Escape from New York (1981)

Director:

John Carpenter

Writers:

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

Release Date:

10 July 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

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:

Snake | Automatic Weapon | Electronic Music Score | Presumed Dead | City Name In Title

Awards:

4 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Wed. Aug. 20	11:00 PM	AMC
Thur. Aug. 21	3:00 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

Also Known As:

John Carpenter's Escape from New York (USA) (complete title)
Klapperschlange, Die (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
New York 1997 (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
1997: Rescate en Nueva York (Spain) [es]
1997: fuga da New York (Italy) [it]
Apodrasi apo ti Nea Yorki (Greece) [el]
Bekstvo iz Njujorka (Serbia) [sr]
Briha M'New-York, Ha- (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
Escape de Nueva York (Venezuela) [es]
Flugtaktion New York (Denmark) [da]
Flykten från New York (Sweden) [sv]
Fuga de Nova York (Brazil) [pt]
Menekülés New Yorkból (Hungary) [hu]
New York 1997 (Norway) [no]
New York'tan kaçis (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Nova Iorque 1997 (Portugal) [pt]
Pako New Yorkista (Finland) [fi]
Ucieczka z Nowego Jorku (Poland) [pl]

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

UK:AA (original rating) | Germany:16 | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) | Brazil:14 | Iceland:16 | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | Canada:R (Manitoba) (director's cut) | UK:15 (video rating) | 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

Trivia:

The original German one-sheet poster prominently misspells Snake's last name as "Plessken".

Goofs:

When the Duke is shooting at the handcuffed President, we hear the sound of very loud, echoing gunfire even though he is conspicuously using Snake's submachine gun equipped with a rather large silencer.

Quotes:

Romero: You touch me... he dies. If you're not in the air in thirty seconds... he dies. You come back in... he dies.
Romero: [Romero takes a package out of his shirt and unwraps it to reveal the President's middle finger, complete with ring] Twenty seconds.
Hauk: I'm ready to talk
Romero: Nineteen. Eighteen.
Hauk: What do you want?
Romero: Seventeen. Sixteen.
Hauk: Let's go. Let's go!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "I Love the 80's 3-D" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Engulfed Cathedral

A rough and enjoyable film built on a great character in Snake and a great performance from Russell

On his way to an important conference that will determine the fate of America, Air Force One is crashed into Manhattan island - leaving the President and vital information trapped within the single largest prison in the world. With very little time and no way to mount a full on attack, Chief Hauk forces the newly captured ex-war hero Snake Plisskin to launch a covert rescue mission - adding the extra incentive of timed bombs implanted in his body. Snake, with little other choice, accepts the mission to save his own neck (literally). If the remake had any value, hopefully it's value was in bringing a new audience to the original film and watching it for the first time. The film opens with that very distinctive electronic theme music that gives it such a cool feel from the very getgo. This is followed up by a great rough energy as we are introduced to this future (which is now the past!). This story continues quite well but, once all the main players have been introduced, the film falls back on the expected series of 'running away' and fighting. This is not to say that it still isn't quite fun and cool because it is. The effects, music and even the use of tapes make this film feel very old and dated but it actually goes hand in hand with the very rough feel that Carpenter gave to several of his films at the time (whether deliberately or budget influenced I don't know). The plot is full of silly moments and sheer gaps in logic but, if you buy into the mood of the film, you can get by these and enjoy it - though I define you to call this a 'great' film, maybe good. The casting of Kurt Russell is a major thing. He is iconicly cool and his performance and his character are the two main things that have kept this film well known down the years. He looks tough and talks tough and is a great homage to the Clint Eastwood character from the old westerns (a fact made clearer in the sequel). Cleef is a good foil for him as he is tough too but lacks screen time for the majority. It is very clear what Barbeau brings to the party - and the costume selected for her makes no secret of it! I am a man and I'm not proud of it, but she is very easy on the eye here - just a shame that that's all I remember about her performance. Borgnine and Stanton are both good and, along with Hayes, all serve to increase the cult appeal of the film to this day. Overall this is a cult film that looks cheap, has dated effects and a plot that starts to crumble after the first half. However it is cool fun with some great tough dialogue. However, beyond all this it is the iconic character of Snake and the great performance from Russell that will mean that this film continues to get cool points with new audiences.