@slomo788: Yeah, I haven't checked those out, myself-- I'm pretty lazy about it-- but I'm sure they're a more suitable medium for this kind of storytelling. I know the thinking behind this-- MONEY GOOD!-- but if the game doesn't lend itself to a quality movie, and this just doesn't, then do not proceed.

Stop this madness, Hayter!

wild homes gets retconned!

CAN MGS be made into a movie?

NO. There is no possible way.

The audience's brain will explode after hearing that Snake's effort to save the world was thrawted by the reincarnation of "insert bad guy name, here", from whom he disposed of year before, only to once again dominate the world with his evil robot machines that are funded by the President of the United States, whom was only put into office by the "insert bad group name, here", that was planning on dominating the world through Snake's evil half-brother that was created during the Cuban missle crisis to thwart President Kennedy.

Why can't MGS stick to a SIMPLE X---> Y ---> Z storyline? Kojima and the asshole mentioned above makes the storyline go like: X---> B-----> Y----> Z -----> F ----> and back to X.

What does this remind me of? The movie, "Lucky Number Slevin". This SHOULD have been a great movie (in some ways it is), but the storyline was just shit. Why? The climax was the end where Slevin tells Morgan Freeman and Kingsley that he's the *SPOILER ALERT* son they were supposed to kill. Now, this would have been acceptable had it THEY PROVIDED MORE DETAILS OF THE ACTUAL HAPPENING. The hints were so subtle. They were supposed to show, "A+1=C", but instead just gave, "A+SOMETHING WTF=C". They took a mystery novel, threw out some pages, and slapped it together.

Just like MGS, the story is TOO BROAD. And give you the "WTF, Why the F, How the F" feeling. That and there are some RANDOM ass sequences. "Oh no! The evil guy decided to mutate into an werewolf in order to kill Snake. But instead it just RANDOMLY decided to be a good guy after the mutation.

WTF? You can't just slap "INSERT RANDOM HAPPENING" into the storyline and expect everyone to shove it in their brains.

-end rant-

drunkentyger

If I didn't know who David Hayter was and someone showed me that picture while identifying him as a sexual offender, I would believe him.

Murgatron

He looks like a skinny Ricky Gervais to me.

Mit

@Lezard: Hes also asking people to email Sony and convince them to let him script it. Im just saying, this is all ive been hearing out of the guy for the past 2 weeks. He should just give it a rest already, its getting a little rediculous.

KennyLanzJr

+ Watch video

Let's hope whatever garbage that gets cooked up will be better than this...

The_Catalpa

@KennyLanzJr: Who said he was whoring around the internet? This article and the questions he fielded about it at Anime Expo are the most I've ever heard Hayter speak of a Metal Gear movie directly.

Lezard

@Brian Ashcraft: OH SNAP! Ashcraft made a mistake :( I have to tell you Ashcraft, you are contributing to the moral decay of society and you better fix that spelling error or you may be seriously facing the danger of being shut down someday.

DISCLAIMER: I like Denise and I seriously agree with him but I have this disease that prevents me from being completely serious about anything for too long :(

okenny :)

@chaos_isnt_here: Because you can't watch it in the theaters or on a DVD player and more importantly, it takes about 10 times more hours than a typical movie and you can't watch it without pressing buttons on your controller. I know, sounds a lot like a videogame, but maybe you're right.

slomo788

All the MGS games are enough movie they don't need an actual film.

Replica23

As long the moive doesnt turn into a retarted action flick

Domobran

WOW, i really wish Hayter would just stop whoring around the internet trying to get support for this. To be honest, I think a MGS movie would blow, why not just play the games? Trying to make a Hollywood port will fail miserably. The game(s) are simply AMAZING, dont ruin a good thing...

KennyLanzJr

I'm no grammer nazi or anything, but the first paragraph here was almost unreadable. it should be "They're" as in "They are". Then the second sentence begins with "and", plus it's a really long run on sentence. So basically the whole first paragraph is one really long sentence, wtf?

MixPix

@mdhatucb: The IMDB is so full of misinformation and easy to vandalize that I wouldn't trust anything on it regarding an upcoming movie. Hell, someone once vandalized the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess page into "The Legend of Zelda: Tingle's Revenge", and the trivia section for the Metroid movie page stated Paris Hilton had auditioned for the role of Samus. OH GOD MY MIND. DX

Lezard

Dude. Kurt Russell.

!!!

sir_carrot

@Green-clad Gamer Dude: LOL... nice (with a z)

okenny :)

David Hayter gets old fast.

