Happy Birthday, Wing Commander!

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.