Hideo Kojima highlights the 15 movies that influenced Metal Gear Solid

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ASK_Story

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#1 ASK_Story
Member since 2006 • 11455 Posts

This is a really cool little article on the movies that Kojima was inspired by for MGS. They are mostly Hollywood and American cinema. Anyway, here they are:

On Tsutaya's website, Kojima describes why he selected each film -- nearly all American, spanning almost a half century of film history:

The Guns of the Navarone, dir. J. Lee Thompson, 1961: Inspired the Metal Gear series concept of infiltration missions, and men that "make the impossible possible".

The Great Escape, dir. John Sturges, 1963: Informed Metal Gear's concept of making the act of remaining unseen exciting.

Goldfinger, dir. Guy Hamilton, 1964: Bond had the greatest influence of any other film series on MGS, says Kojima, and Goldfinger provided the template.

2001: A Space Odyssey, dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1968: Kojima's favorite movie of all time "goes beyond sci-fi to become philosophy". The names David and Hal (Solid Snake and Otacon) come from 2001.

Planet of the Apes, dir. Franklin J. Schaffner, 1968: The film that "gave [Kojima] the courage" to make a videogame with a strong anti-nuclear weapons stance.

The Deer Hunter, dir. Michael Cimino, 1978: Snake's headband ain't no Rambo homage, says Kojima; it's an homage to the one Robert De Niro wore in Cimino's groundbreaking Vietnam film.

Dawn of the Dead, dir. George Romero, 1978: Dawn of the Dead's tight, confined spaces influenced the liberal use of structures like ducts and elevators in Metal Gear's hide-and-seek element.

Full Metal Jacket, dir. Stanley Kubrick, 1987: War is hell -- Kubrick got it, Kojima gets it. The female Viet Cong sniper from the film's climax informed MGS1's Sniper Wolf.

Predator, dir. John McTiernan, 1987: MGS1's stealth camouflage, MGS3's physical camouflage, and MGS4's Octocamo all have their origins in Predator.

Die Hard, dir. John McTiernan, 1988: Helped Kojima while he was pondering how to make hiding in fully three dimensional spaces interesting for MGS1; also influential with regards to how Die Hard's action was inextricably tied to its story.

Heat, dir. Michael Mann, 1995: According to Kojima, the only Hollywood film of its age that portrayed gunfights realistically. After seeing it, he vowed to take MGS1's firearms battles in a similar direction.

Black Hawk Down, dir. Ridley Scott, 2001: The art direction and lighting of the film impressed Kojima so much, he went to where it was shot -- Morocco -- for visual reference to use in MGS4's first chapter.

Children of Men, dir. Alfonso Cuarón, 2006: Also a work that portrayed "war become routine", its long, single, handheld camera shots influenced MGS4's cutscenes dramatically.

Bourne series, dirs. Doug Liman and Paul Greengrass, 2002, 2004 and 2007: Kojima strove to incorporate the Bourne series's "return to the roots of espionage action movies" into MGS4, exemplified by its "restrained action" and "earnest chase scenes".

Casino Royale, dir. Martin Campbell, 2006: Again reiterating that Bond has had the largest influence on MGS, Kojima mentions that the resemblance between Casino Royale's credit sequence and MGS3's trailers made him crack a smile.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3172389

Kojima originally wanted to be a director so cinema is obviously seen in his games. Also, he loves them Hollywood movies.

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Toriko42

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#2 Toriko42
Member since 2006 • 27562 Posts
All great movies but the lack of Escape from New York is puzzling
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MAILER_DAEMON

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#3 MAILER_DAEMON
Member since 2003 • 45906 Posts
All great movies but the lack of Escape from New York is puzzlingToriko42
I think Escape From New York influenced the character of Solid Snake more than it did the gameplay or nature of the Metal Gear Solid games.
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viewtiful26

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#4 viewtiful26
Member since 2005 • 2842 Posts
[QUOTE="Toriko42"]All great movies but the lack of Escape from New York is puzzlingMAILER_DAEMON
I think Escape From New York influenced the character of Solid Snake more than it did the gameplay or nature of the Metal Gear Solid games.

It still had a similar premise...A guy named Snake has a deadline to infiltrate an area and secure important information. Actually, now that I think about it, MGS2 also had a similar approach of the President getting kidnapped, plus there were some anti-nuclear war themes, and how Snake destroyed a tape that contained that data in Escape From New York.
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#5 AtomicTangerine
Member since 2005 • 4413 Posts

[QUOTE="Toriko42"]All great movies but the lack of Escape from New York is puzzlingMAILER_DAEMON
I think Escape From New York influenced the character of Solid Snake more than it did the gameplay or nature of the Metal Gear Solid games.

But considering you watch MGS as much as you play it, that movie obviously influenced it more than any other. The main character is ripped straight from it!

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gamingqueen

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#6 gamingqueen
Member since 2004 • 31076 Posts
and the point is that he has an inferiority complex right?
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#7 slimdave21
Member since 2003 • 2646 Posts

I've seen most of those movies and I can see how a lot of them fit into the MGS series.

The James Bond themed intro ito Metal Gear Solid 3 was blatantly obvious...

"SNAKE EATER!!! Someday you'll go through the rain... And someday, you'll feed on a tree frog!"

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#8 bigd575
Member since 2008 • 6192 Posts
A very interesting read, thanks for posting.
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#9 dr_octagon
Member since 2003 • 625 Posts
Makes perfect sense about The Great Escape. That movie was not only about stealth and remaining unseen, but also has a crazy motorcycle chase scene. I'm willing to bet Kojima wanted to give tribute to that in MGS3.