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Post by Kage2020 on May 11, 2004 17:29:28 GMT -5
I've put this here, but it could just as simply be found in the "Artwork" board... Okay, so what's this about then? Quite simply we all read books, see films, pictures or whatever that strike us as being particularly "40k". I was just mentioning Prophecy to Destecado and it reminded me of the disparate ways of perceiving things that people have. So the question and point of the thread is simple: What movies, books, graphic novels or whatever have you seen/read/&c. that you have felt were particularly 40k? I know that we're going to mention some old favourites such as Herbert's Dune but still...  But some broad guidelines: - If you mention a point of inspiration, please explain why you felt that it was particularly "40k".
- If you mention a 40k novel, again please explain why. Believe it or not, sometimes the imagery of those books isn't as "40k" to everyone as people seem to assume!
- If you're going to question the validity of someone's imagery suggestion, then: (1) be nice about it, and (2) prefix it with "A Response to Kage on "xxxx"" or something similar. Let's not burder this thread with tons of quoting.
- Erm, that's about it... I'm sure that I'll think of some more as we go!
So, a rather simple example: Wing Commander - The cruiser-level engagement between the Kilrathi and the Confed ship, with the overt submarine warfare imagery, was something that struck me as particularly "40k". In the same vein one could add in, in no particular order of quality, such things as Hunt for Red October, U571, and Das Boot. The Cube - For some reason the level of experimentation on humans at the expense of those humans also struck me as 40k. Not sure why... (A bit more of an obscure example.) Caesar's "Civil War" - A wonderful representation of the Machiavellian nature of politics. And, of course, as a result of this Machiavelli's The Prince would also count! I'll leave it at that for now... Kage |
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Post by Minister on May 12, 2004 3:52:47 GMT -5
Sticking to the actual 40K books untill I can think of something else, the Execution Hour and Shadow Point books did a spectacular job of encompasing the Imperial Navy, both operationaly and in terms of theships involved.
Ah, one which does work is the Event Horizon film. Could even fit into early 40K history as the first Warp Drive experimentation (not briliantly, but it works). The whole "Living Evil Ship of Doom" works very well for 40K Chaos.
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Post by ZoomDog on May 12, 2004 5:41:27 GMT -5
Red Storm Rising, by Tom Clancy. It features many Submarine battles, most of which reminded me of the cat and mouse game often played by enemy ships in 40k. They spent most of their time looking for each other, then a quick pass as they fired, did their defences manourveres, and waited to see who lived at the end; reminded me of the battle between the Macharius and Contagion in Execution Hour.
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Post by CELS on May 12, 2004 6:05:34 GMT -5
Well, a lot of ships and submarines here, but what the hell. Movie: Master & Commander. Broadsides and boarding actions.... ;D Hrrrrr...... Movie: Star Wars, episode 1-3. Well, I had to mention it. Jedi = Inquisitors, but with cooler weapons. Of course, there is a whole other feel to the Star Wars universe, but the whole Jedi = Inquisitor and Sith = Rogue Inquisitor deserves mention. And the Imperial fleet. *puts on Darth Vader's theme* Movie: Alien(s). Aliens in space hulks and distant installations, and unfortunate humans with insanely large guns and flamers, realizing "how fragile we are"... Computer game: Fallout 1 & 2. Anyone who's played this game must agree with me! Mutants, power armour, the whole lost technology theme, a mix between tech levels from lowly tribals to Brotherhood of Steel with Humvees and tanks. The games even have chainswords, power fists and thunder hammers!! And if you don't know what game I'm talking about; for shame! If you like RPG computer games and 40k, these games are a must. They're pretty old by now, but still have nice 2D graphics and a VERY, VERY high game value. Movie: Fight Club. Clearly a khornate cult in disguise!! No..?   |
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Post by Sikkukkut on May 12, 2004 6:43:41 GMT -5
Quite simply we all read books Speak for yourself, you pointy-headed interlectchull! I'm gonna list movies! Ahem. Terry Gilliam's Brazil, starring Jonathan Pryce, Michael Palin and Kim Greist. Ordinary folks trying to make their way through the bowels of a giant, callous, all-controlling bureaucracy which looks so terrifying from a distance but up close is fraying and breaking down to the point where the lives of its incompetent, lazy or overworked drones make no sense at all any more. Which of course only makes it even more frightening... The Name of the Rose, starring Sean Connery. Philistine that I am, I've only seen the movie although I do own the book. A perfect 40K mindset: a great, dark, gloomy world in which scholars bicker over tiny nuances of the distorted religion that puts a dead hand over everyone's lives, while old and precious knowledge is hidden away by those who fear the consequences of revealing it, or are addicted to the power of being the only ones who know it. More as I think of them. |
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Post by Rogue Trader on May 12, 2004 7:26:59 GMT -5
I thought the setting in Blade Runner was very 40k'ish, I always imagined life in a hive to be sort of like that.
