escape from new york movie reviews

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Escape from new york.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 3 Reviews
• Kids Say 9 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Extremely dark '80s sci-fi classic is too intense for kids.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know Escape from New York presents a bleak vision of the future and has violence including that violence gunfire, crossbows, thrown knives, land mines, and gladiatorial death bouts with fists and clubs (though except for a severed head there's little explicit gore). Do-not-do-this-at-home…

Why Age 16+?

The s-word, the f-word, "a-hole," "Jesus Christ," "bastard," SOB.

Gunfire, explosions, beat-downs, and gladiatorial death bouts with fists and clu

Tough-guy cigarette smoking. Drunken-derelict type characters in a skid-row sett

Blink-and-you'll-miss-them bare breasts, as NYC prisoners manhandle a girl. Low-

Chock-Full-a-Nuts and Coca-Cola signs visible.

Any Positive Content?

The rotten Big Apple here represents the worst that could happen under a harsh,

Plissken is a hard-bitten, surly punk throughout. While most every character is

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Violence & Scariness

Gunfire, explosions, beat-downs, and gladiatorial death bouts with fists and clubs. A severed head. Characters stuck with arrows and knives. Implication that high-tech tiny time bombs are implanted in someone's head. A hijacked plane crashes into a Manhattan skyscraper as in 9/11, but only a radar-readout is shown.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Tough-guy cigarette smoking. Drunken-derelict type characters in a skid-row setting, mention of junkies.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Blink-and-you'll-miss-them bare breasts, as NYC prisoners manhandle a girl. Low-cut outfits for the leading lady. Plissken makes an angry joke about "playing with myself." He has a suggestive tattoo around his crotch.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Positive messages.

The rotten Big Apple here represents the worst that could happen under a harsh, uncaring government. Along with that comes a theme of mistrusting authority and "the Man." There are no real heroes; the closest thing is a commando-turned-robber, motivated entirely by self-interest (or other people coercing him). Even he is disgusted by the callous attitude of the hostage US president (and, by extension, the society that president represents).

Positive Role Models

Plissken is a hard-bitten, surly punk throughout. While most every character is a criminal, freak, or government bully of some sort (except for the friendly Cabbie), "good guys," for lack of a better word, are all white folks. Main villain is big black dude. The US president's personality is not well established, but we suspect he -- like his country -- isn't very nice.

Parents need to know Escape from New York presents a bleak vision of the future and has violence including that violence gunfire, crossbows, thrown knives, land mines, and gladiatorial death bouts with fists and clubs (though except for a severed head there's little explicit gore). Do-not-do-this-at-home stuff includes whiskey used as a firebomb. Swearing is at the typical R-level. The hero smokes cigarettes. There's a quick glimpse of bare breasts. An atmosphere of cynicism and darkness pervades, including a negative depiction of a US president and a police-state America. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (3)
• Kids say (9)

Based on 3 parent reviews

good 8 and up

Great movie, what's the story.

In a brutal, "near-future" America -- 1997, for this 1981 production -- crime has risen astronomically, coincident with a war against Russia in ESCAPE TO NEW YORK. The island of Manhattan, apparently given up as unsalvageable, has been turned into a giant prison compound, guarded and mined to prevent escape, and so hellish that convicts can opt for execution rather than enter. Then kamikaze leftist terrorists hijack Air Force One and crash it in Manhattan (a 9/11-shudder in that scene!) stranding the US president (Donald Pleasance) somewhere in this lawless zone on the eve of vital peace talks. The warden turns to a new prisoner, ex-war hero Snake Plissken ( Kurt Russell ), to single-handedly retrieve the VIP from the walled-off nightmare city and its gangs. As an extra incentive, the unwilling Plissken is injected with miniature explosive charges that will kill him if he fails to complete the mission in 24 hours.

Is It Any Good?

This movie is summed up by the word "dystopia," the opposite of "utopia," but in fairness, filmmaker John Carpenter, never meant this as an uplifter. Filmed in the purposeful, plain style of the old-school (pre-MTV, pre-video game) movie directors he professed to admire most, Escape from New York is a compelling but relentlessly sour and pessimistic actioner whose only levity comes from the inherent dark humor (a running "joke" that everyone thought Plissken was dead) and a jolly Ernest Borgnine as comic-relief, a lone, cheery yellow-cab driver still picking up fares despite mean streets full of savage lunatics and barbarians. Other filmmakers might have gone for "escapism" in the Hollywood sense and made this a thrill-ride roller-coaster. Instead, Carpenter (shooting on a low budget, using a burnt-out St. Louis standing in for ghost-town NYC) makes it painfully plain that this alternative Manhattan is really not a nice place to visit and you wouldn't want to live there. Kids most likely won't have much interest, and it's not meant for them, anyway.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Snake Plissken in Escape from New York . Is he a "hero" or, as some have suggested, a character with no redeeming social value? What does his final dialogue with the president mean?

