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…