In the first of a set of movies reviewed by the Metal Gear mastermind himself, Hideo Kojima divulges the influence that the 1963 World War II adventure, The Great Escape, had on the creation of Metal Gear Solid. This article was exclusively written for Official PlayStation 2 Magazine by Mr. Hideo Kojima.
In interviews, I always say that, "just as humans are 70 per cent made of water, so I'm 70 per cent made of film!" You may think I'm exaggerating - but, remember, I'm the guy behind Metal Gear Solid, which was inspired by many, many movies. I've loved cinema since I was a kid - they were a way for me to explore other peoples' experiences.
First on my list has to be that classic of classics, The Great Escape. Of all movie experiences that served as the fertilizer for growing the fruit of MGS, this is one of the most powerful. If The Great Escape didn't exist, there probably would be no MGS today. What's so amazing about this film is that it is based on a real story, yet is really entertaining, too. And I learned so much about World War II from it (as I did from Claustrophobia and US Independence Day), things that they don't teach you in school.
And like the director's other films, it has a gorgeous line-up of unique actors, superstars-to-be like Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, David McCallum, Donald Pleasence... And what great characters: 'Big X', 'The Tunnel King', the Kommandant... Even the smaller roles stand out in their own way.
But you may be surprised by my choice of favourite scene. It isn't the famous border-crossing bike stunt I like the best. No, I love the bit at the end, where the captured Hilts, played by McQueen, is thrown into the 'cooler' cell by a jailor who has been doing this all through the film. It's his expression I really like as he walks away, emotionless, from the cell, only to hear Hilts' throwing his baseball against the wall. The jailor stops and his expression says so much. It comes right after the Gestapo has killed 50 escaping hostages, which upset me as a kid watching it, but this jailor's very human reaction here, a sense of amazement and respect, changes the aftertaste of the movie. It teaches you that the enemy soldier is human as well, and captures the irony of war brilliantly.
I'm sure it was The Great Escape which inspired me to create the 'running away from the enemy' concept in Metal Gear Solid. The Nazis patrolling around, the surveillance tower, the searchlights sweeping the ground, and the walls in the dark¿ However, it was more the film's sense of thrill than its visuals that I wanted to capture. In the middle of the movie, for instance, there's a climactic scene where 250 hostages try to escape together. The plan seems to be carefully executed - but the underground tunnel to the forest is 20 feet short, because they measure it wrong. The men try to escape anyway, and Hilts, once he reaches the forest, watches out for the guards and gives out a signal so the rest can climb out the hole and scramble across one by one. This is a truly stomach acid-inducingly tense scene! Then a guy with a large bag falls and a guard hears him. As he approaches, the men hold their breath and stay still. The thrill! The tension! I wanted to recreate this experience for real in Metal Gear Solid. That's the feeling I remember most about the movie, more than the story or the direction: the thrill of hiding. Could I put this into a game?
Towards the end of 1986 (right after my first gameplan was given a "No!"), when my company made me an offer of a 'war game', the first thing that popped up in my mind was this scene from The Great Escape. I really wanted to create an 'escaping game' like this. To me back then, a 'war game' wasn't a 'battle game', it was an 'escaping game'. This thinking lay behind Metal Gear Solid.
Originally, you see, the gameplan wasn't about 'infiltration; it was about 'escape'. But in the final version, I opted instead for an orthodox action adventure plot: infiltration-rescue/destruction-escape. You're confined and have to run, but the game doesn't end if you're caught. You're just confined in a 'concentration camp' in that area. Then you can escape again. You can walk, take the train or a boat, disguise yourself, forge documents and escape as far as possible. If you cross the border, you complete the game. How many days you spend escaping and what route you take are the real pleasure of Metal Gear Solid.
Adding various elements, gimmicks and a world setting to the skeleton of escaping is how Metal Gear Solid was created. What The Great Escape gave me was not only the joy of a great film, but also a virtual experience of war - and the largest present of all: inspiration for the game itself.
-- Article by Hideo Kojima, Official Playstation 2 Magazine, 04.10.2002
