Wild Lines, I Think I Love You

We've got a fascinating piece of Wing Commander archaeology today: the script for Wing Commander III's "wild lines". What's a wild line? Have you ever noticed distant talking in the background during cutscenes and gameflow aboard the Victory? These not-quite-audible-on-their-own PA announcements play to add a sense of texture to the world, making the carrier feel like it's a living, breathing place. And Origin's audio group too the challenge of recording them very seriously... they aren't nonsense lines but a set of 63 intentionally scripted possibilities.

Actually getting to read these lines gets you an interesting sense of life aboard the TCS Victory, with passengers and cargo coming and going and all sorts of shipboard events. Some of them are even specific to missions in the game, like one announcing Hobbes' escape. Most of the names are in jokes, referencing members of the development team like Adam Foshko, Chris Douglas, Chris Roberts and many more. And there are some pretty obscure references to other media in there; who remembers Buck Godot?

1) Chief Foshko please report to Admiral Tolwyn's quarters.
2) Engineers Perez and Leitch are needed in reactor bay seven. Bring CQ60 meson generator packs.
3) Medics required in Chief Potter's laboratory, deck three.
4) Project status meeting in four minutes. Officers Roberts and Savage report to Hollow Deck immediately.
5) Repair crews to flight deck in five minutes. Returning fighters inbound.
6) Chief engineer Daniel to the keel mount control deck immediately.
7) Flight Deck ready for arrivals.
8) Unauthorized fighter departure - bearing 3-22-8 at maximum speed. Sensors indicate Captain Hobbes in the ship.
9) Matter shield lowering.
10) Officer Douglas report to the bridge.
11) Officer Todd report to deck four galley.
12) Technicians Halverson and Downing required in forward gunnery two.
13) Ordnance officer McCall required in Captain Eisen's office.
14) Patrol launch at 1400 hours. All crews report to flight deck.
15) Fighter maintenance crews report to flight control.
16) Excalibur tech briefing at 1200 hours. Engineers Roan and Oljay report to mission room seven.
17) Weapon status report to Captain Eisen's office immediately.
18) Incoming cargo freighter, docking bay ninety-four.
19) Patrol debriefing at 1600 hours. All returning pilots report to mission room two.
20) Commanders Lee and Lee are needed on the bridge.
21) Professor Yenawine's lab is in need of a clean-up. Cleaning crew four report as soon as possible.
22) Security guards Chemla and Shelton needed in the Rec Room immediately.
23) Doctor Steed to excercise room six, we have a possible cardiac arrest.
24) Captain Eisen requests engine maintenance schedules by 2200 hours. Engineer McLean to make the report.
25) Commander Krishnan, flight deck reports your special order XP-38 has just arrived. Please report to docking bay four to take delivery.
26) Officer Day to Commander Vearrier's quarters.
27) Engineers Galway and Shelus to reactor bay twenty-one. Staff report possible flux inversion and your assistance is needed immediately.
28) Deck officer Krishnan please finish your lunch and get to flight control! That's straight from Commander Williams.
29) Chief Technician Ray requires a clean-up crew in his quarters immediately.
30) Warrant Officer Morone to the bridge.
31) All pilots to debriefing, mission room four.
32) Passenger Chow-Yun-Fa, please report to customs.
33) Security Team Kilroy to docking ring nine, terminal zero. Situation Code: Azure. Repeat, Situation Code Azure.
34) All passengers must be briefed on emergency procedures, Class One thru Class Two, before boarding. Please report to the nearest service representative if you have not been briefed.
35) Transport shuttle Jade Grey will be arriving twenty-seven minutes late. Please check any public information terminal for revised docking location.
36) Golden Princess Lines cruiser Shwee Ka has docked at ring three, terminal four. Passengers will be debarking in five minutes.
37) Decompression drill in service area seventeen will be commencing in thirty seconds. This area is declared off-limits to all unauthorized personnel.
38) Emergency exits are located on both wings of main concourse.
39) Will a representative from Diplomatic Contact Services please meet the arriving contingent of Hoffmanites from Foglio's World at Customs?
40) Red areas are for loading and unloading only.
41) Good morning, good morning. Feel free to have another pleasant day.
42) Will passenger Vax, passenger Vax, please report to the nearest paging terminal.?
43) Passenger Paul Headrick or passenger Vincent Lin, please contact the nearest service representative.
44) Priority request for loading transports to containment areas five and six.
45) Code 234K. Code 234U. Received and logged.
46) Last boarding call for Seraphim, docking ring five.
47) Seargeants Amos and Neapolitano, your presence is required at security checkpoint nine Alpha.
48) Security team order five--cancelled. Repeat, security order five has been cancelled.
49) Medical alert. Medical alert. Teams RX-87 and RX-88 please report to the main concourse, walkway nine, immediately.
50) An exhibition of Edo period artifacts from Japan, Earth, will be on display in the main concourse through the end of the month for your enjoyment.
51) Pilots Su Tuin and Wade Walker, briefing in conference room five dash five will begin in twenty minutes.
52) Attention. As required by Confederation law, notification of the inherent risks of traveling during periods of potential conflict must be acknowledged by all passengers.
53) Funeral services for pilots Penya, Rice, and Lackey, will be held in the Universal Chapel at 2400 hours.
54) Repair teams Roth and Whittaker, please report to deck ten.
55) Emergencies may happen at any time. All personnel are required to remain on alert.
56) Off-duty rotations will proceed according to schedules B-9 and R-17 until further notice.
57) Medical alert, medical alert. Medical team TP-6 to main flight deck, bay four.
58) Techs McManus and Hempel, please report to your Duty Officer.
59) Power coupling tests will begin in one minute. All non-critical areas should remain on stand-by.
60) Weapons dry loading runs have been rescheduled. Repeat, weapons dry loading runs have been rescheduled.
61) Transports Carerra and Javidovich will be docking in twenty minutes.
62) Unloading of polydichloroeuthamol lots fifty-seven and fifty-eight will be completed on schedule.
63) Special Envoy Nordquist, your presence is requested in Special Operations, deck five.

