Red Dead Redemption 2 is a beautiful and expansive video game. It also crosses mediums and contains many references (whether overt or subtle) to classic Western movies. This is nothing new for Rockstar. The beloved game developers are big on pop culture, and they have been peppering their video games with movie references for decades. And while Red Dead Redemption 2 is more "serious" than their past offerings, it still continues the tradition.
Some of these references are obvious and essentially shot-for-shot remakes of classic movie scenes. Others can be as simple as a line of dialogue, a theme, or a story idea.
The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (2007)
Perhaps the most obvious movie reference is to The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. One mission sees Arthur and a small group robbing a train and its riders. The cutscene for this mission is virtually taken wholesale from the movie.
The shot of the gang hiding in the nearby trees and getting lit up by the passing train is taken directly from the movie, as is Arthur blocking the tracks and standing atop the barricade as the train slowly approaches.
Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969)
One of the best Westerns of all time, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was a huge inspiration on Red Dead Redemption 2. The entire plot of Red Dead 2 borrows heavily from Butch Cassidy, as that movie also concerns a group of cowboys running from the law after a string of crimes and robberies.
The opening train robbery also shares a lot in common with one found in Butch Cassidy, and the scene in which Dutch and his minions jump off a cliff and into the river below is taken verbatim from the film.
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (1966)
An old movie that still holds up today, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is arguably one of the most influential Western movies ever made. Within Red Dead 2, Hosea tells a funny and interesting story about his near-death experience. Just as he was being hung, a stranger appeared and shot the rope before he could swing, thereby saving his life.
This is a direct reference to one of the opening scenes of The Good, the Bad the Ugly, which sees Clint Eastwood's character saving Tuco from being hung by shooting the rope.
A Fistful Of Dollars (1964)
Rockstar essentially based the entire third chapter of the game on the plot of A Fistful of Dollars. The third chapter sees Dutch and his gang attempting to play both sides of a feud between two Rhodes families - the Braithwaites and the Grays.
This is based heavily on A Fistful of Dollars, which sees The Man with No Name playing both sides of a feud between two San Miguel families - the Rojo brothers and the Baxters. Not only that, but one of the Baxters is the town sheriff, just like Leigh Gray.
Back To The Future Part III (1990)
One of the most unique cowboy movies ever made, Back to the Future Part III ends the beloved trilogy in stylish fashion. The climax of the film sees Doc and Clara floating away on Marty's hoverboard just as the locomotive careens off the unfinished track and into a ravine below.
A very similar train can be found at the bottom of the Granite Ravine in Red Dead Redemption 2. These are the types of fun Easter eggs that Rockstar often excels at producing.
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Maybe this isn't a direct one-to-one reference, but the subplot involving Leviticus Cornwall bears a strong resemblance to the Daniel Day-Lewis classic There Will Be Blood. The protagonist of the film is Daniel Plainview, and like Cornwall, he is a remorseless and headstrong businessman who earned his fortune in oil.
The themes of There Will Be Blood are rooted heavily in the rise of capitalism and the beginnings of modern civilization - themes are also heavily prominent throughout Red Dead Redemption 2.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
One of the Coen brothers' funniest movies, O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a unique hybrid of many different genres, including Western, comedy, and adventure. Red Dead 2 contains numerous references to the classic film, including the bumbling KKK members that accidentally kill themselves with their flaming cross.
Arthur can also come across three men in black and white prison jumpsuits who recently escaped a chain gang, which is an obvious reference to the protagonists of O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The Wild Bunch (1969)
Red Dead 2 owes its very existence to The Wild Bunch. It is essentially a video game adaptation of the beloved movie - not that that is a bad thing. Like Red Dead 2, The Wild Bunch also deals with a fracturing gang of outlaws whose time is coming to an end thanks to the advancement of American civilization.
The characters of The Wild Bunch also get into conflict with the U.S. Army, and Dutch van der Linde is likely named after Ernest Borgnine's Dutch Engstrom.
Open Range (2003)
Valentine is the first town that players come across in Red Dead 2, and it looks like a typical frontier town - wooden shopfronts, muddy streets, and carriages rumbling through the main thoroughfare. Valentine is modeled heavily after the town of Harmonville, which can be found in Kevin Costner's Open Range.
Like Valentine, the characters of Open Range visit Harmonville for supplies. And like Valentine, the town of Harmonville is shot up and destroyed at the end of Open Range.
Django Unchained (2012)
With Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino looked to make the KKK somewhat ridiculous. In one of the movie's most memorable sequences, Schultz and Django lure a group of bumbling KKK members into a trap and kill many of them with a well-timed explosion.
The sequence of the incompetent and fumbling KKK members is mirrored in many random encounters throughout Red Dead 2. While not a direct reference, it was hilarious to see Rockstar continuing Tarantino's tradition and making fools out of historic villains.