Good "40K" Films

[MaltonNecromancer]

If you're like me, you love film. You also love 40K.

Now, as you know, these things have never really come together. Unless you count some embarrassingly cheap GW produced nonsense, computer game cutscenes from the times when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, and that "Ultramarines" film. Which, as we all know, was 22 minutes of story mixed with roughly an hour of Space Marines walking around while supposedly moody music played doing absolutely naff all.

Basically, 40K on film sucks.

Or does it?

The official films are absolutely bloody awful, but there are a number of films that embody the ethos of the setting and are (surprise!) not dreadful. Notice I don't say "good"; most of them are still fairly terrible/ narmy, but nonetheless they are worth your time.

Event Horizon (trailer: [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVlnER8SxfQ[/url]) is basically an actual 40K film; the setting is pure future gothic, and it actually has The Warp! It's pretty much the story of what happens when a ship's Gellar Field fails, and despite some terrible characterisation, as well as a few lines they might make you wince in physical pain, I like it. The cast is excellent, the aesthetics are spot on, and it's thankfully a horror film. If you can endure the terrible script, there's a 40K film worth your time.

Starship Troopers (trailer: [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y07I_KER5fE[/url]) or "The Imperial Guard fight Tyranids" is the most obvious choice on this list, but I include it in case anyone here hasn't heard of it. It's hilarious from start to finish. Very much a film to enjoy on two levels - either you can love the dumb action, or you can love the biting satire of military culture (or both, which is what I do). It's one of very few films to, like 40K, present a totalitarian regime relatively heroically... which is of course what the Imperium is. If you find yourself questioning "Why are these fascists the good guys?" then this film has succeeded. If you simply love the gunfights, well, that's because they're pretty sweet. And Michael Ironside is in it. If you don't know who he is, you owe it to yourself to find out.

9 (trailer: [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnoJecu9e7c[/url]) is a great one for Necron players. Seriously: look at the robots in the trailer! Everything about this film is visually stunning, and for lovers of Xenos: not a single living human. Very dark, very melancholic, and with a wonderful gothic aesthetic.

Battlestar Galatica (trailer: [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2x14ZhEc9k[/url]) Yes it's a series, but the pilot isn't. This is very much sci-fi for adults, with a fairly realistic take on a future war - if not the tactics and weapons, certainly the mental and emotional toll. It's also excellent for players of Necrons: the Cylons are very much what the new Necrons are. Seriously, if you hate the new Necron fluff, just watch this and see how far and how brilliantly they can take the idea. It's very dark indeed though: there are episodes discussing the morality of suicide bombing (and deciding it's a valid, heroic strategy), as well as the horrors of the military use of rape. So seriously: not for children at all. However, I would rate it as one of the best sci-fi series I've ever seen, and certainly one of the most consistently exciting.

Dagon (trailer: [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yAnVNy27co[/url]) is one for Chaos fans. If you want to get some inspiration for Chaos Cultists, or just why Chaos is so damn scary, this film is superb. It's worth noting that there are a couple of spectacularly gory scenes, but the atmosphere is just superb. Aside from John Carpenter's "In The Mouth of Madness", it's the best H.P. Lovecraft film committed to celluloid, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

The Mist (trailer: [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-NF55EZ5tw[/url]) is another one for Tyranid fans. People are trapped in the middle of a zombie apocalypse... only it's not zombies. It's monsters from another dimension. Notable for one ofthe bleakest ending in the history of cinema; if it doesn't leave you feeling hollow, something's wrong. Also a superb satire of religion - you could argue it's a story about how it feels to be normal people caught between Tyranids and the Sisters of Battle.

These are the films I have off the top of my head (I was going to include "Wicked City", but it's not appropriate on this site). I shall add more later.

What else is there that could be a 40K film, despite there being no 40K in it at all?

[Brakkart]

Some nice selections to which I'll add one of my own:

Outlander (trailer: [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7paq_cWOsc[/url]). Basically the story of what happens when a single Space Marine and a single Tyranid crashland on a primitive dark ages/feudal world and the carnage that results from their intrusion. Dark and gritty, with some great set piece scenes and a good cast too. If you've not seen it, I highly reccomend it to any fantasy or 40k fan.

[Grailkeeper]

God bless this thread and all who sail in her.

That Riddick film where he's trapped on a desert Island could be interpreted as Penal legion v Tyranids I suppose.

Starship troopers is the best example.

