Kojima at the Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga premiere red carpet — but did he like it???
One of the remaining good things on the dying social media platform X (formerly Twitter) is Hideo Kojima’s movie updates. The Metal Gear and Death Stranding creator is an avid film buff, a passion he has injected into his highly cinematic, cut-scene-filled games, but one that still manifests as Dude Who Buys Tons of 4K Blu-rays. Despite working relentlessly on Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (real title), OD, and other projects, Kojima finds the time to watch two or three movies a week, often hitting up the latest American blockbusters that have finally arrived in Japan. And he’s almost always good for a tweeted reaction.
Kojima Movie Reactions range from lengthy reflections on the power of cinema to brief posts about movies that were probably shit. No reaction was more clarifying of Kojima’s personal-taste scale and extreme decorum when it comes to commenting on other artists’ art than his post after he saw Madame Web earlier this year. Kojima can often see the good in even the worst Hollywood drek, but for the half-baked, Spider-Man-adjacent blockbuster, the video game auteur simply stated, “Saw ‘Madame Web’ at the theater.”
With the summer movie season behind us, now feels like the appropriate time to not only share Kojima’s extremely Kojima-brand of film criticism with those who may wisely be off X, but also to find the nuance in his off-the-cuff remarks. What did Kojima think of The Fall Guy? Below, I present to you an unofficial ranking of the 2024 summer blockbusters the gamemaker saw (sorry, Despicable Me 4), calibrated from years of Kojima Movie Reactions. If Madame Web is the bottom, then…
10. Twisters
Saw “Twisters” in IMAX. The previous film by Jan de Bont was in 1996, so it has already been 28 years. At that time, I was just starting to play around with the “PlayStation 1,” so I remember I was impressed just by watching the development of ILM’s tornado program. So after 28… pic.twitter.com/WN7TGL460V
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) August 4, 2024
9. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Watched “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” in IMAX. I liked the reboot trilogy that began in 2011. This film is a few centuries after that, with many scenes overlapping with the original from 1968. It was Kevin Durand as Proximus. It’s been more than a decade since the reboot,… pic.twitter.com/RvvXWKaKCw
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) May 12, 2024
8. Alien: Romulus
Saw “Alien: Romulus” in IMAX. The movie starts in space in total silence. Inside the spaceship, monitors, switches, and airlock doors. Analog design with no digital UI or LCD monitors. Costumes, lighting, and worldview. The script and direction by Fede Álvarez recreates famous… pic.twitter.com/5hEHsTskr7
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) September 8, 2024
7. The Fall Guy
Two weeks late, but I finally got around to watching “The Fall Guy,” a classic action/love story reminiscent of the 80’s. The irony of the “double” 3D scan at the beginning of the film. As a person in the digital industry, I don’t want people to deny the use of VFX too much. I… pic.twitter.com/RAMJsGGQNS
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) September 1, 2024
6. Deadpool & Wolverine
I watched “Deadpool & Wolverine.”
It goes far beyond the “fourth wall” between real and fictional, between the creators and the fans, but also past the walls of not only the title and studio, but all hero movies and parodies outside of the MCU. As a “Hero-verse” in the age of the… pic.twitter.com/S6N1bsnLmz
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) July 27, 2024
5. A Quiet Place: Day One
Saw “A Quiet Place: Day One” in IMAX. The success of this series was in the fact that it took advantage of the ingenuity that only a low-budget indie film could accomplish. The series has few characters, limited space, and shows neither the aliens nor large-scale VFX. In this… pic.twitter.com/mywEvzkdvA
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) July 7, 2024
4. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Witnessed “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”!
This movie, which easily surpasses “MAD” and even past “FURY”, is at its “MAX” (masterpiece)! Ever since I saw the first film when I was 16 years old, George Miller has saved me, encouraged me, and changed my way of life countless times. He is… pic.twitter.com/RRzNolzofq
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) May 10, 2024
3. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
[Ed. note: Based on Kojima’s updates, at some point he saw Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga a second time in theaters, but did not document the experience with a patented Kojima Tweet™. If this post eventually surfaces or is issued with great delay, we will update this ranking.]
Saw Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga in IMAX for the third time. Bought 3 booklets. The chase scene with Octoboss (the name is like MGS). It still makes me roar no matter how many times I see it. The rhythm of the movement and the attacks backwards, forwards, under the truck, in the air… pic.twitter.com/GASn6lSvSQ
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) June 2, 2024
2. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Watched “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” for the fourth time, this time in Dolby Atmos instead of IMAX. The pamphlet I bought last week got wet in the rain, so I bought it again along with “SCREEN” magazine reprint that came out a few years ago. Next time I’ll watch the Japanese dubbed… pic.twitter.com/6YGWjl2MSA
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) June 9, 2024
1. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Watched “Furiosa”for the fifth time. Finally saw it in the Japanese voice dub version! The voice actors were superb! Ken Tsuda as Jack, Immortan Joe – Akio, Mary – Yu Kobayashi! All of them were wonderful! Mr. Ishizumi, Mr. Genda, and even Mr. Shigeru Chiba were in it. I’m glad… pic.twitter.com/uOuoa1dgAf
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) June 23, 2024
Was Kojima destined to love Furiosa this much? Yes. I mean, he put director George Miller in Death Stranding 2. No surprises here. Now we wait to see if he can lure Miller to direct the Death Stranding movie at A24…