Computer Games Strategy Plus Previews Prophecy

Here's a blast from the past: a preview of Wing Commander Prophecy from the October 1997 issue of Computer Games Strategy Plus. This one really brought back memories for me; there's something very special about the dedication you can see behind the Wing Commander Prophecy team... and it's pretty neat that this article was willing to spend so much time introducing so many of the developers involved. This preview was conducted while multiplayer was still planned for the game and it's full of interesting, half-forgotten facts... like the mention that the Vision Engine was rescued from a cancelled game! There are also some stunning rendered screenshots that should all be familiar to anyone that drooled over every piece of promotional material released during Prophecy's press junket...

Reminder: #Wingnut Movie Night Tonight!

This is a reminder that we have another fun #Wingnut movie night planned on Discord this evening! The ongoing theme will be movies that inspired Wing Commander in some way. Tonight's film is Blade Runner and you can find details on why we're watching it in the announcement post here (in a word, New Detroit!). The movie will start about 7 PM PST/10 PM EST but feel free to drop by and hang any time!

After Action Report: Firefox

Greetings WingNuts,

The Wing Commander movie club has screened Firefox and what we found was a big surprise: a very, very dour and serious movie about a man charged with stealing a mind controlled airplane. Firefox seems to be a conservative reaction to James Bond's late 1970s outing, offering in its first half an alternative version that completely lacks any sort of levity (or women!). It's clearly deliberate and deserves some credit for that but it's quite a slow walk to the Firefox factory. The second half of the movie, which stretches an expertly-constructed airplane chase to forty plus minutes, is better but never quite reaches the promise of the concept. Firefox's plot also reminded us a great deal of Strike Commander, which climaxes with a behind the lines operation to steal a pair of prototype jets which must then battle it out in an epic finale.

Firefox's major inspiration for Wing Commander was, of course, the fact that the original game… borrowed!... the design of the MiG-31 Firefox plane for the Rapier medium fighter. In recognition of that, here's a little gallery of Firefox frames showing the airplane in plenty of detail. They constructed both a full scale prop plane for ground scenes and a stunning model (whose maker would go on to build the Enterprise D for Star Trek The Next Generation!) for the air combat.

Airborne

On the Ground

Closeups

Cockpit

The Wing Commander I Rapier worked the same way: there was a 3D version designed by Glen Johnson and rendered by Mary Bellis for the flight sections and then a more detailed one by Denis Loubet for the 'ground' takeoff and landing scenes.

Vera reminds us that the ever-taciturn Michael "Iceman" Casey was based on Clint Eastwood himself. Iceman is certainly a lot like Firefox's Grant–they're both top ace fighter pilots secretly haunted by their wars–but this probably wasn't the specific inspiration. You probably have to go back to the Man with No Name or Dirty Harry (listed as one of Chris Roberts' favorite movies in a 1991 Point of Origin) to get the full picture.

Another thing we learned is that Firefox had a video game! In 1984 there was a Firefox arcade machine from Atari. It was a light gun-style shooter game that played over actual footage of aircraft and environments… how's that for an interactive movie? It's pretty funny watching Rapiers flying around!

We Used to be Cool

A rumor recently circulated that mostly-dormant and totally disgraced movie news site Ain't It Cool News was set to shut down and delete forever their two plus decade archive of movie reporting and reviews. For those too young to remember the 90s, Ain't It Cool News was a massively popular movie news site that proliferated during the early days of the web. They defined a sort of quasi-gonzo entertainment reporting whose long tail still defines how movies are reported on today. They were proudly unprofessional enfants terrible, printing rumor, fact and outrageous opinion as if all were one and the same. In the process, they became the darlings of the new digital Hollywood and by the late 90s had direct and personal access to filmmakers that skipped the traditional boundaries of PR. The result was a crude mess of a website with a lot of screaming... but one which tied itself to the history of the medium. With the threat that their archive would be taken offline, I thought it would be a good time to preserve their coverage of the Wing Commander movie 'as it happened'. I remember being particularly jealous of the fact that they could go to Digital Anvil to check out the SFX work months before the movie came out. Enjoy!

Wing Commander Coolness (Original URL)

Published at: Jan. 28, 1998, midnight CST by staff

Wing Commander Movie Story Boards!!! Cooooooool!! Well, I figured when I got that news above about Lost In Space, I figured it would be cool to pair them up. So enjoy.

Here are some Wing Commander storyboards I was able to come by, which I found in the January '98 edition of 'Ultimate PC' (a british mag).'wing1' depicts a simple explosion. 'wing2' depicts an interesting Kilrathi Ship (I don't recognize the make of the ship). 'wing4' depicts Christopher Blair in the cockpit of a fighter. Hope they are of some interest to you...

