Escape from L.A. (1996)

Director:

John Carpenter

Writers (WGA):

John Carpenter (characters) and
Nick Castle (characters) ...
(more)

Release Date:

9 August 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Plan your escape this Summer

Plot:

Snake Plissken is once again called in by the United States government to recover a potential doomsday device from Los Angeles, now an autonomous island where undesirables are deported.

Plot Keywords:

Island | Escape | Earthquake | Terrorist | Virus

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Kurt Russell	...	Snake Plissken
Steve Buscemi	...	Map to the Stars Eddie
Peter Fonda	...	Pipeline
Cliff Robertson	...	President
Valeria Golino	...	Taslima
Stacy Keach	...	Cmdr. Malloy
Pam Grier	...	Hershe Las Palmas
Bruce Campbell	...	Surgeon General of Beverly Hills
Georges Corraface	...	Cuervo Jones (as George Corraface)
Michelle Forbes	...	Brazen
A.J. Langer	...	Utopia
Ina Romeo	...	Hooker
Peter Jason	...	Duty Sergeant
Jordan Baker	...	Police Anchor
Caroleen Feeney	...	Woman on Freeway
Paul Bartel	...	Congressman
Tom McNulty	...	Officer
Jeff Imada	...	Saigon Shadow
Breckin Meyer	...	Surfer
Robert Carradine	...	Skinhead
Shelly Desai	...	Cloaked Figure
Leland Orser	...	Test Tube
Kathleen Blanchard	...	Female Narrator (voice)
William Luduena	...	Mescalito
Gabriel Castillo	...	Mescalito
William Peña	...	Jacket Mescalito
David Perrone	...	US Cleric Justice
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nick Danger	...	Himself (uncredited)
Brian Freifield	...	Hanging Victim (uncredited)
Isaac Hayes	...	Guard at Basketball Court (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Joseph B. Henry	...	Black Gang Member (uncredited)
Al Leong	...	Hershe Gang Member (uncredited)
James Lew	...	Hershe Gang Member (uncredited)
Deirdre O'Brien	...	Punker Girl (uncredited)
Angela Torrez Parker	...	Hooker (uncredited)
Thomas Rosales Jr.	...	Gang Member (uncredited)
Wyatt Russell	...	Orphan Boy (uncredited)
John Sencio	...	Skinhead in Alley (uncredited)
Johnny Torres	...	Mescalito (uncredited)
Vivicca A. Whitsett	...	Bitch Gang Leader (uncredited)

Directed by
John Carpenter

Writing credits (WGA)
John Carpenter		(characters) and
Nick Castle		(characters)
John Carpenter		(written by) &
Debra Hill		(written by) &
Kurt Russell		(written by)

Produced by
Debra Hill	....	producer
Kurt Russell	....	producer

Original Music by
John Carpenter
Shirley Walker

Cinematography by
Gary B. Kibbe

Film Editing by
Edward A. Warschilka

Casting by
Carrie Frazier

Production Design by
Lawrence G. Paull

Art Direction by
Bruce Crone

Set Decoration by
Kathe Klopp

Costume Design by
Robin Michel Bush

Makeup Department
Rick Baker	....	special makeup effects
Dennis Liddiard	....	personal makeup artist
Susan Mills	....	hair department head
Joseph Yuss Simon	....	makeup effects
Bill Sturgeon	....	special effects makeup foreman
Marvin G. Westmore	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Alexandra Koch	....	production supervisor
David Witz	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Christian P. Della Penna	....	assistant director
Martin Jedlicka	....	second assistant director
Jason Roberts	....	second second assistant director
Candace Suerstedt	....	first assistant director: visual effects unit

