Movie differences between WC theatrical Cut and shooting script

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Finder of things, Doer of stuff
I went and spent a bit of time comparing the shooting script of the move with what we actually see on the DVD. I think you'll find this interesting and a subject for some interesting discussions. Plus, It never hurts to drum up support for making the workprint of the movie available:)

Just a note: *don't post to this thread just to say how much you hate the movie* Not liking the movie and substantiating it with a well thought out argument is ok if it ties in with the discussion but Simply posting to bash the movie and to argue won't be tolerated.
Differences between the shooting script and Theatrical Cut of Wing Commander​
(all these scenes were apparently shot. Though I believe Merlin was cut very early in editing and is not in the workprint:

Early ,on the Diligent, Blair has a conversation with Merlin - his personal holgraphic companion/computer that used to belong to his father. Maniac has a short interchange with Merlin after entering the Cabin as well.

After talking to Blair and sending the message for Sansky, there's a short scene where Bellegarde disagrees with Tolwyn about using Blair to send the message.

After the diligent sets course for the beacon theres a scene on a Kilrathi capital ship. The Kilrathi Captain and Admiral discuss using the Ulysees Corridor to reach earth. A Human in a spacesuit is also present with a pilgrim cross around his neck. It seens this traitor has also helped adapt the Navcom to the Kilrathi's Jump drive.

Blair asks Paladin briefly about his tattoo when he is in his cabin looking at the old maps. Paladin seemingly avoids the question by asking about Blair's cross.

Merlin has some sarcastic comments when Maniac resets the Diligents course and again as Blair tries to plot the jump course.

Deleted Scene: When the Diligent lands on the Tiger claw, Paladin, Maniac, and Blair are obviously near the flight deck. Blair asks Paladin about his tattoo again. Paladin had apparently been on the Iason and was captured by the Kilrathi at one point. Paladin enters a lift, and Blair and Maniac head into the flightdeck proper.

Moved scene: Blair meeting gerald was moved in the theatrical cut to immediatly after the diligent lands on the Claw. and before the angel/fighter scene. As shot, Blair is supposed to show Angel his orders and she directs him to Gerald on the other side of the flight deck. Gerald escorts his to Sansky. The scene where Blair delivers the message happens after this and then Maniac'sTight-ass C.O. comment was about Gerald. It's apparently overdubbed and replaces X.O. with C.O. to reference Angel. ALl the hallway dialogue is possibly re-dubbed. ANd it seems likely that maniacs ackward overdub and edit ("familiarizing selves with surroundings") was changed to make the scene flow better too with the moved scene.


BLAIR, still fuming from Gerald's dig, walks the corridor
with MANIAC.

BLAIR
It never changes.

MANIAC
So Gerald's another tight-ass X.O.. So
what? Let it go, we are about to meet
our fellow pilots. The men and women
we are going to fight with, perhaps
even die with and perhaps...

BLAIR
Don't worry, I won't let the fact that
I'm pissed keep you from getting laid.

Maniac throws an arm around Blair's shoulder.

MANIAC
Me? I'm worried about it keeping you
from getting laid. I'll show you how to
make friends.

They open the hatch to the Pilot's Mess.​

Merlin again has a comment or two about Angel after she chews out blair for the mess hall incident. A short time after, after Maniac tells Blair he's going out on patrol with Rosie and then leaves, Blair asks merlin for some history on the Pilgrims.

Extended/moved: THe scene with Blair and Maniac before him and rosies patrol is longer with more discussion about the cross and it's meaning ending with blair asking merlin about it. Merlin has little to say other than that his memmory was wiped by blair's father because Confederation executive order 37495 decreed that "all history and references to the Pilgrim movement be eradicated. This prompt Blair to go talk to Paladin about it. Cut to blair in Paladin's Cabin on the Tiger Claw. Blair talks to paladin about pilgrims and the scene ends with Him telling Blair they are about to jump and that he would like Blair to be on the Bridge too. Two rapiers are seen out the window and it then transitions to Maniac and Rosie on patrol. In the theatrical cut, Blair visists Paladin after Rosie discuses her "stunt" on patrol with Angel in her quarters.

Deleted Scene: A brief scene follows Sansky's contemplating the photo in his cabin/office and drinking and almost forgetting tolwyns ring with one in the Map room where Gerald, Paladin, and Devereaux discuss the jump coordinates. They react to Blair entering the room and Paladin tells everyone that he asked blair to be there. (sansky authorized it). Merlin has a throw-away comment about it as everyone leaves the room for the bridge.

The theatrical cut skips directly from blair and Paladin in Paladin's quarters to Maniac and rosie in the mess hall (and hunter et al).

The Script also mentions Knight and Spirit getting ready in rapiers *before* the launch for immediate launch after the jump.

Sansky's address to the crew informing them of their mission following the jump isn't in the final movie

The immediatly following scene on the concordia is shortened in the final version. Most of this scene can be seen in the unnofficial trailer available at the CIC though.

