Wing Commander (1999) - Take 2

It has been eight years since Sunday “Bad” Movies began. Over those eight years, I learned many things. I learned about mistakes that filmmakers made while telling their stories. I learned about tropes that clawed their way into a great deal of movies released on a regular basis. One of the things that most resonated with me was that rewatching a movie could completely change the perspective you had the first time you saw it.

That topic was brought up back in the second year when I watched Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday. It was my second time watching it (first and only for the blog, however) and I realized that there was a bunch to like about it. It might not have been the greatest movie, but there were things like Creighton Duke in there to keep it afloat. Many movies are like that. The more you watch them, the more you can find to appreciate. You notice things that you didn’t pick up on the first time and it makes you appreciate the movie that much more. That was the case with Wing Commander.

I first watched Wing Commander a few years ago when I heard that there was a Wing Commander movie. About a year ago, I decided it was time to watch Wing Commander for Sunday “Bad” Movies and scheduled it in for June 2020. That bit of scheduling was done well before I knew what this year was going to be. Not that that’s relevant. Now, nearing the end of the year, Wing Commander has reared its head again. It was voted to be the movie I would rewatch for the eighth anniversary of Sunday “Bad” Movies. Here we are.

Wing Commander was a 1999 film adaptation of the video game franchise. Christopher “Maverick” Blair (Freddie Prinze Jr.) and Todd “Maniac” Marshall (Matthew Lillard) were two space fighter pilots on their way to join the TCS Tiger Claw, a spaceship carrier. They were tasked with carrying orders to the captain of the ship to fight a suicide mission that would allow other allied forces enough time to protect Earth from an impending attack. Along the way, they went from being pilots fresh out of the academy to being accomplished war heroes.

There was a lot of bad throughout Wing Commander on my first watch. Yet, over the two subsequent watches, there were some interesting bits and pieces that I grew to appreciate. Even when a movie is considered a bad movie, there will be some glimmers of light that shine through. There will be a few diamonds in the rough. It’s only a matter of excavating those diamonds and dusting them off so they shimmer. That’s what I was able to do with my second watch of the movie earlier this year, and my third watch earlier this week.

First off, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard were always a great pair. They made five movies together, and I wrote about their screen pairing last time I watched it. Their chemistry was great throughout all five films. Whether they were semi-rivals in She’s All That or best friends in Summer Catch, something about having those two actors together always sparked on screen. They were a dynamic duo that lit up the screen through the late 1990s and early 2000s. Wing Commander had that chemistry in full bloom whenever they shared scenes. It was recognizable upon first watch and grew into the main draw in subsequent viewings.

Going off the Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard pairing, each of their characters were given depth that the actors stepped up and played with. Maverick was a pilot with Pilgrim heritage, which was akin to being part Indigenous in a western. He had to prove himself to his fellow pilots more than most people would because of his lineage. They didn’t trust him because of his family’s history. Even though his dad was one of the best pilots to ever work within the Terran Confederation (the good military guys), his mother’s Pilgrim blood took away any of that good will. Freddie Prinze Jr. played that struggle well, even if it wasn’t written in the most nuanced way.

Matthew Lillard got relationship drama that would deepen Maniac Marshall’s story. His character quickly fell in love with Rosie Forbes (Ginny Holder), another of the pilots on the TCS Tiger Claw. During one of the battles, the entire team was ordered to return to base. Maniac and Rosie decided to disobey orders and attack some of the retreating Kilrathi (the bad guys) forces. Rosie’s ship took some damage, causing her to crash while trying to land on the Tiger Claw. She died. Maniac took full responsibility for her death and spent the remainder of the film grieving the loss. Lillard was usually the comedic supporting character in most of his work at the time. Wing Commander was no different. But it gave him a little more to do through the relationship and the grieving. His work as the grieving pilot who lost his confidence because he lost his love made for something captivating to watch.

Moving away from the lead performances, bullet time was utilized in Wing Commander. It happened when the TCS Tiger Claw jumped through a wormhole. Two shots were shown in the final cut, though a few others were filmed and left on the cutting room floor. The first of the two that made it into the movie was a shot of Maniac and Rosie in the mess hall. When the jump happened, they fell out of their chairs and their drinks/food fell from the table. The bullet time effect then kicked in, going around them as they were frozen, mid-air. The second shot was Maverick standing in a hallway with Lt. Commander Jeannette “Angel” Devereaux (Saffron Burrows). There wasn’t much to the shot, but it looked cool, thanks to the effect. The purpose of the shots was to show the distortion of time and space though the ship’s jump, and it worked well to convey that idea.

The final thing I found myself attached to when rewatching Wing Commander was the look of the Kilrathi. It can be tough for a movie or a television show to come up with an interesting design for aliens. Many of them resort to the basic insectoid concept or greys. Wing Commander went with something a little different, creating a sort of humanoid cat creature for an alien. This was partially taken from the video games, where the Kilrathi were lion-like aliens in a war against the humans. The film took away any of the lions’ mane details, leaving a bald cat head surrounded by alien clothing. It was an interesting look that made for a semi-memorable alien species.

Over three viewing of Wing Commander, a few things have stood out as interesting. The chemistry between the two leads, as well as their individual arcs were interesting from viewing one. They only became more interesting upon rewatch. The visuals of the bullet time shots as well as the visuals of the Kilrathi creature design looked cool. And I haven’t even touched upon the fun of the Terran Confederation ships basically being World War II fighter planes. The movie was visually fun and had some interesting performances from the two leads.

Eight years into the Sunday “Bad” Movies and I’m still finding good in the bad movies I watch. I’m still finding things to like in movies, no matter how much people have written them off for being bad. I don’t expect to stop that any time soon. I’ll keep watching bad movies as long as they keep making them. I’ll keep finding things to defend in the bad movies, justifying their existence. They might not have the prestige or following of other movies, but there’s still value to be found within them. That’s the whole point of the Sunday “Bad” Movies. It’s not meant to tear down the bad. It’s a blog meant to celebrate what people made. I’ll see you next week with more.

Before you go, a few notes:

• Here’s the first post for Wing Commander (week 394).
• Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (week 85) was brought up in this post.
• Jürgen Prochnow was in Wing Commander. He was also in House of the Dead (week 59).
• Wing Commander was one of two movies in the Sunday “Bad” Movies that featured Hugh Quarshie. The other was Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend (week 74).
• David Suchet was in Iron Eagle (week 90) and Wing Commander.
• Freddie Prinze Jr. played the lead role in Wing Commander. He also leant his voice to Delgo (week 148).
• This was also the second Sunday “Bad” Movies appearance of Matthew Lillard after In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (week 220).
• Finally, Simon MacCorkindale was in Jaws 3-D (week 240) and Wing Commander.
• Have you seen Wing Commander? Did you enjoy it? Did you enjoy anything about it? Let me know on Twitter or in the comments.
• As always, you can find me on Twitter or in the comments if you have any movies you want to suggest for me to watch in future Sunday “Bad” Movies weeks. I’m open to all suggestions, so hit me up.
• You should check out Sunday “Bad” Movies on Instagram as well. Just do it.
• Finally, a look at the first week of the next year of Sunday “Bad” Movies. It’ll be December next week, which means Christmas movies. Or holiday movies. First up is a Christmas movie. I’ll be watching Santa Jaws, a movie that mixes Christmas with sharks in some way. Come on back next week to see what I have to say about that one.