As we are now seven years removed from the initial release of Grand Theft Auto V, there are now loads of open world games bigger than GTAV at this point. But despite the size, few of those games feature as many hidden details and secret references as GTA V does.

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Rockstar is influenced by movies and TV just as much as they are by video games, if not more so, as the series has been very narrative focused for twenty years. And with Grand Theft Auto V, storytelling had clearly become Rockstar’s bread and butter. So, as classy as the developer is, it has given subtle (and not so subtle) nods to some of the most classic movies and TV shows in popular culture.

10 Die Hard

Side by side of the Nakatomi plaza in Die Hard

There are tons of real life locations in GTA V, but nothing beats the Nakatomi plaza. In what is one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time, John McClane takes on a group of terrorists in one of the top floors of the oddly designed but iconic building. As the fifth installment of GTA is all about heists, and gamers play as (mostly) ordinary characters, it only makes sense for the series to give a nod to Die Hard, a movie about an out-of-his-element NYC cop taking on a bunch of criminals trying to rob the place.

9 Lost

The Hatch, a reference to Lost

Located off the east coast of the state of San Andreas, a hatch can be found at the bottom of the ocean. In Lost there is a hatch that is an entrance to a large underground bunker, which looks identical to the hatch found at the bottom of the ocean. It seems like there is more to be discovered of this, as players are unable to gain entry to what might be behind the hatch, and the reference to Lost is ominous, as the show and the game have very little in common.

8 Drive

Drive reference

Though Trevor might be one of the best characters in GTA V due to his mannerisms and psychotic behavior, he is far from the coolest. Being a redneck hillbilly who lives in a trailer cooking crystal meth and assaulting people for fun ain’t cool, kids.

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However, as Trevor is the only playable character who is able to purchase the iconic jacket worn by Ryan Gosling in Drive, the redneck has the freshest threads out of all of them. Not only that, but the jacket hilariously replaces the golden scorpion with a crab.

7 Star Trek

The Beam Me Up truck

As the GTA series is the only franchise that can pull off hilarious things like this, the franchise has glowingly invested in the existence of aliens. Though the game might be more grounded in reality than Saints Row and InFAMOUS, the fifth entry in the series has referenced aliens to no end. And one of the subtlest ways they’ve done that is by referencing a line that was said in Star Trek in every episode, “Beam Me Up,” which has been spray painted on a van in the desert.

6 Breaking Bad

Jesse Pinkman etched in to the side of a cliff face

It’s no surprise that the developers over at Rockstar were so influenced by the remarkable and envelope pushing TV show Breaking Bad. Both the TV show and GTA are extremely violent, contain similar subject matter, and both are at the top of their game in their respective mediums. And though they go about the same themes in a different way, they have a surprisingly similar sense of humor. As there are clear caps doffed to Breaking Bad throughout the entire game, especially throughout Trevor’s arc, none are more clear than actor Aaron Paul’s likeness literally etched in to the side of a cliff face.

5 Lethal Weapon 2

Tearing down tennis player’s house

One of the most fun levels with no stakes is when Michael drives to a tennis instructor’s house to tear him apart after he had been sleeping with Michael’s wife. The end result sees Michael pulling down the tennis instructor’s house by attaching a hitch to the beams that hold it up with his pick-up truck, and then driving away. Though the reference might have passed most people by, this scene is a direct nod to Lethal Weapon 2, in which the same thing happens almost beat for beat.

4 James Bond

James Bond reference

It might not be one of the fastest cars in GTA V, but owning not just James Bond’s car, but Sean Connery’s James Bond’s car is one of the most thrilling aspects to the game. Though it isn’t a car that would be suited to Trevor, the classy vehicle would look great sitting in front of Michael’s mansion.

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However, there is a lost opportunity in not having Connery’s iconic suit available to purchase, as that and the Aston Martin go hand in hand.

3 No Country For Old Men

Shoot out between drug dealers on mount chiliad

If any players have seen No Country For Old Men, they’ll know that it’s quite messy, not riddled with plot holes messy, but bloody messy. If players head to the western base of Mount Chiliad, they can find a set of cars full of bullet holes and loads of bloody bodies lying on the ground, presumed to be drug dealers. And with the setting, it looks exactly like the Coen brothers classic.

2 Back To The Future

Back to the future reference in GTA V

This reference is one of the most low-key and least outlandish of them all, which might not sound very Grand Theft Auto like, but it just goes to show that there could be a hidden reference on any wall or door. On most power boxes along the railroad, it says 1.21 gigawatts, which is the voltage that is required for Doc to time travel in the classic 1980s movie, Back To The Future.

1 Heat

Michael in combat in a suit. A reference to Heat

With Heat being the ultimate heist movie, being three hours in length, starring Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro, and directed by Michael Mann, Every dad’s favorite movie director, GTA V is the best crime based video game due to being the movie’s the spiritual video game successor. And with that in mind, there isn’t just one reference to Heat, but dozens. Besides the fact that there are entire missions that replicate the action scenes from the movie, Michael’s get-up and appearance is identical to Robert DeNiro’s character of Neil McCauley.

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