Escape from New York - Falcon's Blog

Escape from New York

Greetings, Escape from New York is 1981 film directed and co-written by John Carpenter. Carpenter has made many movies during his career with the Thing, the Fog and Big Trouble in Little China being some of his most well-known works. Prominent actors in this film include Kurt Russel as the protagonist and former US Special Forces agent called “Snake” Plissken. Kurt would work with John Carpenter again in Big Trouble in Little China, another American film from the 1980s. Other performers including Lee Van Cleef as New York Police Commissioner Bob Hauk, Donald Pleasance as the unnamed President of the United States and Isaac Hayes as a criminal leader with the self-appointed title of Duke. The music was conducted by Alan Howarth who had collaborated with John Carpenter on various projects.

The plot is set in the late 1990s when the American government had already evacuated civilians from Manhattan, transforming it into an enormous maximum security prison after there had been a giant spike in the amount of criminal activity. The prison is walled off from the rest of the US and there is no potential escape routes for prisoners as the surrounding area is well patrolled by guards who engage in lethal methods to deter anyone from leaving. The President of the United States is travelling to a peace conference with the People’s Republic of China and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics when Air Force One is captured by terrorists. The President is saved by his security when they lead him to an escape pod aboard the plane and launch it with him inside. The plane eventually crashes, as part of the terrorists’ plans, but the President is trapped in New York and carrying a brief case that contains an audio tape which describes the blueprints of a new weapon.

Escape from New York

A squad of police are sent into Manhattan to retrieve the President but are met by the right hand man of the most powerful crime boss in the prison. Romero, on behalf of the Duke, gives the police a warning. He presents them with the president’s severed finger and his insignia ring, demanding that the prisoners are to be freed in 24 hours or the presidential hostage will be killed. At this point Hauk decides to offer Snake a deal. Plissken, convicted of attempting to steal from the Federal Reserve, will be given a presidential freedom if he returns the President successfully. The protagonist will be given a glider to enter Manhattan alone and undetected by landing on the World Trade Centre. Bob gives the anti-hero extra motivation once Plissken had agreed to the deal. To ensure that Snake wouldn’t try to escape, Hauk had him injected with microscopic explosives that will detonate within 22 hours unless he is given the antidote by the Commissioner.

Overall, I believe that Escape from New York has some interesting plot points that could have made it into a great movie but that it was let down in other regards. For instance, the dystopian future setting was intriguing but I feel that the movie faltered with unenthusiastic and subpar acting from some of the main cast. Additionally, there didn’t seem to be any character progression at all nor did I think any of them were particularly likeable. It is difficult to root for a character to win if you aren’t particularly interested in what happens to them or about the individual themselves. It should be noted that although I wasn’t overly struck on it, it has gained a cult following. A sequel titled Escape from LA was also released in the 1990s to mixed reviews.

Plot=6/10

Characters=6/10

Special Effects=7/10

Overall=6/10

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Written by Falcon, Saturday 30 April 2016

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Falcon  9 year(s) ago (103 months)

Thanks for the comments! Like you, I didn't know much about this film before I sat down to watch it but I was aware that it had cult status among some cinema goers. Despite the mixed reviews for the sequel, I might watch Escape from LA at some stage in the future.

 
Brisingr  9 year(s) ago (103 months)

Its was an ok film - nothing outstanding by any means but it was a fun enough watch at the time.

 
Joh  9 year(s) ago (103 months)

Can't say I know too much about this film - but have heard it divides opinions with some people loving it and others hating it.

 
Aaron  9 year(s) ago (103 months)

I haven't heard of this one but it sounds like it feel short of being a great movie. Nice review!