Escape From New York(1981)
"I don't give a fuck about your war... or your president. " A multiple end point... for New York as hell 70s movies, for the decade's spare post apocaliptic scenarios (transitioning here to the more production design oriented 80s version), to Carpenter's generation punk abrasiviness that both get a slicker package and in Russell's snake the perfect anarchic-individualist representation. There's plenty of other beauties as well from Carpenter's scope framing and minimalist presentation to the best acting essemble he ever got (Pleasance loathesome president is a particular standout). "They're savages, Mr. President. ", on both sides of the wall, the film never let one forget.
Escape from New York(1981)
Motion State Review publishes thoughtful, in-depth reviews of film and television from today and yesterday. We offer retrospective series on directors and writers as well as opportunities to comment on film festivals and special screenings.
Crime in the U.S. is so off-the-charts bad in this vision of a futuristic 1997 that the whole of Manhattan has been turned into a prison. The movie tells the story of Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), who must rescue the President from the Big Apple penal colony before a bomb goes off in his neck. Seriously.
The president and his chief henchman (Stacy Keach) need to get that black box back. So they track down outlaw Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), who saved an earlier president from the prison city of New York. His assignment: Go in, get the box, kill the girl and return within 10 hours, before he dies of a virus that they've helpfully infected him with, as an added inspiration.
The set-up for Escape from New York is so perfect. Manhattan Island is now a prison, run by the prisoners and a freak event causes the President of the United States to crash-land Air Force One right in the middle. This leads the Government to hire mercenary and criminal Snake Plissken to get him out. Oh, and Snake Plissken is played by Kurt Russell.
Carpenter has created a New York setting which should be a dangerous dystopia but aside from burning cars and derelict buildings, there is little to place this world in the future at all. There is little creativity too as the setting is just dimly lit, slightly wet streets where-ever our characters go.
On the second of our two-part discussion about John Carpenter films we discuss Escape from New York. It's the story Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), a former war hero turned disillusioned criminal in an America that has turned into a police state. When the President's plane crashes in the prison colony that was once Manhattan, Snake is sent in after him. Interviews include co-screenwriter Nick Castle, actress Adrienne Barbeau, and production designer Joseph Alves.
We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page..
But apart from the pivotal casting of the iconic lead, a reboot of Escape from New York would have a number of elements to conquer in order to re-establish the franchise. The premise set by the first two entries concerned the crime-ridden landscape of America in the dire dystopian future, in which NYC and Los Angeles have been entirely converted into maximum-security prisons. An update should powerfully take the opportunity to comment on the current crime conditions of our modern day, with more of a focus on the divisions of our current culture.
Escape from New York is a 1981 dystopian action film co-written, co-scored, and directed by John Carpenter. Set in the then future year of 1997, the film stars Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken, a former soldier and hardened convict who is tasked by the US government to rescue the President of the United States (Donald Pleasence), who has crash landed onto the island of Manhattan, now sealed off to become the world's largest prison. Russell would return as Plissken in Escape from L.A., the 1996 sequel.
Snake's sidearm in the film is a Smith & Wesson Model 67 with a scope mounted on it. During the climax, Maggie (Adrienne Barbeau) fires it at the Duke before she is run down by him. You can tell it's a Model 67 because it has adjustable sights but lacks the shrouded lug that protects the ejector rod like on the Smith & Wesson Model 66. Therefore it's a 38 Special revolver and not a .357 Magnum. If it was a Smith & Wesson Model 64 or a Smith & Wesson Model 65 it would not have adjustable sights. The Model 67 can also be differentiated from the Model 65 due to the slightly shorter (.38 Special only) cylinder. The Model 67 is the stainless steel counterpart of the Smith & Wesson Model 15 Combat Masterpiece.
The U.S. Police Force Soldiers throughout the film and U.S.S.S. Agents in the Air Force One hijack scene use slab side M16/AR-15 SP1 rifles with their hand guards removed and replaced with a slender plastic sleeve that wraps around the barrel and gas tube, in order to make them look more "futuristic". Some of the rifles have three-prong flash hiders, and others have the M16A1-style 'birdcage' flash hider. Near the conclusion of the film, the President (Donald Pleasence) in a freak rage is seen using one taken from a dead U.S.P.F. guard to kill the Duke of New York (Isaac Hayes).
Isaac Hayes played The Duke, A number one, the head of the largest gang in the prison. Hayes was born in Tennessee in 1942. Hayes was from a poor family and dropped out before finishing high school. He eventually got his diploma at the age of 21.
A helicopter from the police force checks the city, and there is no movement on the streets. At sunrise, the Secretary of State (Charles Cyphers) wants to raid the prison. Hauk refuses to carry out the order. About twelve hours remain.
Snake and company speed through town with The Duke in pursuit. Brain is reading the map from the backseat as they cross the bridge. The Duke and his car are behind them on the bridge. Finally, the taxi hits a mine and is blown in half. All of the passengers except Cabbie survive.
On a technical note, when Snake flies the glider over the city, there is a nice, what appears to be a 3-D rendering of the city. However, at the time, this was too expensive to pay to have done by a computer. The special effects folks made a black model of the city. They placed white tape in a grid pattern and filmed it from above.
The year is 1997. Crime in the United States has increased by more than 400%. Air Force One is hijacked on its way to a peace summit and the President of the United States (Donald Pleasence) finds himself marooned on the island of Manhattan. Now a maximum security prison quarantined from the rest of the world, the inmates lord over the sprawling urban landscape while guards stand watch beyond the wall.
Indeed, Kurt Russell went from a child actor (who appeared uncredited with Elvis Presley) to a fresh-faced adult actor (who played Elvis Presley). The director on the set of Elvis had been observing Russell, noticing the performer's uncanny knack for impressions and character work. Believing Russell was right for the lead in a script he was writing, the filmmaker went about convincing the studio to cast him in his upcoming movie. That director was John Carpenter; the film, Escape From New York. The rest is a history lesson in badassery.
Carpenter began writing Escape at a time when soldiers were still returning from Vietnam. In this light, Snake does indeed feel like a character born out of that mould. What makes Snake interesting (and aytypical for an action hero of this time) is his perceived pacifism. Snake doesn't care about the president, the peace summit, New York, ect. His first thought when Bob Hauk (Lee Van Cleef) gives him the mission is to turn the plane around as soon as he gets up in the air. This is a character who no longer wants to deal with the increasingly corrupt bureaucratic path his country is heading down. There's no MacGruber-esque scene where Snake busts into a control room and heroically volunteers to take the mission. When he gets to New York there's no family or lover to give him added stake in what he's fighting for. He's a survivalist looking for a way out. Leave him alone and he'll leave you alone. Back him into a corner and this happens:
Escape From New York is relatively light on gore. It's violent and adult-oriented for sure. It's just not the sort of viscera with which you've come to expect from Carpenter. In line with other science-fiction and action movies of the time.
Slow melodic beats countered with heavy, atmospheric snyth. Moreso than Halloween, Carpenter refines the style and sound that would continue on in his later works. Track #2 from the remastered edition in 2000, titled "The Bank Robbery," has become a perennial go-to for me as a listener. 041b061a72