Hideo Kojima at the Movies: The Guns of Navarone

In the second installment of Hideo Kojima's infuential film reviews, he reveals the source of inspiration for Metal Gear Solid's plot of 'infiltrating enemy grounds'. This article was exclusively written for Official PlayStation 2 Magazine by Mr. Hideo Kojima.

Last time I talked about The Great Escape which was the film that influenced MGS the most in the concept of 'hiding.' As the title speaks for itself, this movie is about escaping enemy grounds. However, MGS is not a game whose main concept is 'escaping.' MGS is a game of 'infiltration.' Experiencing virtually the difficult process of entering a place that you'd rather run away from. Infiltration... Destruction... Escape. The stoical pursuit is what MGS is all about.

The hint [origin] of the gameplay unique to MGS - trying not to be found by those trying to find you - came from The Great Escape, as I explained last time. Then where exactly did the plot of 'infiltrating enemy grounds' come from? The movie that influenced this plot the most is The Guns of Navarone - the second film I have selected for this column featuring my 'beloved movies that played a big role in the birth of MGS.'

The Guns of Navarone was out in 1961, before The Great Escape and before I was born. The first time I saw this film was on TV. I believe I was in elementary school. I enjoyed it! I was excited! And I was mesmerized! Since then, every time this movie was aired on TV, I watched it. Whenever I watch it, and no matter how many times I watch it, I always sweat in my palms. Like The Great Escape, The Guns of Navarone ranks high in 'My List of My Favorite 30 Films.' A true classic to be passed on to the next generation.

The story of The Guns of Navarone begins with During WWII, the Allies plan a covert mission to save the 2,000 British soldiers on a Mediterranean island. The mission is to infiltrate the Aegean island of Navarone and destroy the huge cannons developed by the Germans! There is a four-day time limit for this mission. In order to take over the invincible fortress surrounded by cliffs, six professionals are gathered. Sailing through a storm, climbing up the unclimbable cliff for infiltration, the leader being wounded, the equipment breaking down, comrades betraying the rest... accidents follow accidents and crises follow crises. And the clock keeps ticking! Doesn't the synopsis alone sound fun and exciting?

The directing of British Director J Lee Thompson is superb, making the movie even better. The special effects of the storm were great back then. Attacking waves and overwhelming amounts of water were never seen before. Hollywood mega stars are thrown into the sea like broken dolls. The dynamism is no way inferior to what we see in modern films.

One cannot forget talking about the superb infiltration scene that follows. From the point when the boat is stranded and the men climb up the cliff, none of the six men say a word. This is a long period without words or music. All you hear is merciless wind, waves, and rain. The men proceed with their mission in silence: absolute tension and painful thrill - one of the greatest scenes in the history of film.

When they are done climbing up the cliff, the silence until then works effectively. You hear the noise used to lure the guard very clearly. The ear used to silence catches this noise like an explosion that refuses to stop echoing. This mix of infiltration and the noise is a trap for the audience that the Director calculated and set perfectly. This sequence is one that plays a big role in the birth of MGS.

Since the announcement of MGS1 in 1998, I have been asked over and over again: "What inspired you to create an infiltration game like MGS?" Every time I have answered, "There's a scene in 'The Guns of Navarone' that I wanted to experience instead of simply watching! That's why I wanted to create a game like MGS." The scene I had in mind is a critical scene where Mallory is hiding by the cliff, makes a noise, and is about to be found. I've written about this particular scene before. Then one day a magazine editor contacted me and said that he watched the film again and noticed that there is no such scene. Right away I watched The Guns of Navarone and he was right. There was no such scene.

Honestly, I was shocked. But then there was a scene where he intentionally makes a noise to lure a guard. I guess I remembered this scene incorrectly. Since my memory was from a long time ago, maybe the scene in mind was from another movie. Subliminally, I had in mind of this scene in The Guns of Navarone that led to the idea of luring the enemy with a noise.