Art Department
Michael Casey	....	set dresser
Clete Cetrone	....	construction foreman
Larry A. Cornick	....	set dresser
Nathan Crowley	....	set designer
Dragon Dronet	....	props
Michael P. Finnegan	....	tool technician
Don E. Gaffney	....	prop construction
William Hiney	....	assistant art director
John Hoskins	....	construction coordinator
Travis Huffman	....	propmaker
Kurt V. Hulett	....	set dresser
Carol Kiefer	....	art department coordinator
Jonas Kirk	....	general foreman
Jonas Kirk	....	set constructor
Lance Larson	....	weapons and props
Fireball Tim Lawrence	....	concept artist (as Tim Lawrence)
Bill MacSems	....	property master
Richard F. Mays	....	set designer (as Richard Mays)
Jim McPherson	....	sculptor: surgeon general and mutants
Lou Mouneu Sr.	....	plasterer
Luigi Mugavero	....	set dresser
Joseph Musso	....	production illustrator
Christopher S. Nushawg	....	set designer
Ken Peterson	....	assistant property master
Glenn H. Roberts	....	on-set dresser
Nicholas Rymond	....	set dresser
Jordu Schell	....	sculptor
Patrick M. Sullivan Jr.	....	set designer
Mark Weber	....	propmaker foreman
Darrell L. Wight	....	set designer
Lyndell Wolff	....	carpenter
Dan Platt	....	sculptor (uncredited)
Victor M. Shannon	....	plasterer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Willy Allen	....	dialogue editor
Ron Bartlett	....	sound re-recording mixer
Ted Caplan	....	foley editor
Michael C. Casper	....	sound re-recording mixer
Thomas Causey	....	sound
Matt Colleran	....	foley recordist
Zack Davis	....	adr editor
Joe Dorn	....	adr editor
Ken Dufva	....	foley artist
John Dunn	....	supervising sound editor
Christopher Flick	....	supervising foley editor
Donald Flick	....	sound effects editor
Catherine Harper	....	foley artist
John Hulsman	....	sound effects editor
Scott A. Jennings	....	foley editor
Courtenay Marvin	....	assistant sound editor
Steve Maslow	....	sound re-recording mixer
John Pospisil	....	sound designer
Randy Singer	....	foley mixer
Robert Ulrich	....	supervising adr editor
David A. Whittaker	....	sound effects editor
David Williams	....	supervising dialogue editor
Kerry Dean Williams	....	adr editor

Special Effects by
Martin Bresin	....	special effects coordinator (as Marty Bresin)
Roy L. Downey	....	miniature pyrotechnician
Dale Ettema	....	special effects supervisor
Roy Goode	....	special effects technician
Hiroshi Katagiri	....	special makeup effects artist: The Character Shop
Rick Lazzarini	....	puppets: Kurt Russell & Pam Grier
Ian C. McArthur	....	special effects technician
David A. Poole	....	special effects
Michael Roundy	....	special effects foreman
Bryan Sides	....	special effects technician
Robert Simokovic	....	special effects foreperson
Anthony Simonaitis	....	special effects technician
Richard Stringfellow	....	underwater effects
Paul Vigil	....	special effects technician
Tom von Badinski	....	special effects foreman
Dennis Yeager II	....	special effects technician
Mark Yuricich	....	special effects shop foreperson
Jaime Galindo	....	special effects laborer (uncredited)
Jeff Himmel	....	miniature puppet fabrication: The Character Shop (uncredited)
Paul Salamoff	....	miniature puppet fabrication: The Character Shop (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Joshua Arsenault	....	production assistant: Buena Vista Visual Effects
Les Bernstien	....	visual effects director of photography
Isaac Cohen	....	model maker
Denise Davis	....	visual effects producer: BVVE
Valerie Delahaye	....	computer generated art supervisor
Jason Dennis	....	technical administration
Harrison Ellenshaw	....	executive producer: BVVE
Joshua Geisler-Amhowitz	....	digital artist
Allen Gonzales	....	digital art department supervisor
Stephen Humphrey	....	visual effects electronics
David Jones	....	CG supervisor: Buena Vista
Michael Lessa	....	visual effects supervisor
Craig Mullins	....	digital matte painter
Kimberly K. Nelson	....	visual effects supervisor
Winston Quitasol	....	lead digital compositor
Michael Ramirez	....	digital artist
Joseph Thomas	....	FX animation
Shyam V. Yadav	....	visual effects documentarian
Lisa Fisher	....	digital artwork: Buena Vista Visual Effects (uncredited)
Lee Lanier	....	digital artist (uncredited)