Deleted Scene: A scene of Blair and Angel preping for the flight is also cut from the theatrical cut of the movie. They discuusStandard operating procedure and and Blair is given Bossman's fighter.

When Blair and Angel encounter the Comcon, Merlin then mentions an ultra low frequency signal that the rapiers are apparently not equiped to detect.

BLAIR
My scanners are blind, Merlin. Talk to
me.

MERLIN's voice only:

104 CONTINUED:

MERLIN
Crosstalk between a large Kilrathi
vessel and the brown dwarf down there.
Can't decipher the code.

BLAIR
They know we're here?

MERLIN
Possibly. From the sophistication of
the equipment on board, I'd say the
vessel is a Command and Communications
module.

BLAIR
So what is it commanding?

MERLIN
At least six other ships down near the
brown dwarf are communicating with
it....Interesting. I'm picking up an
ULF -- Ultra Low Frequency signal. The
Rapier's scanners aren't equipped to
receive or detect it.

BLIAR
But you are?

MERLIN
Don't tell me you've down-loaded my
"sarcasm" program?

104 CONTINUED: (2)

BLAIR
(ignoring him)
What's it mean? This frequency?

MERLIN
It's a primitive pulse technology,
ultra low frequency. Very slow, but it
carries over extreme distances. Sort of
like tom toms. Pilgrims used it in the
war.

BLAIR
How do you know? You told me you
didn't know anything about the
Pilgrims?

Merlin is taken by surprise.

MERLIN
I -- I don't know how I know it -- I
just do. Perhaps it's buried in my sub-
operating memory. Left over from the
war. Maybe it's intuition.

BLAIR
Intuition?
(scary thought)
Well do you have a direction?

MERLIN
It appears to be coming from quadrant
thirty.

BLAIR
That's near the Tiger Claw? What's it
saying?

MERLIN
The code isn't in my vocabulary.
(detecting something)
They're scanning the rocks.

BLAIR
Merlin off.

Deleted Scene: That scene is followed by another missing scene on the Snakier Bridge. THe Kilrathi admiral stands by an Idol of Sivar. The Human traitor is also present. The Traitor is trying to convince them to destroy the claw instead of making haste for the earth jump point.

Blair mentioning the ULF Signal while being debriefed after the mission is cut from the final film

Also the script mentions Slathis and Krants along with the Dralthis attacking the Tiger's Claw.

Deleted Scene: In the script Paladin has to eject after destroying the Capship and his pod is rescued from the moons gravitational field by Blair's rapier's tractor beam.

The script has rosie remaining silent after crashing but alive for some reason so as to not attrack the kilrathi (which seems really silly).

During the Kilrathi "depth charge" scene, the script seems to include more damage scenes including ones where a rapier breaks free from it's moorings and crushes a few technicians and a scene where one of the torpedo tubes breaks and a hull breach kills all the crew that get sealed in the room.

Deleted Scene: After the hull breach on the the flight deck is sealed a scene with by Sansky in his quarters with and IV, Gerald and Paladin are there and gerald talks about the kilrathi knowing their moves. Gerald suggests blair is a traitor. They also discuss the extent of the Tiger Claw's dammage.

Deleted Scene: This one follows directly after the previous deleted scene with Sansky. This one is on the Kilrathi ship. The traitor gets sent to the ConComm to prepare the Jump and transmit the navcom coordinated to the fleet.

Next up, the script has Blair confronting angel about the never existed stuff on the flight deck instead of immediatly after the maniac/blair scene.

The script also has workers in spacesuits repairing the outer hull.

Extended/Alternate Scene: During the concom attack, Blair is supposed to be manning the diligents Ion Cannon. and takes out at least one dralthi. Maniac's dogfighting would have been extended as well, One of His kills (probably cut to help the effects budget has him finger the Dralthi pilot and then his rapier collides with a dralthi sheering off it's cockpit.

Blair, sitting at his station is listening to the attack on the comm radio. Merlin then Tell's blair again about a Pilgrim ULF signal coming from the concom. and where abouts on the ship it's comming from. He them puts on his cross and suit helmet and leaves his gunnery post to go into the kilrathi ship.

The corridor between the ships is supposed to be airless and a dead kilrathi is floating in it (possibly cut for budget). Merlin guides Blair through the kilrathi ship to some degree and he also uses some kind of thermal imager too. Meanwhile the rest of the marines and Devereaux are battleling through the ship to get the fuel cells.

THe kilrathi are preparing to scuttle the ship. Gerald notices blair gone from his post and goes after him assuming he is the traitor of course.

Blair ends up attacking the bridge and averting a self-destruct by the kilrathi officer. At this point blair kills a few kilrathi but is outnumbered. The scene in the movie with the kilrathi with it's claws outstreched plays here. His gun is knocked out of his hand. The Kat picks him up and extends it's claws. Blair stabs it in the chest with his pilgrim cross. He then notice the NAVCOM on the Bridge. Merlin also now tells him that the ULF is broadcasting The Tiger's claw's coordinates, encripted with an X.O. level code... (sansky or gerald). But then the Tiger's Claw starts broadcasting in UHF. every ship in the sector can see her now.

