Wing Commander: Space Will Never Be the Same
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: March 12, 1999 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
21
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
1
Negative:
19
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
While much of the film is taken over by enormously entertaining dogfight sequences … much of it also rests on the narrative drive, which seems clipped part and parcel from one of those old “Why We Fight” documentaries that Frank Capra doled out to keep our G.I.s in fighting mode. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
The script too often sounds like an encrypted communique itself, and it's tiring trying to keep all the nonsensical space-jargon straight. The effort is more demanding than hanging onto a joystick, and not entirely worth the effort. Read full review
38
USA TodayMike Clark
Even if this movie wasn't based on a computer game, Starship Troopers' reputation would still have just shot up another 50 notches. [19 March 1999, Life, p.11E]
38
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Tries mightily to give these warmed-over cliches the proper seasoning, but in the end, these leftovers fail to satisfy. [12 March 1999, Friday, p.L]
30
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Pretty much everything in this high-space war yarn has been swiped from other, better movies. Read full review
30
VarietyGodfrey Cheshire
Formulaic, humdrum and sometimes unintentionally laughable. Read full review
30
Village VoiceAthima Chansanchai
Gets sucked into a gravitational cesspool of sci-fi clichés. Read full review
25
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
These actors, alas, are at the service of a submoronic script and special effects that look like a video game writ large. Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Dopey. Read full review
25
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
While it may be true that in space no one can hear you scream, groaning should be a perfectly audible way of saying the intergalactic alien-buster Wing Commander sucks. Read full review
25
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Fox should be paying potential viewers not to walk out of this turkey. The plot has all the depth and originality of a video game without the fun of the interactivity. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
While the plot is worthless and the battle scenes cheap-looking and unengrossing, Wing Commander has clearly defined characters and relationships. In other words, the film's young actors have nothing interesting to say, but they say it well. Read full review
20
L.A. WeeklyNicole Campos
An excruciating no-brainer blend of “Starship Troopers” and “Top Gun,” without the former’s guilty-pleasure concoction of gory F/X and dark humor or Tom Cruise’s megawatt smile. Read full review
20
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Excruciatingly earnest yet convictionless movie. Read full review
20
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Cinematic sleeping pill. Read full review
20
Film ThreatMerle Bertrand
When all is said and done, then, the only thing this juvenile and shameless "Star Wars" knock-off does is whet your appetite for the real deal. Read full review
20
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Either a thoroughly incomprehensible movie or a daring exercise in the cinema of disorientation, and a painful viewing experience either way. Read full review
20
Los Angeles TimesGene Seymour
You won't feel anything. Period. Oh, maybe bored or disoriented by the inside jargon and alien references that will be comprehensible only if you happen to have played the computer game on which Wing Commander is based. [12 March 1999, Calendar, p.F-10]
10
NewsweekTed Gideonse
Matthew Lillard of "Scream," flies like his nickname and tries to bring the film some comic relief not already provided by the stultifying stupidity of the script. Read full review
10
The New York TimesAnita Gates
The film is painfully boring and funny in the wrong places. Read full review
0
Entertainment WeeklyStaff (Not credited)
The effects are laughably primitive, the dialogue hilariously atrocious -- and those are the good parts. Read full review
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