Nice To Meet You Mr. Burrows

Overview

Trade Commander marks the beginning of a whole new saga in the popular Wing Commander game series.

In 1990 ORIGIN revolutionized the industry when it introduced interactive cinema with the first Wing Commander game. In 1991 Wing Commander II carried this vision to new heights of game action, and with it new depth and sophistication. Now this year (we hope) will see the release of Trade Commander (now Privateer), a game that brings interactive entertainment software to a higher pinnacle of excitement than ever before.

For the first time, ORIGIN gives the player complete and open access to the far-flung worlds of the Wing Commander series. You will assume total control over the life of your character, and through that character the universe of Wing Commander can be explored from one end to the other.

Through a completely mouse-driven dynamic game interface you will be able to dictate the flow of the story. More than any computer game seen before, Trade Commander gives you unprecedented command over your character's movements and actions.

It's this level of control that's essential, for now the world of Wing Commander is more dangerous than ever. Trade Commander is filled with all the space combat action Wing Commander enthusiasts have come to expect, plus new perils and dilemmas no Confederation fighter pilot has yet to face.

The war with the Kilrathi, dreaded enemy of the human race, rages on after more than sixty years. Much of the action of the war goes on behind the lines. Ships constantly speed back and forth to keep the war effort well supplied. Most are sadly easy prey for an enemy offensive behind the lines.

Toward the Confederation interior, worlds barter for valuable resources on the open market. Vast, uncompromising multi-planetary corporations struggle for control of those worlds. Competition is ruthless. There's a lot of money to be made for an enterprising ship's captain, and a lot of ways to wind up getting shot in the back!

Private wars and conflicts explode throughout the Confederation. Most are quickly resolved, but all require mercenaries and hired starships. Never in human history has the business of independent warfare been more profitable.

Of course where there's money, the criminal element is never far behind. In every shadow and around every corner lurk unsavory characters: smugglers who trade in contraband and illegal goods, pirates who will steal a ship's cargo and kill a crew for sport, mobs and gangs whose spheres of influence cross solar systems and, with a word, can arrange a murder.

Beyond lies the edge of known space. The frontier! Here reckless pilots navigate mysterious new star systems and confront the unknown. The secrets to be learned haere could shape the destiny of all mankind.

Trade Commander expands the saga of Wing Commander into a complete universe of endless adventure.

New Ships, Weapons, Foes and Heroes

Trade Commander also features an impressive assortment of exciting new starship designs, from enormous monolithic cargo vessels to sleek, fast fighter craft. An extensive system of ship weaponry and modifications allows the player to customize any ship, making every craft in the game virtually unique.

Each ship is refittable with upgrades in lasers, missiles, electromagnetic pulse weapons and defense systems, nukes, photon torpedoes, shields, armor-plating, scanners and engines. Once players get their hands on the type of ship they want, they can modify it to suit their own personality and style of play.

Meet Grayson Burrows, Trade Commander's enigmatic hero. Is he a shrewd merchant trader, or a feared pirate of the spacelanes? Is he a battle-hardened mercenary? A heroic agent of the Confederation? A spy for the alien Kilrathi? Only you can decide, for as Grayson Burrows, you can pursue any of these occupations and more.

A player in the mood for a dogfight can put Grayson Burrows behind the stick of the deadliest fighter spacecraft anyone's ever seen. With added customization, it can be made even more powerful. The more fiscally- minded can captain a merchant ship specifically designed to generate profit. Running with it is like a license to print money. Anyone interested in pulling in a derelict - as well as the big bucks - can cruise around in a massively powerful tug. When other ships see that massive hull, as well as its industrial strength tractor beam, they'll stay well clear. Or if a new type of challenge is what's desired, the player can explore uncharted space in a reliable scout ship. Passed down through the family, it has survived many a hostile mission and was once considered the pride of the fleet.

Being nothing more than a fighter jock won't cut it out here. In Trade Commander, the player will have to develop the skills to handle every type of starship there is. When it comes to space combat there's a lot more than just the Kilrathi to worry about. Anything imaginable could be lurking on the edge of known space.

The Interplanetary Commodities Exchange is the place for anybody with a good head for business, a starship and the guts to go running loaded full of valuables without heavy protection. Low tech worlds demand high tech goods. High tech worlds demand more resources. A quick runner with a nose for trade can make himself a wealthy man. But all that opportunity doesn't come without risk - changing trends or a miscalculation of the marketplace could leave you wiped out.

Trade Commander: Be the Captain of Your Own Destiny

The human race is facing a very dangerous period in its history. The vast frontier of space calls. As humanity spreads itself throughout a multitude of worlds the very fabric of civilization has begun to fray. The fierce and aggressive Kilrathi threaten to enslave mankind or destroy it. the bravest and the best that mankind has to offer is locked in a struggle to survive against this alien enemy.

But as the war lingers on, all of human society is strained by the severe toll in economic resources and human lives. A malaise falls over the Confederation, a creeping bureaucracy and corruption that has locked its population in a power struggle. Can one lone man rise above it? Or is the Confederation doomed to sink into dust - just one more of the many interstellar civilizations to once call the stars their home?

Burrows is a reluctant hero who first takes to the spaceways in a rusted hulk, while on the run for his life. It is ultimately he who must solve the interstellar mystery that has heated the Human/Kilrathi war into a conflict that could destroy both civilizations.

Powerful forces are at work to stop him. He must become a master entrepreneur, a veteran of many wars, a fast-talking negotiator as well as an ace fighter pilot if he is to survive. Trade Commander is a heart- pounding science fiction adventure.

Technology

The technology of Trade Commander is a direct progression of the complex game engine developed for the Wing Commander II series. It is a streamlined turbocharged version of the ORIGIN F/X graphics system originally designed by Chris Roberts. This system also includes many of the advances that have only recently been created for the upcoming ORIGIN release Strike Commander.

The development that should really excite players is the new interface. Dramatic cinematic sequences are combined with the original Wing Commander point-and-click method of moving from scene to scene and initiating conversations. Additionally, the world of Trade Commander is much more richly filled with events, people, conversations and other interactions with the surrounding environment.

The feeling of "being in the movie" combined with the complete control of the character's actions is the reeason why Trade Commander sets the new standard of "interactive cinema."

Never before has any computer game had such a detailed and complete world to explore. The universe of Trade Commander is brimming with adventure. The player can follow the exciting main plot of the game at his (or her) own pace, or instead pursue new adventures anywhere thoughout the game. Even after the main game has been completed Trade Commander is still good for limitless play action.

Movers and Shakers in the World of Trade Commander

Admiral Terrell
Proven in combat, Terrell is a career officer who won his rank in the heat of battle. He is a much celebrated and highly decorated hero of the Kilrathi War. Terrell has since been put in charge of all military vessels in the Tolnidan Sector and he takes his command very seriously. He plans to clean up the entire sector.

The Church of Man
These fanatics, also called Retros, link all the tragedies of human history to technological progress. Some member believe they are on a holy mission to liberate mankind from its technological enslavement. To that end they employ terrorist tactics against those whom they perceive as advocates of technology advancement.

Commodore Reismann
Commodore Reismann has been given a special directive from Admiral Terrell - eradicate all piracy in the Tolnidan Sector. Reismann, a bloodthirsty commander, is just the man for the job. He has been assigned a force that rivals any frontline Confed Battle Group.

Doctor Lemuel Monkhouse
The good doctor is one of the foremost authorities in the newly developing field of xenoarcheology, the study of the remains of alien civilizations. Everyone seems to be interested in the doctor's work. The Confederacy, the mob, many private corporations, the Kilrathi...

Roman Lynch
Lynch and his family rule the mob that has total control over nearly all crime in the Tonidan Sector. He is very young for a man who has risen to such a position. He is brutal and uncompromising, but rewards loyalty. Ultimately, he knows that he must answer to even more powerful crime families that still reside on Earth.

Salman Kroiz
Like Grayson Burrows, Kroiz is also new to the world of Trade Commander. Unlike Burrows, he begins his career with a top-of-the-line starship and is immediately in demand for a wide assortment of jobs. When the competition is close, Kroiz is not above undercutting his rival through fair means or foul. Subtlety is not one of his strong points.

William Riordian
The impetuous Riordian is the longtime rival of Grayson Burrows. Players often find themselves competing with Riordian for jobs and missions. A bitter and resentful rivalry has developed between Riordian and Burrows, and each one is always looking to outdo the other.

System Requirements

Computer: IBM-PC or 100% compatible 386SX, 386, 486
Required: Hard Drive, 2 MB RAM
Graphics: 256 color VGA
Music: Ad Lib, Sound Blaster, Roland or 100% compatible required
Recommended: Joystick and Sound Board

Final Two

Oh, I finally found those last to WC figures... here are my comments...

Maniac Marshall: No special accessories, just the small and large Confederation guns. The figure itself is refreshing, as that they have him in his blue uniform rather than the red flight suit. If they do another line all they need to do is swap heads between this figure and Blair in flight suit...

Commodore Taggart: Again, no special accessories -- just the two guns. The figure doesn't really look that much like Paladin -- he has a sort of goofy expression -- but he does bear a striking resembelance to Brownhair from Privateer. He's got a cool leather jacket and everything...

4dfx Future

Sounds Good!

What Dreams May Come

Origin Targets the Future

When the revolving door of employment starts turning at game companies, people start wondering, who is coming, who is going and why? The revolving door at Origin has been turning with smooth consistency since the beginning of the year, possibly indicating the company's refocused efforts toward online gaming.

According to David Swofford, Director of Communications at Origin, 17 employees have left involuntarily since Jan 1. However, he is careful to note that Origin has more employees now than it did one year ago. "We're actively recruiting people at Origin on our various product development teams," he said. "These comings and goings don't represent anything unusual in our business. The company is constantly assessing and reassessing its position and the status of its products and part of that review process involves analyzing our personnel and how these people fit into the current strategy. This should be viewed as nothing more than business as usual in this industry."

It has been widely reported that Origin is shifting its creative and business focus to online gaming, using renown single-player franchises such as the Wing Commander and Ultima series to leverage the emerging mother lode. Commented Swofford, "Online gaming is a primary focus of the company moving forward. Ultima Online has been a huge success for us and we do plan on moving additional products into the online space in the near future."

What does this portend for the Wing Commander saga? Another online version? Wing Commander: Prophecy Gold continues to be a popular product at retail; however, the episodic release on the Internet in 1998 of Wing Commander: Secret Ops was a successful event for Origin and strengthened the company's presence in the online world. In answer to this question, an evasive Swofford answered, "Wing Commander is very much alive and well at Origin. We will announce plans for the franchise in due time."

Despite a legacy of great single player adventures, one cannot blame the company for its altered state. Ultima Online continues to grow in terms of its subscriber base -- the company is now at 125,000 active accounts in the game -- and the in-game experience. There are new features being added on a regular basis and, according to Swofford, some "extremely exciting news" about the game will be announced in the near future.

In related news, Andy Hollis' group at Origin, which created the Longbow series of games under the Jane's Combat Simulations brand, will be concentrating on an unannounced project at Origin after A-10 Warthog is complete.

More on Masks

Chris & LOAF's Excellent Adventure

Just In a Case

Daylight Update

Article

Letters to the Editor

It Aint There

The Story of Knives

I went in to a cutlery store sunday and asked the dude about the cross. First off, he said that it wouldn't be spring-loaded because switch blades are illegal (which I knew) and that the blade couldn't be over 4 inches because of some law or something. But then I said it was from a movie and he goes 'Oh, yeah, Wing Commander right?' and I kind of laughed. He saw the movie, said it was pretty good but had no idea that they were coming out with the cross because they had yet to get the '99 catalog. He said that the law might be recinded because when people buy something that has a following like say, Wing Commander, the company can get around 60% of the laws so they can release replicas. In other words, it MAY be spring-loaded. So, if you wanted to, you could buy a guns factory and just have them make pulse rifle (from ALIENS) kits to put over assault rifles like an AK-47 if you wanted.

I just want to get the damn cross just because the thing is so fucking cool!

Don't Call Just Yet...

Tee Hee...

Weekend Sales

Weekend Box Office (March 26-28)

#1 Forces of Nature $9.4M
#2 Analyze This $8.6M
#3 EDtv $8.3M
#4 The Mod Squad $6.0M
#5 Doug's 1st Movie $4.4M
#6 Shakespeare in Love $4.2M
#7 True Crime $3.3M
#8 Life is Beautiful $3.2M
#9 Baby Geniuses $2.7M
#10 Cruel Intentions $2.2M
#11 The King and I $2.0M
#12 The Rage: Carrie 2 $1.6M
#13 The Corruptor $1.4M
#14 October Sky $1.1M
#15 Wing Commander $1.1M

A Correction!

What's in a Press Kit?

• 20th Century FOX folder.
• Wing Commander paper bag, containing pictures (WC1-7 or WC2-4).
• 12 page booklet about the story, cast and crew. Has the wrong dates for the movie, explaining many screwed up reviews.
• WC-1: (Top) FREDDIE PRINZE JR. (wearing helmet) plays a hotshot space pilot with incredible navigational skills. (Bottom) (L-R) MATTHEW LILLARD, FREDDIE PRINZE JR., and THECKY KARYO prepare for battle in WING COMMANDER.
• WC-2: (Top) FREDDIE PRINZE JR. (left) holds injured buddy MATTHEW LILLARD, and (bottom) hunts the enemy in WING COMMANDER.
• WC-3: Wing Commander SAFFRON BURROWS enjoys a rare moment of relacation, and (below) gives a stirring speech to the members of her squadron in WING COMMANDER.
• WC-4: Acclaimed international actors (clockwise) DAVID WARNER, THECKY KARYO and JURGEN PROCHNOW play the leaders of a fight to save Earth from an alien attack in WING COMMANDER.
• WC-5: State-of-the-art computer generated special effects are used to depict an epic space battle in WING COMMANDER.
• WC-6: Director CHRIS ROBERTS on the WING COMMANDER set.

