First of all, the games in the Wing Commander series are some of the best video games I've ever played. Technology has gotten to the point where these games look dated and the full motion video seems impractical, but the story lines and combat sequences are amazing. If anyone has the opportunity to play these games and hasn't do yourself a favor and do it. That said...
This movie is ridiculous and the storyline might just as well be from a 1950's B movie. The dialogue is awful, the acting worse, and the supposedly futuristic spacecraft looked like they were bought from a studio auctioning off props from old World War II movies. The director, who happens to have designed the games, apparently thought that it would be cool to throw his story lines from the games out the window in favor of some World War II allegory. If I wanted to see World War II, I would've put in my "Saving Private Ryan" DVD and not watched this crap on basic cable.
The characters are extremely well crafted in the game series, well, for a video game series anyway. Here, they come off as a bunch of tired clichés. Also, I take issue with the fact that Blair, the main character, is some kind of chosen one with special powers. The Wing Commander games gave us characters who were normal people forced into an extraordinary situation, something direly lacking in the genre of science fiction. In other words, there were no mythical "Pilgrims" or other hocus pocus like there are in the movie. I wouldn't mind if it was well done but it just feels tacked on for no good reason.
Speaking of the Kilrathi, its not even discussed in the film why the Humans are at war with them or what they are. Instead of the ten foot tall, menacing, tiger creatures from the games they look like hamsters on steroids. Also, one of the best characters from the games, the evil kilrathi prince thrakath (in the games Thrakath is a cross between hanibal lectar and josef stalin), is not in the movie, leaving it without a strong villain.
Now, of course, as a fan of the games I'm a little bitter that this movie is one of the worst that I've ever seen. But I know a horrible movie when I see one, and this movie is pretty much unwatchable whether you've played the games or not. Honestly, if you're in the mood for sci fi and if you see it anywhere, just ignore it and watch Star Wars again.
This movie is ridiculous and the storyline might just as well be from a 1950's B movie. The dialogue is awful, the acting worse, and the supposedly futuristic spacecraft looked like they were bought from a studio auctioning off props from old World War II movies. The director, who happens to have designed the games, apparently thought that it would be cool to throw his story lines from the games out the window in favor of some World War II allegory. If I wanted to see World War II, I would've put in my "Saving Private Ryan" DVD and not watched this crap on basic cable.
The characters are extremely well crafted in the game series, well, for a video game series anyway. Here, they come off as a bunch of tired clichés. Also, I take issue with the fact that Blair, the main character, is some kind of chosen one with special powers. The Wing Commander games gave us characters who were normal people forced into an extraordinary situation, something direly lacking in the genre of science fiction. In other words, there were no mythical "Pilgrims" or other hocus pocus like there are in the movie. I wouldn't mind if it was well done but it just feels tacked on for no good reason.
Speaking of the Kilrathi, its not even discussed in the film why the Humans are at war with them or what they are. Instead of the ten foot tall, menacing, tiger creatures from the games they look like hamsters on steroids. Also, one of the best characters from the games, the evil kilrathi prince thrakath (in the games Thrakath is a cross between hanibal lectar and josef stalin), is not in the movie, leaving it without a strong villain.
Now, of course, as a fan of the games I'm a little bitter that this movie is one of the worst that I've ever seen. But I know a horrible movie when I see one, and this movie is pretty much unwatchable whether you've played the games or not. Honestly, if you're in the mood for sci fi and if you see it anywhere, just ignore it and watch Star Wars again.