Wing Commander Movie Night: Contact

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.