Research the real-life pathologies that assailed New York in the 1960s and '70s, like crime, decadence, drugs, blackouts, riots, economic turmoil, and punk rock, extrapolated to create this dire scenario.

Movie Details

• In theaters : July 10, 1981
• On DVD or streaming : November 21, 2000
• Cast : Ernest Borgnine , Kurt Russell , Lee Van Cleef
• Director : John Carpenter
• Studio : MGM/UA
• Genre : Science Fiction
• Run time : 99 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• Last updated : December 28, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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‘escape from new york’: thr’s 1981 review.

On July 10, 1981, John Carpenter unveiled his R-rated dystopian thriller in theaters.

By Arthur Knight

Arthur Knight

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On July 10, 1981, John Carpenter unveiled his R-rated dystopian thriller Escape From New York in theaters. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review is below: 

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Who can set him free? Police Commissioner Lee Van Cleef believes he has found his man in Kurt Russell, a scruffy war hero who is also a convicted master criminal. If Russell can accomplish his mission, he can go free; if not, two tiny explosives implanted in his arteries will kill him — which doesn’t leave him much choice.

The focus of this Avco Embassy production is on Russell’s efforts to locate the President in the ravaged city despite organized terror gangs and the murderous, hunger-driven “gypsies” who roam the streets by night.

Despite his assortment of futuristic gadgetry (including a gun that never seems to run out of bullets) Russell is forced mainly to rely upon — or to outwit — such hardened criminal types as Season Hubley , Ernest Borgnine , Harry Dean Stanton, Adrienne Barbeau , the androgynous Tom Atkins and, most formidable of all, Isaac Hayes’ self-styled Duke of New York. ( Hubley , who gives him his first lead, is billed simply as Girl in Chock Full o’Nuts  — and is unceremoniously dragged underground for her efforts).

Using the new Elicon camera equipment, Carpenter remains ever on the alert for the confirming details — figures that flit disconcertingly by or that menacingly materialize out of the shadows, rats that have become unconcerned by the presence of man, a vast terminal lined with decrepit and mouldering railway cars. The photography, supervised by Dean  Cundey , startlingly combines the deep, electric blues of dark, rain swept surfaces with an oddly col [d] orange given off by the flickering street fires that appear everywhere. Carpenter, working for the first time with a budget ($7 million) approaching the adequate, has given his picture a marvelous look.

It also has a great sound to it thanks in part to his judicious use of Dolby (which has a tendency to enhance effects while obliterating dialogue ), and to his own twangy, percussive electronic score, which Carpenter both wrote and performed in association with Alan Howarth . It is admirably functional, underlining and at the same time enhancing the action passages.

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Escape From New York Reviews

Not my favorite classic Carpenter film, it still offers a scrappy look into the director’s political edge.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 5, 2023

The filmmaker’s cynical sense of humor and anti-authoritarian stance are all over the movie without overwhelming the suspense/entertainment focus.

Full Review | Jul 8, 2023

From Kurt Russell immortalizing the lead character to the comic books, action figures, and board games that followed, “Escape from New York” still excites its fans and has earned its status as a time-tested cult classic.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 1, 2023

Escape From New York is an iconic action thriller of the 80's that is arguably Carpenter's coolest film. Snake Plissken is a unique antihero played perfectly by Russell as he demolishes his Disney stigma. It's a good time that remains scarily relevant.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.25/5 | Oct 2, 2022

Sixty per cent a perfectly realized film.

Full Review | Jul 27, 2022

New York as surreal, existential hell was done much better by Walter Hill in The Warriors; Carpenter’s imagery fails to shock today’s jaded audiences.

Full Review | May 23, 2022

One of John Carpenter's most popular films remains this futuristic yarn featuring an irresistible hook and an iconic anti-hero.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 10, 2022

Regardless of how much John Carpenter pays homage to Howard Hawks, or how much Kurt Russell's performance is rooted in Clint Eastwood's various onscreen characters, Escape from New York stands on its own merits and achieves something unique.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 14, 2022

What works is the tone, the character, and the deeply cynical attitude towards authority of all stripes.

Full Review | Oct 24, 2021

[O]ne of the standouts of director/co-writer John Carpenter's damn-near-unmatched 1976-1988 run of stupendous filmmaking.

