1997. Escape de Nueva York

Escape From New York which was released in 1981 is a very entertaining science fiction action movie which still holds up today. Kurt Russell's Snake Plissken would be renowned as one of the most memorable anti heroes on screen. Director John Carpenter directed, co-wrote and co-scored Escape From New York and this would also be one of a number of collaborations with Kurt Russell who would later reunite with The Thing (1982) and Big Trouble In Little China (1986).

Escape From New York takes place in a dystopian 1997 where Manhattan has been converted into a heavily fortified maximum security prison after the crime rate has skyrocketed 400% and the US Government has ordered New York to be cut off from the rest of the USA.

Former special forces soldier turned convicted criminal Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) has been offered a full presidential pardon in exchange for accepting a top secret mission by Police Commissioner Bob Hauk (Lee Van Cleef) to rescue the US President (Donald Pleasance) after his escape pod lands in New York after Air Force One crashes following a hijacking. The US President is found and taken hostage by a group of criminals led by crime boss The Duke (Isaac Hayes). Plissken successfully enters New York via a stealthy glider. While he is there, he meets a friendly taxi driver named Cabbie (Ernest Borgnine) who drives an armoured taxi who agrees to helps him navigate his way around the island. Fellow inhabitants/inmates Brain (Harry Dean Stanton) and Maggie (Adrienne Barbeau) also help Plissken find the whereabouts of The Duke's hideout where the President is being held prisoner.

Kurt Russell has always been a quality and very versatile actor. His role as Snake Plissken is definitely one of his best roles, and he has stated himself that it is one of his favorite roles.

Director John Carpenter, well known for the horror slasher Halloween (1978), creates an atmosphere of suspenseful action, dark humour, memorable one liners, and great characters. After mixed success with low budget movies, Escape From New York would turn out to be a critical and commercial success for him which would lead on to bigger projects with a bigger budget.

I don't rate the sequel Escape From L. A. (1996), I thought they just tried to recycle the plot from the first movie albeit in Los Angeles. No surprise that it was a box office flop and not well received by critics.

I still enjoy Escape From New York. It's also a favourite amongst many Kurt Russell fans who agree that Snake Plissken is one of the best characters.

Escape From New York still holds up today and is still a classic 40 years on.

7/10.

An island's now used for, incarceration, it's a bit like if you get sent to damnation, no escape, you cannot flee, you'll not be an absentee, you're stuck inside the walls for your duration. Then President John Harker comes to town, Air Force One has been hijacked and now it's down, he's the hostage of some inmates, who want to open all the flood gates, but there's one who might just help out and atone.

Never a dull moment, as Snake Plissken takes the chance to save the President in return for a pardon, as he battles his way through the prison ghettos, finding some not insignificant opposition to his mission, while encountering an array of curious characters on his way. Legendary stuff indeed.

I saw this movie in 2018. But in past i used to listen to its background theme. Had always heard about this movie, But never saw it before. And i really enjoyed it. Even after 37 years, this movie seems as fresh as it was when it released. This movie have aged well with the time. First time saw Kurt Russell and Lee Van Cleef face to face in one on the big screen. But mind me Lee van cleef is not the Antagonist in this movie. But the person who sends snake plissken to new york on the rescue mission. looking both of them i remembered John Rambo & Col. Trautman. In all a nice & watchable movie. In this movie John Carpenter shows he can make movies in this genre also. And he succeeded also.

First things first, Kurt Russel is just plain cool. That said, on to the review. Escape From New York is a classic action movie with a great horror cast, including Donald Pleasence, Tom Atkins, Charles Cyphers, and who could forget Buck Flower. Buck, who has one of the best scenes in the movie ("Sure, I'm the president!"), is hilarious. John Carpenter proves that he is a versatile director and can make a hell of a film outside the horror genre. In Carpenter's classic, Kurt Russell plays the immortal Snake Plissken, New York has become a prison state, and the president has just crash landed there. Enter Snake Plissken. Freshly captured and about to be incarcerated in New York, he must save the President (Pleasence, who isn't even American but pulls it off well) from the clutches of Isaac Hayes in order to regain his freedom. It's all great stuff and you can't stop watching as Snake fights his way from one famous landmark to another (he even has to wrestle Ox Baker). But it leaves me with one unanswered question: What did happen to Fresno Bob?

Note: A couple of the Duke's cronies are credited as Romero and Cronenberg. Also, Jamie Lee Curtis does the opening computer dialogue.

Nearly 25 years and an endless amount of viewings later, John Carpenter's "Escape from NY" still ranks high among the chosen few, quintessential cult films of the 80's. This is, simply put, one of the coolest productions ever with legendary characters, ingenious plot and pitch-black humor. Kurt Russell, with eye patch and nihilistic 'you-don't-like-it-go-to-hell' attitude, plays the role of his life as anti-hero Snake Plissken, recruited by his authority-nemesis Bob Hauk to bring back the American president who crashed with his plane in New York. One problem though; ever since crime rose with 400% in 1987, New York has become one giant and demarcated prison where criminals determine their own "civilization". Offered no other choice, Snake infiltrates NY for his mission …and for a personal race against the clock. Especially the first sixty minutes of this movie are terrific, since there constantly is the introduction of new and imaginative characters. Class-A actors play all these utterly cool characters, which makes it even more memorable! Apart from Kurt Russell, "Escape from New York" also stars icons like Lee Van Cleef ("The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"), Isaac Hayes ("Truck Turner"), Donald Pleasance ("Halloween") and Harry Dean Stanton ("Repo Man"). Even the smaller supportive roles are well distributed, with the underrated Tom Atkins as Van Cleef's sidekick and Adrienne Barbeau in a very sexy part. The downfall of America's number one city is atmospherically portrayed and Carpenter's own music score creates an excellent mood of despair. The action sequences are impressively photographed and John Capenter professionally camouflages that his film is, in fact, and independent production. My only slightly negative remark is that the story should have had a better, more explosive climax. Particularly because the first hour is so great, the ending seems quite tame. But, what the hell, this movie is a must for every film lover! In 1996, Carpenter also made "Escape from L.A." and even though it's good entertainment, it can't compete with "NY".