Return to Escape from New York (2003)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Fun, if way too short, look at the making of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK features interviews with John Carpenter, Kurt Russell, Debra Hill, Nick Castle, Adrienne Barbeau, Harry Dean Stanton, Isaac Hayes, Joe Alves and Dean Cundy. It goes without saying but fans of the film are going to get a real kick out of this documentary for a number of reasons. First of all, it's always great seeing the cast return to talk about a film you love and it's clear everyone involved are very happy with the end results. The documentary offers up several good stories ranging from how the idea to make the movie came up, the casting and the locations that they selected for the rundown city. Both Carpenter and Russell talk about why they love working with one another and why they think their films come out so special. Hayes offers up some very fun stories about being on the set and listening to Ernest Borgnine tell stories and Castle gets to talk about the work he did on the screenplay to make it film ready. The documentary runs just under 30-minutes, which is way too short but for the most part you really get a good idea of how the film was made and there are certainly plenty of good stories. There's not any talk of the alternate start of the film but thankfully it is included on the DVD.
