Eh, as much as I like that little dip, it is a perfectly valid criticism from other people. There's a difference between us, going to see the Wing Commander movie, and between other people, going to see some movie called Wing Commander. People from that second category (and that's most of the planet) are not going to get into deep analysis of how gravity generation on a spaceship would work - they simply see an obvious attempt to reference WWII in an obviously non-WWII environment.
This.
I enjoy the movie. Heck, I've even got an original poster I snatched up from a local theater hanging in my apartment (my girlfriend is always amused that *I* am the one with a Freddie Prinze Jr. poster hanging around).
That said, the movie isn't good. The plot holes are there, the WWII devices don't work, the pilgrim plot is underdeveloped, and, yes, the "never existed" bit simply doesn't work in the context of the film. The reason for that is that we have to *explain it.*
It's like a good joke. If you have to explain a joke, it isn't good. It's the same rule of thumb with a movie. I know, and most people reading here know, about the cut traitor plot. But the average viewer? They don't. Thus, the pilgrim plot is undeveloped.
I know, and some people reading here know, that the "never existed" bit is a nod to the WWII films the movie is trying to emulate. But the average viewer? They don't. And since the cutting in that scene (and the movie in general) is atrocious, that element comes off just all wrong.
I know that they aren't *technically* looking for "sound in space, but the average viewer can't get their head around that.
I know that the gravity well probably extends past the ship, but the average viewer doesn't.
It's not one of these things, it's ALL of these things. It's a bad movie. I enjoy it. I have fun watching it, as a fan of Wing Commander and as someone who has read the supplemental materials, but no one should ever be EXPECTED to read supplemental materials to have a movie make sense. It's the reason that Star Wars Episode III's General Grievous doesn't work. I shouldn't have to watch the Clone Wars miniseries to understand why there is a coughing robot with four lightsabers that everyone is afraid of, but who goes down kind of easily.
A film has to stand on its own, especially if it is not a sequel or prequel to another film. But even then, it should stand on its own. There's a reason that The Godfather II is considered the best sequel ever made. It can be watched without prior knowledge (though it helps). While we're on that track, I didn't have to read The Godfather book to understand what happened in its film adaptation.
You should never have to explain a good movie, or a good joke. You should never have to make excuses for it. The movie's biggest problems aren't "nerd rage." The movie's biggest problem is simply the fact that its underdeveloped.
Also, every person who has seen the movie that I've met who hasn't played the games has felt rather gypped by the "one ship at a time that we can easily blow up" ending. Yeah, they explain why in the movie, but I think after all the OTHER genuinely cool and well done battles in the movie, some people at least expected one more for the road, so to speak.