"5 Movies or TV Shows That Most Directly Led To Games" Topic

You were asked – TMP link

Which movies have led you to play games or scenarios, or build scenery or figures directly based on them, after you saw the movie?

15% of the votes: "Zulu"
10%: "Waterloo"
9%: "55 Days at Peking"
8%: "Last of the Mohicans"
8% {TIE]: "Band of Brothers" OR "Lord of the Rings trilogy"

Last of the Mohicans

GETTYSBURG HAD THE BEST LOOKING, BACKGROUND ACTORS
GOOD EXAMPLE'S FOR KIDS EVERYWHERE AND ALL AROUND GOOD GUYS.

The Longest Day and Sink the Bismarck were not on the list? Those had a big a big influence on my wargaming buddies and I during our high school days.

cfielitz, they were in earlier rounds but did not make the finals.

Star Wars OT kept me from being a complete movie-gaming hipster. I do about a dozen or so games based on different movies and TV shows. None of the others made it past Round 1.

And actually, I prefer Star Wars prequel gaming to original trilogy. Hmm, podracing!

I have been gearing up to run Waterloo for a very long time, and it keeps getting closer. But the project was not inspired directly by the movie.

I was so impressed by Sean Connery in Time Bandits that I had to build a Greek hoplite army. Yeah, I know he plays Agamemnon, who is about 800 years before the hoplite era, but he does dress pretty much in classical Greek style.

cfielitz--I remember being in our local hobby store back in 8th grade or so, and hearing the manager tell one of his people to look and see if they had a model of Bismarck on the shelf, since Sink the Bismarck would be on TV the next night.

Grelber

I'm really surprised that Star Wars didn't make the final top 5.
I've got tons of X-wing minis, even from material I'm not all that fond of or familiar with. It's a great game, and every time I see Star Wars, I want to play it!

Of the final 5, only The Lord of the Rings has served as a direct path into gaming for me. But I was also gaming LotR type stuff long before the movies— it was the books that enticed me.

I saw "Sink The Bismarck" upon first release in 1960, and my already nascent interest in naval warfare was given a permanent boost, accordingly.

Played the Avalon Hill title (among many others) for years, and got into 1:1250 model collecting and Fletcher Pratt's Naval Wargame in 1970.

Recently watched a reasonably well "colorized" version on YouTube, and it still is a thrill despite the "colorization" of the facts by C.S. Forrester.

TVAG

The Crossing.
She wore a yellow ribbon.
Zulu Dawn.
Gettysburg.
The Horse soldiers.
Khartoum.
Braveheart.
The list can go on and on.

For me, "Beau Geste" with Gary Cooper, "The Wind and the Lion" with Sean Connery, and "Lawrence of Arabia" with Peter O'Toole.

Great movies for watching. Not sure about inspiring miniature games. Being an old guy, means many of these movies were not out until I had already been into gaming. Reading inspired more gaming and designs than Movies.
An inspiration for rule designing for me was PT109 which spurred Coastal Command. as well as McHales Navy.

MiniMo, report for reconditioning. As far as I'm concerned, George Lucas still owes me money for the Prequel Trilogy. It did give me one great parental moment, though. When I saw "Episode I" I remarked to my son that I saw nothing original about moving the chariot race from Ben Hur to John Ford's Monument Valley so they could sell a video game. He argued with me that it was no such thing all the way across the parking lot to the Best Buy, where they were already selling the game.

I always waffle about "Zulu" and wargaming. Great movie of course, but I never took much to colonial games. On the other hand, it was my introduction to redcoats and volley fire, and they're very much a part of my wargaming.

Robert, I didn't say I liked the Prequels better, just that I like gaming it better!

I enjoy gaming the Original well enough, and have painted the entire Red Squadron among other fighters for X-Wing. But pod-racing with Future Race rules is a blast and plays out very differently than Circus Maximus.

The entire Prequel Trilogy is much improved if just cut down to a Podracing short film.
: 3

Callan British TV (spy) show.

Spawned an interest in wargaming in general after seeing a wargame played in one episode.

A Bridge Too Far

The Odd Angry Shot, painting the ERDL hot weather pattern BDUs the Alice packs – good memories.
Apocalypse Now, building Kurtz's outpost the Khmer temple!
The Longest Day, A Bridge Too Far and The Eagle Has Landed – collecting paratroop figures.

Regards Allan

I've seen tons of movies/shows that I would love to game. Sadly, none have come to fruition.

My son and I have done many of what we call "Reel Wars." Gunga Din (first skirmish), 55 Days of Peking (as the 55 Minutes of Peking), The Deceivers, King Kong, Magnificent Seven and the prequel, Seven Samurai, Troy, Last of the Mohicans, Santa Fe Trail (the end with John Brown at Harpers Ferry), The Dark of the Sun, The Long Riders (just the Northfield raid, one of the town heroes, Henry Miller was a University of Michigan student). Now working on The Lost City of Z and Something of Value. Have wanted to do the last scene from The Wind and the Lion ever since I saw the film, and the first scene in the Wild Bunch. Also Sand Pebbles, I have the ship and lots of figures but no junks:(

MiniMo, I never want to directly game much of any Star Wars. I rarely find it tactically interesting. But I'm happy to toss dozens of Star Wars figures into generic SF skirmishes, and the Original Trilogy at least has a single team of mixed abilities to go with my not-Blake's 7 figures.

I am so tired of being offered ship's "away teams" of six or seven figures in distinctive costume but either unarmed or everyone carrying the same hand weapon. OK for a diorama. Maybe OK for an RPG. But what on earth does one do with then in an SF skirmish?

I forgot, as it was some 20 years ago, that we did game based on The Gangs of New York. Lots of figures from Arm Chair General and Brigade.

2 more, Treasure Island, with great stockade by H.G.Walls. And Lion of the Desert . But reworked to be. British vs Iraq in 1938. We have also bone Waterloo, but difficult to tell the movie from history.