Full Review | Jul 11, 2021

A substandard-by-design, low-budget, accidental sci-fi epic that is too good to pass up.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Sep 6, 2020

If you don't like Escape From New York, then you and I will have some trouble seeing eye to eye-patch in our taste in movies.

Full Review | Apr 9, 2020

Everything is sluggishly directed by Carpenter, which is odd for a master of the horror genre.

Full Review | Oct 4, 2019

In a time when New York may well have been at its most dangerous, or at least most volatile, John Carpenter came through with a nihilist vision of the city.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Apr 28, 2019

Escape From New York fires on every cylinder. It has a killer concept, iconic characters, legendary art design and musical score...

Full Review | Mar 1, 2019

1997 is the year in which the film's events are set, but far from being a bright, progressive future, it is a hyperbolic deterioration of 1981's here and now

Full Review | Nov 19, 2018

When you look at how action cinema developed over the 1980s, it's now clear to see that Escape From New York is one of the films which established the template for the muscular action hero.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 4, 2018

The film plays its social satire broad but strings it along a rail of self-awareness.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 25, 2018

It has got an intriguing premise, an effective cast, and it has been expertly mounted.

Full Review | Jul 10, 2017

Maybe it's not John Carpenter's best film, but it's one of his most fun and the premise is irresistible: in the future, Manhattan has been turned into a high security island prison and Liberty Island is the guard station.

Full Review | Apr 21, 2017

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Escape from New York

In 1997, when the U.S. president crashes into Manhattan, now a giant maximum security prison, a convicted bank robber is sent in to rescue him. In 1997, when the U.S. president crashes into Manhattan, now a giant maximum security prison, a convicted bank robber is sent in to rescue him. In 1997, when the U.S. president crashes into Manhattan, now a giant maximum security prison, a convicted bank robber is sent in to rescue him.

• John Carpenter
• Nick Castle
• Kurt Russell
• Lee Van Cleef
• Ernest Borgnine
• 436 User reviews
• 265 Critic reviews
• 76 Metascore
• 6 nominations

Top cast 62

• Snake Plissken

• Girl in Chock Full O'Nuts

• Harold 'Brain' Hellman

• Secretary of State

• (scenes deleted)

• (as John Cothran Jr.)
• Gypsy Guard

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

Did you know

• Trivia Kurt Russell has stated that this is his favorite of all his films, and Snake Plissken is his favorite of his characters.
• Goofs During the sequence where Snake is being chased by the Crazies (and is about to shoot an oval pattern in a wall so he can break through), his eye patch shifts enough to reveal a perfectly good eye. This is commonly regarded as a mistake, but it is not; the novelization of the movie explains that Snake still has his left eye, but he wears the patch due to a paralyzed iris, making it extremely sensitive to light.

Bob Hauk : You going to kill me, Snake?

Snake Plissken : Not now, I'm too tired.

Snake Plissken : Maybe later.

• Crazy credits The Avco Embassy logo does not appear in this movie.
• Alternate versions Collector's edition laserdisc (during director commentary) shows cut scenes of high-tech bank robbery which led to Snake's conviction and eventual prison sentencing to New York.
• Connections Edited into The Needle (1988)
• Soundtracks Bandstand Boogie Music by Charles Albertine Courtesy of Cherio Corporation

User reviews 436

• azathothpwiggins
• Nov 25, 2019
• What happened to the girl who was pulled through the floor?
• Was Cabbie a prisoner? He didn't really fit the profile but more important he said he'd been driving that same cab in NY for 30 years. Which would mean he started in 1967, long before it became a prison.
• What is on the tape that the President keeps in his briefcase?
• July 10, 1981 (United States)
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Official site
• Escape from New York City
• Fox Theater - 527 N. Grand Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri, USA (Broadway theatre relics)
• AVCO Embassy Pictures
• International Film Investors
• Goldcrest Films International
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $6,000,000 (estimated)
• $25,244,626
• $25,275,806

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 39 minutes
• Dolby Stereo
• Dolby Digital

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Escape From New York Review

17 Jul 1981

Escape From New York

John Carpenter's taut slab of low-budget sci-fi has Airforce One crash-landing in New York - now one big jail - and the president (Donald Pleasence) held hostage by criminals. Enter Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), a convicted crim given 22 hours to save the prez.

There's a great supporting cast, cool touches, strong action and a catchy theme, but it's Russell's Plissken that really leaps off the screen, exuding more cool than any ten normal anti-heroes. Snake is a very, very angry man - an embittered war hero who turned to crime to steal what he felt he was owed - but still has time for a raft of one liners and a fine line in controlled violence.

