Last week we kicked off the second year of the Wing Commander movie club with an all time classic movie, Casablanca. And this week we've got another one that's a little closer to home: Robert Zemeckis' Contact (1997). It's a stunning adaptation of Carl Sagan's novel about a present-day first contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence. You can join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.
Contact came after almost all of the main line Wing Commander games, so you know this is most likely to relate to the 1999 movie. Indeed, this is another case where Chris Roberts borrowed some of Alan Silvestri for the temp track to the Wing Commander movie. Specifically, a track called Small Moves was used over Maniac and Rosie's postcoital moment.
Of course, Wing Commander has a couple of disastrous first contact stories that we'll take a look at, too… stay tuned for the after action report next week!
Where can I find a copy of the movie for the watch party?
Contact is available for rent or purchase on the standard streaming services. If you would like a physical copy, the movie was released on Blu-ray in 2010 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 10 PM EST. Everyone is welcome and we encourage you to join in the conversation; sharing your thoughts helps make the experience better for everyone!
How can I help pick future movie club movies?
The movie club movies are voted on each week by the Wing Commander Discord. The poll is typically posted 24 hours before each week's screening and the next movie is announced at the end. The choices for the poll come from a master pool of Wing Commander-related movies. If you would like to suggest a film for inclusion in that pool you can post it to this thread.
It's time for another Saturday Wing Commander cartoon marathon… with real cartoons, this time! These marathons, currently scheduled monthly, celebrate Wing Commander-related media that doesn't quite fit with the Friday night movie club. This Saturday, November 15, we'll be bringing you another themed morning of '90s media and great Wing Commander conversation. This time we'll be taking a look at the management of the real life Cold War… and then the start of a pretty compelling sci fi version!
Pandora's Box, Episode 2: To the Brink of Eternity (1992): Pandora's Box is a 1992 BBC series by documentarian Adam Curtis which looked at various sociopolitical issues facing the world at the time (most of which are still relevant today). The second episode, To the Brink of Eternity, looks at how the United States has managed nuclear security through the Cold War. It's a fascinating show but we're watching because the original Wing Commander makes a surprise appearance!
Exosquad (1993, s1e1 through 5): Sometimes called the first "American anime", Exosquad was a 1993-94 syndicated cartoon from Universal which embraced complete serialization at a time when that was unheard of even for adult series'. Over two seasons, Exosquad tells the story of a near future war for the solar system that on its own should be pretty appealing to Wing Commander fans. Of special interest, though, is that the creative team that made Exoquad went on to create Wing Commander Academy for the same studio. And you're going to see a lot of similarities in aesthetic and writing! The first arc, Fall of the Human Empire, is five episodes and it's going to leave you wanting more.
So JOIN US on Saturday, November 15th at noon Eastern when we'll enjoy them all together! Previous marathons, we've had big fun wearing pajamas and eating cereal… so we recommend you plan to do the same again!
We've also uploaded a zip of both together locally that you can grab in advance. You can get that here. You can also find the complete Exosquad series on the Internet Archive. Pandora's Box is available on YouTube here.
How do we watch the shows together?
It's pretty low tech! Simply join the Wing Commander CIC Discord on Saturday and we will be chatting (in text) along with the shows in the main channel. Everyone who wants to join in should download their own copies from the CIC and we will count down to play them one at a time together starting with the short at noon EST on Saturday. Everyone is welcome and we encourage you to join in the conversation; sharing your thoughts helps make the experience better for everyone!
Will there be custom certificates made for the attendees this time?
Yes.
Hey you're actually watching cartoons this time so the name makes sense!
Shut up.
I love these events but want to do better long term planning. Do you have any others coming up?
We do! Here's the upcoming schedule:
- Marathon 5 - Wing Commander Combat Information Center Family Day! - December 20
- Marathon 6 - I'd Rather Be Playing Wing Commander - January 17
- Marathon 7 - The Worst Parts of a Lot of Things - February 14
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