Wing Commander rockets from your PC to the big screen (original URL)

Published at: Aug. 13, 1998, 9:30 a.m. CST by staff

Father Geek reporting in with a story of cool coolness from downtown Austin, Texas. About 3pm last Thursday, August 6th, the phone here at Geek Headquarters conveyed us an interesting message from none other than Chris Roberts of Digital Anvil. "Would we like a peek at some out takes and the trailer for their new wide screen feature film, "Wing Commander"?" We leaped into the "Tick" (that's our big, blood-sucking blue van), and headed downtown. Now the appointment was for 5pm and it takes us only about 15 minutes to reach the State Capitol that rests in the shadow of the historic old building that is Digital Anvil so we hit a local salad & potato bar to fortify our bodies for what lay ahead.

We enter the lobby of antique brick and raw metal (copper, zinc, & tin) at exactly the appointed time, and the babe behind the counter informs us that Chris is out, somewhere along 5th street. We're near 4th and Congress, so we hang out, checking out the framed stills from the film hanging on these great aged brick walls. Outstanding one of a Kilrathi, and there's Maniac, cooool, and Paladin all rigged up for some sort of weightlessness shoot, and that must be Blair & Deveraux....."Hey, guys!" brings us back to Earth. We turn and there's Chris (shorts, black t-shirt and black ball cap on backwards), looks like he been biking. We ask about the Paladin shot on the wall behind us and he explains that an airlock has been blasted open and he's about to be sucked into space, buuuut......

The tour begins. We trek by a mountain of mountain bikes at the base of the stairway. AAAAAAAAhhhh, I love these new age businesses and businessmen. Chris shows us an eight foot crate of newly arrived computer hardware, mumbles something about gigawatts, and introduces us to dozens of techs, execs, and artists. It's after 5 and he's still got these guys chained to their keyboards, why? The Wing Commander feature is do out this fall, and digital artists are busy twiking the mucho mucho effects shots this galactic war epic requires. We see techs adding lights to the windows of one warship, and another artist is busy removing headlights from another ship. A group of 3 are huddled around another monitor attempting to arrive at just the right lighting for an interior, previous shot live action scene. Everywhere are models of the great warships & fighters used in the film. These are fantastic toys ranging a few inches in length to a few feet, and are they detailed, too cool. We see a wall of production art, ink and watercolors of super cool costumes and makeup. Chris informs us that the're using the same designer who created those great spacesuits for "Armageddon", outstanding. Then we turn a corner and notice that the "Dust til Dawn" and "Desperado" framed pieces have been removed from their niches in the long hallway and in their places dozens and dozens of "Wing Commander" storyboards have been erected, dogfights in space, sneak attacks, and cosmic explosions greet our geek's eyes. Our brains are in sensory overload and we haven't even seen what we came he to see yet.

Finially we arrive at the bare metal of the steel entry door to the screening & conference room, we've been here before, months ago, too see some of the early, raw effects footage from this computer game to the big screen pathfinding effort. Now we would be privy to the finished, yet to be released, trailer and a reel of nearly complete effects footage. The lights dim around the conference table electronic desk (reminds me of David Warner's in "Tron") Harry and I have chosen to sit at for this presentation of state-of-the-art digital artistry. A couple of techs sneak into the shadows. Someone in their group shouts, "turn it up loud!"

The ultra wide screen is bathed in incredible star field light, astounding nebulae spin with color, and the drums are ripped from our ears as rockets blast from behind us to tear onto the peaceful beauty of the scene before us. What "Saving Private Ryan" does for World War II imagery this does for the visuals of war in 2654 AD. Ships twist & turn, racing across a screen filled with depth and color, rockets track & seekout their prey vaporizing them above planets that mere words cannot describe. A huge asteroid slowly cruises into frame. As we drift closer we can see that this "rock" is covered with a lattice work of towers, gun emplacements, antennae and docks...huge battleships sit idle in their berths. Two monstrously large ion engines are imbedded in the "rear" of this mobile naval base. This is Vega sector fleet headquarters - Terran Confederation - Asteroid world Pegasus. From above, we see what must be the shadows of a hundred Kilrathi bombers pass over the surface of this rock, followed by the scream of strange, alien engines.The talon shaped craft dive into frame and begin their bombing run. This is what will be the opening 60 seconds of the film whose goal is to redefine space warfare in the motion pictures. The footage shown to Harry and I is nothing short of fantastic, and Chris Roberts says these scenes aren't finished, they're still fine tuning them. Whoa, I can't wait. Chris says,"reel it up again!" Yeah, thats more like it, let's make a loop and watch it all night. Fellow Geeks, I can't speak of the drama or acting in this film, we haven't seen any of it, but one thing is for sure, this ain't just a computer game any more. It's a big spralling motion picture of worlds, creatures, and war at the edge of the universe that will blast you in your seat. Like I said earlier, this is one old sci-fi geek that can't wait for November to get here.

Some pics from WING COMMANDER: The Movie (original URL)

Published at: Dec. 6, 1998, 9:49 p.m. CST by staff

Hey folks, Harry here. Well, does anyone know when WING COMMANDER THE MOVIE is gonna come out? I'm curious because... well... I'm dying to see the thing. I went on a tour of DIGITAL ANVIL where they are doing the special effects quite some time ago, and saw tons of very cool things. Mainly some of the space footage which was very very pretty. It looked alot like the sorts of ships they have in the WING COMMANDER games, but much better renderings, gorgeous textures, and the space scenery itself was very... 'Hubble-y'!!! I met with Chris Roberts about the film, and he seemed very excited about the project. I can't wait to see more from it of course, and I imagine the film isn't too far from being released, as they were on a schedule to deliver the film to FOX right around now, which would probably mean a release sometime in the first quarter of next year. Let's see. For now, here are some cool pics...