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Escape From New York (1981) Review

John Carpenter’s 1981 classic Escape from New York, which the filmmaker wrote in the late 70’s as a direct response to the Watergate scandal, was not a movie that I grew up repeatedly watching as a kid, even though I’m definitely a “child of the 80’s.” That being said, I was always aware of its existence and reputation, and while I had seen it once or twice during my youth at friend’s houses (it was one of “those” movies…), it was never a staple film for me during my formative years. All that being said, having watched it more than a few times over the last few years, I’m struck by how awesome and low-tech and appreciably cheesy the film is, and I mean that in the best possible way. This is a film that should NEVER be remade, as it’s a post-apocalyptic movie that feels quaint by our current over the top standards, and to see it blown-up-huge with a massive budget would sort of be depressing. As per usual for Carpenter, the script’s subtext was just as interesting as the onscreen heroics and action set-pieces, while the R-rated violence is also terrific, with all sorts of beat-downs, shoot-outs, and a general air of wise-ass nastiness leading the day.

People within Hollywood have discussed remaking this film throughout the last decade. I hope this never happens. It’s wholly unnecessary. Make no mistake — Kurt Russell is Snake Plissken — there’s just no need to recast the role with some young flash-in-the-pan actor who could never replicate the steely-eyed gaze and incredible anti-hero flavor that Russell brought to his iconic performance. Because the film was made on a low budget, much of it is set at night, yet the darkly photogenic cinematography by 80’s master Dean Cundey has a gritty, rough around the edges feel which takes full advantage of the scuzzy production design and down-home-grubbiness of the entire film. And then there’s Carpenter’s fantastic original score, with that trusty theme music popping up in all the proper spots. The premise is simple: an ex-soldier/convict has 22 hours to find the President (Donald Pleasance) who has been stranded on the prison island of Manhattan after the crash of Air Force One. If he’s successful, he’ll be pardoned. If not, he’ll be killed.

With stripped down efficiency and an attention placed on violent spectacle laced with black humor, Carpenter moves from one sequence to the next with hard-core conviction. Co-written by Carpenter and Nick Castle (The Last Starfighter ), Escape from New York has certainly become a cult classic over the years, but it’s interesting to note that the film was well reviewed and actually became a theatrical success ($25 million off of a $6 million production budget), which sort of bucks the traditional definition of a “cult” movie. Isaac Hayes, Lee Van Cleef, Tom Atkins, and Adrienne Barbeau are all extremely memorable in supporting roles, and let’s not forget endless Ernest Borgnine POWER and Harry Dean Stanton EXTRA POWER. James Cameron worked on the cool matte paintings(!) and also served as an additional director of photography. The Blu-ray is a smashing success, featuring a transfer that retains the texture and grain of the original photography, with lots of special features to make any fan of this film grin ear to ear.

Review by Nick Clement

• Escape From New York

This is a film that should NEVER be remade, as it’s a post-apocalyptic movie that feels quaint by our current over the top standards, and to see it blown-up-huge with a massive budget would sort of be depressing.

• Like Crazy (2011) Review
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Nick Clement

Nick Clement is a freelance writer, having contributed to Variety Magazine, Hollywood- Elsewhere, Awards Daily, Back to the Movies (of course), and Taste of Cinema.

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Escape from New York (United States, 1981)

1988. New York City, overrun by crime, is walled in. It becomes the world's largest, most uncontrolled prison, with the inmates prevented from escaping by armed guards who man the walls twenty-four hours a day. Those confined within the city are free to live and die as they please, creating their own form of government, choosing their leaders, and using guile, brutality, and criminal ingenuity to survive. The city's world-renowned silhouette, gazed upon from the shores of Liberty Island, is familiar, but, without electricity to light up the nights, it has become dark and ominous, like the fledgling society growing in its streets, alleyways, and sewers.

Skip ahead nine years to 1997. The U.S. President's plane, hijacked by terrorists, goes down in the midst of the New York City prison. Master criminal Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), whose chief personality traits are a dry wit and an unrivaled sense of self-preservation, is chosen to enter New York, rescue the President, and get out again. To insure his cooperation, he is injected with tablets that have a twenty-four hour life span. If Snake hasn't done his job by then, his head will explode. So, left without options, he dons a James Bond wristband, hops in a glider, and heads for the top of the World Trade Center.

