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 | Crime | 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 | Prison | Rescue | New York City | Bridge

Awards:

4 nominations

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)

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | Canada:R (Manitoba) (director's cut) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Iceland:16 | UK:15 (video rating) | UK:AA (original rating) | Germany:16 | Brazil:14 | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Australia:M | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Sweden:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16 (w) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, California, USA

Company:

AVCO Embassy Pictures

Trivia:

The studio wanted Tommy Lee Jones for the role of Snake Plissken. They didn't think Kurt Russell was right for the role because of his prior work.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: You can see a crew member giving Isaac Hayes a "stand-up" cue quite visibly in the left side of the screen when The Duke is quieting the Madison Square Garden crowd.

Quotes:

Computer Voice: Attention. You are now entering the Debarkation Area. No talking. No smoking. Follow the orange line to the Processing Area. The next scheduled departure to the prison is in two hours. You now have the option to terminate and be cremated on the premises. If you elect this option, notify the Duty Sergeant in your Processing Area.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Nemesis (1992)

Soundtrack:

Bandstand Boogie

SF action classic!

'Escape from New York' ties with 'Assault On Precinct 13' as my second favourite John Carpenter movie (#1 being 'The Thing'. Of course.) I find it hard to be objective about this movie. Like 'The Omega Man' you either love it or you don't. Kurt Russell rocks as Snake Plissken, a cross between Roger Zelazny's Hell Tanner and Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name. He is one cool dude. Spaghetti western favourite Lee Van Cleef is well cast as Snake's nemesis, and b-grade fave Tom Atkins ('Maniac Cop') and Carpenter semi-regular Charles Cyphers ('The Fog') are excellent as his sidekicks. The rest of the cast is equally impressive, and includes cult legend Harry Dean Stanton ('Repo Man'), veterans Ernest Borgnine ('The Wild Bunch') and Donald Pleasance ('Halloween'), soul singer Isaac Hayes, and the buxom Adrienne Barbeau ('Two Evil Eyes') to name a few. 'Escape from New York' is an SF action classic from an era when ideas and character were more important than big budget FX. Personally I'd take this over the Star Wars series any day of the week. Beware the sequel though, it's a major disappointment...