NEWLY UPDATED: Review of (and sound clip from) the "Wing Commander" movie score ((now with MP3!!!)) (Original URL)

Published at: Feb. 24, 1999, 9:19 a.m. CST by staff

Glen here...
...for those of you coming in from "Coolnews", and usually don't visit Coaxial, go away! Just kidding. Welcome!!! You're now in the COAXIAL section of Aint It Cool News.

Weird stuff goes on here all the time.

Coax is an eclectic assortment of news & rumors, something of a hodge-podge governed by my own personal tastes, and the availability of interesting stuff to post at any given time. If you've already had enough - or when you're done with the Wing Commander stuff - you can CLICK HERE to exit to the AICN main page!

For those who may not know, I sometimes review CDs. Today, I'm reviewing a forthcoming release from Sonic Images. Specifically, David Arnold & Kevin Kiner's soaring score for Fox's Wing Commander movie (due in theaters March 12, with a brand-new Star Wars Prequel trailer attached for good measure).

Wing Commander 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 - drawing on many of the sensibilities which make its two composers so good to begin with.

The Wing Commander score is richly textured and incredibly layered, various melody lines dodging in and out of (and running beneath) action motifs create a sense of both consistent style within the score, and an ever changing tapestry in it's presentation. It's got a specific sound, but it's varied enough so it doesn't become boring.

Wing Commander's theme was composed by David Arnold (who, I am told, also served as something of a "supervisor" for the rest of the score). One may remember Arnold's work from Stargate, Independence Day, and the amazingly suave and cool score for Tomorrow Never Dies. In fact, Wing Commander's score manifests many of Tomorrow Never Dies' better sensibilities - if you dug Arnold's work in TND, you'll probably get a kick out of WC.

Arnold associate Kevin Kiner is credited with composing the WC score itself. Kiner has scored the Emmerich and Devlin series The Visitor (for which Arnold wrote the theme show's music and score for the first episode) and Stargate SG-1 (Arnold's theme is cannibalized and used throughout the series). In other words, Kiner knows how to work with Arnold as a guideline, and how to integrate his own "sound" with Arnolds' unique style. The result is a nice mix between the two composers, as Kiner's work is not entirely imitative, but recognizable enough as not to clash with with the efforts of the composer he is trying to complement.

Richly textured and densely layered, Arnold and Kiner's Wing Commander score should hit stores on March 9. Having not seen the film, I can not vouch for how well this score will work with the imagery it's meant to accompany. But on its own, this is a fun and exhilarating listen which may well become a cult favorite in the not too distant future.


_________________________________

NEWLY UPDATED !!!

Due to the unbelievable coolness of a few kind Coaxial readers, I am now able to provide the much-requested MP3 clips of the theme to the Wing Commander movie!

Very cool of you folks - this is appreciated by many people, including myself...


CLICK HERE to access an 111KB MP3 sampling of the Wing Commander movie theme !!!((Thank You, JURGEN!!!))

CLICK HERE to access a 454KB MP3 sampling of the Wing Commander movie theme !!!((Thank You, DINO!!!))

CLICK HERE to download from a site which has converted & uploaded the Wing Commander theme in MP3 ((Thank You, ERIC!!!))

CLICK HERE to jump to a site where you can get playes such as Winmap or the new Windows Media Player which will enable you to listen to MP3 files !!!

CLICK HERE to access a 911KB sampling of the Wing Commander movie theme !!!((Okay sound))

CLICK HERE to download a .wav file of the Wing Commander movie theme music ((approx 28 seconds worth of music)) TREMENDOUS sound, large download @ approx 4.5meg!!!

_________________________________

CLICK HERE to jump to the Sonic Images web site!!! The score will be available for purchase there shortly, if it isn't already.

"Wing Commander" movie score web site now open ((includes order form)) (Original URL)

Published at: March 2, 1999, 10:26 a.m. CST by staff

Glen here...
With a quick follow-up to the Wing Commander movie score review I posted last week.

Sonic Images, my gracious and benevolent benefactors (who are also releasing the score for the film) just opened a web page for the score, including more sound samplings from the film's music, and the capacity to order the score directly from Sonic.

This page can be accessed at:

sonicimages.com/soundtracks/wingcommander/

STAR WARS EPISODE ONE Trailer Two will be with WING COMMANDER (Original URL)

Published at: March 4, 1999, 5:23 a.m. CST by staff

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.

In addition on the 10th at SHOWEST, there will be a HUMONGOUS Star Wars presentation (I've heard) and if not for a prior commitment to deliver a talk at the Winnipeg Film Festival... I'd be there to cover it for ya. I had a press pass lined up, but due to my own bungling... well, I discovered too late the problem... soooooo, I'm honoring my prior commitment... argh... You know, being an adult sucks. Me wanna go see STAR WARS STUFF, and EYES WIDE SHUT STUFF... Waaaaaaaahhhhhhh... Who knows, perhaps, if I ask the tooth fairy, I'll get a tape of the ShoWest reels.... "When you wish upon a star..."

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...