Rembrandt

@Xenigma: The complaints about the cutscenes always came from people that begin their reviews by basically saying "I've always hated Metal Gear." For fans, they are more like a reward than something they are forced to watch. I don't see the time fly during the longest ones. Kojima warned that this one was for the fans, and indeed it was.

slomo788

@theblur3419:
Many thanks!

Brian Ashcraft

The game is a movie, why make an actual one?

chaos_isnt_here

A metal gear movie would beg great, but I agree with Hayter. It's not needed but it would be cool if done right.

I actually would like it if they did a full movie in theater quality CG. Like final fantasy spirits within. Do it right and that would be a great boon to animation and it would do the series justice. I can't see a live action movie done right the way hollywood pukes over everything. But either way it might suck.

Netnavi

Hayter's IMDB profile has him as a writer on an "announced" MGS movie slated for '09, FWIW. Not much, in my book.

mdhatucb

@wild homes gets retconned!: I think they should stick to the digital novels. Those are pretty nice, don't have the time constraint and do cater to the fans. And it's a good way to catch up with the story with the story without going back to PS1 or NES graphics.

slomo788

@slomo788: I don't think it's just you, I caught the negative vibe from the paragraph too, but I guess he's got his opinions on the matter, and he'd know better then us (on a more personal level, I mean) how things flow.

Doesn't make him right, but there it is.

Jayl3w

@Green-clad Gamer Dude: My thoughts exactly. I thought MGS4 was supposed to wrap up the franchise, and given how much complaining there has been about the huge cutscenes that are in it, seems like a movie wouldn't be needed.

Xenigma

@kylo4:
Final Fantasy (both the first and the latest.) profited a lot on DVD sales for fans.

it's just a matter of putting the price tag high enough when you are dealing with fans :3

TheurerDiciple

Believe me, no Hollywood director is going to acquiesce to the whims of a screenwriter, regardless of the writer's prior involvement with the intellectual property.

If Hayter were to write the script to an MGS movie, and that script happened to be good (and that's a big "if"), then the real concern is whether the director can properly interpret that script to the screen and make the experience compelling. Then, IF that happens, it becomes imperative that the director (and sometimes, the producers) is able to retain his/her vision against the studio's desires.

An MGS movie won't be able to please the fans as well as the normal movie going audience. As Hayter noted, there's too much transformation that the game would have to endure in order to become a movie.

Let this sleeping dog lie.

jerimas

@Jayl3w: You're not alone. Can't wait for the sequel.

slomo788

Wow. Seems Hayter is really down on making a Metal Gear Solid movie. And he's probably right to feel that way.

A movie's running length is way too short to do something that would be true to the extremely methodical nature of MGS storytelling as it's presented in the games, so you'd be left with the option of telling a Metal Gear Solid-ish story, told in a manner that's unfamiliar to the game's audience. So the fans, presumably, would be nonplussed with the movie's lack of Metal Gear Solid-ness and inability to tell complex (?) stories with the slower, more nuanced storytelling the games indulge in-- and so they'd opt out in large numbers. Now, that could be fine, if you were acknowledging that you were only leveraging the power of the MGS name, and using that to put the average moviegoer-- who's presumably swayed by things like little flashes of pseudorecognition and name value-- to buy a ticket. Except that the MGS name really doesn't have an enormous amount of cachet with the larger community-- even within the videogame community proper the game doesn't appeal a lot to the uninitiated, so it's not like MGS as a license is a particularly useful one unless you're going to leverage it to appeal to the specific audience that buy the Metal Gear Solid games.

Which all adds up to? Don't make this movie. There's little to gain, and only money to waste.

wild homes gets retconned!

@mind in rewind: Well I guess it's just me then...

slomo788

I'd rather not sit through a Pearl Harbour x5, kindly.

HotFootMcCook

Hopefully roughly half of the movie will be Snake waiting for the God Damn Caution mode to clear; that would stay true to the source material, I think.

Lord Thayer

@slyzxx786: I really wish I had more then one example why games COULD be made into good movies, but...

Silent Hill. (I may be alone there though, I thought it was great and I'm a huge SH fan)

Jayl3w

@Green-clad Gamer Dude: LOL now the joke's on you.

@Archaotic: I don't know, this and the article where he admits having some problems with Kojima makes me think he's more than just teasing. I'm positive he's a good writer (I love some of the movies he wrote for like X-Men 1 and 2) but he seems to be knocking the game quite a few times in that little paragraph. But maybe that's just me...

slomo788

...ummm shouldn't it be "they're" making a metal gear movie, instead of "there" making a metal gear movie?

And... ummm I am just gonna have to say why make a movie Metal Gear Solid 4 was already one...

