Mad Max Director George Miller Sees The Skill Of A Great Filmmaker In Death Stranding

Death Stranding is out next month, at which point the internet will burst open with a deluge of divisive opinions we might not all survive. Before then, however, visionary Mad Max director George Miller has shared his thoughts on Hideo Kojima’s latest work.

In a recent video from IGN, Miller explains why he thinks Death Stranding is significant, not just as a video game, but as a cultural moment. “There is no cultural evolution unless it is renewed–unless new ideas are offered up,” the Australian filmmaker says. “Often, they’re provocative. Often, they shift the norm to some degree, but there is no evolution unless that happens. If we’re just doing the same old safe work all the time, that’s almost a certain way to fail anyway.

“In films, you see the same ideas, the same tropes–something that, a few years ago, might have been groundbreaking, has now become cliche.” Miller then mentions Kojima specifically, and how he thinks the game director has the creative courage to push boundaries that others wouldn’t. “The skill that I see in great filmmakers, I see in Kojima-san’s work,” he explains. “All of the visual languages, the syntax, the compelling imagery, it’s all there, all in the service of giving the audience an intense experience.

“The risk is that people just don’t accept it.”

At a time when legendary film directors like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola are extending beyond their niches to criticise the MCU films, claiming they’re “not cinema”–or worse– it’s refreshing to see a director like George Miller step outside of his comfort zone and thoughtfully embrace something new and weird.

Death Stranding is set to launch November 8 on PlayStation 4.