Rating of
3/4
"Escape From New York" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 02/27/12
An infamous mercenary is coerced into rescuing the president from a Manhattan island that has been turned into a lawless prison colony of the near future. Because of this cult action sci-fi from John Carpenter, Snake Plissken became one of the iconic action heroes of the 1980s; showing nothing but contempt for authority and hissing his lines like Dirty Harry with PMS, Kurt Russell becomes the embodiment of rebellious 80s machismo. To be honest, Carpenter's static camera work never lent itself particularly well to action, but a ridiculous yet insanely cool premise, Russell's charisma and an inspired supporting cast more than make up for the rather sluggish set pieces. The post apocalyptic representation of New York is brilliantly recreated, the whole of Manhattan eerily shrouded in darkness, made all the more haunting by the presence of the desolate twin towers looming overhead. The rest of the cast are also great fun, including Donald Pleasance as the weasely president, blaxploitation star Isaac Hayes as the uber-mack daddy Duke of New York and Harry Dean Stanton as Snake's spineless and double-crossing "partner". It has dated, but in a nostalgic "kitsch" kind of way and it's still a bit of a B-movie classic. A-number one!