Escape from New York has one of the most ingenious premises of any film released during the 1980s. For this, if nothing else, director John Carpenter ( Halloween, Starman ) deserves some credit. Unfortunately, too much of the film's promise goes unfulfilled. Escape from New York isn't really science fiction -- it's an action flick set in a futuristic setting. Epic potential for a masterful, gripping tale is abandoned in favor of cheap thrills.

Action films have certainly come along way in the last fifteen years. In comparison to a Die Hard, Escape from New York has such a low level of excitement that it could almost be considered plodding. Carpenter peppers the film with bursts of action, but there are long, sometimes sluggish, pauses in between. Also, surprisingly (since Carpenter is known as a "master of suspense"), Escape from New York rarely generates much tension, and, when it does, it fails to sustain it. Even the big finale, which involves a chase across a mined bridge, doesn't really get the adrenaline pumping. From an action/adventure standpoint, describing this film as anything better than adequate would be an unwarranted kindness.

Apologists for Escape (and there are mass legions of devoted fans) point out that the film is as much a comedy as it is an action film. And, while it's certainly true that Carpenter has infused the film with elements of irony and wit, his sense of humor is so dour that it rarely sparks more than fitful laughter. In fact, it's easier to recognize that Escape from New York is trying to be funny than it is to actually unearth those few moments of comedy that appear more inspired than pointless.

One area that doesn't merit criticism is the film's look. Although shot on a modest budget of $7 million, Escape from New York has the appearance of a more expensive picture. The skyline scenes of 1997 New York are very impressive. Matte artists, set designers, model makers, and animators all deserve credit for creating a believably futuristic, decadent cityscape. Cinematographer Dean Cundey gets a lot of nice, atmospheric shots that go a long way towards atoning for the film's faults. Carpenter's simple score, which is electronically synthesized, is the perfect audio accompaniment to some of the more ominous visuals (like the scene where the crazies emerge from the New York underground to close in on Snake, recalling George Romero's Night of the Living Dead ).

Kurt Russell is delightful as Snake. The actor, known at the time for his Disney films, makes a better-than-average action hero, incorporating aspects of Clint Eastwood's spaghetti western personality into his character. The presence of veteran actor Lee Van Cleef ( For a Few Dollars More; The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly ), who appears to be enjoying himself enormously, reinforces the Eastwood comparisons. Donald Pleasence, Adrienne Barbeau, and Harry Dean Stanton turn in solid supporting performances. Ernest Borgnine does a wonderful turn as a New York cabby who still remembers the old days, and Isaac Hayes is deliciously nasty as the Duke. Stealing perhaps every scene he's in, however, is Frank Doubleday, whose turn as a bit player is so exaggerated and over-the-top that it's impossible not to notice him.

So, considering all aspects of the production, what is Escape from New York ? A failed science fiction spectacle that devolves into a mediocre action/comedy? Or an underrated cult classic that functions as a ground-breaking adventure film? Perhaps, as is so often the case, the truth lies somewhere in between. Escape from New York is definitely watchable, and, at times, quite enjoyable. However, when the final credits roll, you can be forgiven a vague sense of dissatisfaction, because the creativity that went into formulating the premise was never extended to the script writing stage.

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• Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
• High Noon (1969)
• (There are no more better movies of Lee Van Cleef)
• (There are no more worst movies of Lee Van Cleef)
• Wild Bunch, The (1969)
• Gattaca (1997)
• Marty (1955)
• (There are no more worst movies of Ernest Borgnine)

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Review: escape from new york.

The film exploited the possibilities of shaking the audience up with carefully planted, obtrusive noise in a sea of uneasy silence.

The first time we see Snake Plissken, he’s being led away from a police chopper. He pauses to take in the scenic tarmac outside the federal pen indicated by the movie’s title. An officer hustles him along toward processing and embarkation. There’s no hint of the ruthless, Parker-esque brute in the long-shot intro; when the cop nudges him with the butt of an assault rifle, he merely jerks his shoulder in a gesture of spiteful compliance, hardly distinguishing him from the rafts of two-time losers in the history of big-house movies. After he’s led through processing, we don’t get a proper introduction to Plissken until almost 20 minutes into the film.

This being a John Carpenter film, on the other hand, character introduction precedes character sighting, beginning with the opening titles: white Albertus typeface against pitch black that movie buffs will immediately identify as “canon Carpenter”; the stately synth music, composed, as usual, by the director, foretells menace, promises no-nonsense delivery, with an undertaste of the mythic-loner ballad, one tough mother against God and everybody. Even first-time viewers get a good, early sense of who they’re going to be riding with.