Deadly Substances

1.5% Of The Movie For Free

The Source

The Changes We Go Through

Origin Rumblings

Since the beginning of the year, 33 people have left Origin, including 17 who have been laid off. Spokesperson David Swofford said that this is nothing unusual--just the continuing process of evaluating the company's business and personnel needs. In fact, he mentioned that Origin is bigger now than it was this time last year, with approximately 210 employees. Additionally, Origin is actively trying to fill 10 positions.

What's going on? It probably represents Origin's shift to online gaming, which is really all it has planned once Ultima Ascension and A-10 ship. Moreover, the Jane's brand is being moved from Origin's management to EA's control once A-10 is complete. The next Origin game will likely be an online Wing Commander title that would be headed up by famed flight sim guru Andy Hollis.

How strong is the Wing Commander franchise? It's hard to say. Wing Commander IV made back its $10 million development, but barely. Then Wing Commander: Prophecy didn't sell as well as Wing Commander III or IV. Still, Swofford claims that Prophecy was still "very successful" and that "Wing Commander is very much alive and well at Origin." One other interesting note: Ultima Online has now grown to 125,000 active accounts. Origin thinks it can push this figure quite a bit higher, too. Mutha!

A Date For Down Under

Entertainment Asylum Transcript

Q: How did you enjoy working with scream king Matt Lillard?
FreddiPrnz: Matthew is my friend. And when you work with somebody who you already have a relationship with and who you trust, you can't help but do great work with that person. As an actor Matthew brings so much to the table that he's an absolute delight to work with. I'd make a movie with him anyday.

Q: What was it like working with the WC director?
FreddiPrnz: Most of the directors I've worked with are first time directors. So I have experience with first time directors and I respect their passion and that they haven't been corroded by Hollywood yet.

Q: Freddie what was it like to work with Jennifer Love Hewitt in both "I Know What You Did Last Summer" movies?
FreddiPrnz: Jennifer is a very sweet girl. In the first one, we got to spend a lot more time together. I was still up and coming and young at that point. For the second one I was making Wing Commander so they rewrote it to shorten my role so I wouldn't have to be in the whole movie and so I didn't get to see her much. But she's just how you'd think she is, very nice loving and sweet.

Q: Will you see the Wing Commander movie in theaters?
FreddiPrnz: I'll go see the trailer, but it could get crazy if people see you going to see your own movie.

What's a Muppet?

Write Like a Cat

Do It Yourself Cross

Go to your local hardware store and ask them for a product called epoxy putty. It's a long strip of blue and yellow putty, probably rolled up in clear plastic and sells for about $4.00 bucks (this will last you several sculpting projects, or Blair pilgrim crosses, whichever comes first). You knead the yellow and blue together to make green. A small piece should do. Then, you can use the painted on cross as a guide for sculpting a real 3D cross right onto the figure. For the sculpting you can use anything that's handy: a pencil point dipped into nail polish and allowed to dry, any kind of pointed tool should do, even a paper clip. Something a little broader, but still small, to smooth some areas down like the flat tip of a fountain pen, you get the point. It's really not hard. Give it a try on some scrap at first, then try in on a spare shelf display figure rather than your collector figure. When I find a figure, I'll show you. Oh, and don't put oil paint directly onto the dried and hardened putty (about a couple hours), you should use a barrier first.

Updated Promotional Merchandise List

• Electronic Press Kit - VHS casette. 37 minutes long, including clips from the movie.
• Postcards - 3 5x7 cards of Blair, Angel and Maniac.
• Poster - Theatrical poster, available as either single or double sided.
• Press Kit - Includes a 12 page booklet and 3 to 7 pictures. One variant includes a set of slides.
• Shirt - T-shirt featuring various logos, available in Large and Extra Large.

Alien versus Wha?

Weekend Earnings

Weekend Box Office (March 18-21)

#1 Forces of Nature $13.5M
#2 Analyze This $11.7M
#3 True Crime $5.2M
#4 Baby Geniuses $4.3M
#5 Cruel Intentions $4.0M
#6 The King and I $4.0M
#7 The Rage: Carrie 2 $3.7M
#8 The Corruptor $3.1M
#9 Shakespeare in Love $2.9M
#10 The Deep End of The Ocean $2.5M
#11 Wing Commander $2.2M

Still Advertising?

Lillard Clip

A Teary Farewell

Hadrian and The Man

Mask Your Signature!

Remember that Kilrathi mask that Cinema Secrets was working on? Well, it's available now! The guys over at CinemaSecrets are kindly snail-mailing me a catalogue, and as soon as I get it I'll post ordering instructions. Until then, check out these pictures of their two Wing Commander products... very cool, I can't wait to get mine.

How to Get a Poster

How to Get A Woman, 5 Men and 2 Cats

Sucks to Be Walmart

How to Get a Cross to People

Insert Another Cross Joke Here

A bit more information on the Pilgrim Cross Knife replica: it's 8 11/16ths inches long in its extended position, and 4 7/8ths inches with the blade hidden. It comes with a black wall plaque for display purposes, as well as a stainless steel chain for wearing on your neck. And here's a picture...

Don't Cross Me, Pilgrim

Reviews A'Plenty

• 3DGaming.net
• Apollo Guide
• BoxOffice Magazine
• ChildCare Action Project MOVIE ANALYSES FOR PARENTS
• Chicago Sun Times
• Cinematter
• Cinescape
• CultureVulture
• Detroit News
• Entertainment Weekly
• eye WEEKLY
• E!Online
• Film.com
• FilmCritic
• The Flick Filosopher
• HBO
• Jam! Movies
• Kids in Mind
• Matt Easterbrook
• Los Angeles Daily News
• MediaCircus
• The Movie Mecca
• MSN Sidewalk
• Mr. Cranky Rates the Movies
• Mr. Showbiz
• NewsDay
• News Observer, Raleigh, NC
• New York CitySearch
• The New York Times
• Nitrate Online
• Preview On-Line
• The Reel Deal
• The Reel Site
• ReelViews
• Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
• Rough Cut
• The Sacramento Bee
• Spliced
• San Francisco Chronicle
• San Francisco Examiner
• Screen It!
• The Sun
• Syracuse New York Times
• SciFi.com
• Teen Movie Critic
• Unformat.com
• Variety
• Village Voice
• The Washington Post
• Winston-Salem Journal

Armada Battle Challenge

Ok, once again I place a challenge on the group for anyone wanting to do battle in the Wing commander universe, using ARMADA of course, heh. I have it working on my Win95 machine, so if anyone needs help getting it going I might have some tips. I will pay for the 1st battle and if you want to battle again then you call me the 2nd time, this way we effectively split any long distance charges. I am in Santa Barbara, California, USA. I get 5c/minute all weekend to anywhere in the USA. So if anyone in the US wants to battle and has Aramada, you have nothing to lose. I will call 1st and then you don't have to call back for another battle:), FREE for you that way

Lets Fight!,

-Jon callsign:Tiger22

Another Chance At Roberts

Scifi.com Sounds Important

WC Holds Strong Without CIC Support

Catching Up

The Cross I Bear

I Shall Toy With My Prey...