[MaltonNecromancer]

Other films I have thought of:

Casshern (trailer: [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk9fGI90qdM[/url]) is utterly bonkers. It's just bonkers beyond all words and comprehension. My sweet mercy, it is pretty. And grandiose. The final war scenes are the closest thing you'll ever get to watching a 40K Apocalypse battle on screen. Just don't question why things are happening: very little that happens makes any actual sense.

Sexy Killer (trailer: [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYBILivH6Hs[/url] complete film: [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsHyvur8SDo[/url]) is a mad-as-a-bag-of-badgers Spanish film about, well, a Sexy Killer. It's a blacker-than-black comedy which has a very similar tone to a lot of the black comedy around Chaos and Chaos worshippers. It's also as close as any fan of Kharn the Betrayer will ever get to seeing him in action. You know, if he were a perky Spanish woman.

Accion Mutante (trailer: [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrSfAz8aljw[/url]) is another Spanish film that somehow manages to out-bonkers "Sexy Killer". It is totally insane. A group of disabled terrorists wage war on able-bodied society in a grimdark future setting, and it's largely played for some (very sick) laughs. Basically, Khorne maurauders attack Imperial society for giggles.

Aeon Flux: War (complete episode: [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAgL11OcoLY[/url]) is a five minute animation that ruthlessly dissects the way films exploit our sympathies for characters without us realising. Has more violence in five minutes than the "Ultramarines" film managed in an hour and a half, characters you care about more, and is visually superb - good if you're a fan of Elysian Drop Troops. I love the rest of the animated Aeon Flux series, but it's not for everyone - give it a try if you're ever feeling adventurous.

Hardware (trailer: [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnVVyfyFChE[/url]) soooooooooooooo dated! But no-one can watch that trailer and tell me it's not 40K. Written by a 2000AD author (2000AD is a British comic, and to say it was hugely influential on the nascent 40K is a massive understatement. 1st edition 40K was 2000AD, by way of Tolkein, "Starship Troopers" and "Dune"), this is basically the closest you'll get to what a 40K film would have been back in 1st or 2nd edition.

[kabelguy]

how about Alien(s) 1,2,3,4....

Battle for L.A. was somewhat IG vs Necrons = I used it to hook another 40k player.

Startship Troopers 1, 2,3 (altho 2 & 3 were weak)

Terminator = 1 man IG vs Necron (with synthetic skin over metal alloy frame)

are we gonna hit space ship movies ie BFG ?

[Grailkeeper]

how about Alien(s) 1,2,3,4....

Battle for L.A. was somewhat IG vs Necrons = I used it to hook another 40k player.

Startship Troopers 1, 2,3 (altho 2 & 3 were weak)

Terminator = 1 man IG vs Necron (with synthetic skin over metal alloy frame)

are we gonna hit space ship movies ie BFG ?

Forgot Battle for LA- altough the Aliens reminded me more of Tau. There's a starship Troopers 2 and 3?

[MaltonNecromancer]

how about Alien(s) 1,2,3,4....

Battle for L.A. was somewhat IG vs Necrons = I used it to hook another 40k player.

Starship Troopers 1, 2,3 (altho 2 & 3 were weak)
...

are we gonna hit space ship movies ie BFG ?

"Aliens" (any) is just too obvious a suggestion for me. They're not so much 40K, as "most sci-fi films that you've ever seen, and every sci-fi shooting game you've played, ever"; I'm hoping for slightly more obscure stuff.

There's a reason I didn't include the second two "Starship Trooper" films Although I hear the animated series isn't too bad.

I haven't watched "Battle for L.A." One of my friends described it as "the best recruitment video the USMC has ever put out", which kind of turned me off it. I love my action films, but there is a line.

You can hit the space ship movies if you wish; the aim is basically for grimdark speculative fiction or horror. I can't think of any that don't suck, but there might be.

[L192837465]

Forgot Battle for LA- altough the Aliens reminded me more of Tau. There's a starship Troopers 2 and 3?

Oh dear god you haven't seen the horrible-nesstrocity that is Starship Troopers 3: Marauder!?

Stop whatever you're doing, I don't care what it is. Find this movie. Prepare to groan yourself into a coma.

It's amazing. Also, 1 drink for every moment of bad acting, finish your beer when you figure out the plotline.

[UltramarineFan]

I have to disagree with your suggestion of 9 MaltonNecromancer, the ending is just so heavy handed and pathetic, the film really isn't that great

[tongalad]

John Carpenter's Ghosts Of Mars?

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV5II8J61Ms[/url]