This was the early ’80s, as the gateway of grand possibilities remained slightly ajar for the American auteur (guys like Carpenter, Sam Fuller, and Joe Dante), and Carpenter’s partnership with Embassy Pictures could not have been better timed. Curiously, many of the films produced at the behest of company’s then-president Robert Rehme, such as Phantasm , The Howling , and Scanners , shared with Carpenter’s early films the same vague foreboding, of an indeterminate apocalypse just beyond the horizon. With relatively spare production values, it’s not far-fetched to say that movies like Escape from New York , along with other films from Carpenter’s peak period, represent the closest thing we have to an American mono no aware cinema: the passing of things, all things, be it from a nuclear blast, a shapeshifting extra terrestrial, or under the jackboots of an American police state.

Unlike its spoofy, punch-drunk sequel, Escape from New York is one of Carpenter’s more subdued films—a close relative to the still-extraordinary Assault on Precinct 13 , which similarly exploited the possibilities of shaking the audience up with carefully planted, obtrusive noise in a sea of uneasy silence. Most of the images are elaborate confections of urban blight, etched against a nearly unlit soundstage, and the sound mix, until the finale, is rarely louder than Snake’s elbow busting out an old windowpane.

And what is the conceit of the excised Manhattan prison but an excuse to give the tough-talking, low-riding rogue’s gallery of American crime fiction the run of the place? For this surprisingly ornate widescreen fantasy, a hybrid noir/science fiction, its beating heart is the index of ideas and design flourishes: a homebrewed commedia dell’arte in a gutted movie palace; a vintage New York hack (Ernest Borgnine) hurling molotov cocktails from a trapdoor in his roof; an oil derrick in Brain’s (Harry Dean Stanton) customized New York Public Library fortress; chandeliers and disco balls dangled from the Duke’s (Isaac Hayes) motorcade. Even the flesh-eating Crazies parody scurrying rats and infernal cockroaches. America may have done its best to realize the prophecy of Billy Joel when he sang about sinking Manhattan island at sea in “Miami 2017,” but the inmates, left with the asylum, can’t quite let the Big Apple falter.

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Jaime N. Christley

Jaime N. Christley's writing has also appeared in the Village Voice .

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Escape From New York Reviews

• 76   Metascore
• 1 hr 39 mins
• Drama, Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Science Fiction
• Watchlist Where to Watch

In the future, Manhattan has become an island prison, and when Air Force One crashes into it, mercenary Snake Plissken is given the chance to earn his freedom if he can get the president out alive. He gets unexpected help from a crazy cabbie, as well as a woman who may be as tough as he is.

A futuristic thriller set in 1997, John Carpenter's ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK finds Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell)--an ex-war hero, now convict--forced to rescue the President (Donald Pleasence) from a plane crash in New York City. The US is now a police state, and Manhattan has become one vast prison in which convicts are summarily dumped and left to fend for themselves. If Snake fails to find the President in time, he'll be atomized by a time bomb implanted in his neck by ruthless Bob Hauk (Lee Van Cleef). Snake sallies forth into this dark world and experiences violent battles, narrow escapes, and white-knuckle adventures, enlisting an anachronistic cabbie (Ernest Borgine) in his struggle to outwit a criminal mastermind played by Isaac Hayes. A generally gripping actioner, the film can also be read as a percipient satire of a society irreparably split along lines of class and race. Carpenter's clever premise has since become fodder for innumerable straight-to-video cheapies. A "director's edition," featuring some 15 minutes of footage cut from the original theatrical release, appeared on video in 1994.

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Someone Remake “Escape from New York,” Please

"Escape from New York"

John Carpenter’s “Escape from New York ” (1981) is often referred to as a cult-classic. I’ve never been quite sure the kind of criteria anyone would base this kind of statement on, but here is a feature that certainly generated buzz when it came out some three decades ago. It belongs to the time period when movie computers consisted of giant consoles covered with lights of all colors that blinked on and off endlessly. When I first saw it during my teen years it left quite an impression, though recent viewings have not been quite as kind, as it hasn’t aged particularly well. We often complain about the recent explosion of remakes of entries that are barely 10-20 years old (or less!) but I believe a new version of “Escape from New York” could make for a welcome exception.

The film has one of those larger than life, preposterous premises that make for great cinematic material. In the “year of the future 1997” crime has increased in the U.S. by 400%, forcing authorities to turn Manhattan into the nation’s sole penitentiary by erecting a giant wall that reaches crosses the East and Hudson rivers and rests on the Jersey, Brooklyn and Queens fronts (building it around the island itself would’ve surely been much easier, but it wouldn’t have looked half as good as it does here). The prison’s motto is simple: once you get in, you never come out. Perhaps it would have also been a good idea to move the Statue of Liberty anywhere but in front of the world’s largest penitentiary, but I suppose the filmmakers still needed it there to give their poster an apocalyptic look, in tune with the “Planet of the Apes” ending (curiously, the Liberty Island scenes were the only scenes actually filmed in N.Y.C.; the rest were shot in a section of East St. Louis, Il).

