Wing Commander Movie Night: Back to the Future

Perhaps the less said about last week's screening of Crash the better! No, it was a pretty fascinating movie and absolutely one that made you think. Just… not one you'd tell your parents you were watching! This week, the Wing Commander movie club is going to go with something much, much safer: all time crowd favorite Back to the Future (1985). You can join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.

The big connection between Wing Commander is, once again, the flying car! We've already talked about how The Last Starfighter's Starcar and Blade Runner's police car influenced the flying cars seen on New Detroit. But we need to give some credit to Back to the Future's evolution of the idea and specifically how (at the end of the movie) the Delorean's wheels turn in and stay that way for the flight (the Starcar also does this, but they're then sealed closed). Both "car" and "jacko" (the silver one) fly this way on New Detroit! You can download and explore the original models here.

Of course, there's another big reason for Wing Commander fans to check out Back to the Future: it's the movie that put Tom Wilson, Maniac in Wing Commander III, IV, Prophecy and Academy, on the map! He does an incredible job as Biff and we can't help but wonder if that's what Maniac was like as a teenager…

(And of course we'll talk about time travel in the Wing Commander canon in the After Action Report; it does exist!)

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

Back to the Future is available for rent or purchase on the standard streaming services. It is currently streaming on AMC in the United States. If you would like a physical copy, the movie was released on UHD Blu-ray in 2025 and remains in print around the world. If you would like to go retro, a VHS copy is available on the Internet Archive. You can also find a higher resolution version here, but be sure to download the MP4 which is the only version with an English soundtrack option. 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.