Gerald then enters the room. And there's confusion about who the traitor is. And then the traitor enters the room too. Blair Pretends to fight gerald with a knife. When he finally gets the better of gerald, instead of plunging it into gerald, he throws it, hitting Wilson in the chest the traitor. Before dying though Wilson manages to set off a grenade. Gerald and Blair dive out the door just in time, after which angel and the Marine company arrive at their location.

Deleted Scene: Back on the Claw Blair And Gerald confront Sansky. Sansky dies after giving Blair back Tolwyn's ring.

THe Claw's jump drive and drones are off line still, blair has to make the jump in a rapier.

Deleted Scene: Before launching with angel in rapiers, Hunter gives blair his aproval, and Maniac gives Blair a send-off.

The script also mentions Krants in the final battle. Merlin harasses Blair during the jump. Also there's a missing scene were Blair talks with Merlin as his fighter drifts lifeless after evading Scylla and the Snakier.

Blair giving Tolwyn his ring back when he's on the COncoria's bridge isn't in the theatrical cut either.

(Note: as much as I hate the idea of merlin, some of Blair's idiotic dialogue wouldn't seem as bad tempered with merlin's retorts. )
 
I knew about the part with Admiral Wilson... but Sansky!? The man seemed like a fair and honorable man... I'm glad they cut that from the movie!
 
I knew about the part with Admiral Wilson... but Sansky!? The man seemed like a fair and honorable man... I'm glad they cut that from the movie!

There had to be *someone* on the Claw broadcasting the ULF signal to the kilrathi ships. As it is there are still bits of this in the movie. In fact, feeling that way about him may mean the sequences would have been effective.

There's the scene in the movie of sansky looking at a photo. That may have been extended before but it's still in the movie. THe photo shows both sansky and admiral wilson and Sansky's graduating class. And then there's Sansky's seeming absent mindedness during the kilrathi attack. He hesitates on the sheilds up order as if something is on his mind... and in his hands is a pilgrim cross. That is still in the movie too. Then there's his almost beyond reason williingness to trust of Blair and Paladin.

The novel reads almost exactly like the shooting script with a few extra details thrown in (Maniac and rosies patrol is longer for example.) I highly recommend it.
 
There had to be *someone* on the Claw broadcasting the ULF signal to the kilrathi ships. As it is there are still bits of this in the movie. In fact, feeling that way about him may mean the sequences would have been effective.

There's the scene in the movie of sansky looking at a photo. That may have been extended before but it's still in the movie. THe photo shows both sansky and admiral wilson and Sansky's graduating class. And then there's Sansky's seeming absent mindedness during the kilrathi attack. He hesitates on the sheilds up order as if something is on his mind... and in his hands is a pilgrim cross. That is still in the movie too. Then there's his almost beyond reason williingness to trust of Blair and Paladin.

The novel reads almost exactly like the shooting script with a few extra details thrown in (Maniac and rosies patrol is longer for example.) I highly recommend it.


Yeah I can see the argument there... I'll have to watch the movie against because I missed the Pilgrim's cross in Sansky's hand, that would have made me be like, "WHOA! Hold on one sec!"

My view on it was that Sansky was a man of reason who didn't buy into "hysteria," a man who only believes what he sees. As for the hesitation... I thought he'd been caught off guard. The look on his face wasn't as "calm and cool" as one would expect, I thought he looked more like a man who had just signed his own death sentence... which he had by sending his best fighters chasing after a pair of Dorkirs. As for the trust in Paladin... the ring was all the answer I needed.
 
Hell... Where can I get my hands on that script? and the novel?

The novelization is available at the usual places. You can probably find multiple copies on Amazon or Ebay for relatively cheap, and in good condition. I'm not sure LOAF put the actual shooting script up on the CIC yet (I have a *.doc version here) but there are three earlier drafts available at the CIC for sure. (https://www.wcnews.com/news/update/5739) Note though that the one called the shooting script in that update actually isn't. The Jan 8th, '98 draft is fairly close to the shooting script but there are a few minor differences. Scenes like the maniac/rosie love scene read quite different and the ending is slightly different. The ending in the Jan 8th draft mirrors earlier drafts in that it ends with a medal ceremony a la WC1. There's also an extended opening sequence in which it expands on the idea of Pegasus being an "asteroid world" that was likely cut for budget reasons.

I actually like the Jan 8th draft the best, but it's actually pretty close to the shooting script.

If someone has some money, there's a production used copy of the Jan 8th, '98 draft at the prop store of london http://www.propstore.com/product-Production-Used-Script63.htm I don't think it has the final shooting script revisions added but you never know (it is labeled with the jan8th revision date part way down the cover sheet)
 
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