Kurt Russell

Lee Van Cleef

Ernest Borgnine

Donald Pleasence

Isaac Hayes

Season Hubley

Harry Dean Stanton

Adrienne Barbeau

Tom Atkins

Charles Cyphers

Frank Doubleday

John Strobel

George Buck Flower

John Cothran

Nancy Stephens

Steven Ford

John Carpenter

Jamie Lee Curtis

Nick Castle

Debra Hill

Ox Baker

Joe Unger

Garrett Bergfeld

Wally Taylor

Rodger Bumpass

John Diehl

Ronald E. House

Stephen Loomis

Alan Howarth

Dean Cundey

Todd C. Ramsay

Joe Alves

Cloudia Rebar

Larry Franco

Serge Genitempo

Don Sutton

Jake Eberts

Marvin Salsberg

Carl Fischer

Barry Bernardi

Ed Zingel

Arthur Gelb

Thomas Causey

Bill Varney

Jim Lucas

Frankie Bergman

Alan Levine

Warren Hamilton Jr.

David Lewis Yewdall

Ken Chase

Benjamin Douglas

Eugene Booth

Joseph C. Fama

Jeffrey Chernov

Steve Maslow

Pat Patterson

Roy Arbogast

Steve Rice

Mark Mangini

Eddie Surkin

Gary Zink

Brian Bevis

Mike May

Sol Aquino

Gregg Landaker

David Ritscher

Lee B. Drygas

Chris Horner

Michael W. Moore

Joseph F. Brennan

Nicholas James

Kevin Pike

Mike Johnson

David Cronenberg

Buff Brady

Fred Lerner

Glory Fioramonti

Roydon Clark

Kent Hays

Mags Kavanaugh

Jack Tyree

Mike H. McGaughy

William T. Lane

Ted White

George P. Wilbur

Bill Hart

Harvey Parry

Jack Verbois

George Sawaya

John Moio

Jesse Wayne

Tony Randel

James Winburn

Dick Warlock

James Cameron

John C. Wash

Jena Holman

Robert Skotak

Bob Minor

Eddie Hice

Loren Janes

Andrew Overholtzer

Tony Brubaker

Sandra Lee Gimpel

Escape From ... Collection

Science Fiction

Action

Escape from New York

AVCO Embassy Pictures

Goldcrest

International Film Investors

City Films

Taurus Film

United Kingdom

Germany

United States of America

English

new york city

taxi

martial arts

street gang

usa president

war veteran

kidnapping

hostage

liberation of prisoners

gangster

dystopia

anti hero

post-apocalyptic future

wrestling

villain

attempt to escape

rescue mission

police operation

cyberpunk

urban setting

reluctant hero

"Too little of too much" would describe this movie well, which presented us a dystopian New York with development potential and characters whose background is shared, exposed with brief moments of characterization that made me feel like I was missing this movie's predecessor. It didn't exist, and so the end result was of an expanded universe of unknown circumstances - except for the brief introduction we got in the opening credits - where the events barely told the story during the time it was running. But where this movie failed in terms of script, it almost made up with atmosphere and music. It sounds great throughout, but the credit goes to the opening theme that is as minimal as the presentation is grounded, in that humble approach of whom ambition wasn't unheard. Sadly, it's not the case of a classic whose production values challenge the computer generated visuals of today (and ironically this movie's novelty was the wireframe view), but if you're interested in history and want to make a contextual analysis, you may find something worth treasuring.
__________________
When authors create they sign. When editors hack they design.

A Snake, a Brain, a Cabbie, a Duke and the President Of The USA.

It's 1997 and Manhattan Island is a walled off prison, during the flight of Air Force One the president's plane is taken over by a terrorist and the president ejects out in the safety pod. Sadly for him he lands right in the middle of Manhattan Island. When an armed unit lands inside the walls they are told that the president has been taken hostage and they must get out of their prison ASAP. At a loss what to do, the authorities decide to send one man in alone, ex war hero turned criminal, Snake Plissken, not only does he have to contend with surviving the incredibly hostile prison, he also has a time bomb implanted in his body that, should he not get the president out safely within 24 hours, will explode and mean no more Snake Plissken!

Made in 1981 and set in 1997, it's safe to say John Carpenter is not the best predictor of the future around. However, his vision of a future where America has thrown all its criminals on one island, where they create their own society out of harms way, has to rank as an incredibly adroit piece of work. This place is grim and deadly, the flotsam and jetsam of society thrust together in this bleak and desolate place of class separation. What Carpenter has achieved with his usual minimal budget allowance is a smouldering sci-fi classic that may be as daft as they come, but it pulses with cool and cheekily slaps you around the face with its cheeky satirical edginess. Kudos is given to the great production design from Joe Alves, who along with Carpenter has crafted this brilliantly dirty netherworld of crime.

Our anti-hero of the piece, Snake Plissken, is superbly played by Kurt Russell, the original choice interestingly was Tommy Lee Jones, but Russell fuels Plissken's mantra to make him one of the eighties coolest grumpy bastards, and his work here is first class in terms of the films' apocalyptic structure. Surroundning Russell is a wealth of quality performers each adding their personal bits to this tick-tock stew, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasance, Harry Dean Stanton, Adrienne Barbeau and Isaac Hayes all earn their money and flesh out the story to the end.

Calling Escape From New York an action picture would be setting first time viewers up for a real let down, what action there is is minimal but highly effective, the machismo flourishes acting more as a point of reference to the picture's time bomb urgency. I like to think of the film as being more a sci-fi adventure yarn laced with darkly comic humour, with of course machismo thrown in as a side salad to accentuate the bleakness of it all. A wonderful concoction indeed. 9/10

Gimly

Nails the "post-apocalyptic except the world didn't end" vibe.

_Final rating:★★★★ - Very strong appeal. A personal favourite._

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK | A Video Essay by Billie Jean of Video Nasty Presents | [HD] with Subtitles

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK - Maybe Later - Film Clip

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK - The Duke - Film Clip

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK - Fight - Film Clip

Escape From New York (1981) Interview with Photographer Kim Gottlieb-Walker

Escape From New York (1981) Unit Supervisor/Matte Artist Robert Skotak Talks Visual Effects HD

Escape from New York( 1981)

1997. New York City is a walled, maximum security prison. Breaking out is impossible. Breaking in is insane.

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A review by Graviteer

Written by Graviteer on Sat Dec 06 2014

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