Simply Perfect

Sadly Over-hyped

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

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.

I have seen this movie 6 times and am about to watch it again tonight. This is along the quality of Serenity, another movie that seems rated less than it deserved. People, this is not Star Wars, or Star Trek! It's better in many ways. How did IMDb get this down to a 3.8? It used to be ranked over 6.5 and I see movies that are horrible ranked above 7. What are people smoking these days? I have 1400 movies, 200 of the top 250, and I am 46, been around a long while seen over 10000 movies. I know good when I see it. This movie is great! Has romance, action, suspense, plot is thick, story is plausible, and it resonates with real life. Good effects, not a B movie, has top actors. What more can you ask for out of Sci Fi? You will never see this remade and if it did get a remake, it would not be as well done, not unless they spent millions then it would top Iron Man in that case. Don't think you could make a Marvel Character out of anyone in this movie, but maybe find a bad guy for the Avengers to fight? Maybe. I rank this a solid 7!

Space battles! Ah man, I can't ever get enough of them. Some of the coolest moments in film and TV have beautiful starfields and nebulae with giant starships and fast fighters blasting each other to hell with lasers, torpedoes, and other far-out weaponry. Cinema has been blessed with many great space battles in the Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and Starship Troopers franchises. Unfortunately, that's as good as it gets; there aren't that many movies that really show space warfare, and I personally wish there were more. This is probably why I turn to Wing Commander once in a while.The sole appeal to Wing Commander will be its space battles and special effects. They aren't that great per se; the graphics are fairly low-tech and haven't aged well. Regardless, the actual battles are fairly cool, with some nicely colorful backdrops, cool-looking ships, and plenty of explosions and laser beams flying around everywhere.The rest of the movie is comprised of some of the purest and densest cheese. It's a light and fluffy film, full of playful banter and juvenile characters; it makes for an entertaining flick in its own right, but it does not leave any lasting impact, and will likely repulse many viewers.I've never played the original Wing Commander video games, but I have no doubt that they probably have a better story and more immersive universe than this film. This film covers a pretty standard story, with stuff we've seen before in shows like Battlestar Galactica. There's nothing much new to seeing space-faring pilots fighting aliens, getting involved with each other, breaking the rules, and inevitably having to make sacrifices. With the film's lightweight tone, none of it bears any weight. The film also never lets the audience get to know the characters beyond the surface level. We also never get to know much about the universe, aside from the fact that there are aliens, there are humans in spaceships, and they're at war.This film uses pretty standard photography and editing. Acting is nothing worth screaming about: Freddie Prinze Jr. looks and acts very juvenile, and Matthew Lillard even moreso. Saffron Burrows is easily the bright spot here, not only in terms of looks and that awesome accent of hers, but also in taking the role a little more seriously than everybody else. Writing is average at best. This production has pretty weak-looking sets, props, and costumes. The Kilrathi look especially awful toward the end, appearing like giant plastic cat-people. Special effects are used liberally - there's even one totally useless Matrix effect, where the camera spins around the characters while they're in slow-motion. As mentioned above, the space battles are cool, but still fairly cheap. Music is not bad though.Not a great film by any means, and certainly not the best space combat movie ever made. But in a genre that's rather lacking, I find Wing Commander fun. If you enjoy epic space combat like I do, then this is worth renting once.3/5 (Entertainment: Good | Story: Average | Film: Marginal)

I've seen a few movies about some serious conflicts in space, this movie looks the same but a little bit better. I'm not talking Star Wars here, but this movie is definitely not a train wreck as people say, it has a good script, it has some good action and a good love story. Check this out, a rookie pilot fights aliens, becomes a hero and gets a nice girl at the end of the day. My only problem with this flick is editing, I think that there were a lot of pieces left behind and cut, so if the studio puts out a director's cut - I am definitely buying it.You won't waste your evening watching this one, even your girlfriend can come along, after all this movie stars Freddie Prinze Jr.