14 DAY TRIAL // Many might not know it, but Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima wanted to be a movie director (which can be quickly seen while enjoying the hour long cutscenes in Guns of the Patriots). So, it's no surprise that a Japanese rental chain, Tsutaya, the biggest in the country, teamed up with Konami and Kojima to offer the 15 movies that were an inspiration for the Metal Gear Solid game series.
The Guns of the Navarone from 1961 was a war saga set in World War II, which led to the idea of infiltration missions and of creating games where to “make the impossible possible.” The Great Escape from 1963 led to Kojima's fascination with the unseen, which later developed into the stealth element of the game. Goldfinger, the 1964 James Bond movie, had the biggest overall influence on Metal Gear Solid.
2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick is the favorite movie of all time for Kojima because it “goes beyond sci-fi to become philosophy,” Planet of the Apes from 1968 inspired the game creator to take a tough anti nuclear stance, while The Deer Hunter, released in 1978, is the movie that led to Solid Snake wearing a head band. Dawn of the Dead created by George Romero in 1978 was the inspiration for the tight corridor spaces in the games.
Full Metal Jacket, the Vietnam saga made by Stanley Kubrick, led to the idea, exhibited in Metal Gear Solid 4, that all war and conflict is hell, regardless of circumstances and reasons, while Predator inspired the various camouflage elements that appear in the series.
Die Hard led to the idea of action sequences clearly tied in with the story, while Heat, made by Michael Mann, starring both Robert de Niro and Al Pacino, portrayed gun fights in a realistic way and encouraged Kojima to do the same. Black Hawk Down impressed the game developer with its lighting and set pieces.
Children of Men was an inspiration because it showed “war become routine” and the Bourne franchise inspired him to make chase scenes very realistic and powerful, while Casino Royale is the latest movie to inspire Hideo Kojima.
So, how many of these movies have you seen? Is their influence clear in Metal Gear Solid?