Escape from L.A. (1996)

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.

Director:

John Carpenter

Writers:

John Carpenter (characters), Nick Castle (characters)

Stars:

Kurt Russell, Steve Buscemi, Stacy Keach

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kurt Russell	...	Snake Plissken
A.J. Langer	...	Utopia
Steve Buscemi	...	Map to the Stars Eddie
Georges Corraface	...	Cuervo Jones (as George Corraface)
Stacy Keach	...	Cmdr. Malloy
Michelle Forbes	...	Brazen
Pam Grier	...	Hershe Las Palmas
Bruce Campbell	...	Surgeon General of Beverly Hills
Jeff Imada	...	Saigon Shadow
Cliff Robertson	...	President
Valeria Golino	...	Taslima
Peter Fonda	...	Pipeline
Ina Romeo	...	Hooker
Peter Jason	...	Duty Sergeant
Jordan Baker	...	Police Anchor

Storyline

The year is 2013 and Snake Plissken is back but this time it's L.A., which through the agency of earthquakes has become an island of the damned. But something has gone wrong in this new moral order, because the President's daughter has absconded to L.A. with a detonation device, and Snake is commandeered to retrieve it. But just below the surface there is a coiled Snake ready to strike.

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Plot Keywords:

earthquake | dystopia | machismo | electromagnetic pulse | political corruption | 

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Taglines:

Snake Is Back.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and some language

Did You Know?

Trivia

To get into character as a transgendered woman, Pam Grier would put a sock in her pants during shooting.

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Goofs

After Snake tries to shoot Malloy and Brazen before heading to LA, he is told his first 'clip' is loaded with blanks. His rifle does not use clips, it uses magazines.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Female Narrator: In the late 20th century, hostile forces inside the United States grow strong. The city of Los Angeles is ravaged by crime and immorality. To protect and defend its citizens, the United States Police Force is formed. A presidential candidate predicts a millennium earthquake will destroy L.A. in divine retribution.
President: Like the mighty fist of God, Armageddon will descend upon the city of Los Angeles - the city of sin, the city of Gomorrah, the city of Sodom - and waters will rise and ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Bad Movie Beatdown: Ghosts of Mars (2012)

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Soundtracks

The One
by Rob Zombie, Jay Yuenger (as J. Yuenger), Sean Yseult, John Tempesta & Charlie Clouser (as Charlie Clousser)
Performed by White Zombie
Courtesy of Geffen Recording Corporation

User Reviews

Earthquake of a Film

Snake, the man with the patch is back doing his thing in what used to be LA and he strolls down what is left of Wilshire Boulevard and takes time to shoot hoops at the Coliseum. Snake, (Kurt Russell) enters into the 9.6-quaked Los Angeles of 2013 in order to retrieve a black box which is a sort of end of the world device. Snake has friends and foes, Steve Buscemi, Peter Fonda, Stacy Keach, Cliff Robertson and a good actress Pam Grier. There is also plenty of action where Snake dive-bombs a Happy Kingdom theme park. The ending of this film is perfect and I enjoyed this film as much as Escape from New York. John Carpenter & Kurt Russell did a great job in the production and directing. Enjoy

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

9 August 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

John Carpenter's Escape from L.A.

Filming Locations:

Schlitterbahn Waterpark New Braunfels - 400 N Liberty Avenue, New Braunfels, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,912,557, 11 August 1996

Gross USA:

$25,477,365

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$25,477,365

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Rysher Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1