Red Dead Redemption 2 is packed full of movie references, and not just to westerns. The ginormous open world and story developed for Rockstar's fictionalized Old West hides Easter eggs from across cinematic history.
Red Dead Redemption 2 features characters whose appearances reference other works, scenes lifted straight from famous films, and locations based on those found in the movies. Here's every major movie Easter egg in Red Dead 2.
Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is one of the key inspirations for Red Dead 2's plot. The movie follows its eponymous pair as they escape bounty hunters sent by a railway tycoon, roles filled in Red Dead 2 by the Pinkertons and Leviticus Cornwall, respectively.
In the movie, Butch hatches a plan to escape to Bolivia, with Australia as a back up. Dutch's plan is to flee to Tahiti, also mentioning Australia as a backup. As well as the first train robbery, the scene where Dutch and Arthur jump off a cliff to escape the army is a direct reference to the scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid where Butch and the Kid escape their pursuers by jumping off a cliff into the river below.
The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
One cutscene featured in an original Red Dead 2 trailer shows a train approaching a gang of outlaws waiting to rob it in the night. This is a reference to a very similar scene in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, where the gang barricade a railroad track under cover of darkness in order to rob a train.
Tombstone
Arthur's diagnosis with tuberculosis is inspired by the illness of Doc Holliday, a real-life gunslinger whose portrayal by Val Kilmer in the movie Tombstone made him a household name. Like Arthur, Doc's terminal illness and physical deterioration hangs over his story, but doesn't stop him fighting for those he's loyal to until the very end.
The Revenant And Jeremiah Johnson
The legendary bear hat in Red Dead 2 is based on the hat worn by Robert Redford in Jeremiah Johnson, a western based on the real-life mountain man of the same name. It's almost impossible to get the legendary bear hat without having a few close encounters with grizzlies, and the animations used in those attacks are very similar to scenes in The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly
Many fans of Red Dead 2 have noted that long-time Van der Linde gang member Hosea Matthews bears a resemblance to legendary western actor Clint Eastwood. The connection goes deeper, however. At camp, Hosea can tell a story about a time he was nearly hanged for stealing chickens as a young man, before a mysterious stranger appeared and shot the rope, saving his life. This is a reference to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, where Clint Eastwood's Blondie does the same for Tuco, his on-and-off partner in crime throughout the film.
The Wild Bunch
Like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Wild Bunch is about a group of outlaws and their decline in the final days of the wild west. Not only is the groundbreaking western referenced in the plot - like the gang stealing from the US Army - but as in The Wild Bunch, the Red Dead series sees former gang members return as bounty hunters, like Sadie Adler and John Marston. The Wild Bunch also stars a character named Dutch, from whom Dutch van der Linde likely gets his name.
Back To The Future Part 3
If players go to Granite Ravine in Red Dead 2 they'll find a train, which appears to have derailed after falling off the bridge above. The design of the train strongly resembles the one used by the main characters of Back to the Future Part 3. The DeLorean reaches 88 miles per hour just in time to escape back to 1985, but the train goes flying into the ravine below.
If that was the train from Back to the Future, however, it seems to have left Doc Brown behind this time around. While exploring Red Dead's world players may run into a man who will shout, "Great Scott!" The voice even sounds very similar to Christopher Lloyd, the actor who played Doc Brown in the trilogy.
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? sees a group of three convicts escape a chain gang, pursued by the law throughout the movie. In Red Dead 2 players can find three similarly-dressed men fleeing prison and even overcoming the lawmen sent after them. Red Dead 2 also features a scene where a group of Ku Klux Klan members are killed by their own burning cross, similar to a scene in the movie.
Lord Of The Rings
In one of Red Dead's stranger references, players can find what appears to be a hobbit hole straight out of Lord of the Rings in the Grizzlies East region, near Ambarino. There's no hobbit inside, but with the grassy roof and similar arch over the door, the resemblance is undeniable.
Nosferatu
The Saint Denis Vampire is perhaps one of Red Dead Redemption 2's strangest Easter eggs. As the player explores Saint Denis, they can come across five pieces of writing on the city's walls that reference the vampire. The locations of each piece of writing creates a pentagram pointing to the location of the vampire's next victim. His pale, bald appearance is a clear reference to the famous 1922 horror movie Nosferatu, based on Dracula. One piece of writing even reads "five bones under the perfect star Nosferatu will become mortal again." This seems to suggest the vampire really is Nosferatu, and that he can only be killed while attacking his sixth victim.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.