WING COMMANDER sneaks in Tulsa! (Original URL)

Published at: March 10, 1999, 10:48 a.m. CST by staff
Father Geek here at Geek Headquarters with a brief look at the sneak preview of WING COMMANDER held up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I've seen this film and really enjoyed it, though I felt it would have been for better with the orginal gaming cast. I simply don't understand the change. Oh,well, here's an Okie's point of view...

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 effects 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.

Marc

El Cosmico looks at WING COMMANDER (Original URL)

Published at: March 12, 1999, 6:40 a.m. CST by staff

Seldom does this happen, but I have to say this... This review says nearly everything I feel about this movie. I bought my first computer to play WING COMMANDER III, then upgraded for IV. When I went to see the movie, I pretended in my mind that I was there to see a movie along the lines of THE LAST STARFIGHTER or BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS. And for a bit, I thought that's what I had received. But then... reality came creeping in, and the thought hit me... Where the hell was Mark Hamill, John Rhys Davies, Malcolm McDowell, Ginger Lynn and Biff from BACK TO THE FUTURE? I mean you are making a science fiction movie knowing that it will be coming out the same year as STAR WARS EPISODE ONE. Your movie is based on a video game starring LUKE SKYWALKER as your main character. But instead you go with Freddie Prinze Jr. I don't understand. The film's effects were very nice and I liked the film more than the recent installment of Star Trek, but... it was riddled with porblems. And for now, I'll let El Cosmico tell you about them. On Tuesday I have a q&A that I'm doing with Chris Roberts at SXSW and I hope to have a very frank discussion about the difficulties of making the move from Video Games to Feature Films as well as what he learned from this project. I consider the film to be a Saturday Matinee film. And for now... here's El Cosmico....

Good day, Harry.

I have been instructed to send you a review. There were many emotions expressed by the others I joined at the premiere which somehow have, in their confluence, brought this task to me. I probably do not need to elaborate on such matters. This being said, I give you my review, to do with as you wish. You may choose to not publish it, and I will understand. If you wish to credit me, please use the name El Cosmico.-

First, I should say that this film demonstrates some very competent special effects work, and in doing so, improves Austin's general ability to produce quality films independently of more traditional means. This is a fine accomplishment, and Digital Anvil should be commended for it. Second, a consideration in judging the film is that it was created in a fairly short span of time, on a very limited budget. For the latter reason alone, this film will likely be quite profitable, which is not at all an undesirable thing. Also, the director seems like a nice fellow, and it's his first film. However...

The reality we inhabit for most of our lives is a confusing one, full of things which cannot be known. Human culture attempts to make sense of things, and for a time, many of us can imagine that there is sensibility in the world we encounter. Human culture, however, also has the ability to confound.

I experienced such a confusion during most of my viewing of Wing Commander: The Movie. It reminded me of journeys into alternate perceptions of realities that I have had. During such adventures, amidst the great confusion, there is often a clarity to be distilled from the senseless.

The after-party, with its yummy finger foods, free liquid, and delightfully formed waitresses almost disarmed me. My frustration arose again when I realized that the femme I was visualizing pleasure with was probably on the south side of legal. Perhaps she would lie to me about her age, I thought. Then again, sometimes one must act against legal concerns when issues of justice are concerned. After all, can one legislate love? I think not. The matter left me when I was distracted by the barmaid's bosom. This led me to miss out on a free refill of my beverage. More frustration.

I left and drove home listening to Santana-You Just Don't Care. Thinking about the responsibility of telling the truth, and wavering, I felt like I was being accused of kindness and understanding. As Soul Sacrifice began, I pictured a ghostly bracelet around my wrist, with the glowing words, "What Would El Cosmico Do?"

I would warn the world of an industry which seeks to extract around seven dollars from innocents...in exchange for something of less value. If I could bargain with the ticket counter, like a market vendor in Marrakesh, I think I would try to take the fellow down to a couple of bucks and a beer on this one. Perhaps I would simply walk away.

I kept asking myself if this film intended all of the great number of cliches I perceived, or some of them, or perhaps even none. I came away without clarity on this matter. I am sure, for instance, that the Das Boot reference, complete with Jurgen Prochnow, was intended. I don't think, however, that it was meant to be quite as ridiculous as it was, or as lacking in continuity and quality as it was.

From this entire experience, I am able to recollect the following disturbing puzzles:

Aren't the Kilrathi supposed to be cat-people? If so, who were the stiff and ugly rubber people who kept hanging around and fucking shit up? Why did the stand-up model in the lobby look better than the ones on screen? Why must people keep casting the fellow who played "Maniac" in films that I see? Can Freddie Prinze Jr. spend more than a few moments without his mouth hanging open? I mean, can he? Surely one Keanu Reeves is enough for the world. This is not a niche which needs expansion. Please let The Matrix be a cool movie...oh please. How could the makers of Eaters of The Dead change the name? That has to be the coolest name ever and you people are changing it? Are you on crack?

Okay, back to this particular pelicula. More questions. So we've got this precious AI navigation unit which must be safeguarded at all costs from capture. Its self-destruct mechanism malfunctions after someone sneezes or something, just when the rubber people are about to enter the room and take it. Of course, it is housed in an impenetrable chamber, so it cannot be destroyed. Then, the rubber people steal it from the impenetrable chamber. After they are in possession of it and are going to use it to invade Earth, the humans attack the rubber people ship which houses it, and have the option of taking it home, but they leave it. If there was a word which illustrated the concept of a question mark better than "huh?" I would use it.

