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Democracy has fallen! And by that we mean there was no movie vote for the second week in a row… because this time around, LeHah had birthday boy privileges! And he has chosen to break the gridlock that has made so many recent elections dramatic: he's gone and and selected next week's movie to be RoboCop (1987). You can join us this Friday via Discord to watch along.

You may recall that after we watched RoboCop 3 we reviewed a great deal of evidence as to whether or not the 'enforcer' in the Righteous Fire introduction was intended to reference RoboCop… and we ultimately decided that he was! So we're finally following up that discussion by watching the original film. Pay particular attention to Murphy's exposed face after he's been Robocopized to compare to the Privateer character's face texture...

Where can I find a copy of the movie for the watch party?

RoboCop is available for rent or purchase on all

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Star Trek: The Next Generation introduced the Borg, a race of horrifying cyborgs, during its second season. The series used the Borg sparingly, but always with spectacular effect. Their enormous, seemingly impossible to defeat cube-shaped spacecraft quickly became a familiar element of the pop culture of the early 1990s.

In 1995, tensions between the developers at Origin Systems and their parent company at Electronic Arts began to increase. Though Electronic Arts' deep pockets were now funding some of the most expensive and cutting edge work in the industry, they were also drawing back on the independence that Origin had enjoyed under the first years of their stewardship. Structurally and creatively, the studio was being absorbed into the corporation. One of Origin's artists captured the mood in a single image: a parody of the original Electronic Arts logo rendered as though it was made up of

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Here's a little nod--you might call it an Easter egg!--in the Wing Commander movie that I had never put together before: the final shot before Rosie's Rapier is hit by a Dralthi is... the Wing Commander I box art! Too bad they couldn't get the hand on the flight stick into the shot...

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Kagemusha is a beautiful film! It's the sort of movie you don't actively seek out but are glad to have added to your canon after you've seen it. It's long and covers history that you likely aren't intimately familiar with… but it's so lush and beautifully put together that each new shot is worth pouring over. The Wing Commander movie club says check it out!

One thing's for sure: we learned what a "kagemusha" is! The term literally translates to 'shadow warrior' and here it is someone who is hired to impersonate a military commander (the lead character, in this film). It seems appropriate for End Run's Kagimasha, which ultimately dies taking a hit for the Tarawa and the marines.

This all prompts us to wonder: what IS a corvette, anyway? A corvette is the smallest type of warship in the traditional naval order of battle. They typically serve as pickets, patrol ships and fast attacking missile boats.

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This is a reminder that we have another fun #Wingnut movie night planned on Discord this evening! The ongoing theme will be movies that are referenced by Wing Commander in some way. Tonight's film is The Dark Crystal (1982) and you can find details on why we're watching it in the announcement post here. The movie will start at 7 PM PST/10 PM EST but feel free to drop by and hang any time!

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The exploration initiative supporting the new Rainbow's End deep-space port has concluded, with commanders delivering a substantial volume of exploration data to the facility.
Organisers confirmed that the target for stellar survey submissions was exceeded well ahead of expectations, allowing scientific teams to begin large-scale modelling of galactic regions around the starport's home system of Roefoo ZE-H d10-0.
Deep Space Surveys Operations Executive Hermine Delarue released a statement following the conclusion of the initiative:
"The response from the exploration community has been exceptional. Databanks at Rainbow's End are now filled with quality survey data gathered from some of the most remote areas of the galaxy. Our modelling teams can begin analysing the information to produce new stellar maps of this region. We will issue further mission priorities to our explorers via our internal