Gravnar

If they were going to make a movie, I think like Final Fantasy the entire thing would have to be done like the game's cutscenes, as in CGI. That would be the only way to get it right, and not with real actors. Even then, it would appeal to such a niche audience I'm not sure how well it would do...just like Final Fantasy.

kylo4

I think he would do a great job.

By the way, that headshot is cheesy as fuck.

@slomo788: No.

mind in rewind

@slomo788: I was joking dude. C'mon.

Green-clad Gamer Dude

@slomo788:
I would say more that he was teasing it, poking fun at it good-naturedly. He's earned the right to criticize the plot; after all, he WAS in every single game, and he's a professional writer, moreso than Kojima. He knows his stuff.

Archaotic

@thezman: Not really replaced. Greg Eagles voiced both Donald Anderson and Gray Fox in the original game. They actually brought in someone else to play Fox and Eagles remained on board as Anderson.

Lezard

a few reasons they should not make games into movies.

1) hitman, Doom, bloodrayne, dead or alive,postal failure.
2) they never find the right person to play the character
3) they mess up the plot
4) they completely screw up what people play and love.

i could go on but i`ll stop

btw only a few i thought were decent. Mortal combat, tomb raider ( who doesnt like jolie don`t lie.)

slyzxx786

@Rorschach2112: I try

theblur3419

I honestly think a Metal Gear movie would be too far fetched (or out of the box)to grab a mainstream audience. If I wanted someone to direct a movie, it would be Kojima. Sure he hasn't directed a full feature before, but you can tell he has a passion for directing based on the cinematic quality of his games. If Spielberg could make a game, Kojima should be able to make a movie :D

LittleBigPlaneteer

@Green-clad Gamer Dude: No. It's a game.

slomo788

@goaliegeek: Quadrilogy. And seriously? A Metal Gear Movie? I have a feeling this will end up like Halo the Movie: Spartans in Time.

TinyLightning

Did anyone else feel that he was *slightly* bashing the game?

slomo788

@theblur3419: Beat me to it.

Rorschach2112

@LittleBigPlaneteer: I guess... but he's actually a huge MGS fan. I mean, he did the first one with a fake name (as did most of the voice actors) because voice over work for videogames was not kosher with the voice actors guild... or whatever their group is called.

Plus, he actually did Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes for free so that Silicon Knights and Konami could afford to get the entire cast back to re-record the script (of course, the man who played Gray Fox was replaced).

thezman

I'd actually be into a MGS movie, if they do it correctly and stay true to the roots of the game. I mean, I'd say it wouldn't be terrible difficult but, c'mon, I said that about Doom too and look how THAT turned out.

Jayl3w

They should make a cg movie like the cutscens that would be dope i`d def go to the theaters for that.

slyzxx786

Why just American audiences? I get that Hollywood is there, but surely a Metal Gear Solid movie would be watched by more than just Americans...?

Donutta

Also for reference, Hayter wrote the screenplay for The Scorpion King, and X-Men 2. Can't say those were really great scripts at all

LittleBigPlaneteer

NO. You got it all wrong. We want Hayter in the movie as Snake. DAMN IT I WANT HIS VOICE.

IntelSilver

Id say make a 4thilogy. idk the word for a 4 part series. but like have MGS1 be a movie, MGS2, MGS3, etc. Like the game, but just a 3hr movie, but not filled entirely with codec calls and love stories between Rose and Raiden.

goaliegeek

*They're

theblur3419

I'd watch it for the source material but I think on the big screen the metal gear craziness would be awkward like in Advent Children.

pewpewlazer

He sounds a little bitter from having his script rejected.

But I think he should be involved. He did play Solid Snake / Big Boss for 10 years. So his input would probably be somewhere along the lines of invaluable.

ShirtGuyDom

Isn't Metal Gear Solid already a movie?

Green-clad Gamer Dude

The man knows movies. I thought the first two X-men were good, and he did those. I thought the third one blew hard, he didn't write that.

If Hayter was writing this movie I would feel pretty good about this movie being worth my while. He's not though and I will remain a skeptic.

RichMeisterMan

He being one of the people that would want to collect money from it, no?

LittleBigPlaneteer

If there's anyone who knows Metal Gear well enough to adapt it to American audiences, it's Hayter. Nobody else comes close.

Archaotic

@IMarcus: huh? oO

White-Sharingan

NO! I've been saying this since the moment anyone mentioned on post-MGS.

The game is cinematic enough and so well done that there's absolutely no reason to make a film that will do nothing but bastardize the source material.

thezman

No, not really.
:D Do as Hayter Says, spend quality time playing the Game and not wasting it watching a movie that would be a summary or an adaptation that can never fulfill the full experience of the games.

