Did you like the Wing Commander movie?

Do you like the Wing Commander movie?

  • Yes

    Votes: 30 61.2%
  • No

    Votes: 19 38.8%

  • Total voters
    49
Plebe, my cable internet connection had a transfer rate that was "near" ISDN(8KB/s), my current is 120Mb/s. Filming the movie in theaters and then burning it to two CD's and sending it through conventional postal mail from the US to my country would be faster then even downloading the preview(that's how I got to see the phantom menace for the first time)

Wing Commander the movie is a great piece of work, but it is not the vision of those who had played the game, ofcourse, in 9 years Chris Roberts his personal vision of the universe could have been altered also. We have all had our standard complaints; wait I have a new one:

They did not paint Freddy Prinze jr. his hair blue! :mad:
 
Just think of how often you see a movie being "announced" there, usually some kind of remake, to come out in the next couple of years, but it doesn't happen; and in many cases you propably could say the rumour was unfounded in the first place.

But that's the nature of films that are in development, it isn't always a certain thing. I wouldn't judge the site on that.
 
One of my complaints is Freddie Prinze Jr, period.

He's the weakest actor in the movie and that's made more apparent by the fact that much of the rest of the cast is surprisingly good... but I really like the concept behind Freddie Prinze Jr. (and Matthew Lillard)--baby faced American actors to play the new kids who don't understand what war is about contrasting a cast of experienced international character actors for the grizzled veterans.

It's not sutble or anything, but it's *slightly* more clever than what you would expect.
 
One of my complaints is Freddie Prinze Jr, period.

:D Well, same here, they probably could have chosen an unknown actor that suited the role better, but there is only one person to "really"fill the role of the WC, and that would be yourself, right?

I did like matthew Lillards version of Maniac, and Saffron Burrows was an excellent Angel. Also, the guy who played hunter was spot-on.
 
Eh... one of the few things I liked about the Movie was Saffron Burrows as Angel. Had they just given her training with a French-ish accent, she'dve been 100% perfect.
 
Also, the guy who played hunter was spot-on.

I bet this is one of those exact points where Wing Commander fans and ordinary sci fi fans diverge.

Everyone else is all "Tcheky Karyo is an amazing actor! But why is there an angry Australian stereotype picking on the main character?" and we're all "How dare Tcheky Karyo be FRENCH! But at least there's an angry Australian stereotype picking on the main character!"
 
"How dare Tcheky Karyo be FRENCH! But at least there's an angry Australian stereotype picking on the main character!"

I know I had a serious problem with it at first (Not that he's french, but because he took a role John Rys-Davis could have easily played)... still do a little.
 
I bet this is one of those exact points where Wing Commander fans and ordinary sci fi fans diverge.

Everyone else is all "Tcheky Karyo is an amazing actor! But why is there an angry Australian stereotype picking on the main character?" and we're all "How dare Tcheky Karyo be FRENCH! But at least there's an angry Australian stereotype picking on the main character!"

Bigger problem is that paladin did not refer to Blair as "Laddy" with a scottisch accent, this carried on in the live-action of WC3 and 4, and from my head even in the Prophecy manual.
 
but I really like the concept behind Freddie Prinze Jr. (and Matthew Lillard)--baby faced American actors to play the new kids who don't understand what war is about contrasting a cast of experienced international character actors for the grizzled veterans.

It's not sutble or anything, but it's *slightly* more clever than what you would expect.

Nah, I'm not buying that, sorry. The young cast contrasting old cast idea is a very obvious one that any film director or casting director could think of, I think Prinze Jr. was a bad casting decision and they mostly wanted a young name actor with youth audience appeal.

Matthew Lillard I have to admit does suit Maniac somewhat, but I still find him rather crap and irritating in this film (and don't just say he's meant to be annoying)

Saffron Burrows wasn't very good in this, I don't think. Her "toughness" didn't convince me at all.

The only actor who I felt genuinely added something to the film was Tcheky Karyo. Jurgen Prochnow just seemed thrown in there to me. He's a fine actor as anyone who's seen Das Boot will agree but frankly he's been in so many crap films during his Hollywood career, sometimes this sticks to an actor.


Also, can I say I just found all that "I've got bigger balls than you" stuff between Maniac and Rosie Forbes excruciating?
 
He's the weakest actor in the movie and that's made more apparent by the fact that much of the rest of the cast is surprisingly good... but I really like the concept behind Freddie Prinze Jr. (and Matthew Lillard)--baby faced American actors to play the new kids who don't understand what war is about contrasting a cast of experienced international character actors for the grizzled veterans.

It's not sutble or anything, but it's *slightly* more clever than what you would expect.

Clever? Sorry, but I have to disagree. And Wing Commander Academy had the "fresh cadets" theme already. And even with the "young"-route - the actors in Space: Above and Beyond were young too, but they did a vastly better job as combat pilots than Freddie and Lillard.

What would be really clever is to re-use Mark Hamil and Tom Wilson and place the movie as a prequel to Wing 3. In the same time period as "Fleet Action". (why not use the last part of the book as the basis of the film?) That way the movie could fit right into the established games. And the actors were not too old to play their parts. Hell - the main guy could be still some young pilot, working alongside with our established heroes, how cool would that be?!

The audience will understand the scenario, because the briefing in the opening did a good job (one of the few points good points of the movie).

Can you imagine the scene where the Kilrathi break through and bombard Earth? The last ditch effort to blow up their ships? man, imagine it on a big screen!

