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So I found a funny reminder today of a long ago hopeful time for a nerd. It's a faded ticket stub. I had to use some photo tools to make it legible.
The date: March 15, 1999.
The movie: WING COMMANDER
The date: March 15, 1999.
The movie: WING COMMANDER
Now if you aren't familiar with the Wing Commander game series, let me hip you to why it was amazing.
The game came out in 1999 and was produced by Chris Roberts. Like most games from @RichardGarriott's amazing Origin Systems, it taxed the limits of the average PC.
The game came out in 1999 and was produced by Chris Roberts. Like most games from @RichardGarriott's amazing Origin Systems, it taxed the limits of the average PC.
The game was cinematic in its narrative and had threaded outcomes depending on how you performed during your missions. Little details like the bar with a combat simulator made it feel like The Tiger's Claw carrier was a real place.
Combat was exciting 3D "dogfight" that included chatter with your wingmen and thrilling hunts through a variety of settings. Damage to the ship showed up on indicators.
There were mission briefs that described each mission's goals, and cut scenes that offered plot details. It was humans vs the cat-people Kilrathi for control of the colonial space.
After 1990's initial game, the Wing Commander series was probably the very best of the gaming world's brief flirtation with "Full Motion Video." Familiar nerd faves like John Rhys Davies and @HamillHimself added gravitas and drama to the games.
But despite all that it still felt weird to have this Wing Commander movie pop out of nowhere. The commercials didn't hint at the stuff that made the game so amazing.
So I would not say that I was stoked to see this movie. But I was willing to give it a try - but THEN word hit that the movie would be paired with the trailer to Star Wars: Episode 1 THE PHANTOM MENACE.
Suddenly all my co-workers wanted to go "see" Wing Commander??
Suddenly all my co-workers wanted to go "see" Wing Commander??
But they didn't really want to see the movie. They just wanted to watch THE PHANTOM MENACE trailer. So we snuck off from the office - pretty much the whole IT dept except for the helpdesk crew - and went to the matinee of Wing Commander. https://www.quora.com/Did-you-buy-a-ticket-to-the-movie-Wing-Commander-just-to-watch-the-trailer-for-Star-Wars-Episode-I-The-Phantom-Menace-Did-you-leave-the-movie-right-after-the-trailer-like-I-did
And we watched the trailer for THE PHANTOM MENACE. There were many whoops and hollers, for this was "the before JarJar time" and we did not know what was coming. And then the theater crowd - perhaps 20 - 25 people - all got up and left.
Except me.
Except me.
Welp - it turns out that they were the lucky ones. I do enjoy the work of many of the actors who worked this movie, but it was absolutely a disaster. It was SO FAR away from the thrilling story from the games.
Read all about it here for gory details: http://futurewarstories.blogspot.com/2014/04/broken-promises-wing-commander-1999-film.html
Read all about it here for gory details: http://futurewarstories.blogspot.com/2014/04/broken-promises-wing-commander-1999-film.html
But here's the crazy part. When I found the ticket today I can still recall that fiasco of being alone in the movie theater and being disappointed. And I recall my later disappointment at SW:E1TPM.
Yet the date - 3/15/1999?
Yet the date - 3/15/1999?
Well, it turns out that the reason I was able to take off and watch the movie while everyone else had to go back to work was because I had something special to take care of and had to kill some time before that appointment.
I could ignore the Wing Commander fiasco because a few hours after watching this movie, I met up with @mrsdratlantis and asked her to marry me.
