This is a reminder that we have another fun #Wingnut movie night planned on Discord this evening! The ongoing theme will be movies that are referenced by Wing Commander in some way. Tonight's film is Forbidden Planet and you can find details on why we're watching it in the announcement post here. The movie will start about 7 PM PST/10 PM EST but feel free to drop by and hang any time!
Greetings WingNuts,
We weren't going to do after action reports for movies that were just referenced by Wing Commander… but there's so much we noticed in The Empire Strikes Back that we decided to keep it going and at least post what was referenced each week. Plus, we have to have a place for the weekly Sully picture!
Here's the "we found them" line that's quoted in Wing Commander Prophecy:
Hoth itself gets a nod on Wing Commander Academy. Mark Hamill again faces a snow cave in The Price of Victory:
And then there's the appearance of the Super Star Destroyer echoed in Prince Thrakhath's enormous dreadnought. Like the 22km Wing Commander ship, fans have spent decades bickering about the length of the SSD (it's 19 km).
Darth Vader famously executes an officer during the attack on Hoth. Dr. Forstchen first has Prince Thrakhath do the same in End Run…
“Now tell me this, Jamuka,” Thrakhath said quietly, looking up at the messenger. “Did you walk or run from the communications center?”
“I walked, sire.”
“You lie, you are breathing heavily.”
The messenger was unable to reply.
“Consider what is now occurring aboard my ship. You are seen running, your expression one of agitation, something is therefore wrong. In your hand is a message bearing a top-secret code stamp, and I am willing to venture that you carried it with the code marking face outward because you wanted others to see just how important you were, bearing a secret communication to my office. Am I not right?”
The messenger hesitated.
“Am I not right?” Thrakhath snarled.
“You are right, my lord.”
“Fine. Do you now realize what is happening aboard this vessel? Already a rumor is flying that something has gone wrong, that I have received a top-secret message and it bears bad news. Before this watch is finished that word will have spread to all two thousand of this crew. Rumors will become fact, speculation of what disaster has befallen our Empire will gain embellishment, morale will decline, fighting efficiency will drop.”
He paused for a moment, looking down at the message.
“All because of your agitated, childlike stupidity.”
Ashamed, the messenger lowered his head.
“What does the message say?”
“Perhaps you should read it, sire.”
“You know its contents. I am willing to venture that the moment you leave my quarters you will be bombarded with requests concerning the contents. You will show your anxiety and, I am willing to venture, will whisper what is written on this scrap of paper to show off your importance, especially to impress some female that you wish to mate with.”
“I have never spoken a word of what I transcribe,” the messenger said indignantly.
“You don’t need to speak; your face reveals it,” Thrakhath replied, his voice cold. “Now tell me.”
“Sire. A burst transmission was picked up from the planet Vukar Tag. Nine Confederation troop ships attacked the planet, escorted by two light carriers of a new design.”
Thrakhath felt a cold chill but revealed nothing, his features set.
“Go on.”
“The scum landed on the planet with a full strike force and destroyed the ancestral home of the emperor’s Dowager mother. A holo image of the attack was transmitted with the message and is attached to the memo.”
Thrakhath was silent, looking at the messenger.
“You have disgraced yourself by your agitated demeanor. You are to leave my presence, speak to no one, and retire to your cabin. I think you know the only alternative you now have in order to redeem your honor. Now leave me.”
The messenger’s eyes grew wide with astonishment and fear at what he had just been commanded to do.
“But sire—”
“You know what you need to do,” Thrakhath said coldly.
“But sire, my family, I am the only son . . .” and his voice trailed away.
“Then don’t disgrace the ending of your line by groveling,” Thrakhath snapped, turning away as if the messenger no longer existed.
The young messenger attempted to compose his features and he bowed low. Walking slowly, he left the room.
... and then he lampshades it in Fleet Action, with Thrakhath realizing it's not in his best interests to kill his officers.
Prince Thrakhath stood up, extending his arms and groaning.
"So what you are telling me is that you cannot speed up the completion of the fleet."
"No, my lord," and the admiral before him lowered his head to the ground.
"Stand up and stop this groveling, I'm not going to tear your throat out. I need leaders, not dead bodies just because you bring bad news."
The admiral came to his feet.
"It's the problem with the transports," the admiral said. "We simply don't have enough to keep moving the material out to the Hari at the rate you wish for."
The famous AT-AT "walkers" nodded in End Run's amphibious assault scene:
Wing Commander III turns the attack on a planetary shield generator into a mission!
Like the Millennium Falcon, the Scimitars on Wing Commander Academy have a useful chin turret for defending themselves on the ground (from "On Both Your Houses"):
There's little doubt the Diligent scenes in the Wing Commander movie were inspired by the lengthy Millennium Falcon escape in Empire!
... and it was also a touch point for the asteroids in the early Wing Commander games!
This one is actually not an inspiration: artist Beverly Garland has explicitly said that the Crusader character (who appears in a movie ad in Star Soldier) was based on knight armor and not Boba Fett:
Blair crash lands on Pisces on Wing Commander Academy and it looks just like his crash on Dagobah in ESB!
Last and also least, the Twin Pod Cloud cars are a nice parallel to the Krant in Wing Commander I with its two cockpits.
Sully would've fought the worm.
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