Megan Fox iz Hot ^-^ -ph15h

Um, no thanks. You couldn't pay me to watch another Metal Gear cut-scene.

IMarcus

@LittleBigPlaneteer: You didn't like X-Men 2? I thought it was the best of the 3... which makes it like #4 or #5 of Comic book movies.

thezman

I've been a rabid fan of Metal Gear from the get-go and no, this series does not need a movie. What on earth would be the point? It's a small-screen adaptation of the big-screen. For those who played Twin Snakes and shuddered at the Sentai Ranger style of cutscenes, that's what Hollywood would do. No, thanks.

Even past all that, there's just no way it could work as a movie (a good one, at least). You can't adapt, say, Shadow Moses to the screen simply because you can't put five awesome boss people into a 2hr flick. It'd be stupid. Second, the main method of storytelling is via the Codec. Given the nature of Snake's position, you don't want him on the radio for 2 hours and giving him a team would again just be stupid (see Doom). MGS2 wouldn't be a good plot, either 'cause it requires MGS1. MGS3... no, we would want to see Solid. MGS4, forget about it. That leaves you with MG, MG2, and MGS:PO, which are pretty weak on story altogether.

No, the only thing you could go with is MGS1 and any attempt would probably piss fans off and confuse the hell out of non-fans.

dunetiger reads kotaku, seems pleased

@drunkentyger:

You make it sound like David Hayter actually has control over the story... but he doesn't. He may be a writer in Hollywood, but in Metal Gear Solid he's just an actor. That's like blaming Keanu Reeves for the convoluted plot in the last Matrix movie. He's a pretty lame actor, but it's still the Wachowskis' fault. So if you don't like Metal Gear's story, blame it on Hideo Kojima, not Hayter!

That's not to say I don't like the plot of Metal Gear, I'm just trying to make a point here. :)

DoctorCello

So let me write this ok...there's this guy and he's all badass write? And we'll throw in all of this slow motion shit. Inbetween we'll make mofo's watching/playing it poop them selves cuz get this... we'll throw in obvious/semi-retarded philosophy in it. They'll be all wtf? nuclear weapons are bad?

/MGS game, movie, anything.

geves

@wild homes gets retconned!: Couldn't have said it better myself.

As far as I see it, there is a distinct progression of narrative medium this past century: literature -> film - > video games. In the same way that movies are adapted from books, there are games adapted from movies. But to adapt a game for a movie is like, well, this: [www.amazon.com] Seriously, it's a step back. It makes no real sense. This goes for all video-game-to-film adaptations: STOP THEM NOW PLEASE.

peAr nectAr

@Solertia:

+ Watch video

Solertia

Insure that the movie is good? Insure? Really?

GusherKid

Anyone who played Metal Gear Solid knows there were many crucial events and plot twists that occur over codec. I really don't think that they would be able to adapt the codec calls to the big screen.

The only way one could enjoy Metal Gear Solid is through the medium it was always meant to be on. So, no, it doesn't need a film adaptation.

Alan Brody

Only if YOU play Solid Snake, David.

Solertia

@goaliegeek: The word you're looking for is "quadrilogy."

Zero_Beat

@slomo788: "The complaints about the cutscenes always came from people that begin their reviews by basically saying "I've always hated Metal Gear." "

Yes, and I think this is EXACTLY the point that Hayter is trying to make with his little jab at Kojima's storytelling style. If you're not already a card-carrying, kool-aid swilling fan of Metal Gear Solid, you're probably going to find the cutscenes (and a faithful movie adaptation of them) to be silly, ridiculously over the top, and utterly confusing. So no, an MGS movie does not need to be made.

For the record, I find the series to be all the above. I still have great fun watching the cutscenes though.

Defenestrated

I would LOVE for Uwe Boll to direct a Metal Gear film. It would be pure quality.

ethanlechcharles

he needs to write it

TheNocturnalSun

I'd love a MGS movie

Amazon_Chris

If David wrote it, I would watch it. Any other way?

Well I'll just play the games. It's like a movie, only I control what happens inbetween the plot.

Fuck Hollywood, though. Fuck Hollywood.

Slust

I think he's just angry he was left out.

VakeroRokero

@Murgatron: I guess I should stop "Haytin'" on him!

I'm sorry, I thought of it a few minutes after my last post and felt that I needed to say it. David is quite the "Hayter" himself though, so I don't know why I'm the one apologizing.

Murgatron

Hayter was always the only choice; he knows the character inside and out, and writes damn good scripts in the first place! They shouldn't have completely shut him out, every piece I've read/seen on his take on the MGS:Movie are excellent. His interpretation of what MGS:Movie is great, it's not a cut and chase "port" of the game, but most of his ideas do a completely different take on the game.

