Wing Commander Movie Night: Air Force One

Last Friday was the birthday of movie club member and good friend Trelane so he was allowed to pick from the queue for next week's movie. And he picked… Air Force One (1997)! He explained the choice: "In an effort to make myself not feel 45, it will be one that reminds me of being a teenager." It's hard to argue, my memory of being a teenager certainly includes Air Force One being a perfect action movie. Will it hold up? And what does it have to do with Wing Commander? We'll find out! You can join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.

Air Force One is another case from where Chris Roberts sourced music to temp track the Wing Commander movie. This time the track in question is called Free Flight. It was used for the scene early in the film where Blair delivers Admiral Tolwyn's message to Sansky and Gerald. You can listen to it below!

... and that was a good choice since Air Force One also stars Jürgen Prochnow! Wing Commander fans know him as both Commander Gerald in Wing Commander and Xavier Shondi in Privateer 2... here he plays General Radek, the terrorist leader whose capture prompts the hijacking of Air Force One.

There's also a pretty big behind the scenes connection you might not know about. The prime VFX house for Air Force One was Boss Films, a studio with roots going back to Industrial Light and Magic in the 1970s. They were responsible for many of the CG and model shots in the movie, including the establishing shots of the plane itself! Their line producer was an artist named Chris Brown. Boss Films closed shortly after Air Force One was released and Brown's next project was Wing Commander where he served as both VFX supervisor and Second Unit Director. He brought with him a VFX team formed from his former colleagues at Boss Films, including artists Quentin Frost, Hector Dante Tantoco, Mark Lambert and Sarma Vanguri and producer Erik Strauss. Another Air Force One and Boss Films veteran, Cory Bedwell, worked on Wing Commander as a CG artist for Pacific Title/Mirage Studios.

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

Air Force One is available to purchase on the standard streaming services. It is currently streaming in the United States on Sony Pictures Core, which no one has ever heard of. 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.