Escape from LA (1996) is a movie in our DVD collection that I recently rewatched on my DVR after recording it on RetroPlex. The storyline for this picture finds our government once again needing the assistance of Snake Plissken to prevent a dooms day device from getting into the wrong hands; and if it does, preventing it from going off. Now Los Angeles has been blocked off from society due to their lawless ways so Snake will need to navigate an apocalyptic landscape to accomplish his task.
This movie is directed by John Carpenter (Halloween) and stars Kurt Russell (Big Trouble in Little China), Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dog), Stacy Keach (Up in Smoke), A. J. Langer (The People Under the Stairs), Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead), Pam Grier (Jackie Brown), Peter Fonda (Easy Rider) and Paul Bartel (Death Race 2000).
The storyline for this is fairly cut and paste from the original with a series of over the top action scenes and bad CGI. There are some scenes that are horrendous - the basketball scene, surfing sequence, hang-gliding scene and the motorcycle landing in the truck were all...awful. There are some awesome cameos in this, especially Bruce Campbell who may be my favorite character in the movie. The outfits in this are fun but the lines are a bit cheesy. The ending was awesome.
Overall every time I watch this I wonder why John Carpenter read this and decided to make it. I'd give this a 5/10 and only recommend watching it if nothing better is on.