Too bad his vision won't come around, they knocked him off the list pretty early!

KevanB

Also, there's no way they should even attempt to cram the storyline of more than one installment of the series into a movie. Do a straight up adaptation of MGS1, same characters, condense the dialog a bit, alter up the story a BIT so that not so much takes place in codec convos, but at the same time keep the idea of the codec, maybe with a visual aid of some sort to keep it interesting. Have some scenes in the beginning with Snake and his support group interacting in person like Naomi and the Colonel before his deployment. Do the plot the same way as the game, DON'T GO ALL RESIDENT EVIL ON IT AND MAKE UP SHIT FOR THE HELL OF IT, YOU HAVE AN AWESOME STORY SO EMBRACE IT.

Keep all the shit in there that makes Metal Gear Metal Gear. Have Mantis break the 4th wall somehow, keep the tongue in cheek stuff in there but translate it to the movie medium. Keep the core themes in there, but feel free to eliminate any redundant explanation of said themes to make it more concise. Play up the Snake/Meryl subplot if you must, even have them hook up at the end, it's implied in the game anyways.

It is fucking doable. It's not like MGS is fucking "The Life And Opinions Of Tristram Shandy" or anything. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't do what Hayter suggests and water the story down to make it just another action flick.

There's a difference between respecting your source material which results in a film like Iron Man, or having complete disregard for it, which results in Alien vs Predator, Resident Evil or Fantastic Four.

Polyh3dron

I could see it happening as a reworking of Metal Gear 1 and 2's story, with the first functioning as a sort of first act prologue. But even then... Ehh...

As with all video games, there's never enough really going on to really have it be justified as a movie. Even with Metal Gear's narrative being as thick as it is, it still wouldn't work well.

Esnel Pla

@Polyh3dron: He's not saying rip the story apart. he's just saying the average american movie watcher wouldn't understand kojima's retarded way of telling you that nuclear weapons are bad.

But it's alright I've been told they're willing to throw in over 8 hours of extra unseen slow mo action sequences, on disc 9 of the DVD special collectors edition.

geves

Nope. I'd take a Metal Gear ongoing comic or anime series though.

dry-roasted-peanuts

Personally, I think that the whole series should've been movies to begin with.

Pantsman

@k_dash: Heh, as far as I know!

The_Catalpa

[www.mgs-philanthropy.net]

?

Roto13

Does Metal Gear Solid need a movie?
...No, it practically IS a movie.

Will Metal Gear Solid get a movie anyway?
...I'm going with 'even money' here.

humongous_mouse

@Akmed: You've never had a movie make you almost cry, but MGS does?

...man, you need to watch better movies.

Defenestrated

err.. nevermind, I missed Solertia's post.
@Solertia: Thanks.

k_dash

So basically, Hayter feels that to make a Metal Gear Solid movie, they should take away everything that makes the Metal Gear series unique.

David, you've done an awesome job in the voiceover department and I have enjoyed X-Men 1 & 2, but please, stay the fucking hell away from any MGS movie production and leave it to someone who has a little more respect for the story and what makes it unique.

Signed,

Metal Gear Solid Fans

Polyh3dron

dunno... i've never had a movie make me cry (or almost even xD)

however, MGS4 on the other hand. . . well that being a a movie i can see.

Akmed

@The_Catalpa: Is that David Hayter in the video? Very similar voices.

What I don't understand is why does everyone think the movie is going to have the same stuff exactly ported from the game?
I must have missed it somewhere if it was mentioned before, care to link? same story plots?

Overall, I'm never optimistic when it comes to movie based games, and the other way around too. :)

k_dash

@GusherKid: Ah, my bad. Looks like it's just you 'n' me, Gushy.

phinehas

81 comments and no one pointed out that it's "ensure" and not "insure"?

phinehas

It won't be the same if David Hayter doesn't do Snake's voice.

MetaKz

I'm against a MGS movie because there isn't an actor man enough to play Solid Snake. All the directors suck and the script would also suck.

ViciousViper

@Esnel Pla: There's not enough going on with MGS to warrant a movie? Are you just saying that because it's a video game and all video game based movies automatically suck and lol they should do Pong: The Movie? They would have to condense stuff a whole lot to make MGS into a movie because there is TOO MUCH going on.

Polyh3dron

It has one. It's called the ending of MGS4.

gamadaya

@wild homes gets retconned!: Do any good, even. I'm tired!

wild homes gets retconned!

@IMarcus:

It's really, really clear you didn't read the article at all.

Providence

He wrote the screenplay for X-Men and the upcoming Watchmen. He's alright in my book to write Metal Gear Solid the Movie, with of course the help of Kojima.

