One of the most eagerly anticipated movies of the year arrives this week with “Suicide Squad,” David Ayer’s snarky little brother to “Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice,” which hopes to rescue the DC Movie Universe after the disastrously-received Zack Snyder superhero flick earlier in the year. The film has a simple, irresistible pitch — a team of supervillains are recruited by the government to take down a sinister supernatural threat on a mission that few of them are likely to come back from. But it’s not surprising that it’s irresistible, because it’s essentially borrowed from the classic “The Dirty Dozen.”
That WWII movie about military convicts being sent on a suicide mission helped to popularize the man-on-a-mission movie, but that’s only one of the ways that we’ve seen squads and teams on screen: from cheerleaders and hobbits to vampires and thieves, you’re spoiled for choice when it comes to cinematic #squadgoals (with apologies to Waka Flocka Flame, Taylor Swift et al).
So with “Suicide Squad” in theaters, we thought it was a good time to pick out the best movie squads ever. To define our terms a little bit, we decided to stick mostly to films that could have influenced, or at least in the same ballpark, as “Suicide Squad,” which means a slight focus on war and action movies starring dudes, and we decided that sports films were a slightly different kettle of fish. With all that in mind, you can find our twenty below: let us know your favorites in the comments.
“The Dirty Dozen” (1967)
The movie that started the men-on-a-mission craze in a big way, and the direct inspiration for “Suicide Squad,” which simply wouldn’t exist without it, “The Dirty Dozen” is still an atypically tough and brutal war pic that feels remarkably ahead of its time, even if its sourness is sometimes tough to deal with. Lee Marvin, in maybe his most Lee Marvin-esque role, plays the OSS Major who’s put in charge of Operation Amnesty, which will take 12 army convicts, ranging from petty mobster John Cassavetes to psychotic rapist Telly Savalas, train them into a unit, and take them to storm a chateau that hosts a meeting of high-ranking German officers. It’s cynical, violent stuff, and proved controversial at the time, so what’s impressive is that Robert Aldrich’s film still has some power to shock today, its grim nihilism (particularly when it comes to Savalas’ character) being genuinely discomforting. But if you can shake that off, it’s a remarkably effective action movie, Aldrich keeping affairs rattling along even with a two-and-a-half hour running time, and the cast having enormous fun, clearly.
READ MORE: VHS, Film Culture, And How It Changed The Movie Landscape Forever
“Pitch Perfect” (2012)
Squad movies are often in the War, Heist, Western or Action genres, none of which are renowned for the overrepresentation of women. But, for those who interpret the word in a more Taylor Swift-approved manner, there are a few “squad” movies that aren’t solely sausage fests. The likes of “Bridesmaids” might not quite have the “putting differences aside and uniting for a common goal” feel that the archetypes in the category have, but Jason Moore‘s surprise smash “Pitch Perfect,” has and then some. The Barden Bellas, an all-girl college a capella singing group, have to recruit new members, negotiate petty rivalries and romantic attachments, and adapt to new styles and ideas if they’re going to overcome a humiliating loss in prestige and win the Nationals. The arc of the story is utterly formulaic, but the chemistry so winning (take a bow, Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, Alexis Knapp, Ester Dean, Hana Mae Lee and the increasingly indispensible Anna Camp) that the result feels fresh and, yes, harmonious.
“Ocean’s Eleven” (2001)
The term remake is often a euphemism for ‘unnecessary and awful.’ We even wrote a whole feature about it the other day. But occasionally, you can hit gold, fulfilling the promise of a great idea that was poorly executed. And that’s what happened with “Ocean’s Eleven.” Lewis Milestone’s 1960 original, which sees the Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack plus a few spares attempting to rob multiple Las Vegas casinos, has style to burn, but is mostly a bit of a damp squib all told. But what Steven Soderbergh’s 2001 re-do loses in being a pop culture time capsule (his line-up of thieves — George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle et al. — isn’t particularly coherent in some ways), it gains in being a ridiculously enjoyable caper pic with a great script, some New Wave flair from the director, and A-list star wattage. Two sequels followed, and while they’re lesser, they further hone the note of genuine friendship that drives the whole trilogy.
READ MORE: Why Hollywood Needs To Question Their Faith In Remakes
“The Warriors” (1979)
“Waaa-aaarrriors, come out to pla-ay!” So goes the iconic taunt in Walter Hill’s action classic, a poppy crime film that’s not quite like anything else ever made. Adapted from a novel by Sol Yurick, which itself is based on the Greek stories of soldier and writer Xenophon, it’s set in a version of New York that draws from its darkest 1970s days, but has almost as much in common with comic books. Michael Beck leads the titular Coney Island gang, who are brought to a meeting of all the NYC gangs, but are soon framed for the assassination of Cyrus, leader of the Gramecy Riffs, and must make their way home with half the city attempting to kill them. The acting is variable to say the least, but it’s such a stylish, perfect piece of pulp, taking Greek myths and “Blackboard Jungle”-style teen exploitation and the crime pic and melding them together into something brand new and absurdly exciting. The film was accused of glamorizing gang membership, and rightly so: who could walk away from this and not want to be part of The Warriors?
“The Wild Bunch” (1969)
The biggest and most indelible hit of the career of Sam Peckinpah, “The Wild Bunch” didn’t so much reinvent the Western as it riddled it with bullets and then blew it up with dynamite. Set in 1913, the dying days of the Old West, it sees a gang of outlaws led by Pike Bishop (William Holden) forced into stealing a shipment of arms for a Mexican general (Emilio Fernandez), while being pursued by their former colleague Deke (Robert Ryan), now leading a posse of bounty hunters out for their blood. The squib-filled, bloody, slo-mo shootouts, particularly the apocalyptic finale, inspired by “Bonnie & Clyde” and influential on everyone from John Woo to Quentin Tarantino, are the first thing you think of when it comes to the film. But it’s the moments between the action, the moments of bonding and brotherhood, as portrayed by Peckinpah’s perfect cast (with Ernest Borgnine, Edmond O’Brien, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson and Jaime Sanchez all making huge impressions), that bring the poetry, a dusty, bloody, sad tribute to a kind of life that was ending at the time, and that was long gone by the time the film was made.