Thirteen years ago today, the Wing Commander movie arrived in theaters in the United States. Even after all this time, it's hard to properly quantify the film. While few would argue that Wing Commander was a rousing success, over a decade of analysis from fans and detractors alike has taught us about a strange film whose parts are greater than their sum. It is a movie with astounding contrasts, where incredible art direction and an amazing cast are shattered against impossible demands on editing and the limitations of an untried director's budget. It is also unquestionably different from any other 'game to movie' adaptation. Where all others are quick cash ins for game studios hoping to raise development money with a movie license, Wing Commander was a labor of love brought to the screen by series creator Chris Roberts.
The movie, perhaps unfairly, represents a great deal. It was the last great spectacle before our fandom's prairie years. Something that's simultaneously full of blame and wonder and potential and lost hope that it's nearly impossible to even remember how we felt about it on March 11, 1999. It was the end of innocence for many of us. For Chris Reid and I, who began this site when the frenzy over the movie was coming to a boil, attending the movie's premiere was the last great adventure of our childhoods. Even if I can't objectively claim it was a good movie, I will defend forever that it was an important one.
So happy birthday, Wing Commander. For all the crossed sabres over what the Rapiers look like and the slight pangs of embarrassment when Freddie Prinze Junior acts, you did something most of us can only envy: you tried something spectacularly different and fell on your face... with genuine grace. That's why you'll always have a place on my shelf.
Celebrate the movie's anniversary in style! We've come a long way since the film was first released in VHS and DivX format, and many new ways to see it have emerged. Aside from ordering the film on DVD, gaming consoles and other online services allow you to stream the movie over the net, some of them in HD!
My personal feeling on the Wing Commander film are closely tied to my online history with the fan community. I first started interacting with other fans and reading news of an impending Wing Commander film online in the lead-up to Prophecy. Wing Commander: Home Sector - The Predecessor of WCNews had all kinds of cool news and rumors about the film. I remember being so excited that this movie was going to be made by Chris Roberts himself.
My reactions to the film itself were tempered by the fact that I had to wait for at least a month or more before my local Theater would play the movie. By that time I had heard all the complaints, and there was so much talk about how much better the novel was and how they had cut out all the traitor subplots and whatnot. When I finally got to watch the film, the film itself surprised me. It wasn't really horrible, just very flawed and somewhat flat in the end half. There was quite a bit that I felt the film got right buried under a bunch of what felt wrong.
Somewhere in there, something tweaked in my brain. You could say I'm a bit obsessive at times, and I think I can honestly say that I was fascinated by how something that seemed so promising could have ended up receiving the kind of reception it did. What went wrong? For all the talk about the missing scenes, would it have made a difference? Was there a better film - maybe even a good one - on an editing room floor somewhere?
In the last 13 years we've recovered some amazing behind the scenes material that I think every Wing Commander fan whether you like the film or hate the film owes it to themselves to read. As part of the WCpedia project, we've compiled as much info as we could on the film and it's making into one place. Check it out HERE.
There you will find links to various places that offer the movie for rent via streaming in HD, as well as info on various international versions of the DVD as well as international posters, behind the scenes articles, production photos, interviews, concept art, the scripts themselves, and more. Most notably I'd like to point out the shooting script which I've color coded so that you can easily tell what material either didn't make it into the final cut or that was moved or changed somehow in the editing process. You can find it HERE.
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