Stunts
Laura Albert	....	stunts
Rochelle Ashana	....	stunts
John Ashker	....	stunts
Rick Avery	....	stunts
Janet Brady	....	stunts (as Janet S. Brady)
William H. Burton	....	stunts
Jeff Cadiente	....	stunts
Damon Caro	....	stunts
John Casino	....	stunts
Mike Ceballos	....	stunts
George Cheung	....	stunts
Phil Chong	....	stunts
Eugene Collier	....	stunts
Paul Crawford	....	stunts
Gregg Dandridge	....	stunts
Jadie David	....	stunts
Gary Davis	....	stunts
Maria Doest	....	stunts
Richard L. Duran	....	stunts (as Richard Duran)
Annie Ellis	....	stunts
Danny Epper	....	stunts
John Escobar	....	stunt driver
John Escobar	....	stunts
Ramiro González	....	stunts
Al Goto	....	stunts
Joe Greblo	....	stunts
Tom Harper	....	stunts
John Hateley	....	stunts
Toby Holguin	....	stunts
Norman Howell	....	stunts
Shawn Howell	....	stunts
Brian Imada	....	stunts
Jeff Imada	....	stunt coordinator
Dan Inosanto	....	stunts
Steven Ito	....	stunts
Freddie Jin	....	stunts
Matt Johnston	....	stunts
John Koyama	....	stunts (as John Koy)
Michele Koyama	....	stunts
Brad Lackey	....	stunts
Peter Lai	....	stunts
Steven Lambert	....	stunts
Daniel Lee	....	stunts (as Danny Lee)
Leo Lee	....	stunts
Al Leong	....	stunts
James Lew	....	stunts
Brad Martin	....	stunts
Steve Martinez	....	stunts
Dwayne McGee	....	stunts
Wayne Montanio	....	stunts
Bennie Moore	....	stunts
Jimmy Ortega	....	stunts
Manny Perry	....	stunts
Stuart Quan	....	stunts
Simon Rhee	....	stunts
Vernon Rieta	....	stunts
Jimmy N. Roberts	....	motorcycle stunt double: Kurt Russell
Mario Roberts	....	stunts
Shawn Robinson	....	stunts
Troy Robinson	....	stunts
Thomas Rosales Jr.	....	stunts
Gilbert Rosales	....	stunts
Debby Lynn Ross	....	stunts
Lori Lynn Ross	....	stunts
Kenny Searle	....	utility stunts
Erik Stabenau	....	stunts
Chad Stahelski	....	stunts
Nils Allen Stewart	....	stunts
Ray Sua	....	stunts
Keith Tellez	....	stunts
Cris Thomas-Palomino	....	stunts
Mary Torres	....	stunts
Gary Toy	....	stunts
Dain Turner	....	stunts
Tierre Turner	....	stunts
David Wald	....	stunts
Danny Weselis	....	stunts
Danny Wong	....	stunts
Roger Yuan	....	stunts
Joni Avery	....	stunt performer (uncredited)
Ron Balicki	....	stunt driver (uncredited)
Nick Brett	....	utility stunts (uncredited)
Allen Brock	....	car stunts (uncredited)
Marian Green	....	stunts (uncredited)
Barbara Anne Klein	....	stunts (uncredited)
Zack Milan	....	stunt driver (uncredited)
Hugh Aodh O'Brien	....	stunts (uncredited)
Courtney Pakiz	....	stunt performer (uncredited)
J.N. Roberts	....	stunts (uncredited)
Arthur Tipp	....	stunt driver (uncredited)
Scott Waugh	....	stunts (uncredited)
Nancy Young	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Michael Condro	....	first assistant camera
Mark J. Coyne	....	assistant camera
Jerome Fauci	....	Steadicam operator
Antonio V. Garrido	....	dolly grip (as Antonio Garrido)
Norman Glasser	....	chief lighting technician (as Norman L. Glasser)
Jan Gould	....	best boy grip
Mark Gutterud	....	vistavision camera operator
Jud Kehl	....	camera operator
Christopher J. Lama	....	electrician
Dominic Napolitano	....	assistant camera
Leo J. Napolitano	....	camera operator (as Leo Napolitano)
Evan A. Nesbitt	....	first assistant camera: VistaVision camera
Charles Saldana	....	key grip
Chris Squires	....	camera operator
Stephen J. Ullman	....	assistant camera
Mark Vollmer	....	grip
Robert Zuckerman	....	special photography
Robert Zuckerman	....	still photographer
Robert Zullo	....	key rigging grip
Erin Franklyn	....	rigging grip (uncredited)
Marc Marino	....	electrician (uncredited)

