Simply A Masterpiece

I wanted to but couldn't!

Boring

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

This is a truly amazing film. Not amazing to watch, but amazing to contemplate from a distance. That this film was ever produced in the first place is astounding: it is based on a series of flight-simulator computer games, and even directed by the man who created those games; at times watching the movie is like watching over someone else's shoulder as they play a video game. It features an outstanding cast of European character actors: Tcheky Karyo, Jurgen Prochnow, David Suchet, Hugh Quarshie, and David Warner. Along for the ride are two bright young stars of the late-90's, Matthew Lillard and Freddie Prinze, Jr, and seldom has there been a pair of actors so misplaced.The movie sets its cast adrift in a banal script about the conflict between a generically futuristic human military and a race of anonymously aggressive aliens. Neither side of this conflict receives any sort of background, but the humans are dressed up like Soviet sailors and fly space fighter-jets that look like MiG-21's, so we can safely assume that they represent the eventual victory of Marxism-Leninism over the decadence of Western Capitalism. The aliens look like armored cats, perhaps symbolic of Wall Street "fat cats". These deceitful petty-bourgeoisie kick off the plot by attacking a human base, much as the imperialist Japanese did in 1941.What follows is a remake of the 1944 wartime propaganda film "Wing and a Prayer", as the heroes' spaceship fights its way across enemy space to bring vital information to the human space-navy in time for the space-battle of Midway. Meanwhile Lillard and Prinze Jr. engage in a forgettable human-interest story aboard the ship, romancing fellows pilots Ginnie Holder and Saffron Burrows (both of whom are better actors and more sympathetic characters), and combating the inexplicable prejudice of executive officer Prochnow and others, none of which adds up to much. Lillard and Prinze spit out their dialogue as if they might choke on it otherwise; Lillard's rubbery features and Prinze's blank face provide an interesting contrast that helpfully distracts from their lack of talent.I won't spoil the movie by telling you the good guys win in the end. It's obviously that kind of movie, and the outcome preordained, even though the film never presents its audience with a reason to care. The setting is vague, the action obscure, the characters walking clichés; the only thing passing for entertainment value is the enthusiastic performances offered by the supporting cast. From conception to execution the entire effort defies belief.

This isn't TERRIBLE.Lillard and Prinze (Jr.) aren't the dynamic heroes they need to be and the set pieces aren't incredibly good and boy oh boy those Kilrathi costumes are WORSE THAN THE VIDEO GAME'S.BUT. They surrounded the rest of the movie with some solid, fun actors and you can see where, in this modern Marvel world, someone with a little more time and budget and care for a potential franchise could've made a real solid flick.This totally isn't that but you can see it, in the cracks. This is still bad, though.

Let's be honest, 95% of the people who saw this in the theater only did so because it was the first movie to feature the Star Wars: Episode I trailer. Otherwise it's not worth the price of a ticket. I found this movie to be utterly unremarkable/unmemorable.Let's see...some good stuff: It's got some cool explosions in it, and some hilarious/awful overacting by Matthew Lillard. Freddie Prinze Jr. also does his best to be melodramatic, but I think Lillard has him beat. I kept waiting for Lillard to shout "GAME OVER, MAN, GAME OVER!"...that's about all his part missed. All in all, it's 2 hours of eye candy. But a good movie, it ain't.

Wing Commander has to be one of the worst video game adapted screenplays to be released of all time, along with Street Fighter. The visual effects very abysmal, the acting and performances were atrocious, and the look of the whole movie is just atrocious. However I did like the performances by Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Saffron Burrows. This movie looks like it was made by somebody who was high off of his butt. What was the director thinking. Of all the people to direct it, it was directed by the guy who created the video game which got very good reviews. If you want to see a good video game adapted screenplay, I would recommend the first Mortal Kombat movie. Not the second one. That one is a total disaster like this movie. Do not bother with Wing Commander one. It is just a waste of time.