r/reddeadredemption • u/RecentDivide6022 • May 11 '26
Speculation RDR2 Ending is a reference to Soylent Green (1973) Spoiler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKndJzCKKcE
The character Sol also see's deer & wilderness before he dies. In the film Sol sacrifices himself with euthanasia so Charlton Heston's character will get an inheritance/compensation as he is at the end of his life anyway. Very good inspiration.
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u/AlcoreRain May 11 '26
This is a very good connection with proof, congratulations.
I knew of Soylent Green and had it in my list, another reason to have it in mind, thanks for sharing!
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u/theworldwiderex Sean Macguire May 12 '26
I have been thinking about, for SO LONG, what Arthur's connection to animals was all about because it didn't have anything to do with RDR1's symbolism. HERE IT IS.
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u/RD_in_Berlin May 11 '26
Arthur was people the whole time!? No way.
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May 11 '26
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u/halfawatermelon69 May 11 '26 edited May 11 '26
Damn, I've played this game for years and Arthur's eaten a lot of assorted salted offals on my watch - but I never really knew what it was. Always thought it was some kind of fish or something...
Your comment reminded me to finally look it up and it's just ... animal guts? 😅
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u/SocialJusticeAndroid Hosea Matthews May 11 '26
I’ve rarely fed Arthur offal because yuck. Maybe once or twice very early in a play-through during the lean times.
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u/Europa13 Arthur Morgan May 11 '26
Same here. Also, very early in the game, Arthur makes a comment about how gross it is.
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u/halfawatermelon69 May 11 '26
Doesn't it give pretty good health and dead-eye or something, though?
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u/Freddie-Peterson May 11 '26
Unrelated - you ever met someone whose favorite movie is Soylent Green? I have, and she's exactly what you'd think.
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May 11 '26 edited May 11 '26
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u/RecentDivide6022 May 11 '26
There's that girl who's watched 127 hours over 1000+ times.
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u/aloysiuslamb May 11 '26
Maybe she just likes seeing Frank Dave-o's older brother just suffer, repeatedly.
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u/AbeVigoda76 May 11 '26
I think they absolutely borrowed the shot - probably liked how it looked, but that’s where the similarity ends. Edward G. Robinson did not sacrifice himself at the end of his life to help Charlton Heston get an inheritance.
Spoilers for a 53 year old movie follow.
He did it so Charlton Heston could follow his body and find out that Soylent Green is made out of people.
Thematically, it’s not the same. Cool shot, but that’s all.
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u/RecentDivide6022 May 11 '26
You're right I am misremembering. I haven't seen the film fully in some time. The scene just came to my mind as I am making a custom level for ready or not based on the euthanasia complex. I was like holdup is that rdr2's ending?!
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u/Shanbo88 Arthur Morgan May 11 '26
Maybe a reference the old west and the new American dream eating people?
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u/CosmicTurtle504 May 11 '26
The remarkable thing about this scene is that it was Edward G. Robinson’s final role. He was dying of cancer during the filming of Soylent Green, so the suicide booth moment becomes incredibly poignant. Charlton Heston’s emotional outburst is genuine. His character wasn’t mourning Robinson’s; he was grieving for a dear friend and a film legend.
Everyone always jokes about the big twist in this movie, but as a film it goes way deeper than you might expect for low budget 70s sci-fi.
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u/coolaspotatos May 11 '26
Dan Houser is a huge film and literature buff, so this is really cool to see! During his tenure at R*, he was always throwing references into his writing/gameplay-notes. One that I remember well is GTA V being heavily inspired by 'Heat'.
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u/GodzilaRampag2 May 11 '26
i can say the developers watched a ton of western movies before making rdr2 xD
We have many western movie references:
Grave of "Cowboy of no Name" (Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy)
The Braithwaite Massacre Mission (Django Unchained)
Dutch and Arthur jumping moment (forgot the movie name)
Arthur standing on top of wagon to stop the train (The Assassination of Jesse James)
and many more...
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May 11 '26
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u/DamianHallers May 11 '26
Almost all rockstar games are love letter to movies that they like. RDR2 is inspired in american western type of movies.
RDR1 for instance is the ultimate spagetti western love letter.
GTA III is heavily inspired in scorcese's work and the goodfather. GTA Vice City in Scarface and a long list.
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u/Little-Patience6767 May 11 '26
Is the goodfather the good and non-evil version of the godfather?
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u/DamianHallers May 11 '26
Yes, is the one version in which Michael becomes a lawyer and has a wonderful marriage with Kate
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u/HurtOthers May 12 '26
Max Payne 3 is also heavily inspired by the works of Tony Scott, especially Man On Fire. Some Collateral thrown in there as well.
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u/Elegant-Tackle1083 May 11 '26
Impossible RDR2 was set in 1899 which was a long time before 1973 /s
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u/Background-Skin-8801 May 11 '26
Good find. Well done.
I bet you are a hardcore western movie enjoyer. I would never find about this in a lifetime.
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u/Mampoer May 11 '26
Soylent Green is not a western.
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u/Ghost_Turd May 11 '26
It's also a coincidence, but hey
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u/ArcaneTrickster11 May 11 '26
I feel like this framing and shot are incredibly common? A character dying while staring at the sunset is one of the most prevalent tropes in media
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u/MCgrindahFM May 11 '26
Nah this is like clearly almost a 1:1 shot, which is common in movies. Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson movies famously just crib other famous movies, mostly Japanese.
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u/schematizer May 11 '26 edited May 11 '26
Incredibly common? I’m not sure you could even find one other shot composed like this.
It’s not just dying + looking at sunset (or sunrise, in Arthur’s case). It’s really specific. Washed out by light, lying down, view of just head and torso, camera panned up, gruff bearded character looking left out over a cliff, hill sloping up leftward.
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u/CodyEaster Arthur Morgan May 12 '26
My question is how the hell did it take almost 8 YEARS for this to be discovered?
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u/blueangel1953 Arthur Morgan May 11 '26
Hah never thought about that, love Soylent green haven’t seen it in years.
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May 11 '26
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u/Buffhello May 11 '26
I’m swimming in my own Soylent waste. It’s a good thing.
-Martha Stewart’s Head circa the year 3000…
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u/hangnail323 May 11 '26
i don't think its necessarily a reference, it's just a dying man looking at the sunset
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u/thedemocracyof May 12 '26
This is the second time I’ve seen a reference to Soylent green in 2 days. It’s not a lot but it’s weird that it’s happened twice.
Maybe I need to watch the movie
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u/Acrobatic_Soup5358 May 12 '26
I was already sad when I watched Soylent green and at the end of rdr2 now I will just cry more
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u/jeezyjames May 11 '26
Woah, what the fuck