Escape from New York (1981)
Part of the John Carpenter Season
| Director: | John Carpenter |
|---|---|
| Certificate: | BBFC 15 |
| Length: | |
| Format: | DVD |
| Language: | English |
| Country: |
ABOUT, PLOT
Condemned criminal Snake Plisskin (Kurt Russel) is offered his freedom if he can rescue the President of the United States( Donald Pleasance) from the walled prison island of Manhattan after a terrorist brings down the President's plane in this futuristic fight for survival adventure.
DEVELOPMENT
Carpenter originally wrote the screenplay for Escape from New York in 1976, in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal Carpenter said, "The whole feeling of the nation was one of real cynicism about the President."
The plot is at its roots a western, greatly indebted to the work of Sergio Leone and Howard Hawks. However the originality of Escape From New York lies in its daring central concept of depicting Manhattan as a grim and dangerous high security prison. Carpenter showcased in this film a fascist, brutal, bleak and nihilistic future where freedom and civil rights are totally absent, even outside the penal complex. In a sense, Escape From New York presents a cynical view of the greed, crime, violence, corruption, overpopulation and selfishness found in contemporary America.
He was also inspired by the filmDeath Wishwhich was very popular at the time. Carpenter did not agree with this film's philosophy but liked how it conveyed "the sense of New York as a kind of jungle, and I wanted to make a science fiction film along these lines".
LEGACY
ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK is one of the best entries in the once popular post apocalyptic genre which included ROAD WARRIOR and THE TERMINATOR. Carpenter’s film spawned countless imitations and its influence can be found today in cyberpunk, video games and films as recent as Cloverfield.
KURT RUSSEL
REVIEWS
Other films in the John Carpenter Season:
11
Film: Assault On Precinct 13 (1976)
11 Apr 2010, 7:30 p.m.
An L.A. street gang declares war on a police station about to be shut down that has given refuge to a man who has witnessed a gang slaying. Gang members hold siege outside where the precinct has been totally shut off from the outside world.
18
Film: They Live (1988)
18 Apr 2010, 7:30 p.m.
Featuring the longest and possibly the best fight scene of all time!!! A down on his luck construction worker, discovers a pair of special sunglasses. Wearing them, he is able to see the world as it really is as people are being subdued and controlled by aliens through the media and the government.
28
Film: The Thing (1982)
28 Apr 2010, 7:30 p.m.
Members of an American scientific research outpost in Antarctica find themselves battling a parasitic alien organism capable of perfectly imitating its victims. As they don't know which members of the team have already been assimilated their paranoia threatens to tear them apart. Classic 80’s horror which ends our John Carpenter season.