Escape From New York (1981) - Brief Review

Harry Dean Stanton and Donald Pleasence in Escape From New York

Escape from New York is an iconic comedy-action film featuring the second of what would become a five film collaboration between director John Carpenter and star Kurt Russell. The film has well-deserved status as not just one of the top cult action films of all-time, but one of the most enjoyable action movies, period.

A simple recitation of the plot: in the future Manhattan has been turned into a giant prison, Air Force One crashes there, the President is taken hostage, and renegade bad-ass Snake Plissken is sent in for a rescue (in exchange for a pardon and not being killed by the police).

Plissken's character is a great one. Russell's performance in the role, however, has made the character a cinematic icon. Much credit, of course, goes to John Carpenter, who directed, wrote, and scored the film. His direction is outstanding - he works perfectly within the confines of a low budget, keeping things tightly shot where they need to be, but also letting scenes breathe where he can (such as a gladiator battle involving Plissken). The score is a classic Carpenter synth score with only one clear misstep involving one of Carpenter's usual "stingers." There's also an unfortunate, but hardly fatal, continuity problem that arose out of Carpenter's concern about not having every shot done at night. As it is, Carpenter does a great job in the dark, which gives the Manhattan prison a grimy, foreboding feeling, while also hiding that they shot most of the film outside of New York.

I could go on and on with praise (breaking my rules for brief reviews already), including for many of the great supporting actors. One item I really wanted to point out here, however, and the reason I posted this review, was Donald Pleasence's performance. Pleasance is a hilarious highlight as he plays a President that goes crackers after being tortured and humiliated by the prisoners. His firing of a weapon late in the movie is one of the all-time funny, gonzo moments in action movie history. Another thing: the movie knows it is silly and so plays things as comedy, but Carpenter also wants to make some political commentary. He inserts a preposterously silly plot item involving a cassette tape that also needs to be rescued. It could have been a problem except that it serves to set up one of film history's great anarchistic anti-hero endings. If for some reason you haven't seen this movie, watch it! If you haven't seen it in a while, perhaps it is time to watch it again.

Screened on Amazon Prime Instant.