If on Monday, February 1st I start acting less mature for my age (if that's possible) there's a very good reason: the Wing Commander Movie Junior Adaptation has shipped from Barnes & Noble, and will be here on Monday. No handbook yet, but it's close enough to feel it...
I just got back from a showing of She's All That starring both Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard (Blair and Maniac in the WC movie coming soon). Some people might be turned off because She's All That appears to be aimed at teenage girls, but it really is a pretty decent, above average, movie. Watching it just reaffirmed my belief that Prinze and Lillard will be great in the WC movie. Maybe it was the anticipation, but I had a similar feeling after She's All That to what what it's like after I finish a WC game.
Well, UPS was kind enough to deliver my copy of the Wing Commander Movie adaptation yesterday afternoon... and what can I say? It was the one of the best WC books ever, quite possibly the best.
The Good: The dedication in the book is "for the fans", and no statement could be closer to the truth - Peter Telep has done his research. Where the movie script mentions a Destroyer or a Cruiser, the book has a Ralari or a Fralthi. Where the movie brings in a character we're familiar with, the book gives us the background information we already know. Anybody who actually remembers that Boomer Marshall was a ex-marine and that he owned a charter service on Leto (Ed: WC1/2 Official Guide) gets my vote. It adds lots of other great things too, like actually giving the Kilrathi characters names and personalities. Oh, yeah, and it's a great story.
The Bad: Erm, a certain... element... of the movie that, as I understand it, was removed during post production is still in the book. I speak, of course, of Blair's wisecracking computer Merlin. I'm told that Chris Roberts removed Merlin several months ago, although this was probably too late to affect the books. Honestly the only shame is that people will be confused by him -- the book does a much better job of making Merlin less annoying than the actual script does.
Bonus!: Not convinced? *thwap*... anyway, the book includes a nifty eight page photo section featuring shots of all aspects of the movie -- including several CGI shots of various capital ships. Unfortunatly I can't scan them due to the fact that such an endeavour would involve removing them from the book, but grab a copy and see what all the buzz is about... Oh, second bonus, the last chapter of the book is a preview-of-sorts of the second book which is (unfortunately?) going to leave me wondering until Q4 1999...
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