20 Movie-Inspired Band Names

Plenty of bands have taken their names from film titles, but it takes a special kind of movie nerd to rock a reference to some obscure character or snag a favorite line of dialogue for their moniker. Here are 20 bands that probably still pay to see movies in the theater.

Duran Duran

Here's a shocker: The stylish, oversexed British New Wave superstars borrowed their name from an "erotic science fiction" movie about a stylish, oversexed space vixen. In Roger Vadim's 1968 cult classic 'Barbarella,' bounty hunter Jane Fonda was sent into space to capture a bondage-gear-clad mad scientist named Dr. Durand Durand.

!!!

This Google-defying indie-dance band was inspired by the linguistically challenging 1980 comedy 'The Gods Must Be Crazy,' about a Xhosa community in remote southern Africa. In the film's English subtitles, clicking noises in the tribe's language show up as "!" -- which is why you pronounce the band's name "chk-chk-chk."

Mogwai

These loud-quiet-loud Glaswegian math-rockers must not be much fun on tour: They hate bright lights, you can't get them wet, and they're not allowed to eat after midnight. No, wait: that's the adorably deadly creatures in Joe Dante's 1984 classic, 'Gremlins.'

Pussy Galore

Frankly, we can't believe it took until 1985 for a band to pick this one. The Jon Spencer-fronted art-punk outfit borrowed the titillating moniker of the most infamous Bond Girl of all, played by the sultry Honor Blackman in 1964's 'Goldfinger.'

Wu-Tang Clan

The Staten Island, N.Y., crew's obsession with kung-fu movies goes deeper than just the group name, which was inspired by the 1981 film 'Shaolin & Wu Tang.' Some of the members even took chopsocky titles of their own: Ghostface Killah (a character in 1979's 'The Mystery of Chess Boxing'), Masta Killah (from 1978's 'Shaolin Master Killer') and Method Man (the alternate title of 1979's 'Fearless Young Boxer').

The Weakerthans

What could be more rock 'n' roll than an art film about a young French girl's torrid affair with a Chinese businessman? According to this Winnipeg-based "folk-punk" quartet, not much. The name is taken from a line in Marguerite Duras' racy 1991 movie 'The Lover': "Go ahead, I'm weaker than you can possibly imagine."

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

In the 1953 classic 'The Wild One,' Marlon Brando, head malcontent of the Black Rebels Motorcycle Club, brought sneering juvenile delinquency to new heights. With their black shades, leather jackets and loads of attitude, California garage/psych-rockers in BRMC are carrying on the tradition.

Travis

Wim Wenders's 1984 Palme d'Or winner, 'Paris, Texas,' has an eerie hold over many a rock band, from Nirvana and Nada Surf to Primal Scream and U2, thanks in part to Ry Cooder's haunting film score. But something about it must really speak to the Scottish. Travis are named after Harry Dean Stanton's character in the film, while fellow Scots Texas just took their name straight from the title.

The Dismemberment Plan

Maybe these D.C. indie rockers liked to live a little too dangerously: "The dismemberment plan" was just one of the gruesome insurance options "Needlenose" Need Ryerson (the amazing Stephen Tobolowski) offered Bill Murray in 1993's 'Groundhog Day.'

This Toronto prog-rock group gained sudden notoriety in 1976 when a newspaper implied that their latest release was really the Beatles' secret lost album. The only thing more outlandish than the Beatles rumor is the band's name, taken from the head alien's name and trademark phrase ("Klaatu barada nikto") in the 1951 sci-fi classic 'The Day the Earth Stood Still.'

Atreyu

A leather-clad preteen who flies around on a fluffy white "luck dragon" doesn't exactly scream "metalcore," but these dudes may just be in touch with their inner child. The face-melting Orange County, Calif., band took its name from the adolescent hero of the 1984 fantasy flick 'The NeverEnding Story.'

Cornelius

This Tokyo-based indie-electronica artist and producer loves to tinker and experiment, a quality he shares with his namesake, the superintelligent ape scientist played by Roddy McDowell in 1968's 'Planet of the Apes' (and in three sequels).

Thulsa Doom

In 1982's swords-and-body-oil epic 'Conan the Barbarian,' Governator Ah-nuld matched, er, wits with reptilian villain Thulsa Doom, played by James Earl Jones. Nearly 20 years later, these Norwegian monsters of stoner metal decided that the association with swords, snakes, barbarians and the word "doom" summed things up rather nicely.

GusGus

Leave it to an Icelandic trip-hop trio that dabbles in filmmaking to get all artsy on us. The band was inspired by the erotic undertones of a woman's pronunciation of "coucous" in German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 1974 film 'Ali: Fear Eats the Soul.'

Man or Astro-Man?

They claimed to be extraterrestrial ambassadors of surf rock (though their Earth base was in Alabama), so naturally their name had an out-of-this-world inspiration: the poster for the 1960 Japanese sci-fi film 'The Human Vapor,' which asks the immortal question "... Is He Man or Astro-Man?"

The Fratellis

These Scottish rockers must have a soft spot for Baby Ruths, pirate treasure, and beating up on Corey Feldman (don't we all?), because they stole their name from the bumbling criminal family in the 1985 film 'The Goonies.'

Nerf Herder

They refer to their sound as "nerd rock." Which pretty much goes without saying when you composed the theme song from TV's 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and your band is named after an insult from 'The Empire Strikes Back.' Head Herder Parry Gripp has even moved on to new media: He currently spends his days crafting jingles for Internet memes.

Anaal Nathrakh

What's more metal than a spell for conjuring dragon's breath? In John Boorman's ultra-dark 1981 King Arthur movie 'Excalibur,' the wizard Merlin busts out the Charm of Making, which starts with the Old Irish words "anál nathrach." The English black-metal band just ditched the accent and added an extra "a" -- which it claims stands for "awesome." (It also helps that the added vowel helpfully steers people clear of another possible pronunciation of the name.)

Pinback

There's being a fan of a movie, and then there's being a fan of a movie. Not only did these San Diego indie rockers assume the name of Sgt. Pinback from 'Dark Star,' the 1974 debut of legendary horror director John Carpenter, they also used clips from the film on their first album.

Save Ferris

And the Least Obscure Movie Reference goes to ... Save Ferris, the biggest Orange County, Calif., neo-ska band this side of Reel Big Fish. Oh, and just in case you live in a cave, "Save Ferris" is from John Hughes' '80s teen comedy 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off.'