There is also a morality system in which pilots deny the existence of fellow pilots who have met their doom in combat, because it is apparently too painful to deal with. Again, I say "Huh?" Who are these wimp-asses? Are these people soldiers or not? Do we want people with such repression piloting our spacecraft? Even more puzzling, how is it that Freddie manages to convince these people to abandon this system of repression that they have apparently maintained for quite a long time with just a few short words? I was so unconvinced by his speech on the matter that I almost decided that from then on, I should repress all of my own emotions. This feeling soon lapsed as I wondered why the Kilrathi command ships looked exactly like the human command ships...even the bridges looked the same. Did they both hire the same production designer? There were also some problems with the motion effects on the Rapier fighters, which just looked dingy and not-quite-right.

I must also wonder how Jurgen Prochnow was convinced to utter invectives against "Pilgrims" on so many occasions while keeping a straight face. Surely, at some point while reading the script, the fellow must have mentioned to someone, "Look, I think they get the damn point. Pilgrims suck." We're never quite sure why people hate the Pilgrims so much, and when an attempt at explaining the issue comes up, I repeated the mantra of the evening, "What the hell? Is this supposed to be over-the-top stupid funny, or is it just really bad?" I think it was probably pretty bad. Keanu, I mean Freddie, also seems to have trouble dealing with the issue, as well as every other issue. This is merely a symptom of a greater problem with the film, which is the effort to cram a great deal of background information into a very short amount of time, through the use of bad writing. Imagine trying to explain Kabuki in 30 seconds while you are drunk off your ass. The listener's reaction would be similar in both cases.

There are more things I could complain about, but it's all the same sort of stuff, and I'm sleepy. I don't like saying bad things about something that people have worked hard on, but this movie just wasn't good, and that's all there is to it. I think teenage girls who dig Freddie will probably like this movie. I'm sure it will make plenty of money. I think that if there's a sequel, it will probably be better. If it's any indication, I overheard some people who work for either Digital Anvil or Origin (the company that made the video game series) express anguish at watching this film, feeling that it was bad, and not even faithful to the original story line.

I too felt anguish. I don't care if it followed the original story line or not. All I know is that the acting wasn't there, the dialogue wasn't there, there was no plot exposition, no continuity, and, well, most of the effects were pretty good. It was sort of fun at moments, but mostly not. That's about all I have to say about that. I wish the filmmakers good luck at the box office, and hope their next projects improve upon this one.

A year later, they happened to conduct a very comprehensive interview with Wing Commander III and Prophecy star Ginger Lynn Allen. We've pulled out the Wing Commander-related answers for history!

Tom Joad interviews Ginger Lynn Allen about THE INDEPENDENT! (Original URL)

Published at: April 3, 2000, 9:26 a.m. CST by staff

JOAD: How did you land the INDEPENDENT? Did you meet with the director beforehand?

GINGER: Nicole and Joy, the casting directors who brought me in for this also brought me in for 'Wing Commander' both for 'Prophecy' and 'Heart of the Tiger'. They also brought me in for "Casino". I had three call-backs and a screen test, I was up for the Sharon Stone part. But the name of the character when I read for the part was not originally Ginger, as it was in the film. For a month my parents were sending me the little cards with the cat, you know, hanging there - because it was down to one other person, and me but they wouldn't tell me who it was. Sharon Stone obviously did the role… so Nicole and Joy brought me in for "The Independent" and Steve auditioned me for one of the… do you remember the two girls with the great big breasts that do the same movie over and over and over again? He brought me in to audition for one of those roles and said, 'Oh you're wonderful, you're hired and I'll call you.' And like a year went by and he never did and I thought like, 'Thanks, nice to meet you…' and he called back and said we want you to play the role of the mayor. Nice little role.

Tom Joad Presses For More Info From GINGER LYNN and THE INDEPENDENT (Original URL)

Published at: April 13, 2000, 6:09 a.m. CST by staff

JOAD: How was your experience getting the gig for WING COMMANDER w/Chris Roberts?

GINGER: Nicole and Joy - the same two casting agents who brought me in to audition for "The Independent" - brought me in to read for "Wing Commander - Heart Of the Tiger". Whether or not they knew of my adult film past or not, I don't know. I do know that when Chris Roberts initially saw me on my first call back, he did not know of my adult career, and cast me on my acting abilities. Principal filming took place in the Los Angeles area with most of the shoot shot on green screen. My grandmother came to the set one day wearing lime green pants. It was pretty comical to see the top half of my Gram floating across the monitor when she walked out onto the sound stage. Wing Commander was one of the first, if not the first big productions to combine true interactive with film. The script was near 300 pages long. Each scene was shot in three to five different ways so that depending on the choices you made while playing the game the outcome would take the right direction. Preparation was a nightmare, but the game turned out to be fantastic. For the most part it was a wonderful project to work on. The only unpleasant part of the shoot took place the day that Mark Hamil and I were scheduled to have our "big kiss". The day started off with Mark's representative requesting that I provide an AIDS test before Mark and I kissed. According to SAG rules and regulations this request was a violation of SAG policies. I wanted to go ahead and provide my most recent test results (I test every six months and have for the past 17 years) and my agent wanted to bring in SAG officials and shut down the production until things were settled. The final decision was that I would gladly provide my test results if Mark were to do the same. I had my test results faxed to the set, but Mark's never came through. I didn't show him mine, and he didn't show me his. We shot, we kissed and that was the end of it. "Heart Of The Tiger" was the third in the "Wing Commander" series, and was, I believe the most successful. I played Rachel Coriolis, the ships chief mechanic and weapons loadout technician. Rachel for some reason was not brought back for part four. From what I understand many fans of "Heart Of the Tiger" were disappointed that Rachael 's character was not brought back. The director and producer of part 5 "Prophecy" decided it would be a good idea to include her in this episode. Rumor has it that when the next two episodes are shot I will be in them. But this is Hollywood so God only knows. I'd love to be in them, but I'm not holding my breath.