First of all, let me apologize for not updating sooner... I've been busy with school & work, and sort of sick. That said, my local Babbages got in the Wing Commander Movie figures on Wednesday, and held some for me. On a whole, they're very nice. The packaging is fairly generic, aside from a bar on the side identifying the character. Each figure comes with weapons, accessories and a glossy trading card that has information from the Confederation handbook on the back. Here's my figure by figure analysis of what I have so far... (I'm still trying to find Maniac & Paladin).

Kilrathi Pilot: Both cat figures are rather cool, the pilot being the coolest. Four pieces of his armor come off, two around the hips (so he can sit down) and two on the arms. He has a Dor-Chak which fits over his arm, and a rebreather, with a tube which can be connected to his armor.

Kilrathi General: The general has the same snap-off armor as the pilot, and also comes with a Dor-Chak. He has a little removable hat, and the detail on his face is good enough so that you can see the fact that he lost an eye at McAuliffe...

Angel: Angel is one of the blander figures accessory-wise. She comes with only the small gun she used to threaten Maniac, and a larger marine rifle. She's dressed in a nicely detailed flight suit, and her saving grace is the fact that her face looks surprisingly like her character. Her hair seems cooler than Star Wars hair too...

Pilgrim Traitor: Although he wasn't in the movie, the Pilgrim Traitor still made for a pretty cool toy. He's got a nicely detailed space suit, complete with a little cross attached. His helmet, backpack and oxygen tube remove to reveal... Admiral Wilson! It looks like him, too!

Blair as a Marine: The better of the two Marine figures, Blair as a marine comes with a cool colorful backpack, a helmet, a marine gun, a smaller gun and an oxygen tube. My only problem with this figure is that there's no clear material over the front of the helmet, which would have been really cool...

Blair in Flight Suit: This was the worst figures of the ones I've gotten so far. He only came with the two standard Confed guns, and his little Pilgrim Cross is only painted on -- presumably so they can use the same mold to make more 'in flight suit' figures in the future. If they do, I forgive them...

20,000 Dollars

Various Things

Another Neato Poll

CIC America - Back Soon

Trailerless

It's Official

Weekend Box Office (March 12-14)

#1 Analyze This $15.7M
#2 The Rage: Carrie 2 $7.4M
#3 Cruel Intentions $7.0M
#4 The Corruptor $5.9M
#5 Baby Geniuses $5.8M
#6 Deep End of the Ocean $5.6M
#7 Wing Commander $5.0M
#8 The Other Sister $3.9M
#9 8MM $3.6M
#10 October Sky $3.1M

Movie Sales Estimates

Not So Evil Avatar

Poster MK II

Poster Request

Another 3 Qs

CINESCAPE: How did you get around the budget restrictions to capture the look you wanted?

Brown: With a space movie there is a temptation to do a lot of model photography because its always been done that way. But we don't have resources to do what Industrial Light & Magic does, so you try to make the best of what you have. We had eight months and a little over $5 million. Because the budget on Wing Commander was so tight, it was a great opportunity to go strictly CG. The amount of flexibility you have in designing the shots and the dynamic you can put into shots because of the opportunity to fly the aircraft in any which way you want makes a big difference.

CINESCAPE: Can you describe how that flexibility makes a difference? What would be something the audience might notice?

Brown: There's a large battle sequence that probably has about 15 spacecraft doing some really dynamic dogfight [maneuvers] that I know we would not have been able to create on a model stage only with models--we would have added in CG aircraft to enhance it. We were able to push how close we get to a digital model and also how close we can run along the side of that model. We could also show the enemy aircraft diving and taking hits at it and having explosions go off right in your face.

CINESCAPE: Sounds exciting.

Brown: What we were able to do was really build this sequence based on true aerial photography because we could create our own background plates. Then we could fly the digital models in any [configuration] we want. It was a great opportunity to push the limit on the look of everything

Staff Review

Trivia Reminder

Report From The Great Ones

Return Of The Dan

Eon Article

Gamespot Reports

Gamecenter Too

French Movie Release

Preview? Its Out Already

Microsoft Promotion

RibMan

My Bad

One Good One Bad

Wing Commander Competition

ESC Magazine (www.escmag.com) will give 10 winners a WC movie T-shirt and poster and a copy of WC Prophecy. Just visit the site starting Saturday, March 13, and click on the WC banner. Deadline for entries is March 27.

And while you're there, read our review of WC Prophecy and other games, and pop by our free discussion boards, including a new WC movie forum. Love the film? Hate it? Let us and other fans know.

Movie Time!

Bad Reactions

FOXy Advertising

Backup Systems

Entertainment Tonight Blurb

Prophecy Lens Flares

Starlog Movie Hits Wing Commander Review

Well, I finally found a copy of the magazine... here's my thoughts!Good: The sketches are the best part -- seeing how the movie was first envisioned. Basically, the movie magazine is a good wrapup of all the movie news that's been reported. It has the cast bios, all the old screenshots, the SFX information... but nothing really new. It's a good introduction for people who haven't been following the movie's development.

Bad: If I didn't have anything better to do, I would make it my mission in life to hunt down and kill the man who did the corny subtitles. And what the nutboy does "New adventure beyond the space wars!" mean on the cover?

Extra: There's a nifty contest, and a cool poster.

Aint It Cool Review

Well I just got home from a sneak preview here in Tulsa. I think it;s the first review so I'm not typing much! It's "original but disappointing." But not soo-bad that you should avoid it, and nobody walked out.. There was no SW trailer. I have played the games and they tied a lot fo stuff in there, but I was surprised how much they tried to fit in. When you hear all the familiar names with an audience who doesn't know any of it (I assume) you realize there is too much. Anyhow the ffects were good, colorful anyway, and it definitely has a war style all of its own, I didn't think it was ripping off anything particular. The story is a bit kiddie-like. I have to go see it again to absorb it all. They did change quite a bit of stuff from the games, but I don';t have a problem with that unlike some of my friends.

The Final Picture? Just In Time...

It's a tiny SFX shot from TIME... perhaps the last movie picture before the release...

More Better Reviews!

Is it a total kick ass movie? Nope.

Is it good. Yup. It's pretty good. It has a good look to it. The younger folks can't act their way out of a paper bag (Prinze has pretty much one expression). Saffron's mighty cute, so I cut her some slack ;)

VERY cool opening title sequence. Some creativity definitely went into that.

The Pilgrim traitor subplot has been completely excised from the movie. Funny since the traitor is getting an action figure, and is never even hinted at on screen. (read the book)

Love the Kilrathi subtitles, appear first in their text then are overlayed with english.

Disappointed we didn't get more Kilrathi, which I think is the weakest part of the film. Sure, we know the Kilrathi are the enemy, but we don't get to know them at all.

Went to go see a free sneak preview of WC-It was OK, with two minor screwups. First off, the data from Tolwyn was recorded on a Minidisc??? In 26?? Geez! Second, on his communique to Sansky, Tolwyn spells his name Towlyn! Watch for this in the movie. However, the sneak preview provided lots of cool stuff, like a free Poster, ticket (featuring poster) and a bitchin Long sleeve Wing Commander T-shirt! All this, and the movie for free! Woohoo!

