With Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain releasing to huge sales and incredible reviews, it seems
that Hideo Kojima has crafted another masterpiece. And while it’s a shame that it’ll likely
be his final Metal Gear project, Kojima couldn’t be going out on a higher note. For years Hideo
Kojima and his team have mined ideas from their favorite films and novels to create
something new and unique, including complex and totally-not-there-for-sex-appeal frog
ladies. Kojima has always been very upfront about his love of Hollywood, even using a
promo shot from the first Terminator movie as the cover of the original Metal Gear game.
Kojima cites the The International Man of Mystery as being the single biggest influence
to the Metal Gear series--wait, no, not him. The other one. NO. NOT THAT ONE. THAT ONE.
Jesus. Don’t ever do that again. Kojima elaborated in an interview, saying “The
007 series is what influenced me the most regarding the birth of MGS. The nucleus of
the idea of MGS - a secret mission on which hangs the fate of the world, spy-versus-spy,
and espionage action - is all there in 007...And without 007, there would have been no MGS.”
The original design for Big Boss was actually directly based off of the former James Bond,
Sean Connery. Perhaps as a wink to this, Metal Gear Solid 3 featured the character voicing
his dislike for Bond, saying that he couldn’t help but compare himself to the fictional
secret agent. That’s not the only reference to Mr. Shaken-Not-Stirred. Metal Gear fans
will probably be familiar with the character Vladimer Zadornov, who is known for his iconic
prosthetic hand. Kojima has said that this design choice was based off of the villain
in James Bond’s first cinematic outing, Dr.No. Played by Joseph Wiseman, the evil
Doctor No is a mad scientist who lost his hands in a radiation accident.
Most gamers probably already know that Snake’s name and look is a reference to the character
Snake Plissken in John Carpenter’s film Escape From New York. But that’s not the
only ‘80s action movie that inspired Kojima. The Rambo series also left a big impact, as
evidenced by the design of Roy Campbell, who is based off of Colonel Samuel Trautman, Rambo’s
former commanding officer in First Blood. Not only that, but according to Kojima, Solid
Snake’s signature bandana is also inspired Rambo’s look.
The Metal Gear Solid franchise is known for having a lot of well-directed cut scenes throughout
the games. And I do mean A LOT. Too many. When creating these cut scenes, the Metal
Gear team has taken quite a few things from film and television. The use of long tracking
shots in Metal Gear Solid 5 for instance is an homage to the work of Alfred Hitchcock,
who pioneered the use of the long tracking shot in movies like Rope and North By Northwest.
Another example are the cutscenes of Metal Gear Solid 3. Kojima has said that these were
inspired by the hit TV show 24, which Kojima was very into during the production of the
game. In fact, Kojima’s love of 24 had an even bigger effect on the franchise later
on, as it convinced him to cast Kiefer Sutherland, who played Jack Bauer on the show, as Big
Boss in Metal Gear Solid 5. Not only that but the actor who plays Skull Face, James
Horan, also appeared in 24 as General Walsh in the show’s sixth season. BUT SERIOUSLY
I DON’T CARE HOW MUCH YOU LOVE MOVIES 71 MINUTES IS TOO LONG FOR A FINAL CUTSCENE I
ALREADY PLAYED YOUR STUPID GAME DAMMIT GIVE ME A BREAK.
Hideo Kojima even hid a reference to his love of film in the loading screen and logo of
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Which Kojima has said was designed to bear a resemblance
to the “spinning C” logo of the Criterion Collection; a company beloved by movie buffs
for releasing classic films on DVD and Blu-Ray. Speaking of classic movies, Kojima made it
clear several times that Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey is his favorite film
of all time. So it makes sense that he would include a few references to it in the Metal
Gear franchise. Hal Emmerich actually gets his name from the Hal 9000, the mentally ill,
self-aware supercomputer featured in the movie. At one point, Solid Snake even jokingly suggests
that he and Hal should take a trip to Jupiter, the destination of the mission that Hal 9000’s
ship was on. So it’s pretty safe to say that Kojima is kiiind of a huge fan.
You thought you knew Metal Gear Solid, but hopefully you’ve learned just a thing or
two more. Do you know of any other historical or literary references we didn't cover here?
Share them in the comment section below and we might include it in a future episode. If
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