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This week's movie seems like an interesting one: Go for Broke! (1951). It's the story of the 442nd Infantry Regiment, the heroic all-Nisei army unit that served with great distinction in Italy during World War II (and in so doing brought even greater shame to America's horrible policy of Japanese American internment). That's a story that we're interested to hear… but we're also cautious that it's from 1951 when there was a very different understanding of World War II! It should be interesting to learn more. You can join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.
What's the Wing Commander connection? It's a weird one! The title of the movie, Go for Broke!, is an expression meaning 'give it all'. It's the motto of the 442nd regiment and... and it's the name of a ship that doesn't appear in Wing Commander II! The missions for the 3space Wing Commander games store all of the ships that can appear in a 'cast' and then the mission layout can manipulate these as needed: spawning them, deleting them, moving them, ordering them to attack something, etc. This also means that as designers iterated on missions often material that was cut can still be found in the cast, just not called in the mission. That's where we see the Free Trader Go for Broke, appearing in the cast files of Tesla (Losing) series missions that in the final version have the Bonnie Heather active instead.
We first theorized that it might have been an earlier name for the Bonnie Heather herself but Wing Commander II director Siobhan Beeman was kind enough to think back for us:
Hmm. I think what’s going on is that those weren’t originally Paladin’s ship. A significant chunk of early game taking place in Gwynedd got cut, and my guess is you’re seeing unrelated freighter missions rehomed to elsewhere in the story and reworked to feature Paladin.
Very very possible I’m misremembering! But Paladin was always Scottish, and always played the same role in the plot, so I don’t think his ship got renamed. “Go for Broke” feels generic, like a placeholder or minor NPC ship name.
Where can I find a copy of the movie for the watch party?
Go for Broke! is available for rent or purchase on many of the standard streaming services. It is currently streaming on MGM+ in the United States. If you would like a physical copy, it was released on DVD in 2012 and remains in print around the world. Copies are available on YouTube and on the Internet Archive. If you are not able to locate a copy please stop by the Discord and ping a CIC staff member before Friday's showing.
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!
How can I help pick future movie club movies?
The movie club movies are voted on each week by the Wing Commander Discord. The poll is typically posted 24 hours before each week's screening and the next movie is announced at the end. The choices for the poll come from a master pool of Wing Commander-related movies. If you would like to suggest a film for inclusion in that pool you can post it to this thread.
