Review of Escape From New York (Special Edition)

Introduction

Welcome to America 1997. Eleven years ago crime rose by 400 per cent forcing the US administration to create the "United States Police Force" and turn the entire metropolis of Manhattan into a maximum-security prison.

The island houses every maniac ever to pull on a string vest and is surrounded by a huge perimeter wall on the banks of the Hudson. The bridges are laced with landmines and just in case you get lucky and weave your way through, a nice guard will be waiting on top of the wall to welcome you with a double tap to the base of the skull.

That`s as far as the guards go though, there are none on the island itself, the prisoners are just left to get on with it. If you`re thinking, this couldn`t be all that bad, look how well the Australians got on - the calibre of tenant now residing in Park Avenue has shockingly declined and Broadway is a complete no-go area. If you don`t have your wits about you, you will be lucky to last a New York minute. However you do have a choice, albeit not a very good one. You can choose, at check-in on Liberty Island, to terminate and be cremated on the premises. The alternative - be transported to the island where you will forever be looking over your shoulder waiting for an inmate dressed like Christopher Biggins to make his move.

"Once you`re there the rules are simple, you don`t come out."

Rules don`t apply to men like Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) though. The ultimate anti-hero with the eye patch, he`s the ex- special forces Vietnam veteran who the system abandoned forcing him to rebel by turning his hand to bank robbery. He`s offered a deal by Hauk (Lee Van Cleef) the prison warden after the US President (Donald Pleasance) is taken hostage on the island - ejecting out of the hijacked Air Force One in some kind of escape pod.

Plissken must glide into the prison unnoticed and bring the president back within twenty-two hours. If he fails to meet the deadline he`s dead, if he tries to escape solo he`s dead and if he returns without the president he`s dead. However if he succeeds then his record will be wiped and he will be free to return to normal life.

Director John Carpenter made this film for $5million and it does show sometimes. I think it`s the raw idea that makes the film so attractive because it has that strangeness about it that it`s bad but good at the same time, but what an idea! You occasionally have the feeling that parts of the plot have been forgotten and the extras have raided their mother`s wardrobes for sure. The extras are awful but hilarious, watch for the blade throwing scene when Snake rescues the president or when he opens the bonnet of an, "abandoned car." It can be terrible in a Death Wish kind of way but as also applies to that film, the plot and main storyline bail it out. All of this is very minor though and if you`re not too over-analytical and consider the size of the budget of this film and the fact that it is now almost twenty-five years old, it`s an outstanding piece of work and worthy of many watches. It completely deserves its cult status and I think this is down to the cast turning in such great performances. Russell is corny as hell but excellent as Snake, he plays the character exactly as if Eastwood`s man-with-no-name character from all those great westerns has suddenly grown a mullet, stepped into a Delorean and popped out in 1981 wearing an eye patch - and he is not happy about it.

He maintains the broodiness throughout the film and this adds to the sense of urgency that the time limit creates. Supporting cast is tremendous also. Harry Dean Stanton plays Brain very well - a creepy little coward who hides behind his girlfriend when the trouble starts. Maggie, his girlfriend is also very well characterised by Adrienne Barbeau and the two have a dependency on each other, which maintains their survival in the prison. She spends an awful lot of time with her breasts about to overflow from her very low cut top, something which I`m sure a director would be crucified for these days, and Carpenter makes full use of this with some very gratuitous camera angles, it`s so blatant it`s funny.

Pleasance displays his usual brilliance although I`m sure it`s not one of his proudest screen moments.

"The Duke" is the main man on the island, played by Isaac Hayes in a slightly rookie, over-the-top style he has an army of sycophant psychopaths to do his dirty work and just in case the inmates forget who`s in charge, he`s attached a couple of candelabras to the front of the car as a reminder when he cruises past.

Cabbie`s my favourite though; Ernest Borgnine plays the 30-year veteran of New York`s riskiest profession. He`s jolly in a kind of brain-dead way but at the same time knows everyone and everything that`s going on. It`s survival of the fittest in the prison and Cabbie has all the angles covered. Things have changed a little though in the last eleven years and punters are a little less friendly so instead of throwing insults - it`s now petrol bombs. Fantastic!

I think people either love or hate Escape from New York - it strikes me as that kind of film. Of course it has some major flaws but then everything had in the 80`s.

Video

A decent transfer, picture quality is good most of the time although there are moments when it gets a little dark and it`s hard to follow what`s happening. Can be a bit jumpy at times too.

Audio

Sounds fine. Dolby Digital 5.1. It has that great early eighties feel to it, lots of theramin sounds, excellent stuff!

Features

A huge bonus on this disc.

Feature commentary with John Carpenter and Kurt Russell.

Feature commentary with producer Debra Hill and production designer Joe Alves.

Original bank robbery opening sequence.

Snake bites trailer

Theatrical trailer

Promo Trailer

Return to Escape from New York

This is a fantastic twenty-minute documentary featuring interviews with John Carpenter, Debra Hill, Co-writer Nick Castle and several cast members including; Russell, Hayes, Barbeau and Harry Dean Stanton.

The documentary tells you everything you ever really wanted to know about the film and filmmaking in general. Carpenter speaks candidly about his contempt for any kind of authority and he tells the audience that this influenced the character of Snake and the film. He also explains the underlying messages and what the film was trying to tackle, fascist police states etc.

The interviews also give an insight into how they shot scenes and locations. A large part of the film was filmed in the recently burnt out St. Louis.

I really liked the documentary and it gives the film a new perspective also, don`t skip this one.

Conclusion

I love Escape from New York. Sure it`s probably never going to have it`s cast lining up for awards but it`s entertaining. Analysts will slate it until their hearts are content but films are meant to be enjoyed. Who cares if Kurt has an eye patch or if extras appear from drains like something from the Thriller video. It was made for $5million that is pop video budget. One great thing about it is it`s funny, not meant to be but it is.