MovieChat Forums > Wing Commander (1999) Discussion > why is this movie so poorly rated?

why is this movie so poorly rated?


I thought it was pretty darn satisfying. Tons of space combat action, explosions, cool CGI of spaceships and holographs and all that sci-fi hi tech stuff. No gimmicky effects like lens flare, cheesy dialogue or over-the-top action. The chemistry and emotional sparks between the characters seemed real and not forced or weird in any way. I wish it was remade, or even just re-released in theaters, I would absolutely go see it. I think it would do really well, what with all the upsurge of space-related movies and shows and stuff going on with NASA.

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I enjoy the movie, but there's a number things that many people take issue with. The film basically ran out of money and they ended up cutting some major subplots from the movie because they didn't have the budget to finish the effects on a key character. Because of this the ending is a big anticlimactic.

Next up, for similar budget reasons the Kilrathi effects just aren't good. Thankfully, the Theatrical cut is done in a way that they're only on the screen for a short time.

Next, due to the above mentioned heavy editing, (and an inexperienced director) the movie is too tightly edited. Scenes aren't given time to breath and, lacking context, the performances suffer. Freddy Prinze Jr. isn't that great of an actor but when you take all his lines out of context he ends up talking to himself a lot with his mouth hanging open.

Then you slide into the realm of the fans that hated the change in look from the games (and some seeming outright disregarding of game continuity).

Finally toss in a dose of people that don't get or like the fact that Wing Commander was always basically Pacific Theater World War 2 set in space. The movie production decided to go all out in this aspec even where it didn't naturally lend itself to this. So they criticize the stylistic touches like the look of ships and costumes.

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