Hungarian Folklore

Here's a strange treasure! AD was looking through back issues of Hungarian gaming magazine 576 Kbyte when he found that they once held a contest to write a Wing Commander story! Celebrating the then-imminent release of Wing Commander IV, 576 Kbyte offered readers a variety of prizes supplied by Electronic Arts in exchange for Wing Commander-related stories or artwork…

... and then they published the winning story across three issues! Google's translate feature seems to suggest it's a sequel to Wing Commander III that involves multiple Behemoths and some kind of Kilrathi outlaw. We aren't totally sure what the contest refers to as a 'handbook'; did they mean an article printed in their periodical, a Hungarian-language hint book or was this also printed in the localized manual for the game? We'd love to know more!

And for good measure, here's the March 1996 Wing Commander IV cover story that was printed alongside part two of the 'novella'. 94%? Sounds like a pretty good game!

Stream Some Wing Commander Music

Wing Commander Playlist

This is the 'master' playlist for each service that includes all of the Wing Commander music we've been able to find. Let us know if you come across anything that should be added!

• Apple Music
• Spotify
• Amazon
• Deezer
• iHeart

Wing Commander Movie Soundtrack

This is the Wing Commander movie soundtrack plus the diagetic music and alternate recordings of the overture.

• Apple Music
• Spotify
• Amazon
• Deezer
• iHeart

Wing Commander Prophecy Soundtrack

• Apple Music
• Spotify
• Amazon
• Deezer
• iHeart

Music Referenced in Wing Commander

This final experimental list is just getting started and I'm keeping it on Apple Music only for now... but we want to collect music referenced in Wing Commander here. So far that include the movie's diegetic tracks, Veruca Salt Seether's (check out the WC4 PSX manual!, Black Sabbath's War Pigs (Arena) and A Long Way to Tipperary (which Hunter sings in Freedom Flight). Please let us know on the forums if you can think of anything to add!

• Apple Music

Wing Commander Movie Night: Blade Runner

The Wing Commander Movie club is back from our secret mission to find the Firefox and it was… surprisingly dull! More on that in the after action report Friday. This week, however, will be different as we're screening a true classic: the original Blade Runner (1982). It's Harrison Ford versus replicants in a perfectly realized dystopian vision of near future Los Angeles. You can join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.

Blade Runner should be best known to Wing Commander fans because the Privateer team borrowed its future (well, now past) Los Angeles for the design of industrial planet New Detroit. Here's the original concept from a March 1992 art list (then called New Chicago):

New Chicago is the industrial center for the Tolnidian [Gemini] sector. The planet itself is almost permanently cloaked in clouds and rain produced by the heavy industry located here. The cities are very reminiscent of Blade Runner type cityscapes.

1) Hangar. The landing berth for the player is located on top of a landing platform which is supported high above the city on a very slender pole. There is a large repair and refueling facility on the edge of the platform, and an elevator attached to the side, but not much else. From here the player can go to the Main Street.

2) Main Street. The main street of New Chicago is a dark, wet, rainy place full of neon signs, traffic (in the air and on the ground) and so on. Blade Runner rip off in the worst way. The player can go to: Weapons dealer, Bar, both guilds, the commodities exchange, the mission computer, and the ship dealer.

3) Weapons dealer. This screen will operate in exactly the same way as the weapon dealer on New Constantinople, but requires new art.

4) The Bar. The bar should be based on the bar in Black Rain: dark and neon lit, but with a sort of modem look to it. Very crowded.

5) The ship dealer. The ship dealer will function the same as anywhere else. The room should be designed to look like it is a giant mall, with glass surrounding it on three sides and only display models available for looking at.

New Detroit has three different designs for flying cars which drive around both the landing pad and the street level options screen. Here's a look at the original 3D models for them:

Another big (and directly related) connection is that Privateer was once again stealing from someone who Origin would go on to employ. Blade Runner's spectacular future was the work of Syd Mead who would go on to reprise his "visual futurist" role for Wing Commander Prophecy's alien menace. As strange as it seems, you can really see the spinner design in his pitch for the Nephilim fighter!

There's one more small connection we're aware of: Wing Commander Prophecy was once sold alongside Westwood's 1997 Blade Runner adventure game in a package from Electronic Arts called "Ultimate Sci Fi Series". The third game in the set? Dune 2000!

Where can I find a copy of the movie for the watch party?

Please note we will be watching the original theatrical cut of the movie and not the recent "Final Cut". Both are generally available separately so if you are renting or buying a copy please make sure you have the right one!

Blade Runner is available for rent or purchase on the standard streaming services. If you would like a physical copy, the movie was released on BluRay in 2007 and remains in print around the world. If you are not able to locate a copy please stop by the Discord and ping a CIC staff member before Friday's showing.

How do we watch the movie together?