Identification Chart

A team is on their way to Austin tomorrow morning! If you're going to be at the premiere, you can look for us... (some of these are fairly old... I'm not that ugly). From left to right it's LOAF, ChrisReid and Bee Czar... (and Dan the movie guy).

Waxing Nostalgic

When I was a much younger fan, posting messages at Origin’s Wing Commander Chat Zone (may it rest in peace), rumors of a Wing Commander motion picture were common - my old friends and I would shoot them down as being just that, rumor, while at the same time praying that someday they might be more than that. I don’t think anyone who stared in awe at the original Wing Commander ten years ago has ever doubted that if any computer game should ever be made into a film, this was it. That said, it’s finally happened, and regardless of the quality of the movie, getting there may have been the best part of the trip.

Anyone here who’s been a part of the community long enough to remember WCHS from years back may remember the time we posted an internal memo from Sony which contained a review of the first version of the Wing Commander script. We may have had a lot of official confirmations and such on the memo, but I don’t know if there was anybody who actually believed in the thing back then. How little we knew. I think our hopes for a movie were dashed several times - Chris Roberts leaving Origin, Origin not being interested, etc. Still, it happened. I can’t really find adequate words to describe the past year - so I’ll stick to the simple stuff. Reporting news on the movie made me feel good. Really good. Whenever someone on the set sent in photographs, or whenever somebody was kind enough to scan an article we couldn’t get for us, it felt good reporting about it. I’ll never forget Peter Telep asking for a few WC facts for his book. I’ll never forget how it felt to get a copy of the script. I’ll never forget when Origin accidentally put up movie story boards instead of Prophecy story boards. I’ll never forget the moments of joy that followed the hours of waiting for copies of the handbook and the novels to arrive. I’ll never forget taping long sections of FOX to grab the commercial, or running out in the middle of the night to grab the nearest copy of some Wing Commander magazine or book. I’ll probably never forget getting to go to the premiere. Hell, I’ll never forget braving a snowstorm to grab the soundtrack yesterday.

So, in the final analysis, say whatever you want about the movie. I have every reason to believe that it’ll be exactly what everyone says - a cheap, clichéd science fiction war flick. Then, that’s one of the things I’ve always loved about Wing Commander. The next 24 hours are going to be one hell of a trip…

A Few Fan Reviews

How should I say this, this movie SUCKS big time. I have read varies message on the web about how bad this movie maybe but after reading the Novel (been out about 3 weeks) I actually thought that it may be OK. Was I wrong! I don't know how closely the novel follows the actual shooting script but they basically took out all the best moment in the novel leaving a empty shell of a movie. If you saw the 2 minute trailer, don't bother seeing the movie because you have seen the best parts already and the rest will just leaves you disappointed.

I will break my review into three parts, the story and the FX and the Cast.

First the story.

The novel was actually interesting with the introduction of the pilgrims. It seems that the Confed have just gotten thru a civil war of sort before encountering the Kirathis. The Pilgrim are early terran explorer that use pulsar as jump points which resulted in a genetic drift that allow them to calculate jump coordinates without a jump computer and the ability to navigate space time itself. They began to feel superior to the rest of the human race and eventually a civil war resulted with most of the Pilgrim being wipeout and the few survivor are now sabutoring the the war effort against the Kilrathis.

This was a good source of suspense for the novel, you keep trying to guess which of the officer/crew might be a pilgrim saboturer. the plot line was totally removed from the movie except a few line questioning Blair's heritage.

If you were expecting to see things from the Kilrathi perspective, forget it. While the novel devoted a few chapter to scenes on the Kilrathi Flagship, which helps bring the Kilrathi to life for the newcomers. They were all but gone in the movie and the Kilrathi ended up the classic cardboard villian.

Without the Pilgrim plotline and the Kilrathi perspective, the rest of the moive was just quite uninteresting and the jagged editing didn't help either. it always seems that the viewer are either dropped right in the middle of a scene or yanked out of a scene prematurely.

Onto the FX.

The Ship design is bad, period. It seems they want a WWII retro look and it sucks. the Tiger Claw looks like a sub in space, the rapiers looks like WWII F-4U cosair with part of their wings chopped off. I would gladly take ships from the game over the ones in the movies anyday.

The WWII mentality also extend to the space battle, Missiles looks like they are launched out of WWII submarines, there are even scenes of cap ship trading broadsides, Destroyers dropping depth charges, Rapiers comes off the runway taking a dip before rising up a la a carrier launch.

The space scenes are also so dark that it's hard to make out any detail, the FX sequence are also very short with a minimum amount of dogfighting scenes. I can truely say that there are more and better space battle in season 3 and 4 of Babylon 5.

Now the Cast.

A lot of people were laughing at the poster boy/girl image of Starship Trooper's actors and actresses but they would win Oscars compare to the WC lot, although the the older cast members handled themselves reasonably well , the junior cast just does not hold together well, the line seems forced and the expression seems faked a lot of the time.

The Bottomline:

If you want to see this movie for the story, go get the novel.

If you want to see this movie for the FX, go see babylon 5 or just load up WCP on a big screen TV.

If you want to see thsi movie for the actting, go load up WC III and IV, you'll get better acting from either one.

The movie (a brief 90 or so min. long) had an impressive first half which degenerated into a mindless blast-fest the second half. The characters could have been better developed; the second half completely lacked any plot whatsoever. Instead of one climactic battle, there were about five small ones which seemed to bore the audience after awhile.

The retro-future look was interesting, especially how it imitated a submarine in parts. Hello, Jurgen Prochnow! Can anyone say "Das Boot"? There was a scene which involved being quiet while the Tiger Claw (note the subtle name change from WC1) was being "pinged" by enemy sonar or something. With all the creaking and cracking, it reeked of its underwater predecessor. The script was decent, but had some flaws. The acting passed, but one thing that audibly disturbed the audience was the sudden intense relationship between Blair and Angel. I won't give anything away, but this (one scene in particular) had people groaning in dismay.

The score was amazing, the special effects likewise impressive. The steel armadillo Kilrathi were devoid of personality, though. The scenes where they talk (w/ on-screen subtitles) are cliches. There is definitely room for a sequel, but with the way 20th Century Fox is (not) advertising the film, they'll be lucky to break even. The TV ads (which I have yet to see) are on seldom-seen channels like Sci-Fi channel. None of my friends have even HEARD of this movie. This is sad, because with a $27 million budget, the profit margins could be huge. Fox's only selling point seems to be the Star Wars trailer (which hopefully will be there on Friday). Anyway, I digress. On a scale of four stars, I give this one "2". I was the most lenient of the three people who went with me. I still recommend seeing it, if you're big into WC. Any comments?

I just got back from an advance screening of the Wing Commander movie. I was very disappointed with the movie. Here are the reasons why: 1 There is very little character development. 2 The fact that Blair is a pilgrim is over played. 3 Awkward dialouge, the audience laughed at the serious scenes it was so bad. 4 Special Effects were just average. 5 Holes in the plot , like why Blair, a pilot, was assigned to a marine mission. 6 The Kilrathi only had about 3 minutes of screen time, and they looked stupid. 7 Not very good dog-fighting scenes. 8 very little continuity with the established WC universe. Calling this movie "Wing Commander" is like Tristar calling it's Iguanazilla "Godzilla". After seeing this movie I am glad that Chris Roberts is no longer is involved with the making of the Wing Commander games, since it seems he will do anything to make WC appeal to a wider audience. In the long-run I think this movie could do more to hurt the WC franchise than to help it. My advice is to not see the movie and to stay home and play through the games again, which have much more involving, indepth plotlines.

