Top 10 Call Of Duty Moments Ripped Straight From The Movies
Activision's popular first-person shooter franchise certainly has affection for the world of cinema... a lot of affection. Join http://www.WatchMojo.com as we countdown our picks for the Top 10 Call Of Duty Moments Ripped Straight From The Movies.
We're looking at the scenes and sequences in the “Call of Duty” series that most evidently pay homage to, and even borrow directly from, Hollywood movies. Be it triumphant escapes, brutal deaths, or extended firefights, these moments feel like a deliberate tipping-of-the-hat to film.
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Top 10 Call of Duty Moments Ripped Straight from the Movies
Activision's popular first-person shooter franchise certainly has affection for the world of cinema... a lot of affection. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the top 10 Call of Duty Moments Ripped Straight from the Movies. We're looking at the scenes and sequences in the “Call of Duty” series that most evidently pay homage to, and even borrow directly from, Hollywood movies. Be it triumphant escapes, brutal deaths, or extended firefights, these moments feel like a deliberate tipping-of-the-hat to film.
#10: An Evening with Infinity Ward “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” (2009)
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An odd parallel to draw, perhaps, but the similarity is too apparent to ignore. Upon completing the campaign of “Modern Warfare 2”, players are rewarded with the bonus mission Museum. This extra excursion allows you to explore a California museum where characters from the campaign are represented by statues – and much like the film “Night at the Museum” they come to life. Unlike that film, however, said characters can turn hostile at the literal push of a button. At least there's plenty of weapons with which to defend yourself.
#9: Payback “Call of Duty: Black Ops” (2010)
Some revenge is served cold... and sometimes it's driven by seething hot rage. This sequence leans on the latter way of thinking; after freeing themselves from captivity, US soldiers Mason and Woods opt to take the fight directly to their captors. This means commandeering a helicopter and decimating various Soviet encampments, both in the air and on the ground. Mason and Woods' self-imposed mission is framed in a similar manner to the climax of “Rambo: First Blood Part II”, right down to the liberation of POWs and the brutal violence.
#8: Cliffhanger “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” (2009)
Well, it's certainly not shy about its inspiration. Sharing a name with the 1993 film “Cliffhanger”, this mission commences with Captain MacTavish and “Roach” Sanderson – operatives for the multinational group Task Force 141 – on a cliff-side in Kazakhstan. The duo then proceeds to carefully traverse a mountain, infiltrate a military base obscured by snow, and eventually flee by way of snowmobile. Everything about the mission's intensity and action-heavy structure feels like a fitting escalation of the various snowbound action sequences in “Cliffhanger”. And as the third mission in “Modern Warfare 2”, it helps set the tone going forward.
#7: Shock and Awe “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare” (2007)
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Such brutality... such tragedy. In the final moments of the first act of “Call of Duty 4”, the United States Marines are pushing their advantage against the forces of Khaled Al-Asad. The Marines' efforts are conveyed in a mission-long homage to “Black Hawk Down”, from its high-tension firefights to constant traversal via helicopter. It all comes to a head when a helicopter is shot down, with the Marines making a bold detour to rescue their fallen comrade. Sadly, as in the film, such noble heroics are undertaken in vain.
#6: Patrol Boat “Call of Duty: Black Ops” (2010)
Even on the river, the jungle's a dangerous place for a soldier. As part of operations in Vietnam, Alex Mason and his MACV-SOG allies board a river boat in order to reach a crashed plane. Thus, players are treated to a sequence of blasting Soviet and Viet Cong forces, at once a distinct set piece in its own right and something of a tribute to “Apocalypse Now”. On top of the harrowing combat, visceral explosions and the use of a river boat for its action, we also have the bonus of a song by The Rolling Stones accentuating the entire sequence. Well played.
#5: Bowman's Death “Call of Duty: Black Ops” (2010)
Once more, we see a reminder that the Vietnam War truly was hell. At the start of the mission “Payback”, Mason is in the captivity of Viet Cong forces, along with his long-time friends Woods and Bowman. Said captors, accompanied by Soviet officers, eventually bring Mason and Bowman out to play a game of Russian roulette, to Bowman objects – for which he is fatally punished. The suddenness of Bowman's demise segues into a tense encapsulation of Russian roulette scenes from “The Deer Hunter”, capping off with a grimly impressive escape.
#4: Wolverines! “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” (2009)
Is this homage or plagiarism? Things start out calmly enough, with United States radar scans seemingly on the fritz... until it turns out the Russian army is dropping forces into Washington D.C. The concept of Russian paratroopers abruptly attacking America feels drawn wholesale from the 1984 film “Red Dawn”, further reinforced by this mission being named after the film's resistance fighters. “Wolverines!” purposefully draws from lingering fears of foreign invasion to great effect, with the player having to battle through D.C. neighbourhoods littered with familiar American iconography. Suffice to say, it hits home in more ways than one.
#3: Pointe du Hoc “Call of Duty 2” (2005)
It's an epic charge in one of modern history's most remembered battles. “The Battle of Pointe du Hoc”, the first American-centric mission of “Call of Duty 2”, has players put in the role of US Army Corporal Bill Taylor. Specifically, you are tasked with guiding Taylor through a recreation of the Normandy landings of 1944, from coming ashore in a cramped boat to evading gunfire on a rocky beach. Setting aside the limits on blood and violence, the mission effortlessly mirrors “Saving Private Ryan” in terms of capturing the relentlessness of combat and the ever-present threat of death. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault in 2002 also referenced the film, even having more similar lines and scenes than COD, but that’s not what we’re countdown down here today now is it.
#2: Stalingrad “Call of Duty” (2003) and “Call of Duty: World at War” (2008)
A film so inspirational, it needed to be drawn upon twice. The original “Call of Duty” features a string of missions set in Stalingrad that depict Soviet soldiers charging into the fray, similar to those depicted in “Enemy at the Gates”. However, this would not be the last nod to Jean-Jacques Annaud's 2001 film. At one point in “World at War”, the player is dropped into the aftermath of a mass slaughter as lone soldier Dimitri Petrenko. When Sergeant Reznov, the only other survivor, hands over his sniper rifle, the player becomes part of a brutal restaging of a sniping sequence from the film. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions: The Fireplace “Call of Duty” (2003) Vietnam “Call of Duty: Black Ops” (2010)
#1: The Gulag “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” (2009)
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Michael Bay would be proud. As it happens, the mission “The Gulag” has MacTavish and his cohorts in Task Force 141 quietly and respectfully infiltrating a Russian prison... from a certain point of view. The resulting explosive gunfights take the task force into a series of showers, replete with eager snipers and riot shield-wielding opponents. Borrowed from Bay's film “The Rock”, this is not the only sequence drawn from that source. The missions “Whiskey Hotel” and “The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday” also feel pulled straight out of “The Rock”, to masterful effect. Do you agree with our list? What’s your favorite movie-inspired moment from the Call of Duty series? For more theatrical Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.
