Wing Commander Movie Night: Titanic

The Wing Commander movie club has met the law and... the law won. Judge Dredd wasn't as fun as we'd hoped so we're turning to a certified classic with an interesting Wing Commander connection: Titanic! You can join us this Friday via Discord to watch along. PLEASE NOTE that because Titanic is a long movie we will be starting one hour early at 9 PM EST (6 PM PST.)

Titanic is James Cameron's famous love story set against an ultra-detailed telling of the final hours of the doomed Titanic passenger liner. Initially derided for its enormous budged, Titanic proved naysers wrong when it shattered box office records on release in December 1997. If you're of the same vintage as Wing Commander, it's a sure bet you remember Titanic!

Titanic's big connection to Wing Commander is a pretty famous one: Titanic's famed production designer Peter Lamont followed that film by taking the same role on Wing Commander... winning an Oscar for his work on Cameron's fim in between! Lamont was responsible for the incredible sets recreating the Titanic and then for imagining another kind of sea-inspired vessel in Wing Commander. Importanty, they were both efforts that he clearly put all of himself into. Here's a clip from the EPK where he talks about "our Rapiers":

Wing Commander's production notes introduce him and quote him on the difference between the projects:

PETER LAMONT (Designer of Production) has been named on three occasions for the Oscar and recently he finally won in the film number one of all the times: TITANIC. Also he has worked as designer of production in many films of the successful series of James Bond: GOLDENEYE, LICENSE TO KILL (LICENSE TO KILL), PANORAMA TO KILL (To VIEW TO TO KILL), ONLY FOR ITS EYES (FOR YOUR EYES ONLY), and OCTOPUSSY. In addition, Lamont has also worked in DANGEROUS LIES (TRUE LIES), with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis; ALIENS the RETURN (ALIENS), carried out by Sigourney Weaver, and TOP SECRET with Val Kilmer.

Lamont also considers his work in WING COMMANDER with similarities and resistances with respect to his work in TITANIC. "On the one hand, I like the details" - she comments -."and at this time that we lived, with better camera systems, it is possible to be seen much more, so I have paid a lot of retail attention in these scenery." On the other hand, "in WING COMMANDER, we are creating a fantasy world, a place that has never existed except in the imagination of Chris. It marks a great difference as far as the type of work by comparison with the work to try a historical detail."

The same notes go into detail about Lamont's leadership on the film:

Now, the producer approaches an enormous steel post that for support. It is covered with serpentine electronic tubes and fuel tanks. Commutators and lamps flash calling attention. Even from a certain distance, everything seems real. [Producer Todd Moyer] strikes one of the surfaces - and it sounds like hollow plastic - everything has been installed and done by the mind of the Oscar-winning Designer Production Peter Lamont and his colleagues.

Lamont had to confront a pile of problems in this production that his experience on TITANIC could not solve. "We had to create it everything: the interiors of the starships, the covers, the equipment," he explains, "it is a very different order from creating a historical reality. I like the detail; we tried to create an atmosphere of high technology with the maximum effectiveness. In these days, with better systems of cameras, the public can see much more; when they observed the scenery of the film they will agree that much attention has been lent to the details. But on certain occasions, the design arises from something familiar, something you know." Moyer continues: "Peter has created a sense as much of immensity as of confinement - very similar to a submarine (DAS BOOT) in space.

Lamont lavishes praises on his equipment, and he comments to a British journalist who is visiting: "Our team has done a fabulous job of aging the sets, integrating itself in the larger effort: the artistic department, the department of accessories, and the departments of painting and construction; all have done a great work." And it concludes: "Most of my team from TITANIC is also here: the director of artistic supervision, the head of construction, the carpenter and the painter supervisors, the decorator of scenes, and the head of equipment and accessories. This group shows its versatility and sense of the commitment towards my conception: "if it is on the paper, it will be in the scenery."

Here's a funny mention from a press release promoting the VFX team's use of Maya for post production:

Wing Commander is a live-action drama directed by Digital Anvil CEO and founder Chris Roberts, who created the highly popular Wing Commander computer game series. The movie, which combines state-of-the-art, sci-fi visual effects with elements of a classic World War II film, is based on story-lines, characters and other creative elements from the first four games in the Wing Commander series. Production designer Peter Lamont, who received an Academy Award for his art direction work on James Cameron's Titanic, has created a retro-future world for the Wing Commander movie that includes extraordinary spaceships, the hangar deck of an intergalactic spacecraft carrier, and a number of other immersive alien and confederate environments.

Digital Anvil fully expects Lamont's work on Wing Commander to be of the same award-winning quality as what he did for Titanic. "Judging from the astounding visuals that he has created for Wing Commander, Lamont's Titanic Oscar may only be his first," said Marten Davies, president of Digital Anvil. Digital Anvil is using Maya to ensure that the world Lamont envisions is as stunning in the final product as it is in concept. "The images rendered in Maya are absolutely beautiful," said Alba. "They are the most realistic we have ever seen."

Camera company ARRI's newsletter talked about how Wing Commander used a significant number of crew members from Titanic:

In the team of over 170 people, such well-known names as Peter Lamont and Michael Ford can be found. They were responsible for the design of the buildings and details of the set construction. Both recently received an Oscar for their work on the mega-production TITANIC. In total, 25 people who worked on the TITANIC production were hired to work on this project.

Of course, the doomed Titanic also has a parallel in Wing Commander: Secret Ops which features multiple doomed cruise liners -- the Twilight Purchase, the Blue Horizon and the Ana Maria Alberghetti. Since the development of that game was contemporaneous with the film's world domination it's a good bet that there's a little creative connection.

Where can I find a copy of the movie for the watch party?

Titanic is currently streaming in the United States on Hulu/Disney+ and Paramount. It is also available for rent or purchase on all the standard services. If you would like a physical copy, the movie was released on BluRay in 2012 and remains in print around the world. If you are not able to locate a copy please stop by the Discord and ping a CIC staff member before Friday's showing.

How do we watch the movie together?

It's pretty low tech! Simply join the Wing Commander CIC Discord on Friday and we will be chatting (in text) along with the film in the main channel. Everyone who wants to join in should bring their own copy and we will count down to play them together at 9 PM EST. Everyone is welcome and we encourage you to join in the conversation; sharing your thoughts helps make the experience better for everyone!