The Codec conversations in the Metal Gear Solid series were a great optional way for players to learn more about the game world and its characters. It was also a respite from the tense gameplay. For example, saving in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater always gave players a pleasant conversation with Para-Medic about movies.
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Her friendly demeanor in these conversations only makes it more shocking that she eventually became a mad scientist who experimented on Frank Jaeger and created the cyborg ninja. All of the movies below are classics any cinephile should watch and some of them even connect to the series thematically.
To experience all of these conversations in the game, be sure to save every room or after every cutscene. Just saving many times in a row will not trigger all of these conversations.
Godzilla: King Of Monsters
Director: Ishiro Honda, Release: 1954
This is the first movie Para-Medic talks about and where she espouses her love of the medium. It's comedic that she talks about 2004 being Godzilla's 50th birthday as if that exact date would be relevant to Snake and not only to the gamers playing the game on release in 2004.
From Russia With Love
Director: Terence Young, Release: 1963
Turns out Major Zero is also a huge James Bond fan. During the conversation, he interrupts and muses about Snake using a snake-shaped gun. Ultimately, Snake is not fascinated with the character and believes it is all fantasy.
The Creature From The Black Lagoon
Director: Jack Arnold, Release: 1954
As far as classic monster movies go, this one excels because of how sympathetic the audience is towards the creature, something the sequels expand upon. Para-Medic also talks about the early use of 3D in the movie theater.
It Came From Outer Space
Director: Jack Arnold, Release: 1953
Here Para-Medic goes on about how great 3D was in the 1950s. Unfortunately, she would not live long enough to see the new 3D boom of the 2000s with films like Avatar.
She also talks about upcoming home video technology, comparing it to records only with film on it instead of music.
The Last War
Director: Shue Matsubayashi, Release: 1961
This Japanese movie is about a nuclear war, a relatable theme for Metal Gear. The conversation ends in a rather nihilistic tone, with Snake concluding that the average person cannot stop nuclear armageddon by themselves.
Forbidden Planet
Director: Fred M. Wilcox, Release: 1956
This science fiction B-Movie from the 1950s interests Snake because of an invisible monster, leading Para-Medic to wonder whether the technology will come along one day. Snake does not believe it will ever happen, though. Turns out he was wrong.
Earth Vs. The Spider
Director: Bert I. Gordon, Release: 1958
This movie's summary is all described in the title. When Snake points out the absurdity of it all, Para-Medic decries Snake as a party pooper and says he needs to suspend disbelief more often. After encounters with The Fear, Volgin, and The End, it is hard to believe Snake still has his doubts about what is and isn't possible.
On The Beach
Director: Stanley Kramer, Release: 1959
This movie from 1959 is about another nuclear apocalypse. The movie takes place in 1964, though. Had Snake failed his mission, perhaps the nuclear winter would really have started in 1964 in the Metal Gear canon.
The War Of The Worlds
Director: Byron Haskin, Release: 1953
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Whether one reads the book, watches the movie, or listens to the radio play, The War of the Worlds is an all-time classic about a Martian invasion everyone needs to experience. The Steven Spielberg remake is also an underappreciated gem.
For A Fistful Of Dollars
Director: Sergio Leone, Release: 1964
Para-Medic does not get into the details of the movie, but anybody who likes westerns owes it to themselves to see it. It was followed by For a Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
Them
Director: Gordon Douglas, Release: 1954
Giant ants attack New Mexico after nuclear tests. All Snake is interested in is how they might taste, though. Would he be able to take one down to find out?
Jason And The Argonauts
Director: Don Chaffey, Release: 1963
This movie is notable for its legendary visual effects, mixing live-action actors with stop-motion skeletons, something Sam Raimi paid tribute to in Army of Darkness.
Dr. Strangelove, Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb
Director: Stanley Kubrick, Release: 1964
It is no secret Hideo Kojima loves this movie since a character in Peace Walker was given the name Dr. Strangelove. It is a comedy about nuclear armageddon, a stark contrast from the other films about war on the list.
The Guns Of Navarone
Director: J. Lee Thompson, Release: 1961
This action movie should be right up Snake's alley. It is all about an operation to go into enemy territory, destroy a weapon, and then get out.