RTW

@peAr nectAr: Thank you kindly! I will say, though, that while I agree with your progression idea, I'd like to offer up an addendum to it, if I may. And that addendum is as follows.

If you're only using the game franchise for a bit of name recognition, and are determined to build off the game's premise-- and not its subsequent reality-- then choosing such a thing is as valid a touchstone (as an artifact) for your project as any other.

That said, as games are-- generally-- comparatively shallow, doing as I've suggested is probably not going to do any avoid for your project's quality.

wild homes gets retconned!

@Akmed:

The only thing about MGS4 is that one needs to be familiar with the story of number 1, 2 AND 3 for it to make a LICK of sense and for the emotional parts to carry the impact that they are meant to carry.

It would be like someone watching the eventual finale season of Lost (Season 6) without watching the 5 seasons before it. Still cool but without a frame of reference you won't know what's going on and won't have the necessary investment in the characters.

Polyh3dron

One more thing, I think Paul THOMAS Anderson could do a GREAT job with this if he really takes the time to understand the characters (like there's much that you need to understand about them anyway). I would just say to him that he should channel Carpenter the same way he channeled Kubrick in There Will Be Blood and Scorsese in Boogie Nights.

The producer of the MGS movie has a working relationship with PTA so they should make it happen.

Polyh3dron

I agree with Hayter. MGS just doesn't need a movie and since they're making it it should be very well done.

mfwahwah

Since when is this guy the person to speak to about Metal Gear? He just reads lines put in front of him into a mic.

Besides, X-Men and X-Men 2 were quite underwhelming as far as screenplays are concerned.

marmidukestank

J.J. Abrams could pull it off too, just look at the amazing job he did with the stale Mission Impossible series. (Then we'd DEFINITELY get Holloway).

Polyh3dron

Also Vicious, Paul Thomas Anderson definitely has the directing AND writing chops to pull this off as long as you give him a great 2nd unit for the action scenes.

Polyh3dron

Josh Holloway could play Snake in his SLEEP, as could Viggo Mortensen, Brad Pitt or Hugh Jackman.

Polyh3dron

@slomo788
"The complaints about the cutscenes always came from people that begin their reviews by basically saying "I've always hated Metal Gear.""

The excuses for the cutscenes always come from people that rationalize by saying "It doesn't matter how long the cutscenes are because every second is a glorious treat because Metal Gear is awesome and Kojima is a cinematic genius." If you can get into it, then you'll like it, but if you can't, then you won't. It's not some conspiracy of people who hate Metal Gear and want to bring it down by posting negative reviews on the internet, though that sounds like the kind of story a Metal Gear fan would conjure up.

MGS4 takes the ridiculous, blunt, drawn-out story telling of the previous Metal Gear games and stretches it pretty thin. When the story wasn't drowning in campiness, and boldly taking itself seriously while doing so, it was taking 20 minutes to explain MGS brand sci-fi in layman's terms, or stretching "Liquid is in South America, go git 'em," or straining the previous games to shoehorn some wild new "plot twist" into the story. That's how I felt about it anyway, but I was bitter that the internet at large made this game out to be better than it was (As has been a common problem recently... GTA4 and Smash Bros!) and thrown by the shift in game:video balance from MGS1.

MGS4 8.5-9/10

robbo_the_hood

Surprised Hayter is ripping on the franchise. Whats wrong with telling a story from a different perspective anyway? I guess the american intolerance these days seems to be who cares what everybody else thinks we do things our way cuz we're a bunch of lazy minded assholes who work too much and just want a good explosion. Fuck off.

Xtreme_Hindu_Cow

What are you people stupid? They already released an MGS movie a couple of weeks ago.

Enimor

If this is going to be made by Hollywood, I don't see how the experience of watching it would be any better than using the bathroom after Snake did when he got back from Op. Snake Eater.

Now a manga or an OVA, that would be a diffrent story. Especialy since PO's cutscenes are already comic book style.

Bricked

There's no restriction at all for Hayter to play Snake in a movie adaptation he worked on, I don't know why people are saying this. Tarantino does it quite often, hell even Hitchcock was an extra in every one of his movies.

However... Just as not every actor can transition well into voice-acting, I realllly doubt Hayter has the regular acting chops for an action movie. And as Nick Cage and Tom Cruise have shown, that bar is really low already.

@dry-roasted-peanuts: I think this is an excellent idea. Most game-based movies have little background material anyway. Try to fit the story of MGS into a 2.5 hour movie, no matter how much fat you trim (and there's a lot) it would not do it justice. But an anime series certainly could.