The movie wasn't all that great. The special effects were awesome. All the Rapiers were were hyped up retro space WWII fighters with chain guns instead of lasers and poorly attached missals. The story was rather corny and most of the audience was laughing at the "dramatic" scenes, that includes myself. Paladin was some French man. Not to mention pilots NEVER participate in grunt work, EI shooting cats with rifles. Blairs character was nothing as it has carried through, he doesn't flaunt his stuff. Skipper missals don't exist in that time frame, neither does the Concordia. Believe me, I give this review in being a true fan of Origin's Wing Commander Series...

California Article

By TYLER McLEOD -- Calgary Sun Like its ghostly name, a new trailer for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace may mysteriously materialize at theatres next week. Various sources are reporting the ad boasting hitherto unseen characters will accompany Wing Commander when it opens on Friday. Both films are from 20th Century Fox. Neither LucasFilm nor Fox in the U.S. and Canada would confirm the rumour. The pairing, however, does seem to make a lot of sense. Wing Commander is a flashy battle flick set in the 27th century and should attract an audience already geared towards Star Wars. Wing Commander is based on a video game of the same name and stars Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard. The popular computer adventure even featured Luke Skywalker, Mark Hamill. "I think running the two together is a terrific idea," says Paul Dergarabedian, of the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, adding the word-of-mouth among Star Wars devotees is a great marketing tool for Commander. "Why would you want to spend $30 million to market a $30 million movie?"

When the first teaser for the Star Wars prequel was released last November, audience figures surged for accompanying films like Meet Joe Black, The Waterboy and The Siege. In fact, many theatres reported fans leaving immediately after the preview.

Good News, Star Wars Fans!

JMS on WC

I'm curious if you have seen the commercials for the movie "Wing Commander". It opens with the narrator saying "Earth's Last Hope", and he sounds so much like the narrator for Babylon 5. I wondered if you would think this a compliment to your opening of Babylon 5.

No, I'm fine with it; it ain't like we copyrighted that phrase, and they probably didn't think of us at all in that regard. I'll certainly try to see the film if I can, since I enjoyed the game.

Wing Commander Movie Soundtrack Review

Here's one of my standard issue reviews, for the Wing Commander Movie Soundtrack. To get this I braved the largest snowstorm in recent years here in Maryland, and found it at a Barnes & Noble. It was the last copy available, and the guy there mentioned that he had been shocked by the fact that all of them had disappeared very quickly...

Good: Epic. Frickin epic. This music is absolutely wonderful, and is already stuck in my head. I know nothing technical about music, so I don't know what its based on or such, but I do know that I love this -- I really love this. I'm visualizing scenes from the movie script to the music, and my view of the films quality just jumped up several notches.

Bad: It would have been nice to have the rest of the lesser-quality movie tracks, but it's definatly not essential. I suppose the worst thing about the soundtrack is the fact that the CD isn't itself visually as cool as some of Sonic Images other stuff...

Extra: The booklet included is rather cool, including a letter from Chris Roberts and some CGI images from the movie itself.

TIME for Wing Commander

LEAVE YOUR JOYSTICK AT HOME
Any of the 5 million people who own Wing Commander, the perenially popular space-wars game for the PC, could imagine that its developer, Chris Roberts, had big aspirations. After all, this is the guy who created an elaborate futuristic world where humans battle the evil Kilrathi race across the galaxy. At last Roberts' cyberfantasies get the colossal scale they deserve in the movie version of his game opening Friday. Expect dazzling effects in this, the first PC game adapted for film.

-3 Days!

Tuesday Treat

For Los Angeles Fans

MP3 Mania

Tracking the Sounds

Here's a Commercial...

Prevalent Magazines

No Star Wars Trailer?

The new trailer will be placed into general release, running on a wide variety of films over the coming weeks. Contrary to speculation, it will not be attached to any particular film, including Wing Commander, and in fact may not even play with Wing Commander. There is no assurance the trailer will play with any particular movie and you will need to contact your local theater for information on where the trailer will run in your area.

Word from The Man

Hey, Folks:

Finished the final revision of the book on Sunday. It will be on my editor's desk on Tuesday morning, and that I'll be screening WC here in Orlando.

Working now on Pilgrim Truth, the last in what I've envisioned as a three book arc that chronicles the Pilgrim stories. I've stayed in this area so that I wouldn't cross over into any of Bill Forstchen's territory.

Let me tell you, I'm having a total blast writing these books. If I get the time, maybe I'll drop a little paragraph or so teaser...

Go see the movie! Go buy the book!

Peter Telep

Make Mine McCubbin

Day Four

Check Him Out

Just saw a commercial for, of all things, Donny & Marie's talk show. Freddie Prinze Jr. is going to be on the show tomorrow so check your local listings! (It airs on a FOX channel in the Bay Area, not sure about elsewhere)

Magazine Released!

So, how is the magazine? Eh. I hate Starlog with a passion. I loved it when I was a kid when it first came out. But it consistently has the ugliest, cheap looking graphic design and that carries over into this magazine.

Content wise it's okay. Lots of pics, most we've seen before. There's a nice gatefold cover, the inside of which features design art of the various ships.

Freddie Prinze Jr's interview just made me laugh. He's a hell of a PR guy. He mentioned how great the script was more often than ShadwLight mentions his exclusive relationship with Digital Anvil! ;)

All in all, I think the CIC could've put together a much better magazine!

Does it ever end?!

Merchandise Update

F-109 vs TIE Fighter

Trust No One

Behind the Music

CIC Y2K FAQ!

If you're like most people, you're probably wondering how the infamously overhyped Y2K Bug will affect the CIC. To answer these questions, please allow myself to introduce... myself...

Q: So, me, how will the Y2K Bug affect the Combat Information Center?

A: Immediately after Midnight, December 31st 1999, all newly posted dates at the CIC will say '2000' instead of '1999'.

Q: God have mercy on us all. So you're saying we should begin stockpiling canned food and firearms?

A: Yes, I strongly urge any CIC reader who is accidently taking this seriously to be prepared for this momentous change, which is sure to bring about destruction, fire, death and several instances of people forgetting to put '2000' instead of '1999'.

EW Article

On a Wing and a Prayer

Wing Commander Director Chris Roberts Shoots Game

Like most children of Pong, Chris Roberts grew up with two obsessions: video-games and Star Wars. He just may have been a little more obsessed than others. On gray days in his hometown of Manchester, England, Roberts spent afternoons assembling Lucasian spacecraft out of Legos. At 13, he taught himself digital animation. And by his late 20s, he had sold millions of his hit series of computer games, the intergalactic strategy adventure Wing Commander. He even got Mark Hamill to appear in two titles.