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Whether he ended up seeing it or not is left up in the air. There are more pressing questions about the lore, after all.
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
Director: Richard Fleischer, Release: 1954
Though Para-Medic talks about the story and Captain Nemo, Snake gets distracted by the image of a giant squid. Stories are good and all, but he wants to know how that squid tastes.
The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms
Director: Eugene Lourie, Release: 1953
A lot of these films deal with monsters as a result of nuclear tests, which shows how cinema of the time was tapping into fears and paranoia about the new destructive technology people had in the 1950s and 1960s.
The Magnificent 7
Director: John Sturges, Release: 1960
Even if it is a similar story to Seven Samurai, viewers can watch both as unique experiences. The story about a ragtag group of misfits defending a town has been repeated numerous times in film and television by now.
North By Northwest
Director: Alfred Hitchcock, Release: 1959
Those who have not seen this film are probably still familiar with the iconic sequence where the lead is running away from a small plane. Para-Medic also goes on to talk about Alfred Hitchcock's enormous legacy.
The Blob
Director: Irvin Yeahworth And Russell Doughton, Release: 1958
While Para-Medic is talking about the original The Blob, players will get a real kick out of the remake from the 1980s, which has superb visual effects and is tense from start to finish.
The Bridge On The River Kwai
Director: David Lean, Release: 1957
More important than describing the movie is Para-Medic telling Snake it was actually a date. It is a sweet story of someone in the Navy with a broken leg inviting her to the movie after he healed up.
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers
Director: Don Siegel, Release: 1956
Snake begins to say he saw the movie before quickly reverting to his standard "no", leading players to wonder if he did see it. The movie itself is an allegory for fears about communism.
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Snake is more amused by what he considers the unrealistic idea of copying humans, ironic considering he would be cloned to make Solid Snake and his brothers.
The Alamo
Director: John Wayne, Release: 1960
Though John Wayne starred in countless westerns, this movie is notable for his turn in the director's chair. It is over three hours long so one needs to clear their schedules if they plan on watching it.
Curse Of The Werewolf
Director: Terence Fisher, Release: 1961
Unlike Mei Ling's proverbs in Metal Gear Solid from 1998, most of the movies do not relate to gameplay. However, Para-Medic uses the Curse of the Werewolf to remind Snake not to be careless while sneaking around the jungle.
The Thing
Director: Christian Nyby, Release: 1951
Though Para-Medic calls the movie The Thing, she is really talking about The Thing From Another World. Only the John Carpenter remake was called The Thing. Though not a spy movie by any definition, it does have the paranoia of not knowing who to trust like the best spy movies.
Frankenstein
Director: James Whale, Release: 1931
Frankenstein's monster can be attached to many different themes. Para-Medic and Snake's conversation ties it to the dangers of rapid progress in science, a point relevant to the Metal Gear franchise.
Abbot And Costello Meet Frankenstein
Director: Charles Barton, Release: 1948
This movie is the perfect precursor to all the horror comedies that came after it. It features the same creatures audiences knew and loved at the time in all their terrific glory but it's also hilarious.
The Incredible Shrinking Man
Director: Jack Arnold, Release: 1957
Becoming tiny might be fun at first, but in this movie, the guy does not stop growing smaller. It becomes philosophical when he ponders what it means to shrink out of existence, which he eventually does.
The Quatermass Experiment
Director: Val Guest, Release: 1955
This movie talks about the dangers of space travel. It also foreshadows how The Boss developed her philosophy after being the first person in space and seeing the world without borders and without politics.
The Day The Earth Stood Still
Director: Robert Wise, Release: 1951
This movie is relevant for its warning about humans waging war. In an era most modern moviegoers dismiss as cheesy, The Day the Earth Stood Still remains profound and is an all-time classic.
Dracula
Director: Todd Browning And Karl Freund, Release: 1931
This is where Para-Medic discovers Snake's fear of bats. Even though he lived through torture and is on the edge of death at every moment, bats and vampires are on another level of fear.
The Alligator People
Director: Roy Del Ruth, Release: 1959
This one comes when Snake wears the crocodile hat. Snake expects to be laughed at, but all it does is remind her of this movie about a man who slowly becomes an alligator in an effort to heal himself after an accident.
