Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Caryl 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.

Silent_Cal 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.

Red-Barracuda In the distant future, humanity is threatened by enemy aliens called the Kilrathi who have stolen a device that allows them to travel through worm holes in space, allowing them the chance launch a deadly surprise attack on planet Earth any time soon. A fighter squadron are the last hope. Two young bucks called Maverick and Maniac, along with female wing commander Angel lead the fight-back.Wing Commander is one of that unloved subset of movies that was based around a video game. I think it's only fair to say that this has rarely proved to be a winning idea. I personally haven't even heard of the game Wing Commander but suspect that it had little in the way of narrative impetus for a movie plot-line to easily be constructed around. In effect, this feels like a space adventure based around the plot of an old World War II fighter pilot yarn. It has the clichéd characters and basic idea that could just as easily be used for a film of that type. This one is typical of many sci-fi space adventures of the late 90's in that it is completely bland with workmanlike special effects and almost nothing to differentiate it from the crowd. The action scenes are quite tedious to be honest and the screenplay is highly mediocre. The film is not helped very much by having Freddie Prinze Jr and Matthew Lillard star as the two central heroes; they seriously fail to convince in these roles and are far too light-weight. There is a decent international cast of respected actors in many of the periphery roles but each and every one of the parts they play are what I would term 'exposition characters', i.e. people who turn up to say something bland but plot-forwarding (sort of like actors in a TV hospital soap opera). Finally, we have very poorly defined and ridiculous looking aliens (who look like comedy cats). They are hardly on screen at all in any case, so much so that it is hard really caring much about them.I wouldn't say this film is really terrible exactly but it is an extremely underwhelming experience. You really need to be a fairly forgiving sci-fi nut to get too much out of this one I reckon.

stekare Ten years after the Wing Commander released, it is still the best sci-fi movie ever made!It would have been fun with a renewal of this film for the story is great and I think it would be a hit movie.I like everything in this film from the actors to the effects and story. Given when the film was made, it is clearly the best film I've seen in the last 10 years! i would like to see more films and series like Wing Commander and Space above and beyond to come in the future! I hope that the film industry is listening to us sci-fi enthusiasts! But no more Steven Spielberg series because he destroys everything he does.

Sdkolobashkin 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.