Escape From New York
Published March 29, 2024
Film info
- Title Escape From New York
- Director John Carpenter
- Year 1981
- Run time 1hr 39m
- Genres Action, Science Fiction
- Tagline New York is a disease, meet the cure
The year is 1997 and in a police state future the island of Manhattan has been turned into a maximum security prison. The rules are simple: once you’re in, you don’t come out. But when the United States president crash lands an escape pod into the centre of the city after fleeing a hijacked plane, a ruthless prison warden bribes ex-soldier and criminal Snake Plissken into entering the hazardous Manhattan and rescuing the distraught president from the twisted world of New York and from the demented clutches of its new ruler The Duke in John Carpenters cyber-punk, action, suspense spectacular.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 4:21 | What an intriguing idea! |
| 6:47 | Seems unfortunate that Liberty has to overlook a prison now, though. |
| 13:17 | I feel like a pod on Air Force One is just ripe for misuse. Throw ’em overboard! |
| 20:12 | “I guess I go in one way or another.” |
| 23:38 | I don’t understand why he’s banging on about 22hrs, when he set the timer for 23hrs. |
| 34:34 | Love that they’re putting on a show. Why not? |
| 42:26 | I really would like to know more about the infrastructure of this prison. Men and women together? Where do they get food from? |
| 49:58 | Drilling for oil in City Hall, as you do. |
| 53:30 | Chandeliers on the front of a car just scream class. |
| 1:03:04 | Everyone thinks that he’s dead, what the hell happened? |
| 1:16:09 | Ugh, wrestling with baseball bats is bad news. |
| 1:19:14 | Fifty floors with a busted up leg. |
| 1:22:28 | Turns out they were in need of a cabbie. |
| 1:24:47 | Never seen a car chase with a glitterball before. |
| 1:34:37 | No one checked the tape first??? |
Thoughts
This film has such potential, but it doesn’t quite hit the highs it could. It’s a great idea, rich for mining - all the way through I kept thinking what a great television spin-off could come out of this. Kurt Russell is fab, there are some great cinematic choices and it’s generally an entertaining ride. But it’s definitely not perfect: the pacing feels off, very slow to get going, hours wasted at the start and then rush, rush, everyone dies, escape achieved, credits roll. There are some glaring plot problems (what is a jet glider and how does it work?) but it’s all wonderfully eighties and a lot of fun.
Rating: 3 / 5