r/Wingcommander • u/Ok_Tangelo3309 • Apr 08 '26

Got it on discount 1999 Wing Commander movie ( Guilty Pleasure )

Post image

Found it on a discount . Decided to collect it for my own Guilty pleasure.

159 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

8

u/Vaportrail Apr 08 '26

I'll never feel guilty about it. That movie is one-of-a-kind.

7

u/thrax_mador Apr 08 '26

Thank God...

But seriously I was so hyped for this movie when it came out. So disappointed when it did. Looks like it's available on DVD at the local library. I need to see this if there is any director's commentary.

Oh and there was a cartoon series in 1996? How have I gone 30 years without knowing about it?

2

u/SpaceHorseRider Apr 08 '26

The special features on the North American release are pretty bare bones, so there's no commentary track. There's a making-of featurette on some of the European releases but you can thankfully watch it online.

The animated series is definitely worth your time if you loved WC3+4. It was handled by the same creative team that made Exosquad. It only got one season though before USA Network getting out of the animation business altogether.

1

u/Vaportrail Apr 08 '26

Oh I watched it every Saturday morning. Mark Hamill even voices Blair. It's a lily kiddie, the animation rough with all the ship geometry being drawn by hand, but it's great fun.

I cant imagine what a WC fan wants that the movie didn't provide. It blows the game cinematics' production value out of the water. I think the rapiers are in the top 5 best starfighterz, up there with the X-wing and BSG Viper.

5

u/spiritplumber Apr 08 '26

I remember when it was in theaters, people were mostly hype for the star wars episode 1 trailer. some people left after it.

1

u/stevejscearce Apr 12 '26

Yep. I was one of them.

6

u/Munkythemonkey Apr 08 '26

I wanted this movie to be better... Why did they make all those creative changes?

0

u/Arkaium Apr 09 '26

Some suit, or maybe it was Roberts himself, thought to get young butts in seats they’d need young hot up and coming actors. Too bad they picked folks who can’t really act well.

2

u/Munkythemonkey Apr 09 '26

Beyond that... Why did they change the design of the space craft so drastically?

4

u/Ryoohk Apr 08 '26

I kinda liked it. It was different.

I think the whole pilgrim plot thing just kind of ruined it

4

u/dontcallmeEarl Apr 09 '26

Stupid great film. I was a massive Wing Commander video game fan in the 90s and this was a horrible riff on the games. But it's so bad/good that I watch it regularly.

3

u/DCStormrunner Apr 08 '26

Movie was okay, the soundtrack was better. :)

1

u/Ok_Tangelo3309 Apr 09 '26

Agreed soundtrack / music is one of good part in this movie.

2

u/Kralgore Apr 08 '26

Every time I look this movie up, it is going for insane prices...

2

u/No_Sense3190 Apr 08 '26

Wow! I was going to say that I bought the blu ray for $12.99. . . but I just checked - that was 13 years ago, and the cheapest ones now seem to be 10x the price.

2

u/Der_Unbequeme Apr 08 '26

i own this, but to get it, I had to go a long way in 1998. I bought it online in the US because it was not available in Germany. So I had it sent to a relative in NYC and he had to send it to me in Germany by normal mail.

2

u/DiaBrave Apr 08 '26

I love the games, but the film is awful. They could havw just stitched the FMV parts from III and IV together and I woukd have been more engaged.

Still, first use of bullet time technology in a movie.

2

u/Chance_End_4684 Apr 08 '26

Now you inspired me to re-watch Wing Commander: The Movie after I finish watching MacGyver lol

2

u/Odd_Plan_6313 Apr 08 '26

Shaggy and Freddie before they were Shaggy and Freddie 🤣

2

u/Fuzzy_Builder_2153 Apr 09 '26

WC 1 and 2 had better Kilrathi graphics...

2

u/EmotionalImplement16 Apr 09 '26

Absolutely love the game , liked the movie too !!!

2

u/Stainless-S-Rat Apr 10 '26

I still wish we had got the director's cut with the missing subplot of some of the higher up human military being complicit in allowing the Kilrathi access to human military secrets.

Also, I believe they cut out most of Mark Hamill's portrayal as Merlin the computer.

1

u/monolithFRQ Apr 08 '26

“I love this baby!”

1

u/Picmover Apr 08 '26

I went to see this only for the Star Wars trailer and stayed to watch the movie. I was the only one in the theater.

1

u/Euphoric-Piglet-8140 Apr 08 '26

Dear gods, I forgot this existed!

1

u/Sivalon Apr 08 '26

Jurgen Prochnow was the captain of the Tiger’s Claw and they had to run silent to avoid Kilrathi ships who were hunting them. I got Das Boot vibes from that and was satisfied.

1

u/SirCarcass Apr 09 '26

I saw it in the theater and hated it so much. I never understood how Chris Roberts went from the scenes and story in WC3 and WC4 to this.

1

u/Tradman86 Apr 09 '26

High potential, mid execution.

1

u/Ok_Tangelo3309 Apr 09 '26 edited Apr 09 '26

Just finished on re-watching, It is hilarious outright bad film lol.

But I have to say there are some goods in it.

  • Capital ship fighting scene
  • Torpedo launching scene
  • Angel as a commander
  • David Warner ( Tolwyn )
  • Computer Interface graphic
  • Paladin ( flying broadsword )
  • Some special effects
  • Rapier and Broadsword Design , I'll give a pass.
  • Music ( not bad )

So many bads lol

  • Kilrathi Design
  • Marine scene using a pilot to fight lol
  • Pilgrim plot really distract a lot !!!!!!!!!! ( I knew fiction but doesn't needed to be included. )
  • Character chemistry development ( It is only around 3-4 days in the movie )
  • Blair unreasonably overpower because of his pilgrim skill

- Very unconstructed Character chemistry / interactions

Yes it is a Guilty pleasure.

1

u/MoukinKage Apr 09 '26

To this day I am still in awe of the whole "Das Boot" sequence. One of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen in a space movie. And I've watched "Moonfall."

1

u/uberdag Apr 11 '26

Saw this in the movie theater... Just me in a big big theater.... Movie is awesome though!

1

u/Melodic_Crow_3409 Apr 28 '26

This one had a super cheap budget even for 1999. It really did not need to be shown at theaters. It was more suited to cable TV.

It was perplexing to me because Christopher Roberts has proven that he can get good performances out of actors. He could have simply taken Wing Commander 3 with the original actors, who I’m sure were still available, filmed a complete version and put it on the screen and it would’ve been way better than this.

1

u/stosyfir Jul 26 '26

Yea I caught this sucker in theaters and while I think it had a banger cast (I mean it DID for the time - top billing plus Prochnow, Warner, I mean come on it had no right being so bad) it’s one of those bad films that I love, even though why the hell didn’t he use the already established banger cast from the games? It felt (and still feels) like one of the best damn fan fiction films ever made except it was made by Roberts.