The Best Novel

The reason why the Merlin AI was reduced from Blair's personal digital assistant to a onboard-flight computer was something I don't quite get.
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Because inserting a tiny 3D-generated wizard into every shot would have been very expensive.

Also, stupid. Very, very stupid.
 
Bandit LOAF said:
Because inserting a tiny 3D-generated wizard into every shot would have been very expensive.

Also, stupid. Very, very stupid.
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I dunno. I thought Merlin was the more interesting of all the characters in the WCM novelization.
 
Scarily, it wasn't his callsign... it actually was supposed to be a little wizard who lived in Blair's arm. In the history of bad ideas, Merlin is up there. (G)
 
I'm glad I didn't pick up on the Merlin/arm-wizard thing when I was watching the movie in the theater. I'd have stood up and walked out. I was terribly offended by the SUCK that was the WC movie. That movie was so contradictory that I don't even bother trying to reconcile it to the rest of the WC Universe. I just let it go as completely wrong, and a good excuse to shoot Freddie Prinze Jr. As if we needed more excuses to shoot him.

Nick Blitz
 
Mmmkay, well, for future reference, everybody loves arguing about the movie... but "I hate the movie, it's stupid!" is just considered trolling.
 
Darn. My opinion is "trolling". That kinda bites.

I remember being terribly excited about the Wing Commander movie, honestly. And, for the longest time, I tried to say that it was cool simply because it was Wing Commander, but the fact that it had SO many contradictions to the games/novels finally made me realize what a lousy attempt it was.

It compares to 70's punk rockers turning into nazis becaues John Lydon wore a swastika. He was wearing it to shock people, not because he supporded the nazi ideals or movement. They completely missed the point. When they did the WC movie, they completely screwed it up. I could even look past Freddie Prinze Jr. playing Blair, but so much else was just too wrong.

The "Tiger Claw" (wrong) looked wrong.
So did every fighter in the movie.
Deveraux wasn't the WC, Col. Halcyon was.
Taggart has a scottish accent, not whatever accent that was supposed to be in the movie.
I've never known a Rapier to pull that "jack-in-the-box" stunt.
Maniac getting laid? Eh . . maybe, but probably not.
Broadswords in the wc1 era? Again, maybe, but probably not.
Chen already dead, even though he doesn't die until Opperation Thor's Hammer? On Angel's wing, no less.
A jump-capable Rapier?
"Pilgrims"? Blair's bio says Earth. Dingbats.
Blair and Angel fall in love at least ten years too early.
Sonar pings in space?
Kilrathi that look like bald dogs?
Green?
I did, however, think the Kilrathi writing looked kinda cool.

And that's the stuff I remember off the top of my head. I haven't seen the movie since it was in the theater.

-Nick Blitz
 
Everything you've listed has been mentioned before to an Nth degree.
 
Darn. My opinion is "trolling". That kinda bites.
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Jumping into a conversation about novels to go "THE MOVIE SUCKS" is trolling -- but we're happy to argue about its merits as long as you say something along the lines of "THE MOVIE SUCKS BECAUSE..." :)

The "Tiger Claw" (wrong) looked wrong.
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Eh, on a personal level I'm inclined to agree with you -- I like the boxy green four-pixel-by-ten-pixel Tiger's Claw of Wing Commander I... but the movie wasn't the first or even second time the Tiger's Claw has been 'redesigned' to look more modern, so I have trouble blaming the movie for following that trend.

So did every fighter in the movie.
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Only one of the fighters we see in the movie (the Broadsword) is remotely related to a fighter we see in the game... and you can certainly see the lineage between the Broadswords in the movie and those shown on WCA.

Deveraux wasn't the WC, Col. Halcyon was.
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She was a squadron commander in the movie, not commander of the carrier's wing. Halcyon even shows up in the novelization of the movie.

Taggart has a scottish accent, not whatever accent that was supposed to be in the movie.
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According to the Wing Commander IV novel, any of Paladin's accents were fake. :)

I've never known a Rapier to pull that "jack-in-the-box" stunt.
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Maniac getting laid? Eh . . maybe, but probably not.
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He was married twice (Prophecy Guide)... presumably one of those relationships involved sex. Maniac getting the girl doesn't really fit with the WC3/4 bloated has-been (more or less, that's a bit harsh) character, but he was an eager young space hero in 2654.

Broadswords in the wc1 era? Again, maybe, but probably not.
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Yup, Broadswords were around -- they initially showed up on Wing Commander Academy.

Chen already dead, even though he doesn't die until Opperation Thor's Hammer? On Angel's wing, no less.
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Operation Thor's Hammer was Secret Missions 1 -- he died at Firekka, in Secret Missions 2. There's a logical story that people have worked out... which I'll be happy to dredge up if you're actually interested.

A jump-capable Rapier?
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Yup, we first see Rapiers (Rapier IIs, rather -- the Rapiers in the movie are unrelated to anything we ever flew in a game) jump in Super Wing Commander.

"Pilgrims"? Blair's bio says Earth. Dingbats.
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Ignoring the Nephele/Earth debate, what does Blair's *religion* have to do with his place of birth?

(Delving into the Nephele/Earth debate, it's been made pretty clear since WCIV that Blair was born on Nephele and grew up on Earth after his parents were killed at Peron... the Victory Streak bio suffers a lack of respect, as most of the other Victory Streak 'homeworld' bits are blatantly wrong -- Hobbes from Kilrah, Maniac from Earth and Flint fron Earth... should be Hhallas, Proxima and Locanda respectively)

Blair and Angel fall in love at least ten years too early.
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Aww, who *wasn't* in love with Angel in 1990 :)?

Sonar pings in space?
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How are the 'Claws sensors any different from the radar we've used in the games?

Kilrathi that look like bald dogs?
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Yeah, that was pretty dumb. Chris Roberts has supposedly (well, not supposedly, I'm just saying that to be modest) never been able to get the look of the Kilrath 'right' on film. Hence the change from elaborate muppets in WC3 to... horrible ugly masks in WC4.

(Yes, the WC3 Kilrathi look great... in a 320x200 ultra-compressed video sequence... they look horrible in person...)

Green?
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It's a nutrient gas that's supposed to help them fight better. It's an interesting bit of backstory. (I suppose it's stylistically to play off the cool green comms in the PC games...)
 
Bandit LOAF said:
Operation Thor's Hammer was Secret Missions 1
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Oh, quite true. My mistake. I remember that now. And those stupid Hriss fighters. Arg. In a flying kilrathi deathtrap pancake, no less.

Maniac married? Twice, even? The hell you say. I guess after two failed marriaged (I'm assuming they were failed. I didn't read the prophecy guide. I just played) one would be understandably bitter. I also particularly enjoyed his cocky 'space cowboy' bravado when he first meets up with Casey. All he needed was a five o'clock shadow and a Harley jacket. Maybe a smoke. I dunno.


Performance enhancing gas, eh? Looks like it didn't do 'em a whole lot of good. Man, I love killing Cats.

Here's a question I'm curious about. The transports in wc3 and 4, what's the name of 'em? They remind me somewhat of a Drayman.

Oh, and, I DO think they got the right guy to play Hunter. They might have tried to make him look a tad bit older, but, other than that, they did pretty good there. Although, in the novels, Hunter didn't seem so eager to kill people. . cats maybe, but not humans.

-Nick Blitz
 
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