Wing Commander Movie Night: Hell in the Pacific

There's great news coming out of the Wing Commander movie club's watch of Star Trek: The Motion Picture: it turns out the human adventure is only beginning! This week, we're going back to World War II for another sort of human adventure: Hell in the Pacific (1968) is less of another epic war story and more of a psychological duel. It has only two characters and very little dialogue; more Enemy Mine than Return of the Jedi! You can join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.

Hell in the Pacific is included in our series because of a quote from the Wing Commander movie's visual effects supervisor Chris Brown which was included in an August 1998 preview of the film in SFX magazine. Wing Commander certainly has gun-with-engine Rapiers and tracer bullets in space… but it's not totally clear from what I've read that those are specific to Hell in the Pacific. I guess we'll find out!

The classic war movie ambiance is something director Chris Roberts has stuck to from the beginning. It even influenced his casting choices, with Jurgen Prochnow selected after his stunning performance in The Boat [Das Boot]. Chris Brown compares the movie with Hell In The Pacific: "We've followed along those lines - the Rapiers are basically a gun with an engine. We used the traditional look of tracer fire, millies and dogfight sequences."

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

Hell in the Pacific is available to stream on YouTube. It is also available to download from the Internet Archive. If you would like a physical copy, the movie was released on DVD in 2004 and remains in print around the world. Note that it is not available for rent or purchase on the standard streaming services. 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!