The Movies That Inspired Hideo Kojima’s Most Iconic Video Games

Hideo Kojima is one of modern media's most unique creators. Known for his directing, writing, and video game creations, he builds entirely singular worlds spanning genres like horror, adventure, stealth action, and more.

Metal Gear Solid is probably his most popular property, but more recent fans have enjoyed the expansive nonlinear gameplay (and its incredible roster of actors) in Death Stranding. Personally, I still can't stop thinking about the scrapped Silent Hill game he almost made and its famous playable teaser.

So what inspires this game designer and storytelling? He has talked extensively over the years about his film inspirations. In 2004, he wrote a series of essays for METAL GEAR SOLID naked, which discuss his cinematic sources. In a 1999 interview with Nice Games (translated by Shmuplations), he went further, tracing individual creative decisions back to specific movies.

Here are 15 films Kojima himself has named as inspirations, in his own words.

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City Lights (1931)

In City Lights, Charlie Chaplin plays his iconic Tramp character as he falls in love with a blind flower seller and befriends a wealthy drunkard. He endeavors to scrounge enough money for the flower girl's treatment to restore her eyesight. It's a great example of simple, silent storytelling in action.

Kojima wrote in 2004, "Still no bigger tearjerker! Chaplin is amazing!"

Kanal (1957)

This one depicts the 1944 Warsaw Uprising and is the second film in director Andrzej Wajda's war trilogy.

The film, with its resistance storyline, helped inspire the sewer stealth gameplay in Metal Gear Solid.

"Most people would probably pick Ashes and Diamonds as their favorite of Wajda's films, but I like this one the best. It had a big influence on MGS, too."

The Great Escape (1963)

The WWII prisoner-of-war classic from John Sturges gave Metal Gear its origin.

"You know that old movie, The Great Escape? I thought it would be awesome to make a game built around a concept like that, of trying to escape from somewhere," he told shmuplations. "But when I told the senior devs on the team about my idea, they were very dismissive: 'There's no games like that.' I was still a new planner at Konami, so I guess no one was inclined to listen to what I had to say … "

Well, clearly they should have.

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The Pink Panther Series (1963-78)

Metal Gear Solid is famous for its slightly odd, tongue-in-cheek humor. Where does that come from? Turns out it was based on a certain bumbling French detective.

"My favorite comedic actor is the late Peter Sellers ... This is where MGS gets its sense of humor."

Django (1966)

Kojima is a fan of the Spaghetti Western genre. Sergio Corbucci's film follows a mysterious gunslinger dragging a coffin through the mud. It inspired one of Kojima's best characters.

"I also love Spaghetti Westerns. This is what led to Ocelot, among other things, and this film is my favorite out of all of them."

Fantastic Voyage (1966)

How about some biomedical espionage? In Fantastic Voyage, a submarine crew gets shrunk down so it can travel through a scientist's bloodstream.

"This never gets old for me. I've also read Isaac Asimov's novel, which was based on the film, not the other way around. A popcorn movie, it combines science fiction and espionage to great effect."

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El Topo (1970)

Alejandro Jodorowsky's surreal Western is a cult favorite midnight movie. Its structure (a gunfighter working his way through a sequence of philosophically distinct masters) is what inspired Metal Gear Solid's boss fights.

"The way the boss characters appear one-by-one and reveal their beliefs had quite an influence on MGS."

Fantastic Planet (1973)

Danny McBride loves this one too. It's an animated cult film of alien landscapes and characters. Kojima loves the world design.

"The originality of its world and style left me speechless."

Papillon (1973)

Like The Towering Inferno and The Great Escape, Papillon follows trapped characters. In this case, it's two prisoners in a penal colony. (Kojima also seems to love Steve McQueen.)

"It had an influence on MGS, along with The Great Escape, because of the concept of 'escape.'"

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The Towering Inferno (1974)

This is a film that scared me as a child. Characters are trapped in a state-of-the-art skyscraper set ablaze. It's basically Titanic in building form, a disaster film with an A-list cast including Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, and Faye Dunaway.

"Just like Dawn of the Dead, its closed environments influenced MGS, particularly the use of elevators, shafts, ducts and stairs," Kojima wrote.

Taxi Driver (1976)

Gritty, dark, violent. Martin Scorsese's New York psychological drama has inspired countless filmmakers, including Kojima.

"This film was an eye-opener for me. I had no idea Americans, who seemed so cheerful, could feel lonely in the middle of a city."

Mad Max 2 (1981)

It's easy to map this dystopian, desert-set drama to several Kojima works, including Death Stranding's lonely environments.

"The production design, the characters, the action, the violence, the suspense, the direction—it's fantastic in every way. A classic that's in my top 10!"

Kojima is clearly a fan of George Miller, period. He wrote of Furiosa in 2024, "He is my God, and the saga that he tells is my Bible."

Blade Runner (1982)

Blade Runner is a classic of gritty sci-fi storytelling, a neo-noir about a man hunting down escaped Replicants.

"Its world and visuals are incredible ... More than science fiction, it's a part of my generation's culture," Kojima wrote.

It inspired multiple games. He said in 1999:

"Though in Snatcher and Policenauts, I did intentionally reference specific movies. I don't do this now so much, but at the time I wanted it [to] be easily recognizable for players, I guess, or just for it to quickly bring to mind a specific movie. Like, 'Oh, I get it, this game is like Alien,' or 'This game is like Blade Runner.' It helped get across what the game was all about."

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Bad Taste (1987)

Bad Taste is one of Peter Jackson's earliest works and features the gross-out humor that colored his horror films. In this one, aliens want to eat humans.

"This also inspired MGS's humor—jokes that dissolve tension—with scenes like the puking in the alien base."

Cinema Paradiso (1988)

Let's finish on a more serious note. Kojima is able to balance some truly weird, wacky moments in his game with true emotion. Clearly he's watching serious drama, too.

Cinema Paradiso is a drama about a love of film.

"This film also makes me cry—particularly the final scene, but in a way I never expected," he wrote.