And make it a nitty gritty war DRAMA, veterans fighting a bleak war. No damn American Pie-She's-The-One-Last-Summer teenager crap. The romances in Wing 2 and 3 were better handled than the one in the movie.


Even teenagers identify more with adults than with teenagers or kids in sci-fi movies.

We all love Wing Commander, but people need to admit that the movie was a failure. It could have been so much better. And although this point has been beaten to death: The fact the Chris Roberts, the creator of the characters, overlooked even obvious spelling errors (Towlyn), shows that the guy was not with all his heart on this project.
 
Nah, I'm not buying that, sorry. The young cast contrasting old cast idea is a very obvious one that any film director or casting director could think of, I think Prinze Jr. was a bad casting decision and they mostly wanted a young name actor with youth audience appeal.

Matthew Lillard I have to admit does suit Maniac somewhat, but I still find him rather crap and irritating in this film (and don't just say he's meant to be annoying)

Saffron Burrows wasn't very good in this, I don't think. Her "toughness" didn't convince me at all.

The only actor who I felt genuinely added something to the film was Tcheky Karyo. Jurgen Prochnow just seemed thrown in there to me. He's a fine actor as anyone who's seen Das Boot will agree but frankly he's been in so many crap films during his Hollywood career, sometimes this sticks to an actor.


Also, can I say I just found all that "I've got bigger balls than you" stuff between Maniac and Rosie Forbes excruciating?

I agree with you on Freddie and Mathew, it was pretty obvious when they were in almost every single BAD teenie movie that came out in the mid-late 90s. Jurgen Prochnow was an excellent addition, He was a small time sci-fi actor in the 80s and early 90s, and yeah he did some crappy movies, but he did a lot of good ones too... (I'm not counting the made for TV Arnold movie.)

Saffron Burrows didn't fit in terms of nationality, thats all in my opinion. Rosie really felt thrown in there and really the movie wouldn't have suffered much without her presence. She came off as extremely irritating to me.

I was one of the people who was upset by a French Paladin, but I got sick of arguing that point.

Summary: The movie casting was crap, with a very FEW exceptions.

No damn American Pie-She's-The-One-Last-Summer teenager crap
.

Do we think Loaf can drink a glass of water in the time it would take to say that?
 
Nah, I'm not buying that, sorry. The young cast contrasting old cast idea is a very obvious one that any film director or casting director could think of, I think Prinze Jr. was a bad casting decision and they mostly wanted a young name actor with youth audience appeal.

Clever? Sorry, but I have to disagree. And Wing Commander Academy had the "fresh cadets" theme already.

It's not the *age* of the cast, it's the fact that the whole contrast is their nationality--inexperienced Americans versus veteran Europeans (and that the movie isn't really about that--it gets this simple necessary war movie concept out there via casting alone).

Prinze and Lillard were actually cast before that brief period where they were name actors--it was a happy coincidence for Roberts.
 
It's not the *age* of the cast, it's the fact that the whole contrast is their nationality--inexperienced Americans versus veteran Europeans (and that the movie isn't really about that--it gets this simple necessary war movie concept out there via casting alone).

BF, it seems like you're almost trying to make a point that there was some anti-american bias going on here?
 
Might be digressing a bit here, but I'm just looking at Prochnow's filmography on IMDB now and wondering if I was being truly harsh about his movie choices, whether there was more bad than good. Although he does seem to be "take roles to pay the rent" kind of actor and there's definetely some turkeys on his resume (like Body of Evidence). But yeah, I saw that "See Arnold Run" film, worst casting ever!!

I remember years ago reading one or two internet reviews that mocked the scene where they pretend that the Tiger's Claw is a submarine and getting Prochnow from Das Boot in there to complete the effect.
 
BF, it seems like you're almost trying to make a point that there was some anti-american bias going on here?

Films like this kind of make that distinction themselves, don't they? Like they're saying "We'll get some sexy but dumb young US actors for the leads and for their mentors/leaders and we'll bring in some Brits and Europeans who can actually act to bring some dramatic weight to the procedings" :D
 
Films like this kind of make that distinction themselves, don't they? Like they're saying "We'll get some sexy but dumb young US actors for the leads and for their mentors/leaders and we'll bring in some Brits and Europeans who can actually act to bring some dramatic weight to the procedings" :D

It definitely gives off that feeling...
 
Prinze and Lillard were actually cast before that brief period where they were name actors--it was a happy coincidence for Roberts.

They were up-and-comers, Prinze had been in I Know What You Did Last Summer and it's sequel, Lillard had been in Scream, I reckon the producers of Wing Commander was trying to tap into that "up-and-coming" factor, so that as the film comes out, hopefully they'll be having some mainstream hits at the same time, bringing more attention to the film.
 
BF, it seems like you're almost trying to make a point that there was some anti-american bias going on here?

BF?

But no, I don't think it's anti-America... Blair is, after all, the character who ultimately saves the day.

(Either way, I don't think it's anything to do with the movie itself--it's mirroring two World Wars of inexperienced Americans showing up for the rescue late in the game.)
 
They were up-and-comers, Prinze had been in I Know What You Did Last Summer and it's sequel, Lillard had been in Scream, I reckon the producers of Wing Commander was trying to tap into that "up-and-coming" factor, so that as the film comes out, hopefully they'll be having some mainstream hits at the same time, bringing more attention to the film.

That was true when Wing Commander was finally released--but remember that the release was significantly delayed. Prinze was cast before IKWYDLS was released (and the film was shot before She's All That).
 
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