I'll also mention the Terminator movies, if only because of the necron connection.
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Post by CELS on May 13, 2004 11:51:04 GMT -5
I'm curious about the The Name of the Rose and Prophecy now. Are these good movies, would you say, or do they just remind you of some aspects of 40k?
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Post by Destecado on May 15, 2004 12:41:34 GMT -5
Both are great movies. The Name of the Rose is more of a murder mystery, while you might characterize the Prophesy as more of an action adventure movie....besides it has Christopher Walken as the angel gabriel and Vigo Motensen as Lucifer...what's not to like. Starship Troopers Both the book and movie (although they differ greatly). They tell a great story of the life of your normal average IG trooper and show how life is cheap in the Imperial Guard. They also give a glimps where the idea for the tyranid originally came from. The Forever War Another great story told from the point of view of your average trooper. You get to see how dangerous life can be in the IG even when you are just in training. It also brings out the discontinuity of going home....or trying to go home after fighting a war or traveling to other worlds at relativistic speeds, which means that everyone you knew might be dead by the time you get home. |
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Post by CELS on May 15, 2004 12:52:53 GMT -5
The common opinion on the Prophecy seems to be "Great actors, not great plot." What do you think about this?
So Starship Troopers is actually older than the movie? Hm. Cool.
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Post by Destecado on May 15, 2004 13:00:51 GMT -5
The Plot was a little bit thin, but it had great dialogue. With different actors, it would probably have been a mediocre movie, but the casting was dead on. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the movie. "Did you ever notice how in the bible whenever God needed to punish someone, or make an example, or whenever God needed a killing, he sent an angel? Did you ever wonder what a creature like that must be like? A whole existence praising your God, but one wing always dipped in blood. Would you ever really want to see an angel?" Click here for sound file. Joseph: "He's also hemaphrodite....oohhh!! He's got both male and female sex organs." Thomas: "Think of the possibilites." Joseph: "Yeah, he could be impotent and frigid all at the same time." Click here for sound file. |
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Post by Kage2020 on May 15, 2004 17:05:33 GMT -5
Ah, since someone has mentioned the Name of the Rose (both film and book... Sikkukkut you phillistine! ), then I'm going to have to point out the obvious possibilities of another book by Umberto Eco... Focault's PendulumAn absolutely wonderful book that smacks of the Inquisition, the Illuminati, chaos cults and conspiracy theory in general. An absolutely wonderful book and brilliantly written. On Prophecy... I'm actually rather fond of the concept of the film, the plot being inherently no weaker than, say, Star Wars films (Ep.1-2) or Van Helsing! Ah well... And Destecado, I'm afraid that you might have earned your own personal title... I'll have to figure out whether you'd take it as an insult or not, while it is definitely not meant as one! Kage |
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Post by Minister on May 15, 2004 17:54:07 GMT -5
Don't mess with Van Helsing.
Which, incidentaly, put me very much in mind of the way the Ordo Hereticus has been presented...
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Post by Kage2020 on May 15, 2004 19:14:27 GMT -5
You've really got to ensure that you put those smilies in, Minister! On Van Helsing... Oh, don't get me wrong. It is an all but perfect representation of how GW represents the 40k universe. But isn't there anyone else that finds that even remotely dubious? With that said, however, I did like the film for some of the concepts generated therein. I was more annoyed by the questions left open, but that's probably the same type of thing that annoys me with the 40k universe! Kage |
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Post by KeirLeslie on May 17, 2004 0:16:53 GMT -5
My books that are 40kish.
Futuretrack Five by Robert Westall. I thought that it was very good for showing the interior workings of Tech-Priests and for the whole Unem/Em thing. The naval school reminded me of what I thought the Schola Progenium would be like.
Fersumendjinn by Ian M. Banks. It was evocative of a run down hive with the rulers fleeing and the populace panicky. Also the archaeotech and the Guilds were very Tech-Priesty. The crypt is a good view of the Infinity Circuit
I thought that the Tomorrow, When the War Began series by John Marsden illustrated different reactions to war and the killing and gruesomeness therein. Very impportant when thinking of the IG and the "Youth corps".
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Post by Kage2020 on May 17, 2004 6:20:59 GMT -5
And that's reminded me of some obvious others... Starship TroopersAny setting that features powered armour must always reference Heinlein's work. Heinlen's trooper armour is a tad more 'clean', though I would personally attribute that to the fact that we have very little consistent information on Marine power (and other) power armour. Indeed, the only close analogue between the two settings would be the Spyrer suits, but then you get into the standard arguments on origin there... <sigh> Star WarsSpecifically the "New Jedi Order" books that detail the Yuzhon Vong (sp.). Their 'shapers' are the singular best representation of the radical/puritan continuum in the adeptus mechanicus. IlliumSimmons does another "good 'en" with this book, showing a similar though better defined approach to 'high tech' races (I'm thinking eldar and C'tan/Necrons here) than in his Hyperion series... Kage |
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