It's pretty low tech! Simply join the Wing Commander CIC Discord on Friday and we will be chatting (in text) along with the film in the main channel. Everyone who wants to join in should bring their own copy and we will count down to play them together at 10 PM EST. Everyone is welcome and we encourage you to join in the conversation; sharing your thoughts helps make the experience better for everyone!

The Lost Ships of Wing Commander II

While researching the uniquely named Clydesdale and Free Trader-class transports in Wing Commander II, I happened to make another set of discoveries that I thought I should preserve with an update: no less than thirteen unique ships that are mentioned in Wing Commander II missions but which do not appear in the final game! The majority of these are likely ships that were at one time intended for missions but which, for whatever reason, ended up being cut… though several of them may have been the victim of a bug in Special Operations 1!

Every Wing Commander II mission has a 'cast' which defines which ships can be used in that scenario. Often, mission designers would remove ships from the mission itself but not drop them from the cast. This leaves behind a trace that can tell us the name of the cut ship, who was intended to pilot it and where it was originally to have been used! As with the transports, we'll look at them one at a time…

Wing Commander II

Agamemnon
Class: Unknown
Comm: Male Comm Officer
Missions: Novaya Kiev C
Notes: Referenced in the mission where you escort the thematically-connected TCS Hector to attack Kilrathi capital ships; the fact that it's a comm officer rather than a freighter pilot implies it might have been a ship of the line

Belox
Class: Sabre
Comm: Male Pilot
Missions: Novaya Kiev L C
Notes: Potentially intended to be a named CAP pilot

Chepstow
Class: Human Star Base
Comm: Male Comm Officer
Missions: Ghorah Khar L A & B
Notes: Chepstow is a castle in Wales, much like Caernarvon; this suggests the Ghorah Khar (L) missions were originally going to occur in a different star system that would've had this base instead of Olympus

Cobra 1 & 2
Class: Ferrets
Comm: Female Pilot (Coba 1), Male Pilot (Cobra 2)
Missions: Ghorah Khar L A
Notes: Potentially intended as named CAP for Chepstow Star Base; a similar duo, Viper 1 and 2, do appear in some missions of Wing Commander II flying Ferrets or Rapiers

Dorkith D'Krah
Class: Kilrathi Supply Depot
Comm: Kilrathi Comm Officer
Missions: Heaven's Gate D
Notes: May have been an earlier take on the Heaven's Gate starbase before it was changed to a captured human one

Go For Broke
Class: Free Trader
Comm: Male Freighter Pilot
Missions: Tesla L A & D
Notes: May have been an earlier name for the Bonnie Heather

Yankee Pride
Class: Unknown
Comm: Female Freighter Pilot
Missions: Tesla A

Special Operations 1

Avatar
Class: Sabre
Missions: Second Chance C
Notes: Intended to appear as one of your wingmen. Avatar is called by the mission and it isn't clear why they don't appear. This would've been another interesting Ultima cameo!

Crossboy
Class: Crossbow
Missions: Ghorah Khar 1 B & 2 B
Notes: Intended to appear as one of your wingmen. Crossbow is called by the missions and it isn't clear why they don't appear.

Unidentified 7
Class: Crossbow
Comm: Pirate
Missions: Second Chance B
Notes: Unknown is the normal title for the Gettysburg pilots; this may have been intended to represent the Crossbow that escapes with essential characters

Zoe
Class: Sabre
Comm: Female Pilot
Missions: Second Chance A
Notes: Intended to appear as one of your wingmen. Zoe is called by the mission and it isn't clear why they don't appear. There is an NPC wingman named Zoea in another mission.

Special Operations 1

Daystar
Class: Unknown
Comm: Drakhai
Missions: Canewdon 2 A
Notes: Appears as a blank dummy several other times; may not have been intended to be an actual encounter

The Great Wing Commander Article Hunt, Part One

One activity I love to do to wind down after a long day is to search the Internet Archive for historical articles about Wing Commander. Preservationists around the world have scanned thousands upon thousands of old magazines and they're full of gems that tell the story of our favorite series (and just about anything else you can imagine). Here's the result of a recent night's search!

First up, we've got a short article from an English magazine called Raze (December 1990). It's a preview of the original Wing Commander that correctly identifies it as "a candidate for game of the year". It's always interesting to see what early players of the game thought would be the most important aspects…

German magazine Power Play (May 1991) offers us up a fascinating early interview with Chris Roberts! This was conducted white Wing Commander II was still early in development so there's some fascinating information about the initial concept… including mention of Maniac's intended role as a TV star (and the fact that they were aiming to ship on FOUR disks!). He also talks all about the making of the original game and the then-current plans to port it to the Amiga at Origin.

We have featured this fascinating issue of Amiga magazine "The One" (July 1992) before but we missed the index page which has an uncovered Drakhri render that must've been provided by Origin at the time! It's not the one that appears on the cover of the game. But the article itself is fascinating, all about Nick Pelling's work to port the original Wing Commander to the Amiga.

Spanish magazine "MicroMania" (October 1995) gives us a lengthy, early preview of Wing Commander IV which includes great sidebar interviews with Chris Roberts, Mark Hamill and Tom Wilson. There are also lots of great set photos, including good looks at the fully realized shuttle set.

And here's another brief preview from Computer Gaming World (November 1995). Great behind-the-scenes photo of the Lexington bar! The claim that all of the original cast is returning "except for a few of the female characters" probably wouldn't be great PR today.