So what War Movies could people see providing inspiration?

How about a bridge to far, as an example how a planetary assault can fail?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKDPX8PEiVk

For that matter, there is the longest day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Toc3EjHMOB8&feature=related

Or another classic giving an idea of trench warfare

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOTWPSJdxRw&feature=related

Zuku is certainly a good one. The Preatorians were famously just copies of the British soldiers in the film (Mordian models with their heads changed), to the extent they did a scenario based on the events of the film, replacing the Zulus with Orks. The methods of the British forces in the film are also a very good estimation of some of the Guard regiments generally (shoulder to shoulder, disciplined shooting in ranks, and the careful application of the bayonet), even if they should be totally outmoded by the technology.

I don't think All Quiet on the Western Front actually works terribly well as inspirations for the way warfare is treated in 40k. Yes, the trench warfare is iconic of some regiments, but loss of innocence and the essentially anti-war nature of the piece don't fit well with the themes of 40k. As a visual inspiration, yes, as a guide for the theme of a campaign, not so much.

Similarly why I don't think Saving Private Ryan is ideal either. Yes, the battle scenes are very good, but the overall feel of the film is too concerned with the sacrifice and loss of the characters. Death in the service of the Emperor is not to be mourned, it is just what is expected from you. The truth is that most modern films are just going to have too negative attitude towards war, or too reverential an attitude towards soldiers to really give the right feel.

I would also personally suggest Waterloo. And I know someone else suggested it in another thread, but Aliens is an obvious one.

I see it like the Battle of Passchendaele, a few guys stuck together having to face off a few waves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUox_hQAih8&feature=related  (up until 4:30, then it falls into the melodramatic angle the movie is, sadly, all about- it starts in battle ends in battle, the 2 hours in between is just another love story...yet again what can be more 40k romantic for a soldier and his hot-nurse friend to make sweet love with background artillery barrage rather than back home in the comfort of their own home?)

 There is always Enemy At The Gates.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AidvXzNKC4

For early game PCs I'd probably put them though basic training "Full Metal Jacket" style.  They were actually playing that movie at the recruitment center when I enlisted, and my drill instructor was more intimidating that I could have ever expected.  Sgt. Harman would be a good place to start when coming up with a drill sergeant character.

Starship Troopers.  That's the first thing I thought of when I saw that this has been announced. With gems like these how can you resist?

"We must meet this threat with our courage, our valor, indeed with our very lives to ensure that human civilization, not insect, dominates this galaxy *now and always*!"

"These are the rules. Everybody fights, nobody quits. If you don't do your job I'll kill you myself. Welcome to the Roughnecks "

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120201/quotes 

Also a very good book incidentally.

And seconded Enemy At The Gates. Especially the less personal dehumanised aspects of the first half.

Not the whole movie, but a good war scene: Battle for Hoth from The Empire Strikes Back.

Any of the future war scenes in the Terminator series (Guard vs Necron) and Aliens (Guard vs Tyranid).

AluminiumWolf said:

Downfall.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7mU53IHNOU

:o)

AluminiumWolf said:

LOL. Sums up my wargaming experience. I tried switching to the small unit tactics games like Morheim, but the cost...

Wow! Did I just sympathize with Hitler? 

 In all seriousness, there is a lot to be said, from a dramatic point of view, for a good defeat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u0Vsyt2PaM (Dunkirk BBC docudrama - has a great turn from Benedict Cumberbatch of Sherlock fame in parts 5 and 6)

Desperate retreats, heroic rearguards, last stands, trying to be on the last chopper out of Saigon/last shuttle off-world. Good stuff!

Band of Brothers isn't a movie, but the very revelation of this new RPG did send me scrambling to rewatch it. I think this sort of flavour would be very good for a Guard game, and it gives you quite an insight into personal experiences and interpersonal relationships unfolding on battlefields.

Letters from Iwo Jima

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vFrTGH9-Ko

 "Ice cold in Alex"  desprate treck through inhospitable terrian

"Where Eagles dares".  Commando raid Eastwood Killing Nazis

"Kokoda 39th Battalion"  Jungle fighting at it best/worst 

"Attack Force Z" Great Commando film

"The beast" Tank action

"The Odd Angry shot"  being on patrol and inter battle shennanigans

"Dog Soliders" How british squaddies are.

Also Sharpe books 

"Sharpe" is a good source, especially as an inspiration for sudden promotions after a lengthy campaign (597th Valhallan anyone?).

"The Lost Battalion" (2001) - has some nice trench scenes in the beggining and the rest shows an infantry battalion struggling to survive after being cut off.

"Deathwatch" (2002) -  a WWI horror movie that shows what happens when chaos sorcery is a factor on the battlefield. It also has Andy Serkis playing a deranged private.  

"Hamburger Hill" (1987) - a severly underappreciated movie showing the Vietnam war. Ha ssome great quotes that really explain how detached soldiers can become during a campaign and afterwards.