Not only does Director Thompson's directing but also writer Carl Foreman's carefully calculated screenplay make me take my hat off. At the very beginning of the movie, the Navy colonel who came up with this plan says that there is no chance that it will work. He says that the men will die, but that's war. The cruel words of this colonel hammer in the heads of the audience that this is mission impossible. The notion of impossibility becomes uncertainty in one's mind and grows bigger and bigger while following the men's actions (the flow of the film). When the ship is stranded in the storm, when the men look up at the cliff, the audience - along with the characters - say "This is impossible!" The worries of the characters and the audience synchronize. Wow! Foreman knows what he's doing.

Then, the last scene. After escaping, Mallory (Gregory Peck) is on a ship watching the fortress of Navarone falling and says that he himself did not think he would succeed. His smile when he says this after making the impossible possible shines brightly (This is the first time Mallory smiles in the movie.). How cool! The sense of satisfaction after completing the mission that is supposed to fail, after overcoming the harsh environment and destroying the invincible fortress... The coolness of making the impossible possible... This is what's great about this film.

What influenced me the most is this element of The Guns of Navarone. It is this catharsis you feel after infiltrating a place no-one else can, and completing a mission no-one else can. It is this courage and ecstasy of overcoming limits and making the impossible possible that I wanted to experience in a game! This feeling of mine is what led to MGS. The harsher the environment, the tougher the mission, and the more dynamic the destruction, the greater the feel of accomplishment is. This structural ideology is what lies beneath the MGS series.

There are other elements that influenced MGS. Take a look at Captain Keith Mallory for example. He is fluent in Greek and German and is a world class rock climber. This kind of background setting is quite similar to that of Snake. A mission impossible, an invincible fortress, an indomitable warrior with special skills and a new overwhelming weapon... all shared between this movie and MGS. After watching this film once again for this column, I was very surprised by these similarities myself.

I am a big fan of novels in addition to films. I read mystery novels (Agatha Christie, etc.) in my elementary school days, science fiction novels in junior high school (Robert A Heinlein, Arthur C Clark, etc.) and then moved onto adventure novels in high school. In the late Seventies, I didn't get into novels by Jack Higgins, John Le Carre or Frederick Forsyth. Instead, I enjoyed reading Alistair MacLean and Desmond Bagley ('High Citadel' was my favorite). The first adventure novel I read was The Guns of Navarone (This was after I saw the film.) The first science fiction novel I read was Fantastic Voyage. I guess the novels I read came from movies I saw. What brought me into the world of reading books happens to be novelized versions of the Columbo series. As for MacLean, I read works such as his first novel HMS Ulyssess and then Force 10 from Navarone and Where Eagles Dare, which became movies later on. (Unfortunately, the movies other than The Guns were not great.)

MacLean passed away in 1987. In August 2001 and July 2002, the true sequels of the Navarone series, Storm Force from Navarone and Thunderbolt from Navarone, have finally been translated and published in Japan. The book cover illustrations were done by Noriyoshi Ohrai who's done the art for Star Wars II: The Empire Strikes Back and whom we asked to do an MGS2 illustration for our Premium Pack booklet in Japan - a great treat for fans. These novels were written by British writer Sam Llewellyn with the approval of MacLean. Mallory, Miller, and Andrea Stavros go on missions to destroy a new gigantic U-boat in Storm and a new V4 rocket in Thunderbolt. These are exciting novels in which the three men make the impossible possible. I would love to read a sequel in which these three men take on a nuclear-missile-launching walking tank (AKA Metal Gear). I recommend these novels to all Navarone fans out there.

By the way, my current favourite writers are Stephen Hunter and Nelson DeMille. I believe the MGS series is influenced not only by film but also by many adventure novels. I hope to talk about these novels in furher columns I write.

-- Article by Hideo Kojima, Official Playstation 2 Magazine, 18.11.2002