Guardians Of The Galaxy: 20 Easter Eggs & References You Must See

13. The Dirty Dozen

Another film that Gunn cites as being "really inspirational and influential" on Guardians Of The Galaxy was this classic 1967 war film which you probably see mentioned as an influence on other movies than actually sit down to watch. You can definitely see it all throughout the DNA of Guardians, right down to the bonkers ensemble cast including Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Telly Savalas and Robert Webber. Based on E. M. Nathanson's novel, The Dirty Dozen tells the story of the titular group who, in the build up to D-Day during World War II, are sent on a suicide mission to kill a load of high-ranking Nazi officials at a chateau in Brittany. The reason for the squad's colourful name is that they're a bunch of screw ups: disgraced soldiers and convicts, some of whom were waiting on the death penalty. People with nothing to lose, basically, but still have enough shreds of moral decency to want to do the right thing when it comes down to it. Sound familiar? The entire set up of the Guardians' group dynamic is modelled on The Dirty Dozen, even if their numbers are a little smaller. They are thrown together by circumstance, each of them with murky pasts they'd rather forget, all of them with criminal records, and only end up doing the right thing because they realise it's the right thing to do. Guardians Of The Galaxy is essentially The Dirty Dozen in space.