14 games that borrowed their best bits from movies

The digital doppelgangers that copied the cream of the Hollywood crop

Words: Games_Radar_DaveMeikleham on January 13, 2010

Hitman Contracts' final level pays tribute to Leon

If there’s one thing any assassin worth his salt loves doing, then it’s battling it out with a pissed-off SWAT team in a dilapidated hallway. Jean Reno’s milk-loving ice cold killer goes to show what a calcium rich diet can do for you, as he coolly dispatches a whole squad of hardened Special Forces in the 1994 gem. Doffing his bald bonce to the French murderer, 47 is also confronted by SWATS in a dingy little apartment and quickly dons his best silverballer skills to take out his pursuers, before casually escaping Paris. Sadly, poor old Leon isn’t quite so lucky. If only he’d had a bit of cheeswire.

The GTA series borrows from almost every film ever

Rockstar North sure does love its movies. From classic Pacino/ De Niro bromances to films about George Clooney and Chinese midgets fleecing respectable gambling emporiums blind; GTA has been hugely influenced by film.

The most famous example naturally comes in GTA IV, as Niko, along with members of the McCreary crime family, take on the entire LCPD while robbing Liberty City’s biggest bank. The mission is a clear homage to 1995 crime classic Heat. Everything from the assault rifles, to the way they sling the massive bags of cash over their shoulders has been taken from the film’s epic shootout in downtown LA.

Niko himself also seems to have been modelled after a film character. The three people who witnessed a rare Owen Wilson dramatic turn in 2001 war movie Behind Enemy Lines are sure to have recognised Mr. Bellic modelling his look on the film’s main antagonist.

Above: Talk about tracksuit envy

Older games in the series have also borrowed heavily from the silver screen. San Andreas features a heist where main character CJ combines with a wide variety of eccentric characters to rob a Las Venturas casino. A clear nod to Ocean's Eleven. More obscure is the origin of Vice City’s nervous lawyer Ken Rosenberg. Who seems to have inherited his look, mannerisms and diesel-powered paranoia from David Kleinfeld, the corrupt attorney in Carlito’s Way.

So take note Mr. Game Developer. If you ever feel yourself running out of ideas, don’t bother trying to do an all nighter in the vein hope you’ll pull some megawatt innovative thought from your frontal lobe. Just get some jumbo-sized popcorn, nachos, and one of those horribly overpriced bags of Maltesers, and plonk your ass down at the movies.

Jan 13, 2009

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12 famous films and games melded together in posters

How Hollywood will ruin your favourite games
Beloved games turned into movie monstrosities

Long lost movie games
Classic films totally ready for EPIC game adaptations

Platforms:

Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PC, Wii, Xbox, N64

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iluvmyDS - January 21, 2010 7:53 a.m.

The guy talking to Luis about taking down Niko and co. in Three Leaf Clover is obviously based on a similar scene in Point Break.
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Rex_Maztar - January 18, 2010 3:17 a.m.

I thought that in Call of Duty 4 Victor Zakhaev, Imran Zakhaev's son was a huge play on the antagonist from Behind Enemy Lines.
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Defguru7777 - January 17, 2010 4:05 a.m.

Holy crap! A Spartan: Total Warrior entry! I've surfed this site for years and this is the first I've seen one.
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greggveka - January 16, 2010 12:33 p.m.

And what about the MW2 and that scene in shower-room shooting (prison) borrowed from THE ROCK movie?
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Yeager1122 - January 15, 2010 11:04 p.m.

The modern warfare 2 mohawk looks exactly the same even the guy looks the same.
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Dolan88fan - January 15, 2010 5:46 p.m.

the zombie guys in the original uncharted werent spanish they were nazis
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Dolan88fan - January 15, 2010 5:41 p.m.

cod waw the first mission in stalingrad was from enemy at the gates
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DManSuperfly - January 15, 2010 6:02 a.m.

A few of these are a load. Gladiators fighting big cats wasn't created by the movie Gladiator. It was a part of history. Also, Agent 47 was an homage to "Leon." The franchise wanted several games before placing that scene in to pay tribute to their inspiration.
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Spoonman - January 15, 2010 1:31 a.m.

Ok I simply cannot believe why Halo is not in this article! It's an unbelievable rip off of Aliens! Similar weapons like the chiefs assault rifle to the rifle the marine has in aliens, the Serg., the part where chief finds the dead soldiers helmet and watches basically a chunk out of the film, the novels then refer to walking forklift machinery exactly like the one Ripley uses at the end, the Pelican ships are identical to those in the film. Has no one noticeed this or was it just too blatantly obvious that there was no point?!?
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DriveShaft - January 14, 2010 9:47 p.m.

Everyone thinks Max Payne ripped off from the Matrix, truth is it went into production before it <_<
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linkganon - January 14, 2010 9:33 p.m.

behind enemy lines, it was on tv sometime this week. but yes, i have seen it. i wouldn't have watched it if there was something else on, but no, they decided to throw all the ("you call this a show?") on at the time. seems that movies also are inspired by games and by of course other movies. i don't see any similarities to tloz tp's boss and lord of the ring's whatever it is. they have a different apppearance and it's only coincidental that they seem the same. it's a volcano, so you need a boss based on fire and it was based on the goron's appearance as well which when combined seem the same to some people (not including me).
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Xeacons - January 14, 2010 5:44 p.m.

LOL! Let's see...World War II inspired by...World War II! Greek Mythology inspired by...GREEK MYTHOLOGY! What a rip off! Seriously, can't beat that LOZ "Balrog" though! Hey! Imitation is the most sincerest form of flattery!
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VictorRay - January 14, 2010 5:24 p.m.

Jesus. Seriously, the other day I was just thinking to myself "hmm...Mactravish is kinda a bizarre but original looking character"
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Livelife69 - January 14, 2010 4:15 p.m.

I've never seen the good, the bad, and the ugly but the scene you describe also sounds like the first level in Call of Juarez 2. just an FYI
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John-117 - January 14, 2010 3:29 p.m.

I loved that part in MGS4, well probably because I also love The Third Man so much. It was pretty obvious when playing but it was still fantastic in its own right. I don't see why games shouldn't borrow exciting settings or locales from movies or the other way around. I wouldn't mind seeing a rooftop helicopter chase from Uncharted 2 in a movie and I also wouldn't mind seeing sheikh locale from The Rules of the Game in a game that could use the setting well.
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Onedown - January 14, 2010 7:56 a.m.

I saw Behind Enemy Lines too and thought it was a pretty good movie. I did not however notice that Niko Bellic looks like the antagonist. @Vitoruss Now that you mention it, Packie does look like that guy from "Cash Cab".
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Spybreak8 - January 14, 2010 7:15 a.m.

GTA and Rockstar are always waving the ol' pop culture stick around. Some others are like wow man they're almost entirely the same, like the Faculty movie non official game haha. Gotta say the dev that do research and are inspired by another medium usually make something good out of it, usually.
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Bri77777 - January 14, 2010 5:08 a.m.

I am the third person to see Behind Enemy Lines. I was shicked at Wilson's change. However, games always borrow from movies, cus' there are some damn good scenes in some movies.
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michaelmcc827 - January 14, 2010 4:28 a.m.

Wow, that was awesome, great job!
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