Now, with the March 12 release of Wing Commander, the motion picture, Roberts has, at 30, come full circle. Of course, the master's own Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace is also being released this spring, but Commander isn't entirely without ammo. The $27 million feature stars teen idol Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard, both hot in the wake of She's All That; Peter Lamont, the Oscar-winning production designer from Titanic, oversees the set decoration. Still, Roberts isn't planning to blow up the Death Star. "Star Wars is definitely the 800 pound gorilla," he says. "We're proud of our effects work, but we know we're not going to look that good."

This could be a bit of British modesty. Or maybe it's plain old fear. As the director of the movie version of Wing Commander, Roberts is going where no game maker has gone before. If the film tanks, he won't be able to simply blame it on someone else's lame interpretation of his material; he'll have to eat the reels himself. If that's not enough pressure, there's the inescapable stink factor of previous game-to-film conversions. Remember seeing Super Mario Bros. at the theaters? Hope not.

Ever since Tron (one of the few films that actually preceded the game) hit the screens in 1982, Hollywood has been drooling over the disposable income that has helped make computer games a multibillion dollar industry. Undaunted by the lackluster success of movies like Street Fighter, producers are gearing up to film recent gaming hits like Tomb Raider, Duke Nukem and Doom/Quake. Once you take out the interactivity, though, there had better be something to keep the audience's attention - namely, characters and a script. "Some games in the past have been brought [to the screen] simply because the game is successful," Roberts says, "not because of a compelling story."

Roberts, however, may have a fighting chance. After all, he's lived with his game's characters for nine years, and he does know a thing or two about filmmaking. After the success of the first three titles in the game series, Roberts reportedly procured an unprecedented $10 million budget from Origin Systems to produce 1996's Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom, using the cash to cast and direct his old heroes Hamill and Malcolm McDowell. WCIV, which follows the space war between the heroic Confederation and the lionlike alien Kilrathi, pioneered live-action filmmaking in games. Though the filmed scenes essentially served as transitions, they helped inject star power into the genre - a trend that has continued with titles like last year's Apocalypse, starring Bruce Willis.

Bitten by the movie bug, Roberts did something that seemed brash at the time. He negotiated the film rights from Origin and left to go on his own. But just after he opened his new company, Digital Anvil, in Austin, Tex., Roberts got a nice vote of confidence in the way of an estimated $75 million investment from Microsoft. And in case anyone wondered how serious he was about making his cinematic dreams come true, he signed director Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi, The Faculty) as a partner - although Anvil's publicist admits that Rodriguez has since been too busy for much collaboration or even advice. Based in part on the success of his games, Roberts then struck a deal with Fox that helped him cast and distribute the big-screen Wing Commander.

While the Wing Commander film riffs on the original series - a newbie pilot, Christopher Blair (Prinze), has to fend off an alien attack - the film opts for a World War II aesthetic over the game's Star Wars-y vibe. "We're trying to include some surprises, but without alienating the fans," says the director. Meanwhile, if there's anyone more nervous than Roberts about the film's success, it's probably the folks over at Origin, which retains the Wing Commander name and continues to churn out products in the series. "[As the game's producers,] the concern is, what if the feature film doesn't perform well?" says Neil Young, Origin's general manager. "What if it just isn't very good?"

In that case, Roberts at least still has a lucrative day job; his next project is to complete Digital Anvil's upcoming game Freelancer, due in stores in 2000. And no matter the outcome of his directorial debut, Roberts says this trip to the far away galaxy of Hollywood won't be his last.

May the force be with him.

Good Review?!

After the shit that was Alien Resurection and Starship Troopers, I was about to give up on space movies, but that all changed when i got invited to a Wing Commander test screeening. It kicked ass as I played every version of the game there is. This film was cheap as well, 30 million dollar budget is cheap compared to alot of other space movies. I will not give anythign away, see this movie when it comes out it kicks ass and proves that teens can do more than run from ghost masks!!

More Commercials!

Get Premiere Tickets

And the Third Book is...

3D Magazine!

Official Update

The Wing Commander Movie site has been updated with pictures of some of the merchandise, and added music to the shockwave trailer. Check out the action figure packaging, the two delayed ships and two new retail posters!

Commercial Conclusions Again

Commercial Conclusions

There are now three confirmed Wing Commander commercials! As follows...

Original: The first commercial shown, similar to the 30 second downloadable trailer.

Tagline: Commercial with more SFX ending with the movie's tagline.

7 Days: Commercial which notes that the movie is 7 days away.

Lillard Mention

The METHOD ACTOR

He's hung with De Niro and Depp. He knows Scarface and Hamlet line for line. And when he's not acting, he's acting out. The rebel without applause is played by MATTHEW LILLARD, a Scream psycho who pops up in four films this year, including S.L.C. Punk!, Wing Commander, and She's All That.

Cinescape Questions Roberts

3 Questions With Chris Roberts Believe it or not, you actually might have a reason to stick around for the feature after you're done watching the new Star Wars trailer this month. That's because 20th Century Fox most likely will tie the Episode One preview to prints of Wing Commander, a sci-fi actioner starring Freddie Prinze Jr. that's based on the best-selling computer game series. The game was the brainchild of British-born designer Chris Roberts, who also was given the opportunity to direct the relatively low-budget $27 million film. CINESCAPE recently caught up with Roberts to ask what moviegoers can expect from the film:

Q: How would you describe Wing Commander?

For me, it's sort of like a classic, nautical World War II movie, taking elements of Das Boot, or Tora! Tora! Tora! and sort of updating it and putting it in a science-fiction universe. It's sort of a World War II movie with a sci-fi spin.

Q: Why did you want to give it that World War II-feel?

The original game was sort of based on the war of the Pacific, but it was put in space because putting it in space is more fun. No one can say, 'No that's not the way the plane flies.' In the future you get to create things and take all the good bits and not worry about all the bad bits. That was the original inspiration for the game. But I'm a huge fan of World War II movies anyway and I thought it would be really great to take that concept onto the screen. So in the actual design of the picture, when you're on the ships or you're seeing the fighters flying around they're meant to be very evocative of submarines or World War II battleships or fighters. In the future that's probably not what space ships are going to look like but it was a definite style we wanted to go with to try to set the movie apart from other things like Star Wars. Obviously its a bit difficult to compete with that movie since it's the grandaddy of them all.

Q: You scored a bit of a coup by casting Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard as your leads, because they just had a hit with She's All That. Were they familiar with the game?

Oh, yeah. Freddie is a game player and Matt plays a fair amount of games as well, so that aspect made it a lot of fun.

A Third Commercial?

Freddie Chat

Review the WC Movie Novel!

Subject: Wing Commander Novel
Date: 4 Mar 1999 23:34:00 GMT
From: ptelep@aol.com (PTelep)
Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com
Newsgroups: alt.games.wing-commander

Hey, folks:

If you've read the Wing Commander film novel and would care to write a review of it at Amazon.com, I'd really appreciate it. And send me your queries via email. I'm working on two more WC books right now, and it's great to listen to what the fans want. Hell, I'm a fan myself.

