Wing Commander (film)

Wing Commander is a 1999 science fiction film loosely based on the video game series of the same name. It was directed by Chris Roberts, the creator of the game series, and stars Freddie Prinze, Jr., Matthew Lillard, Saffron Burrows, Tchéky Karyo, Jürgen Prochnow, David Suchet and David Warner. Principal photography took place in Luxembourg and post-production was done in Austin, Texas.

Plot

It is the year 2654 and an interstellar war is raging between the Terran Confederation and the cat-like alien Kilrathi. Christopher Blair (Freddie Prinze, Jr.) and Todd Marshall (Matthew Lillard) are cocky young pilots traveling aboard the small supply ship Diligent, commanded by Captain Taggart (Tchéky Karyo), to their new posting aboard the carrier Tiger Claw.

A massive Kilrathi armada attacks Pegasus Station, a remote but vital Confederation base and captures a navigation computer, through which it will be able to locate Earth. Admiral Tolwyn (David Warner) directs Blair, whose parents he knew, to carry orders to the Tiger Claw to fight a suicidal delaying action to let the rest of the Terran fleet reach Earth. Along with the awkwardness of joining a new unit, and continual pranks that require discipline from his wing commander Lieutenant Commander Deveraux (Saffron Burrows), Blair fights the distrust of his crewmates because of the drastic orders he brings from the Admiral, and because his mother was a "Pilgrim", a strain of humans who had fought against the Confederation. Pilgrims have the innate ability to navigate space by feel despite obstacles such as black holes. Marshall falls in love with Lieutenant Rosie Forbes (Ginny Holder) but she dies when the two disobey orders and engage Kilrathi fighters.

Wing Commander (franchise)

Wing Commander is a media franchise consisting of space combat simulation video games from Origin Systems, Inc., an animated television series, a feature film, a collectible card game, a series of novels, and action figures. The franchise originated in 1990 with the release of Wing Commander, a groundbreaking space combat simulation computer game.

Setting and gameplay

Set in the 27th century, the games tell the story of humanity's war against the Kilrathi, an alien species of large feline bipeds. The Kilrathi are native to the planet Kilrah with their society depicted as an empire. Physically they are bipeds who strongly resemble big cats: they have leonine manes, but also have markings which distinguish their clan of origin. The species is featured in every game, with later games revealing more complex characters than just a faceless enemy.

The player represents the Terran Confederation, the primary human government in the Wing Commander series. The Terran Confederation is an alliance of systems and regional governments which provide unified protection and economic growth. Launching from carrier ships, the player fulfills various missions in space fighter aircraft. The games were all notable for their storytelling through extensive cutscenes. Starting with Wing Commander III, every game (excluding Secret Ops) contained cutscenes that incorporated live action filming, starring several major Hollywood actors, including John Rhys-Davies, Mark Hamill, Thomas F. Wilson and Malcolm McDowell, as well as Christopher Walken, John Hurt, and Clive Owen in Privateer 2: The Darkening.

Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom

Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom is the fourth main game in Chris Roberts' Wing Commander science fiction space combat simulator video game series, produced by Origin Systems and released by Electronic Arts for the PC in 1996 and the Sony PlayStation in 1997 (the game was also released on the North American PlayStation Network Store in 2009).

The first game set after the end of the Terran-Kilrathi War, Wing Commander IV depicts a galaxy in the midst of a chaotic transition, with human civilians, Kilrathi survivors and former soldiers on both sides attempting to restabilize their lives. A novelization, by William R. Forstchen and Ben Ohlander, was published on October 1, 1996.

Gameplay

The game includes a large number of branching conversations in which the players must choose what response their character, Christopher Blair, will give; the choice may affect the other person's attitude toward Blair, the morale of the entire crew, the player's next assignment and even the game's ending.

Wings (Macklemore and Ryan Lewis song)

"Wings" (stylized as "Wing$") is a song by American hip hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, released as the debut single from their first studio album The Heist. It features uncredited vocals from Hollis.

Context

Macklemore explained the subject of the single as follows:

Music video

The music video, directed by Zia Mohajerjasbi, alludes to an autobiographical story line. It depicts its main character (Macklemore) and his experiences as a young boy infatuated with basketball and basketball paraphernalia, athletic shoes in particular, and what adverse effect it had on him as he grew up.

The music video starts with Macklemore now a grown-up man, going into an empty basketball court, where the indications are, that he apparently used to practice basketball himself. Macklemore raps while he reminisces himself as a small kid wearing a Chicago Bulls jersey number 23 (clearly alluding to NBA player Michael Jordan) and wearing, in a close-up, Nike sneakers that would "make him fly" (another reference to Nike Air Jordan sneakers). He describes "touching the net" as being the "best day of my life" (also a simile of a Jordan typical Nike ad), boasting about his skills to his mother and friends... until that is "my friend Carlos' brother got murdered for his fours, whoa", a reference to the basketball shoes he was wearing. This incident becomes a wake-up call to young Macklemore.

Gone Again

Gone Again is an album by Patti Smith, released June 18, 1996 on Arista Records. The production of the record was preceded by the deaths of many of Smith's close friends and peers, including her husband Fred "Sonic" Smith, her brother Todd, Robert Mapplethorpe, Richard Sohl and Kurt Cobain, with whom Smith had sympathized. In addition to this, Gone Again also features the last studio performance of Jeff Buckley released before his death less than a year later.

May 13, 1999 Rolling Stone magazine placed the album on its list of "The Essential Recordings of the '90s".

Track listing

Samples

Personnel

Band

With

Additional Personnel

Rugby football positions

Rugby football positions may refer to: