Escape from New York (1981)

Director:

John Carpenter

Writers:

John Carpenter (written by) and
Nick Castle (written by)

Release Date:

10 julio 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Frase comercial:

The world's greatest leader is a hostage in the most dangerous place on Earth. Now only the deadliest man alive can save him.

Plot:

In 1997, when the US President crashes into Manhattan, now a giant max. security prison, a convicted bank robber is sent in for a rescue.

Plot Keywords:

Electronic Music Score | Presumed Dead | City Name In Title | One Eyed Man | Snake

Awards:

4 nominations

Comentarios de los usuarios:

One of the better action movies ever

US TV Schedule:

Tue. July 29

6:00 PM

AMC

Cast

Kurt Russell	...	Snake Plissken
Lee Van Cleef	...	Hauk
Ernest Borgnine	...	Cabbie
Donald Pleasence	...	President
Isaac Hayes	...	The Duke
Season Hubley	...	Girl in Chock Full O'Nuts
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Brain
Adrienne Barbeau	...	Maggie
Tom Atkins	...	Rehme
Charles Cyphers	...	Secretary of State
Joe Unger	...	Taylor (scenes deleted)
Frank Doubleday	...	Romero
John Strobel	...	Cronenberg
John Cothran Jr.	...	Gypsy #1
Garrett Bergfeld	...	Gypsy #2

También conocida como:

John Carpenter's Escape from New York (USA) (complete title)
1997: Rescate en Nueva York (Spain) [es]
Escape de Nueva York (Venezuela) [es]

Duración:

99 min

País:

UK | USA

Idioma:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sonido:

Dolby

Clasificación:

Brazil:14 | Iceland:16 | Canada:R (Manitoba) (director's cut) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | UK:15 (video rating) | UK:AA (original rating) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Germany:16 | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | Australia:M | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Sweden:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16 (w) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Chain of Rocks Bridge, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Company:

AVCO Embassy Pictures

Trivialidades:

The skeletal weapons being carried by the police guards in the beginning of the movie are M16A1 rifles with the ventilated hand-guards and gas tubes removed. Though the rifles can fire without the handguards, they are unable to fire with the gas tube removed (at least in real life) Actually, the M16 can fire single shots, cocking manually, even with the gas tube removed, but would not work in semi-auto, full auto or burst (M16A2) mode.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The American flag on the right-hand side of the tail on Air Force One is not reversed. In reality it would have the stars in the upper right to represent a real flag moving forward.

Quotes:

President: [shouting] You're the Duke! Ha ha!!
President: [fires machine gun at the Duke]
President: [shouting] You're the Duke of New York!
President: [fires machine gun at the Duke]
President: [quietly] You're...A-number one.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Sex and the City: Escape from New York (#3.13)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

Bandstand Boogie

One of the better action movies ever

Normally I'm not too much a fan of action movies and John Carpenter has never been on my list of favorite directors. In my opinion he only made one good movie, except for this one of course, and that's "Halloween". But as I already said before, even though I'm normally not a fan of this kind of movies or of the man's work, I must say that I'm glad to make an exception when it comes to this movie. "Escape from New York" may well be seen as one of the better action movies of all times and even after 25 years it still gives me a good time when watching it.

Due to huge crime rates in 1997, the US government has changed New York into a maximum security prison where the toughest criminals are put away for life. All the bridges have been mined, a huge wall has been built around the city and a large police force army is stationed near the statue of liberty. Inside this prison it's the survival of the fittest. There are no rules or regulations, except for those made up by the prisoners themselves, making this one of the most dangerous places to be in. When Air Force One, with the President on board, is taken over by a terrorist and crashed into a building, the President is able to escape by ejecting in a pod. But he has landed in the middle of New York and someone needs to get him out of there soon. That's where Snake Plissken comes in. He's an ex-soldier and a new prisoner who is asked to save the President and to find a tape with some important information. In return his sentence will be canceled and Plissken will be a free man again. He agrees, but to make sure that he will return on time, they inject him with a small but powerful explosive that will only be destroyed if his mission is successful. So now he does not only have to take care of the President and try to stay alive in between all those criminals, he also has a lot of time pressure...

I must say that this movie reminded me a lot of the Australian "Mad Max"-movies, especially the second one. In case you are wondering if that is a good or a bad thing: I liked those movies and yes I like this one as well. Despite the fact that it was made in 1981, this movie still feels quite futuristic. OK, we know that 1997 wasn't like this, but that doesn't really matter this time. If they had set the date to 2097, this would still have been the same movie and then we wouldn't have know that this was impossible. And the fact that some details show the real age of the movie isn't a bad thing either. Take for instance the computers. They used a lot of flashing lights and stuff like that, but those are only some small details which shouldn't spoil your fun. The acting in this movie is OK as well. This may well have been one of Kurt Russell's best performances and I really loved Ernest Borgnine as Cabbie. I even appreciated Lee Van Cleef in this movie, despite the fact that I'm normally not a fan of the man. I guess I must say that all actors did a good job.

As a conclusion I would like to say that a good and still futuristic looking story, some good acting, several interesting action scenes,... make this movie more than just worth a watch. I really like it and that's why I give it a 7/10.