Display MoreGreetings WingNuts,
What did the Wing Commander movie club take away from Highlander (1986)? Well, if there was just one lesson it pretty much has to be that there can be only one. But we actually found out something pretty interesting with this screening… more on that below! To our modern eyes, Highlander holds up pretty well; it's a very distinct 1980s experience that feels right at home next to films like the original Terminator. It was an era of movies that created their own sets of rules in order to build a universe you could immediately take part in… and here's an example of that formula working very well.
As for the Wing Commander connection, there's no bones about it: Sean Connery's Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez is a lot like how Paladin was originally presented, from his Scottish brogue to his role as a selfless-but-grumpy mentor for your character. I'd even say there's a pretty clear connection in the original concept art used in Claw Marks!
... and the fact that Highlander casts Connery as an immortal Spaniard that makes no attempt to alter his distinctly Scottish accent at least presages Chris Roberts' unapologetic of casting French-accented Tcheky Karyo as a notable Scotsman. (Yes, we know that Paladin is technically from Ares, only his adoptive parents were Scottish; the Wing Commander IV novel even predates the movie in revealing that his thick accent was only spycraft… but stay tuned for a very detailed biography of Paladin in the coming days that will expand on all of this!)
Highlander is also on a list of Chris Roberts' favorite action/adventure films that was printed in a late 1991 issue of Point of Origin. Which led us to a genuinely interesting discovery: the apparent origin of the name of Paladin's spy ship from Wing Commander II! We were genuinely shook when we realized that Connor twice refers to his dead wife (Heather) as his "bonnie Heather".
The Bonnie Heather first appeared in Wing Commander II and then made appearances in Freedom Flight and Special Operations 1. It also had a blink-and-you-miss it cameo added to the Super Wing Commander version of Claw Marks!
Can you name all of Paladin's similarly styled spy ships? Ebeneezer, Diligent, Bonnie Heather, Grimalkin and Bannockburn!
And finally… who's that on the bridge?
Why it's Hugh Quarshie himself, aka Commander Corey "Magic Man" Obutu (this is canon)! Here he plays the third-to-last surviving immortal in the film's elaborate mythology. Given Chris Roberts' love of the film, this may have been the impetus for his casting as Mr. Obutu!
Sully is more of a Grimalkin than a Bonnie Heather.
