst video games movies.[11]
Gametrailers did a review of the movie in its "Top Ten Countdown of the Worst Video Game Movies". The said review states:
"How could a film directed by the creator of the video game series its based on, in this case Origins system programmer Chris Roberts, drift SO FAR from the source material?
Casting Fred and Shaggy as the leads is a start, and especially after Wing Commander 4 was graced with accomplished Thespians like John Rhys-Davies, Malcolm McDowell and Luke Skywalker... we mean Mark Hamil.
Chris Roberts has since confessed that he wasn't pleased with the thrilless appearance of the Kilrathi OR their feline video game counterparts."
Novelization
The novelization of the film by Peter Telep was fairly faithful to the film itself. However, in the book the plot to discredit Blair is more far-reaching and includes David Suchet's character, Captain Jason Sansky. The script originally had two traitors, Sansky and Admiral Wilson. There is also more general information about the Kilrathi and their first attack on a space station. The novel is based on the film's shooting script, which includes most of this information. Significant cuts removed the 'traitor' subplot from the finished film, since it heavily involved the unimpressive Kilrathi puppets. 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, In addition, Wilson provoked a knife fight on board the Kilrathi ConCom between Blair and Commander Gerald. Gerald wounded Blair, but everyone came to their senses and Blair used his Pilgrim Cross knife to kill Admiral Wilson. Incidentally Blair has a bandage on his hand during the scene where Paladin gave Blair his Pilgrim Cross.
Notes and references
External links
