Wing Commander Movie Night: 1492: Conquest of Paradise

The Wing Commander movie club has returned from the distant, hopeful tomorrow of 2010 and we've voted to watch another movie with a year for a title! This is going to be an interesting one because it's a movie I have not seen and know nothing about: Ridley Scott's 1992 historical drama 1492: Conquest of Paradise. Ridley Scott has made a lot of nearly perfect movies… but this is one we didn't know. It should be pretty exciting to find out what its deal is! You can join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.

The Wing Commander connection is fascinating, too. 1492 is one of three major references used by Chris Roberts to develop the Wing Commander movie's spectacular opening sequence. The opening was not scripted with the rest of the movie, it was something Chris developed after the shoot to try and capture viewers' attention based on the same 'everything in the first act' philosophy used to develop games at Origin. In a sense, it worked: the intro stands out as by far the best part of the finished film!

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

1492: Conquest of Paradise 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. A copy is available on the Internet Archive. 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.