“Escape from New York ” starts with a night in the life of the prison as some fugitives try to escape on a raft and get blown to smithereens. We then get the sight of Air Force One (a rather cheesy special effects version) being hijacked and crashed into the lower part of the island. A nameless U.S. President (played by Donald Pleasence ) manages to escape in one of those cinematic ejecting chambers (similar to the one used years later by Harrison Ford as the President). It isn’t long before a group of prisoners decide to abduct Pleasence and send authorities his severed finger as proof of capture (Presidential ring included!). Warden Hauk (played by Lee Van Cleef ) decides to recruit the prison’s most recent inductee, enigmatic ex-war hero and now felon Snake Plissken ( Kurt Russell ) by offering him a full presidential pardon (who knows when the President signed it, considering that he’s been quiet busy so far) in exchange for a successful rescue mission The only catch here is one of those requisite movie deadlines to make things more interesting, which allows for the typical line of dialogue that sounds great on the trailer: “You have 24 hours to go in and out of there!” Plissken is eventually assisted in his quest by a taxi driver, appropriately named Cabbie ( Ernest Borgnine ), the standard movie prison veteran well aware of the place’s goings-on (much like Brooks in “ The Shawshank Redemption “) along with Brain ( Harry Dean Stanton ) and Maggie ( Adrienne Barbeau ), two other prisoners whose heroic motives are never made very clear.

The movie does a rather good job of visually establishing its location through a couple of convincing matte paintings that eerily display the city in complete darkness (done by a young James Cameron , by the way) plus a few models that allows us to believe that Plissken is actually arriving in NYC. Unfortunately, as the movie progresses the magic is completely gone. This has to do mostly with the fact that the world’s best known city is represented through a series of 2- and 3-story, run-down buildings, while too few of its famous landmarks are portrayed convincingly. Case in point: by film’s end we are supposed to believe that a small building complex represents the lower floors of the World Trade Center. It might be unfair to compare “Escape from New York” visuals to those in a more recent feature like “ I Am Legend ,” the unremarkable Will Smith vehicle that nonetheless dealt convincingly with an ominous NYC of the near future thanks to modern technology, but even “Beneath the Planet of the Apes” (1970) did a better job of making us feel like we were actually there. “Escape from New York” was obviously a low budget film, too low for such an ambitious project.

Even within such a far-fetched story, absurdity stands out. Russell is ordered to land his glider on top of the WTC with the idea of avoiding being noticed by other prisoners, but somehow he decides that the best possible route there includes flying it in plain view through the canyons of the nearby buildings, and then straight up in a trajectory parallel to the Twin Towers façade (an inexplicable decision that looks extremely cool anyway). Additionally, Carpenter doesn’t seem to have spent much time going through the basic intricacies involved in turning NYC into the world’s largest prison; case in point: if there are no visiting days and no one is ever getting out of there, what’s the point then of mining the bridges instead of simply blowing them away? How are the prisoners fed? And more importantly, where do they get the fuel for their army of gas guzzlers?

Perhaps the film’s weakest link is the casting of Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken. Russell has always been at his best in movies about everymen stuck in extraordinary situations (“ Breakdown ,” “ Executive Decision ,” etc.) but I don’t really think he makes for very good anti-hero material. Russell spends a good deal of the movie doing his best Clint Eastwood sarcasm-dispensing impression (including the constant display of his lower teeth, in Dirty Harry fashion) but he seems much too nice for the role, his clothes seem too new and his hair too recently shampooed to give the impression of being a true hell-raiser. Besides, the script doesn’t give him anything terribly interesting to do except for running away from his enemies, rescue a President with whom he never develops any kind of relationship, and getting into a colorful (but badly choreographed) fight with a bald giant.

<img style=" ” src=”https://static.rogerebert.com/redactor_assets/pictures/52a07c0e6688b08df3000008/ESCNY10.jpg”>

In a nutshell, John Carpenter’s “Escape from New York” has a fascinating premise but its characters are hardy developed, the action isn’t particularly spectacular and its setting seldom rings true. Strangely enough, the film’s cult-classic status may derive from other factors such as having been made by the same director who gave us “ Halloween “; co-starring the guy who played “Shaft” Isaac Hayes and, more importantly, encompassing several colorful genres. In addition to being an action-adventure movie, “Escape from New York” temporarily becomes a zombie flick of sorts, with the prison’s lower ranks known as “the Crazies” coming out of holes and drainage to mindlessly attack the heroes. Later on it becomes a mini version of “ The Warriors ,” dealing with the colorfully dressed gangs who kidnapped the President, and near the end it even gets to become a gladiator movie for a while.

