86 - Wing Commander

Based on the 1990s flight simulator computer game (and not Space Invaders), Wing Commander is a modestly budgeted space opera set before an impending alien invasion. Starring Freddie Prinze Jr., Saffron Burrows, Matthew Lillard, Jürgen Prochnow, and Malcolm McDowell replacement David Warner, the film is largely a Star Wars ripoff injected with overt references to Star Trek, Das Boot, Battlestar Galactica, Top Gun, and whatever else director and game creator Chris Roberts could get away with. Lieutenant Christopher Blair (Prinze) arrives at the TCS Tiger Class with vital information regarding their war with the Kilrathi aliens. Commander Gerald (Prochnow) doesn’t trust Blair because of his Pilgrim geneology. Pilgrims were the original explorers and colonizers of space who turned into big jerks and attained Force-like powers of intergalactic navigation. Meanwhile, Blair’s buddy Todd “Maniac” Marshall (Lillard) hot dogs around in his ship and generally makes an ass of himself. Will they save the Earth before the impending Kilrathi invasion? Will Blair hook up with Wing Commander Deveraux (Burrows)? Why is there gravity in space? Does any of this matter?