Escape from New York
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Movie Reviews of Escape from New York
Movie Review: "Escape" Rocks Again!
Summary: 5 Stars
John Carpenter's "Escape From New York" is a true classic,and at the time of it's release was a very daring and hard to define movie,It was one of the first ex military anti-hero movie(OK,it probably spawned Rambo/Chuck Norris/and Steven Seagal,but don't hold that against Carpenter),one of the first post-Apocolyptic-warriors movies,and had a serious attitude and dark humour few got on it's initial release.Carpenter really was a true breath of fresh air in the seventies and early eighties,unfortuneatly he has been a wildly uneven director since "Escape".The DVD is breath taking,for years the only video available was a terribly murky pan&scan VHS version,a widescreen "special edition"came a few years ago.The DVD blows both out of the water,the video and sound are crystal clear,it's like seeing a new movie if you didn't see "Escape' in a theater on it's initial run.Unfortuneatly,that's all you get is the movie,and tailer,the outakes and excellent commentary on the LD version is missing.Still,Kurt Russell's performance holds up with time,Capenter's score is drivng and suspensefull.and Adrienne Barbeau never looked better in lingerie(Carpenter must have thought so too,he married her),and the suporting cast is a real hoot,watch for Ernest Borgnine,Season Hubley,Harry Dean Stanton,lee Van Cleef,Donald Pleasence,and an uncredited Jamie Lee Curtis(she's the computer voice)all make memorable impressions.And it cast about half of what I payed for the VHS special edition<g>Movie Review: John Carpenter, take me away!
Summary: 5 Stars
Here is a novel idea: what if the city of New York was turned into one gigantic prison? Wouldn't be able to tell much difference from what it is today, you say? Well, maybe not. However, it's an interesting concept nonetheless.
There is just one problem with this plan: how do you extract a VIP from a city full of condemned prisoners? In this case, the VIP is the president of the United States. Terrorists hijack Air Force One and the pres is forced to bail over Manhattan before his plane crashes into the city. [Note: in the wake of 9/11, the scene of a 747 going down near the Twin Towers is quite chilling].
The know-it-all police / security force (stationed right outside the prison walls) have one chance to rescue the president on such short-notice: Snake Plissken.
Snake (played by Kurt Russell) is a former Special Forces commando gone bad. As the movie opens he is on his way to New York himself to pay for the bad things he has done. Now his daring and soldiering skills are needed to win back his liberty. The rules are simple: if he succeeds, he goes free. If not, he dies.
For fans of John Carpenter flicks this one is a can't miss. It was an instant-classic in the theaters and has remained one ever since. Here is a way to take a tour of New York from your living room - with Kurt Russell as your tour guide! Hopefully NY is a wee bit more tame in real life....
Movie Review: Prison As It Ought To Be...
Summary: 5 Stars
Oh yeah, the entirety of Manhatten island, surrounded by a 50-foot concrete wall! Just drop the convicts in and leave. Oopsy daisy! The president's plane has crashed within said mega-penitentiary! Now, it's up to total bada$$, Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell from The Thing) to rescue the prez along with the secret tape he carries. Can Snake slither his way through the roving gangs of nocturnal nutcases? ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK was to me, John Carpenter's last fully satisfying movie. Though I did love THEY LIVE, I've found his other movies after EFNY to be hit and miss. EFNY ended Carpenter's string of perfection that included DARK STAR, ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, HALLOWEEN, THE FOG, and THE THING. ESCAPE is also pleasing in that it's a cavalcade of Carpenter regulars like Donald Pleasence (Halloween), Charles Cyphers (Assault On Precinct 13, Halloween, The Fog), Tom Atkins (The Fog), and the ever-delectible, Adrienne Barbeau (The Fog)! It's always cool to see any of these folks together. Plus, we get Harry Dean Stanton (Alien, Repo Man) as Brain, Ernest Borgnine (from the original Willard, The Devil's Rain) as Cabbie, Lee Van Cleef (The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly), and Isaac Hayes himself as the Duke of New York! My favorite scenes include the death-match between Snake and that bearded behemoth, and any scene with Ms. Barbeau running at me! Buy this immediately, it's a bloody masterpiece...Movie Review: A Modern Day Spaghetti Western
Summary: 5 Stars
If you're an old Clint Eastwood, Spaghetti Western fan, John Carpenter's `Escape from New York' will seem vaguely familiar. Only the faces and places have changed! The action is robust, and the dialog is sparse. The year is 1997, and New York is now a maximum-security prison. Air Force One is hijacked and crashes into a Manhattan high-rise; and the President (Donald Pleasence) survives by ejecting in an escape pod. It's Kurt Russell's job to get him out; and he has only twelve hours in which to do it!Isaac Hayes is this film's gun-toting big-man-on-campus. Lee Van Cleef (looking as trim as he did years ago with Clint) appears as Kurt Russell's handler. Adrienne Barbeau ...... (And I had almost forgotten, after all of these years, just how heavenly they were!)
The movie builds to a climactic drive-across-a-booby-trapped-bridge-and-shoot-me-with-a-machine-gun finish. Isaac ends up looking cooler. And Adrienne takes it like a bowling pin and is run over by a car (which, for some reason, I found to be hilariously funny). But her gorgeous chest somehow manages to remain intact. (Thank god!).
If you enjoyed, as I did, John Carpenter's more recent work, `Ghosts of Mars', you're sure to love this unabashedly formulaic blast-from-the-past antecedent. I thought it was great!
Movie Review: Escape from New York
Summary: 5 Stars
Due to huge crime rates, the United States turns its once great city of New York into a maximum security prison where hardcore criminals are put for life. All the bridges leading into the city are mined, a large wall is built along the shoreline and a large police force army is based there to stop or kill any attempted escapees. En route to a conference, the President, on board Air Force One, is forced to eject in a pod when a female terrorist takes over the controls and crashes the plane into a building. A new prisoner, ex-soldier Snake Plissken is offered his freedom if he goes in, frees the President and finds a tape with important information for the conference. Snake agrees but to ensure his co-operation he is injected with a small but powerful explosive that will only be destroyed if his mission is successful. Snake must set out into the decaying city, filled with immoral criminals, and he must succeed for his own life. This movie moves at a brisk pace and the dark lighting carries the sense of mystery, isolation, and destruction. Kurt Russell is excellent. This movie has a great atmosphere and Carpenter's score perfectly sets the mood. I enjoyed it.