StrikerGold

Make it more american? The whole essence and feel of metal gear comes from its japanese perspective on american military power. Take that away and your left with just another cookie cutter action movie with a rambo wannabe in the lead role. Yes it needs a proffesional script writer, but someone who understands why it's so popular among it's fans.

Major0celot

Metal Gear needs anime series. <- Fixed!

Shiryu

Metal Gear could make a good movie but it would have to be done right. If a movie was made cast Hugh Jackman as Snake and everyhing is off to a right start.

Fireblast

@peAr nectAr: You're wrong on one occasion. Movies shouldn't be made into games PERIOD. They clutter the market and it's publishers way to make a quick buck off of those who aren't hardcore gamers like ourselves. I'm sick of seeing Iron Man and Hulk games on the shelves when real good games aren't. Movie to video games are one of the small things destroying this wonderful industry. I'm looking at you Brash Entertainment.

Fireblast

The only way I can see them making a MGS movie any good is by not attempting to repeat the storylines of the games. They should try to cover one of the back stories set in the MGS universe. So basically, a MGS inspired movie. Maybe cover the story about Jack, or make one up completely but slot it into the MGS universe. That way it would please the fans (throw in a bunch of references to the games) and not alienate any of the normal viewing public.

Dayvie

the only game that should ever be made into a film ever: Joust

man, I'm looking forward to that one!

if metal gear was ever to be a movie, I wouldn't want a stupid Americanised Hollywood blockbuster, Id want an apocalypse now style think-piece. something tells me that's not going to happen.

exion

I find it amusing that any credence is given to what Hayter says about MGS.....he's the voice actor for chrissakes.....its not like he created the character nor wrote the script of the game nor put any creative input into the series.

Hell....its not like the voice of SNAKE in the MGS series couldn't have been done by any of 1000s of SAG members.

Give it up Hayter....you aren't that important.

dirtypanda

Am I the only one who thinks Snake shouldn't be in it, period?

They should set it in the future & in space. It worked for The Muppets, The Leprechaun and Friday13th.

Dayvie

This guy is great. I've never heard anyone who loves MGS admit to how damn cheesy it is.

Fix that, or embrace it but stick with that theme, and build Snake up right, and you've got a good movie.

Snake726

Why would anyone want Solid Snake to write the Hollywood version, especially when he's a known name as a script writer?! That's just nuts!

I actually enjoyed the Japanese version, and I'm pretty interested in seeing how an well written American adaptation of MGS.

As much as I like David Hayter, I wouldn't want him to play live action Snake--he's not my idea of a military hero; he's too clean cut.

Personally, I hope they get Curt Russel.

American_N_Japan

@pewpewlazer: "I'd watch it for the source material but I think on the big screen the metal gear craziness would be awkward like in Advent Children."

FF:VII AC was one of the most faithful, if not THE most faithful adaptations of any property ever, not just in videogaming.

It was a movie truely made for fans by the original minds behind the source material.

I'm going to base my claim on the fact that the movie was not meant to be accessible or "easy" to understand at all if you weren't (very) familiar with the source material and/or FF(VII) lore in general.

With the exception of a slight lack of chocobos (excluding a single tiny cameo) the movie delivered everything fans wanted and loved out of FF:VII and I've yet to meet a true fan of the original that didn't enjoy it a great deal or who didn't watch it several times at least.

And I think that's a truly bold and very commendable approach, practically abandoning the casual and main-stream audience from the get-go and having such a multi-million dollar property relying solely on its' established fan-base for success and revenue. One could only wish for more property- and license-holders to have the courage to commit to that kind of gamble.

Blue_Six

@Blue_Six: "It was a movie truely made for fans by the original minds behind the source material."

It was a bland and emotionless action movie that ignored most of what made the game special (i.e. the supporting cast and the interesting plot) while negating the game's central thread (Cloud's character development). Enjoyable it may be, but it fails hard as a faithful adaptation of the source material, and I resent the missed opportunity.

As far as MGS goes, the DVD version of the Bande Dessinee/Digital Graphic Novel genuinely makes me think that if it was filmed in live action it would be a decent movie. It's the game's story told in 2 hours without too many compromises but without excessive monologues either. Thankfully, MGS1 is structured quite like a movie anyway. The MGS2 DGN doesn't fare nearly as well.

MysteryPersonX

If there is a movie, the only actor that somewhat resembles Snake would be Christian Bale.

CHU BOI

David Hayter makes my dick hard in so many ways.

Kainy

As long as it is better than Escape from New York...

MorknGork

They already HAVE a Metal Gear movie, its called "Escape from New York". Its hero is SNAKE Pliskin (Snake is called Iriqouis Pliskin in Metal Gear Solid 2). Snake is totally based on the characters in Escape from New York.

makeitirish

make him the director! :D

Viciouschan

Go for it.

