I was intrigued, after hearing many different points of views on this movie, to go see it. So I go to this used tape store, (why rent it for $5 when you can buy it for $2?) and buy it. I just wanted to see which side I agreed with. Most people that stated their opinions, said that this movie was a waste of time. Other people said it was the best movie they've ever seen, but I'm guessing they were fans of the video game or the 1977 version of this movie, both of which I've never seen. To go straight to the point and make it easy for those who don't know whether to see it or not, I'll let you decide for yourself based on my opinion. So to make it simple I'll just say the good and bad stuff about it.

Bad Stuff:

~Freddie Prinze Jr. sucks at acting. There's no other way to put it. I got very bored watching his one expression and monotone voice.

~Right from the beginning, I thought the music was terrible. Music is supposed to drag you in from the beginning and give you a sense of what's coming, (think "Jaws.") This just made me feel like I was about to see Captain America.

~The alien make-up was so extremely ridiculous that they looked like overgrown house pets. Not scary at all.

~I got tired of hearing people state the obvious. "Hey! I think something's wrong!" Well, aren't you the sharp one. The exploding bombs and loud "red alert" beeping didn't give it away, did it?

~The story had it's boring moments. There were parts I didn't follow and soon didn't even care, because I had gotten so lost by then it didn't matter.

~*This may or may not be a downside* I wasn't sure if the accents in this movie were taken from the video game or original, but it was way too weird. We had a Scottish guy, a ton of Englishmen, Americans, and some Asians. How did they all get on this one ship?

Good Stuff:

~Matthew Lillard did a fabulous job. I'm so used to seeing him act like an a**hole, (no offense, think "Scream.") that I wasn't expecting the serious performance he gave. It blew me away how serious he had to be in some scenes, and he pulled it off beautifully. (Although I gave the movie 5 stars, I would like to give his performance a 10.)

~The plotline, although confusing, did have it's certain interesting moments. I don't know which came first, Starship Troopers or this, but I have a feeling one of them is a rip-off of the first. However, it certainly had it's moments that put you in suspense.

~The special effect were great. It reminded me a lot of Star Wars. And the battle scenes were exciting.

~The rest of the cast didn't do too bad a job of acting. I was able to feel sorry for most of them.

I gave this movie a 5. If you have nothing better to do, I suggest you watch it. I certainly have seen worse, (read my review of "Jeepers Creepers.") If you liked "Starship Troopers" this is a movie for you. However, if you want something more out of a Sci-Fi movie of this sort, I suggest "Pitch Black." *****/10

It's 2654 and Earth is fighting an interstellar war against the Kilrathi Empire. The Fleet Headquarters at Pegasus Asteroid Base is attacked by the Kilrathi. Its Navcom A.I. computer and the secret hyperspace jump to Earth is taken. This puts the Kilrathi fleet 40 hours from Earth and two hours ahead of the main Earth forces. This leaves the carrier TCS Tiger Claw as Earth's only hope. The crew is joined by Lieutenants Christopher Blair (Freddie Prinze, Jr.),Todd Marshall (Matthew Lillard),and Commodore James Taggart (Tchéky Karyo). Blair is a child of a Pilgrim who fought against the Confederation and supposedly has special hyperspace navigating skills. Blair and Marshall clash with their flight leader Lieutenant Commander Jeanette Deveraux (Saffron Burrows).

This has a lot in common with "Starship Troopers" from over a year before. Sadly, the special effects are inferior and it isn't quite as much fun. The lower budget probably had a lot to do with that. Prince and Lillard are playing standard characters. It is very standard sci-fi without any surprises. That is its main drawback. I love space battles like any sci-fi fans but these characters are thin. They have no flesh and blood. There's not enough fun. There's not enough grit. I played a version of this game back in the day but the hometown discount can't bring this up to a pass.

Having been a fan of the "Wing Commander" game franchise back in the day then it was with some anticipation that I sat down to watch "Wing Commander", although I had a gut feeling that I knew that it had a high possibility of being a poor movie experience.

And once this 1999 movie ended, I must admit that you are left with a hollow feeling and a somewhat sour taste in your mouth. Director Chris Roberts didn't manage to capture the essence of the games, and the movie turned out to be a shallow experience and poor movie in general.

The story in "Wing Commander" was adequate, albeit not super thrilling. But the movie was killed by the lack of convincing effects and the choice of acting talents. It just felt like you were watching a movie made for teenagers, given the actors and actresses they had opted to cast for the movie. And not even with talents such as David Warner and Jürgen Prochnow making appearances were director Chris Roberts able to salvage this movie.

The fans of the game franchise will remember the Kilrathi as being menacing feline humanoids, but they are presented as something that resembles an over-sized gerbil in the movie, and do not really look like the feline creatures that were in the games. And that feature was really a hard pill to swallow and it really sent a low blow to the movie.

If you were fan of the games, then stay well clear of the movie, because it is nowhere near to having captured the spirit and heart of the game franchise. If you are unfamiliar with the games, then this 1999 movie doesn't really offer anything that you can't find in other Sci-Fi movies.

"Wing Commander" manages to harvest a more than generous three out of ten stars from me, just because I wanted my love for the game franchise to go to the big screen.