Casting Department
Jennifer Bender	....	extras casting
Barbara Harris	....	voice casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Joe Diaz	....	costumer (as Joe Diaz Jr.)
Bridgitte Ferry	....	costumer (as Brigitte Ferry)
Haleen K. Holt	....	costume illustrator
Juan Lopez	....	assistant costume designer
Damien Quinn	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Vaune Kirby Frechette	....	assistant editor
Mike Milliken	....	color timer
Paul Murphy	....	assistant editor
Theresa Repola Mohammed	....	negative cutter
Richmond Riedel	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Robert Fernandez	....	scoring mixer
Michael McCuistion	....	orchestrator
Thomas Milano	....	music editor
Lolita Ritmanis	....	orchestrator
Shirley Walker	....	conductor
Kristopher Carter	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Kevin Crehan	....	assistant music editor (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Michael W. Broomer	....	driver
Thomas Garris	....	driver
Chris Haynes	....	driver
Robert K. Johnson	....	transportation captain
Dennis H. Murdoch	....	military vehicle supplier
Jim Petti	....	transportation

Other crew
Gregory Alpert	....	location manager
Kelley Baker	....	assistant accountant
Luis G. Benavides	....	construction accountant
Jeffrey Berk	....	production coordinator
Benu Bhandari	....	script supervisor
Val Burnley	....	assistant location manager (as Valerie Jo Burnley)
Danny Carter	....	production assistant
Christian Clarke	....	key set production assistant
Blaine Converse	....	administrator: BVVE
Karin Costa	....	assistant to director
Brian C. Davis	....	screen graphics: Video Image
Harrison Ellenshaw	....	executive producer: BVVE
Cecily Gambrell	....	production assistant
Don Garrison	....	location manager
Tony Giglio	....	production assistant
Paul Hackner	....	production assistant
Patti Hawn	....	unit publicist
Jeffrey M. Howard	....	production assistant
Steve Karnes	....	weapons armorer
Ken Lavet	....	location manager (as Kenneth D. Lavet)
James McCabe	....	location manager
Zack Milan	....	stand-in
Jim Petti	....	assistant to cast
Ken Rudolph	....	title designer: main title sequence
Nina Saxon	....	title designer
Angelica Sini	....	production assistant
Laurence Starkman	....	title designer: main titles
Jeffrey D. Stevens	....	key medic
Christina Svoboda	....	assistant to producer
Paul Taglianetti	....	video effects supervisor
David Thornsberry	....	location manager
Diane Ward	....	assistant production coordinator
Terri Farley-Teruel	....	production services (uncredited)
Vanessa Grayson	....	stand-in: Valeria Golino (uncredited)
Josh C. Kline	....	development assistant (uncredited)
Denise Mora	....	assistant construction accountant (uncredited)
Rick Sander	....	screen graphics (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures
• Rysher Entertainment