Christian Bale as Solid Snake.

xCruciaLx

@sir_carrot:
The man is right!

Izkariot

An American version of a Metal Gear movie wouldn't work.
American filmmakers want action, while Kojima based Metal Gear on the concept of the avoidance of action. Snake doesn't shoot anyone unless it's absolutely necessary, and that wouldn't translate well to the blood-hungry American film audience or screenwriters.

And to all the people that think Hayter would be better: why? Because he read a script given to him for a character? That doesn't work - look at Ren & Stimpy...

Snake isn't Wolverine, he's not The Scorpion King, and he's not going to be some American Badass-type action star. If anything, he's going to be closer to Rambo (so why isn't anyone even thinking about considering Sylvester Stallone for writing/starring???)

Let Kojima - the man who created the Metal Gear Universe - drive the car.

Phoenicks

i vote for takashi miike, to direct at least. as for writing, who knows. david hayter's other writing efforts lack the subtext and subtlety of mgs, which doesn't necessarily mean that he couldn't pull it off, just that it's unproven.

adaorardor

The only way this could be good is if Kojima does it with help from a movie director and a screenwriter, and he does it all in CG.

keyrat

Hayder you are a beast, however you dont know how to write for shit. X3 made me wanna jab a stun knife in my eye. I think if Kojima is overseeing the project it might have some potential. but as of right now no human actor can pull off Solid snake, there was talk about christian bale. I would be very pissed if snake was a skinny wimp and had a lisp and/or talked like a douche. but honesly I am not expecting much from this film, if it's good I will be pleasantly surprised.

IvoryMelotron

@slomo788: He did treatments on X1 and X2, and there's no telling how much of his work actually made it to the final films. His being a good writer is pretty much speculation at best.

@Archaotic: The dude merely did voice work for the game. That's like telling me that James Marsden knows the X-Men movie mythos backwards and forwards because he's been in every flick. Granted, it sounds like Hayter actually does play the games, but it's not like he wrote the Metal Gear Database. I respect his work, but I bet there are a ton of people better suited for the job.

And Metal Gear Solid requires no movie. Kojima already thinks of himself as a movie director. I mean, what he does is better suited for movies and NOT for a gaming experience. If I spend more time watching a game than playing it, something's wrong.

But I honestly wouldn't have too much of a problem if someone were to adapt the original Metal Gear games into a couple of movies. They'd be a couple of mindless action flicks, but they're the only ones that aren't movies already. (Well, aside from some handheld games...)

Gospel X

If they get someone to play snake that isn't Hayter, but sounds just like him, then I'll watch it. Otherwise, I'll avoid. Snake just isn't Snake without that voice.

KrelianAngel

@IvoryMelotron: X3 was the only X-Men film not written by David Hayter, actually.

DoctorCello

@Xtreme_Hindu_Cow: Hayter isn't saying that Metal Gear would be better off with an American POV, only that it would be interesting to see a different take with it.

Also, I like how everyone immediately assumes "American Perspective" means "mindless action flick." Not all American directors are like that, guys! What about Stanley Kubrick, or Francis Ford Coppola?

DoctorCello

Most games don't work well as movies, MGS included. To an unassuming audience the story would make 0 sense. Really unnecessary.

gencid

@Archaotic: And it's not just Metal Gear that he knows better than anyone... it's film script adaptations. Obviously everyone knows about the great X-men movies, but he also penned a script for a Watchmen movie, which eventually got scrapped (the actual movie uses someone else's script). But regardless, people that have read it say it's "the best comic-book to movie adaptation ever" or something to that effect. I'd love to see his take on Metal Gear.

Personally, I have two ideas for a Metal Gear movie. First is that you make an original story that brings elements (story, themes, set-pieces, and characters) from all of the games. Just one movie.

The OTHER idea is to simply adapt MGS1 for the silver screen, which COULD work very well. The PROBLEM with that idea? Well, if they adapt MGS1 then they're gonna want to adapt MGS2, and that just ain't gonna happen. That game can only be a game (just look at the graphic novel: it was great, but it changed the plot drastically, because the story only has relevance in the context of a videogame).

Spiffyness

MGS is already better at being a movie than most movies are, so this would be completely pointless. Plus, MGS is also a game, so it wins no matter what.

Placentasaurus

I don't really care what Hayter does, as long as he doesn't touch anything I enjoy, and stops making Snake sound like he has smoker's cough and permanent bronchitis. Just step away from the mic, please.

Lorch

Just wondering... why not make an adaptation of the first two msx metal gear games?

Shiroi Kaze