Hideo Kojima is perhaps a better filmmaker than he is a game designer. Since the Playstation’s Metal Gear Solid, Kojima has always attempted to push the envelope in terms of making video games cinematic. While it was merely an interesting artistic experiment on the PS1, Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3 on the Playstation 2 both managed to bring many new cinematic elements into the video game arena. With Metal Gear Solid 4, some would argue it’s more of a film than an actual game.

When playing these games, it’s clear that Kojima was very much inspired by some great films. Now you can check them out for yourself: Japanese media store Tsutaya is promoting 15 films that inspired the series. Some of the choices are fairly obvious (Heat, Die Hard), whereas some of the films left out are pretty damned surprising (no Escape from New York!). The full list is as follows:

• The Guns of Navarone
• The Great Escape
• Goldfinger
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• Planet of the Apes (original)
• The Deer Hunter
• Dawn of the Dead
• Full Metal Jacket
• Predator
• Die Hard
• Heat
• Black Hawk Down
• Children of Men
• Bourne Series
• Casino Royale (with Daniel Craig)

Source: Tsutaya via Siliconera

Discuss: What do you think of this list? Are there any major cinematic influences you can name for the Metal Gear Solid series?