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The Wing Commander movie club has faced the enemy at Midway and returned (relatively) unscathed. Now we're going to make the jump to hyperspace to watch a movie that was absolutely foundational for pretty much every aspect of Wing Commander: the original 1977 Star Wars (aka A New Hope). And we're going to watch the original version in order to understand exactly what Chris Roberts grew up wanting to turn into a game! You can join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.
We probably don't have to expend too many pixels explaining what Star Wars is. George Lucas' unexpected masterpiece combined the pulpy sci-fi serials of the 1930s with the most modern filmmaking technologies available. The result has become both modern mythology and a major basis for how and why movies are made.
We also probably don't have to spend much time pointing out the Wing Commander connections: from the very start of the series, the fantasy the games have tried to accomplish is letting the player experience an interactive version of Star Wars. And over the releases that connection only became more and more obvious, until you literally had Mark Hamill as the series' lead (complete with a pretty shameless flight down a deadly enemy trench…)! But we've collected some quotes and a few notes to get everyone stated–there should be a lot to talk about this time!
The Wing Commander I & II Ultimate Strategy Guide's comprehensive history of the making of those games starts with Chris Roberts' love of Star Wars:
Roberts had always been fascinated by science fiction movies and television shows, especially those like Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and Return of the Jedi. He liked the action elements of space combat, the dazzling special effects, and the variety of characters the creators had imagined in future worlds. He wanted to bring those elements to the computer.And that love was still present when he was making the movie. Here's Chris discussing his connection to Star Wars in the March 1999 issue of Sci-Fi Teen:
"Basically, I think every kid wants to be Luke Skywalker," reveals writer/director Chris Roberts, answering the oft-asked question: What inspired him to create Wing Commander, one of the most successful interactive video games in history, and now a movie scheduled to open this winter/spring?
"I grew up like every other kid," he recalls, "loving movies like Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica on TV and science fiction in general. I originally created Wing Commander to give me the same experience and feeling I got when watching those films and TV shows, but while playing a game instead."Generation XBox: How Video Games Invaded Hollywood used Chris' lifelong love of Star Wars as the through line to tell the story of his making the Wing Commander movie:
A long time ago, in a galaxy not that far away lived a young boy called Chris Roberts. Chris wasn't just a Star Wars fan. He was the kind of Jedi geek who could tell you the difference between a tauntaun and a bantha in torturous detail. Born in California in 1968, he grew up in Manchester, England in the 1970s. When he was eight-years-old, he went to the cinema to see George Lucas's space opera. It changed his life. The moment he got back home he started building X-Wing fighters and Tie-fighters out of his Lego set. "That whole sense of being transported to another world had a big impact on me," he says. "Everything I've done has been about creating worlds that you can escape into." When he wasn't talking about Tie-Fighters, Roberts was busy tapping away at the red and black keys of his school's BBC Micro computers. He dreamed of making games that could capture the magic of Lucas's universe. If you'd told his younger self that one day he'd be living in California, running his own software company and directing Luke Skywalker - destroyer of the Death Star and the last of the illustrious Jedi Knights, aka actor Mark Hamill - he probably would have shat his pants.Chris even listed Star Wars in the #1 slot on a list of his favorite movies in a December 1991 Point of Origin:
And indeed, the movie's original treatment does discuss Star Wars as an inspiration:
Like Star Wars, which was a heroic myth with a futuristic spin, this fundamental approach to the basic story touches on familiar chords in the audience's experience. After all, who didn't grow up with at least some exposure to the classic war movies? Wing Commander: The Movie will provide a similar experience, yet in a new and unique setting. In other words, it's something quite familiar and something quite different at the same time.This was a balance, though, especially after Wing Commander III was so blatant about what it was borrowing. The movie's production notes point out the balance needed too make Wing Commander's film less obviously Star Wars-inspired:
"It's a hardcore war movie set in space, which has more in common with MIDWAY and THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN than with STAR WARS," he concludes. "It's a sci-fi movie with lots of fighting and battles, but with deep characters. I've made the movie I wanted to see."Maniac was a still fan, though! The DVD liner notes:
A close friend of co -star freddie Prinze Jr., Lillard enjoyed playing The character of Maniac. "I loved Maniacs obsession with adrenaline - of needing that 'rush' to challenge the odds. And since I grew up with Star Wars, it was a dream to do a science fiction film."The May 1999 Starlog confirms that Blair felt the same way:
Always an SF fan, Prinze also read many comic books growing up. He cites Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, an SF epic lent him by Wing Commander co-star Matt Lillard. for particular merit. "I had read it before, and Matt gave it to me in Luxembourg, so I got to read it again. I barely remembered the book, so it was like reading it for the first time. It's amazing. I always liked both Star Wars and Star Trek, so getting to be in Wing Commander and flying my own jet in outer space was a great deal of fun."There are countless nods throughout the games and other media, though. The press release announcing Wing Commander Academy also noted the inspiration:
The first title boasted finely detailed, breathtaking graphics and cinematic sequences, with high-tech starfighters engaging in action inspired by the classic space battle films such as Star Wars. Set in the 27th century, the game finds mankind locked in a grueling war with the daring pilots of the Terran Confederation fending off the Kilrathi, a vicious, militaristic alien race. In the game, the player must employ cunning tactics and expert marksmanship to battle Kilrathi aces in heated deep-space dogfights to save the future of the world.The April 1999 issue of Mix magazine has George Oldziey remembering his charge to do Star Wars style music for the games:
Meanwhile, score composer George Oldziey had been working with a VHS tape of the original Avid cut, with time-code. Roberts had specified a "sort of an orchestral 'Star Wars'-type soundtrack," says Oldziey, a requirement that would have been hard to meet using the technology that Oldziey had available on Wing Commander III, which he also scored.Wing Commander IV's Nephele starport looks pretty familiar, too... this was the last CG shot added to the game, replacing another one which looked far less like Tattooine!
Here's an example of how things created for this movie have become shorthand. The request for this Privateer manual piece read "Interior bar scene: people making deals / Star Wars bar with no aliens":
And the Privateer team borrowed the Millennium Falcon extensively, filling in for the player ships in storyboards drawn before the designs were finished!
But Star Wars is everywhere and it has touched everyone who has worked on Wing Commander. Here's novelist Peter Telep from an article titled How Becoming a Professional Star Wars Sandtrooper Changed My Life!
Where can I find a copy of the movie for the watch party?
We're going to try something slightly different this time around! We are going to be watching the 'despecialized' version of Star Wars which will most closely match the one that would've inspired Chris Roberts and the Wing Commander development teams. This means that the current version available on home video and streaming won't sync up. So please download version 1.7 of Harmy's Despecialized Edition if you want to watch along! You can read about the release here. If you are not able to locate a copy please stop by the Discord and ping a CIC staff member before Friday's showing for a download link.
How do we watch the movie together?
It's pretty low tech! Simply join the Wing Commander CIC Discord on Friday and we will be chatting (in text) along with the film in the main channel. Everyone who wants to join in should bring their own copy and we will count down to play them together at 10 PM EST. Everyone is welcome and we encourage you to join in the conversation; sharing your thoughts helps make the experience better for everyone!