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1996) (USA) (theatrical)
• Bontonfilm - Alfa (1996) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1996) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (1996) (USA) (VHS) (pan and scan)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (2001) (USA) (TV)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• CIC-Taft Home Video
• Cinéma International Corporation (CIC) (1997) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Hollydan Works (2004) (Yugoslavia) (DVD)
• Paramount Filmes do Brasil (Brazil) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2001) (UK) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2001) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (Spain)

Special Effects

• Stirber Visual Effects Network (action minatures)
• Larry Jolly Miniature Productions (miniature helicopter)
• Character Shop (hang glider puppies)
• Available Light Productions (gunfire animation and compositing)
• Buena Vista Visual Effects
• Character Shop

Other Companies

• Direct Tools & Fasteners  expendables
• Lava Records  soundtrack
• Milan Records  score album
• Nina Saxon Film Design  title design
• Pacific Title  titles and opticals
• Reeltime Creative  trailer music

Also Known As:

"John Carpenter's Escape from L.A." - USA (complete title)
"Escape de Los Angeles" - Mexico (imdb display title), Peru (imdb display title), Venezuela
"Flucht aus L.A." - Austria, Germany
"Fuga de Los Angeles" - Brazil (imdb display title), Portugal
"Los Angeles 2013" - Canada (French title), France
"Útek z L.A." - Czech Republic
"2013: rescate en L.A." - Spain
"Apodrasi apo to Los Angeles" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"Bekstvo iz Los Andjelesa" - Serbia
"Escape de Los Ángeles" - Mexico (imdb display title)
"Escape from L.A." - Denmark (video title)
"Flykten från L.A." - Sweden
"Fuga da Los Angeles" - Italy
"Ha-Briha M'Los Angeles" - Israel (Hebrew title)
"John Carpenter's Flucht aus L.A." - Germany (complete title)
"Los Angeles'tan kaçis" - Turkey (Turkish title)
"Menekülés Los Angelesből" - Hungary
"Pako L.A.:sta" - Finland
"Pobeg iz Los Angelesa" - Slovenia
"Ucieczka z Los Angeles" - Poland

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and some language

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #34442) | Iceland:16 | Sweden:15 | France:-12 | South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Denmark:15 | Brazil:14 | New Zealand:M | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | Germany:16 (w) | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:18 | UK:15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Courthouse Square, Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Steve Buscemi took the part in this film to help fund his directorial debut, Trees Lounge (1996).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Snake is attempting his fifth shot at the basket, the automatic timer shows 3 seconds twice.

Quotes:

President:If you go to Los Angeles, and come back with that black box and put it in my hand, you'll be given a full pardon for every moral crime you've committed in the United States.
Snake Plissken:Sounds familiar.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Escape from London (2011)

Soundtrack:

Dawn

THE BEST SATIRE ON America EVER FILMED BY AN American!!!

I don't think there's a better movie describing today's atmosphere in America and you can easily forget Escape From New York cause its political themes are pretty much restrained. Also Escape From L.A. is kind of timeless in a way that it satirizes all what America is known for, from motorcycle gangs, hookers, Hollywood agents, face-lifts, politics, freedom, violence TO implied peculiar American (created) all movie genres (sci-fi, action, comedy, western) to movie characters (typical US movies bad guys/good guys), music (typical western score, typical US orchestrated score), dialogues, typical US action movie scenes and especially parodying Hollywood stupid copycat sequels. You can find so much about America through this film, you just have to know how to watch it.

Also i think the fact that the story of this film is only borrowed from EFNY is done partially on purpose because Russell & Carpenter wanted to do it with familiar story and highlight especially those aspects only characteristic to contemporary America and make fun of them. Carpenter did surely one of his best films ever that already no doubt surpassed his inferior classic Escape From New York. Gee what amazing piece of work Carpenter created do you even realize that? And personally i think Escape From L.A. over time will definitely gain well-deserved status as one of the greatest master-pieces in American movie history!