Image by Frank Browning
Escape from
New York (1981)
Between 1976
and 1988, director John Carpenter was the man. No questions asked, no
doubts, he was a director that was firing out classics. Not good
movies, not great ones, although there were many, but some out and
out classic cinematic fare. He nailed the horror genre with two of
the undisputed best fright flicks ever; with 1978’s Halloween and
1982’s The Thing. Before these he had delivered a cracking riff on
Rio Bravo and Night of the Living Dead, with Assault on Precinct 13,
in 1976. Add into this mix movies such as The Fog, Christine, They
Live, Prince of Darkness and Big Trouble in Little China, not to
mention Starman and Dark Star (the latter actually being released in
1974) and you’ll have to agree that John Carpenter truly cemented
his name as not only a legendary fright flick director, but a great
director full stop.
They Live, in
1988, seemed to have signaled the end of this wonderfully productive
period of his career, more is the shame, and we can only but hope
that he will return to the form of his earlier career. Included in
his later movies is one from 1996 entitled Escape from LA; it’s a
bit shit, although it has a few decent moments hidden away in the
mix. Most importantly about this shatfest though was that it was the
sequel to the one Carpenter film I have yet to mention, and the focus
of this review; the 1981 gem Escape from New York.
Escape from
New York is a film I first saw way back in the day, thanks to my old
man. It was probably around 1986 or 1987, although I can’t be sure.
Needless to say, it was way back and it has been a favorite ever
since. As far as movies go, there is not much, if anything that can
be faulted with this flick. It is just a freaking wonderful film. In
the late 80s’ Hollywood was all about the ‘high concept’ movie,
a movie with a plot that could be summed up in one or two short
sentences, but Carpenter was way ahead of the game on this front when
he made Escape from New York. The President of America’s plane
crashes into New York City, which is now a high security prison, and
a convicted criminal is sent in to rescue him. Fuck yeah baby! Bring
that shit on!
The plot is
simple, but perfect, and works so well. Of course, there is a wee bit
more to it than that. For example, the convicted criminal, Snake
Plissken, only has a certain amount of time in which to find and
extract the President before the lethal injection he receives takes
effect and kills him. If he succeeds though, he will be given a full
pardon. At the end of the day though, the plot is simple,
straightforward and thoroughly entertaining.
Visually the
movie far belies its budget. A futuristic New York, and by the future
I mean 1997 (!), is perfectly recreated, bringing a scary looking
vision of the city to life. Plissken’s entry to the city, by means
of landing on the Wall Trade Center, is breathtaking and when watched
now has even further impact. But really, the trump card which
Carpenter played, aside from the great score that accompanies the
film, is the incredible cast. And I do mean incredible. Kurt Russell,
who also stars in many other Carpenter flicks, rocks the screen as
bad-ass Snake Plissken, Lee Van Cleef is perfect as Hauk, Donald
Pleasance, who obviously wasn't dissuaded by years of chasing
Michael Myers, appears as the President, and add into this the likes
of Ernest Borgnine, Harry Dean Stanton, Adrienne Barbeau, Tom Atkins
and Isaac Hayes, and you have a cast and a half!
Escape from
New York isn’t just an action flick; it’s a bad-ass motherfucker
of an action flick! It has suspense, violence, great visuals and
top-notch action throughout. In fact any review really couldn’t do
it justice. Just the same as the fact that the MGM Blu-ray/DVD
release, which I watched, didn’t do the film justice. Sure, the
film looks and sounds good, as it should, but the only extra
contained on the two discs is the theatrical trailer on the DVD. Say
what? This film needs a worthy Blu release sooner rather than later.
--
Jude Felton