According to Wikipedia, “Escape from New York” was written by Carpenter in response to the Watergate scandal. It’s hard to see much of a connection in the final product except when eventually the President turns out to be a weasel and Plissken the hero who beats the establishment with the help of an audiotape (no less!). Curiously the movie was released around the same time as “ Blade Runner ,” a prime example of a futuristic, apocalyptic feature and although “Escape from New York” doesn’t belong at the same level, it has some terrific ideas and passes the following three tests that suggest it might just make a worthwhile remake: #1 There’s plenty of room for improvement, #2 Newer technology could solve some of the original entry’s shortcomings and give Snake a better playground where he could do more interesting things, and, more importantly, #3 Most of today’s viewers have never seen the original so the premise will seem fresh to many (unless they turn it into another “White House Down” of course).

Gerardo Valero

Gerardo Valero is lives in Mexico City with his wife Monica. Since 2011 he’s been writing a daily blog about film clichés and flubs (in Spanish) on Mexico’s Cine-Premiere Magazine . His contributions to “Ebert’s Little Movie Glossary” were included in the last twelve editions of “Roger Ebert’s Movie Yearbook.”

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Kurt Russell Knows Why Escape From New York Cut This Headless Cat Scene

John Carpenter's 1981 sci-fi action flick "Escape From New York" is a hugely influential dystopian cult classic that inspired everything from the "Metal Gear Solid" video games  to William Gibson's seminal cyberpunk novel "Neuromancer." It's a fantastic showcase for everyone involved and went on to spawn a less-successful but cult-appreciated sequel , but making "Escape From New York" was a unique challenge for co-writer and director John Carpenter, who had a very specific vision in mind. That meant that unfortunately, some sequences ended up on the cutting room floor. One of the most famous examples is an opening sequence with a bank heist that showed Kurt Russell's Snake Plissken trying to help his fallen comrade and getting arrested in the process, but Carpenter felt that it humanized the almost inhumanly stoic Snake too much. 

Some of the footage has been found and fans have gotten a peek at Snake's lost partner and the extended, impressive bank robbery, but there was another bit that has been lost to time, and maybe it's for the better? 

Excuse me, a headless cat?!

In an interview with Starburst  Magazine, Russell revealed that the opening sequence had to be cut for time and to help establish Snake's character in a more surprising way, but it sounds like there was definitely some shocking content in that original opening, too. Interviewer Whitney Scott Bain asked Russell about the scene in detail, revealing that he had seen the lost footage that takes place right after the credit card robbery, including "the scene where you see the Indians roasting the headless cat on a spit in the World Trade Center," which ends with Snake fighting them and then escaping. Russell explained why all of the footage was cut, telling Bain: 

"The studio thought it was too long and cut them, but in a way it worked to our advantage. No one had ever done an opening sequence where this guy gets off a bus in handcuffs with this bad boy, f-you attitude. It set the mood for the film right away."

It's worth noting the "headless cat" scene in question probably happened later in the film rather than right in the beginning — specifically after Snake is sent to the cut-off New York and lands on top of the World Trade Center. All that said, Russell is absolutely right, because "Escape From New York" sets Snake up as this quiet mystery man with a mostly unknown past and a morally ambiguous outlook. Is Snake a hero? Hell no. But he's the only guy that can save the president, and that's part of what makes the movie so freaking cool.

The enduring cool of Snake Plissken

While pets on roasting spits can definitely set the tone in their own way ( just look at Ben Wheatley's "High-Rise" !), there is something to be said for dropping Snake into the story with only a tiny bit of exposition to explain who he is. His entire persona is shown to us through the actions of those around him — his armed guards and the way everyone looks at him is an indicator that this guy is seriously dangerous, though he never acts like it. He's cool as a cucumber, but everyone around him seems ready to jump and shoot if he so much as scratches his nose. Snake's introduction goes a long way toward selling the movie and its ridiculous, heightened world. 

Other movies could certainly learn from "Escape From New York," honestly, as flicks these days seem to need to explain everything in detail. Here's hoping the potential remake  doesn't try to tell us all about the botched bank job, why his name is Snake, or why he wears an eyepatch. The mystery is half of the fun!