Didn't think John Carpenter was a gamer? Think again!
In a recent issue of Esquire, legendary filmmaker John Carpenter told the magazine how much he loves video games, especially Borderlands 2.
"There's no better game on the face of the earth," Carpenter said. Take that as your official review if you haven't bought the game yet, which why wouldn't you?
How did he get into video games?
"My son, growing up, got into video games and I got addicted along with him. He left and went off on his own and I kept playing. They're just so much fun. So I've kept abreast of everything over the years. I have four systems here in the house. The old Xbox and the new Xbox and the old PlayStation and the new one. So I play all the new games. I'm not a big fantasy gamer, like Skyrim kind of games where you have to buy stuff and talk to people. I don't know, I like to shoot things."
Which makes sense, if you look back at some of his films. A lot of them pretty much play out like shooters. Escape from New York, Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween, The Thing, and Big Trouble in Little Chinacould all be shooters. In fact, some of these movies have been adapted into video games already.
I never thought of John Carpenter as much of a gamer, which is absolutely shame on me. The guy's films are full of video game tropes that have either spawned direct game adaptations or inspired hit game franchises.
First and foremost, Metal Gear. Riffing off of John Carpenter's famous character Snake Plissken from Escape from New York, Solid Snake is a man sent on infiltration missions in enemy territory, and is often times manipulated by the very government he's working for. Carpenter's famous film features an oppressive government that will sacrifice anything to keep the order intact. It's no accident that the oppressive government in both the film and its video game spiritual successor is the United States. These are both works that examine how power deteriorates a system's willingness to serve the common good. Also, the main threat (at first) in both works is nuclear.
Although the "Snake" moniker is enough to turn your head and make you picture Kurt Russell fighting off a giant nuclear robot, Metal Gear Solid 2 had a direct nod to the John Carpenter films. Solid Snake, now in hiding after being framed for a terrorist attack on New York City, must hide under the codename "Iroquois Pliskin" (Iroquois is a "Francofied version of the Algonquin word for rattlesnakes" in case you were wondering). Obvious enough for you?
Carpenter's 1982 remake of The Thing got a video game sequel in the form Computer Artworks' same name video game, which is pretty comical to look at today but looked really good back in 2002. I mention this game because The Thing is probably my favorite Carpenter movie (I go back and forth between The Thingand Halloween).
And who can forget the classic Halloweenvideo game for the Atari 2600:
It's quite interesting that no one else has ever dared to make a Halloween game. Probably because Rob Zombie broke the franchise forever? Woops.
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