Peter Telep

Attention Montrealians

Yahoo Can Be Good

• Chris Roberts & Todd Moyer: 7:30 PM ET, March 10th.
• David Warner: 9:00 PM ET, March 10th.
• Tcheky Karyo: 3:30 PM ET, March 11th.
• Matthew Lillard: 4:30 PM ET, March 11th.
• Freddie Prinze Jr.: 5:30 PM ET, March 11th.

See the Premiere!

ShowBiz Transcript

MORET: Joining us now is one of those young stars in the family business, Freddie Prinze Jr. His next assignment: taking on an alien race in the futuristic film, "Wing Commander." You return from the 26th century to come back here to talk about it. Tell us about this film. First of all, it was a very big CD-ROM, big video game. It did, I'm told, more than $100 million as a CD-ROM, which would be a hit film in any language.

FREDDIE PRINZE JR., ACTOR: Yeah, that would be nice.

MORET: And now, you're in the new genesis of this.

PRINZE: Yeah, I'm in the part one, and it's like World War II, like 700 years in the future. It really is. It's very -- The director of the movie also made the game, the guy who directed the film, he create the game and he like knows everything about -- He's this huge World War II buff, so he made it -- It's very, like, symbolic. It's cool.

MORET: Now, obviously, this film will appeal to folks who like "Stars Wars." We're also being told that there's a possibility that the new "Star Wars" trailer may be in front of your film. Have you heard the same thing?

PRINZE: I have heard the same rumor, and...

MORET: Which would be good news for you.

PRINZE: It would be great news. It would be very good. It would be lovely things. Hopefully if Fox believes in the movie, then they'll do that.

MORET: Well, they clearly believe in the movie because of you in some part because you've got a hit now with "She's All That."

PRINZE: Yeah, "She's All That."

{snip}

MORET: Well, you did your own stunts for "Wing Commander," didn't you?

PRINZE: Yeah.

MORET: And you enjoy doing that?

PRINZE: Yeah, it's fun, man. It's like I'm all hooked up to wires like flying in the air. It's cool. It's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) fun.

MORET: You know why you feel this way? You're 22, you feel you're invincible. It will change. I hope your success doesn't change.

PRINZE: Thank you very, very much.

ShowBiz Segment

Confirmations

New "Episode I" Trailer Due March 12

Call it a really nice hors d'oeuvre for all of us Star Wars weenies out there whose lives until the May 21 prequel premiere have been reduced to waiting...and rabidly consuming every little scrap George Lucas throws our way.

The new Episode I: The Phantom Menace trailer will premiere March 12, running exclusively in front of 20th Century Fox's space-battle-in-the-27th-century, Wing Commander, a well-placed source tells E! News Daily.

As far as official confirmation goes, LucasFilm will only say that no release date for the trailer has been announced yet. Ditto for official Fox comment.

Still, the coupling of the next trailer--purported to reveal more plot points and characters, including an appearance from Episode I's Phantom Menace himself, Darth Sidious--with the like-genred Wing Commander would seem to make sense, given Wing Commander's up-until-now scant promotion and the previous Star Wars trailer's ability to draw crowds to virtually any film. (When it debuted last November, it had people lining up to see the box-office dud Meet Joe Black.)

"I think running the two together is a teriffic idea," says Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, who thinks that the trailer negates the need for Fox to blow the budget marketing Wing Commander. "Why would you want to spend $30 million to market a $30 million movie?"

Why indeed, when you have the drawing power of a Star Wars trailer.

In fact, a prequel trailer represents a major event these days, especially when you consider that the following is being called news by the official Star Wars site (www.starwars.com): Episode I art department coordinator Blake Tucker has announced that subtitles in the film (used to translate "Huttese") will use the font ITC Franklin Gothic Demi Bold, 69 point with -30 tracking, a match to the titles used in the original Star Wars Trilogy.

Just so you know.

As for the film you may or may not stick around for, Wing Commander is based on the popular, eponymous video game that features erstwhile Luke, Mark Hamill. The film version stars Freddie Prinze Jr., Matthew Lillard and Saffron Burrows

STAR WARS EPISODE ONE Trailer Two will be with WING COMMANDER

Alrighty folks, I finally heard from my bug on the bottom of Bill Mechanic's desk, and heard that on the weekend of the 12, 13 and 14... that the guaranteed place to see the 2nd trailer for STAR WARS EPISODE ONE... well... It'll be attached to WING COMMANDER the movie. After that weekend it's likely to be distributed to all types of films, and as far as I know it won't be with CORRUPTOR... unless the theater cuts it off the print of WING COMMANDER and sticks it on CORRUPTOR. According to my little electronic monitoring device tuned into Mr Mechanic... if you wanna see it... go see WING COMMANDER. I guess we can expect a firm announcement from the STARWARS.COM site any day now as... well... it's getting close to the wire.

Yeah... I know you folks in TALK BACK are saying "oooooooollld neeewwws" but this is no longer speculation, but straight from the top. I wasn't posting this bit until I had it absolutely confirmed, as I am sick and tired of speculation as to when the various trailers will hit. It was something like 6 different films the first time... But this is one for the bank...

GameCenter Update

It's the luck of the English. How would you like it if your relatively low-budget $30 million sci-fi flick opened with a brand-new Star Wars: Episode One trailer attached? Just ask Chris Roberts. Strong rumor has it that his Wing Commander movie will open next week with the aforementioned trailer--which would make any movie an absolute killer box-office draw.

Besides the Star Wars trailer, there's apparently some other sweet music to hear. Ain't It Cool News, a fun movie news site, has reviewed the Wing Commander score. According to the review, "David Arnold and Kevin Kiner's soaring score...is, simply, a score which is likely to go on long after the movie itself has faded into oblivion. It's not a tremendous score, but it is huge, energized, and propulsive." Huge, energized, and propulsive? That's not a musical score. That's my stomach the morning after I've whipped up some of my four-alarm chili.

The More Things Change

How Long is it?

3D Article Scans

Whooops, 3D-Design sucks:(

Cool Article

Article Removed.

Commercials

Commercial MP3

Future RM

Commercial RM

Poster News Part Deux

Check out these! It's the Wing Commander poster currently in theaters...

Poster News

We are producing a cut-away poster of the Tiger Claw which is the main ship in the Movie. The poster will be 24"x36" and will be printed in 5 colors on acid free archival paper stock. The scene will include the tiger claw and the fighter ships it carries as well as the Kilrathi fighters in a battle.

We are still working on the technical illustration at this time.

Toy Article

Movie Mail

Subject: Today's In-flight movie
Date: Mon, 1 Mar 1999 15:25:21
From: Wing Commander Announcement
To: Wing Commander Fans

Attention Wing Commander fans:

The Wing Commander movie has become a reality and is coming to a theater near you on March 12th. Check out the latest Wing Commander web site at http://www.wingcommander.com, featuring links to information on the movie. Get the latest scoop on the movie and send an electronic "Wing Commander" postcard to your friend.

Thanks for your support and enjoy the movie.

Vist http://www.wingcommander.com for more information.

An Article in 3D

Wing Commander--from CD to Silver Screen
Digital Anvil's popular computer game Wing Commander is winging its way to the big screen -- join us behind the scenes as we look at the transition from desktop to feature film.

There's Something About Trailers...