Escape from New York

Escape from New York is an action thriller from 1981 and directed by John Carpenter, a director who many fans of the genre will rave about but one I'm not all that familiar with. His films also include The Thing, the original Assault on Precinct 13 and Halloween which have all been highly influential in Hollywood but when watching The Thing, I thought it was entertaining but it didn't grab me the same way Alien did. It had it's moments but I just couldn't see myself going through Carpenter's film as I have with other directors until catching Escape from New York on TV just recently. 

Released the year before The Thing, Kurt Russell stars as convicted criminal, Snake Plissken, who's been tasked with a chance at redemption by rescuing the U.S. president from Manhattan which has become a quarantined island for criminals in 1997. The film also stars Donald Pleasence as the president, Ernest Borgnine as a former cabbie to help Snake and Lee Van Cleef as Snake's boss calling the shots from across the Hudson River.

Made on a modest budget of $6,000,000, Carpenter aims for an ambitious sci-fi thriller that gets off to a good start with an exciting sequence where Snake lands a glider on the World Trade Center to infiltrate the city but as the film progresses it falls into a budgeted version of Mad Max meets The Warriors and ends on a lacklustre finale. I'm sure many will disagree, particularly if you saw this originally in the cinema, but I can see Carpenter has a great idea that just needed a few more resources at his disposal.

With that said, the film is still very tense and exciting during the opening act as Snake sneaks through a city that has descended into chaos, something The Dark Knight Rises could have improved upon, and the cast are all great to watch. Russell used this as his chance to shake-off his Disney image and paired with Van Cleef, I would have gladly welcomed a sequel with the two together for future missions on a larger budget. Unfortunately, when the sequel came Van Cleef had passed away and I gather Escape from L.A. isn't all that great.

Escape from New York also boasts a great score composed by Carpenter and benefits from that early 1980s feel when the films still carried strong influences from the more gritty offerings of the 1970s. As is also the case with the atmospheric tone of the film. When the budget allows, the film also delivers some great visuals that would all go along to inspire the highly acclaimed Metal Gear Solid video game series.

There is a great film in here but somewhere around the middle of the story, I just found myself losing interest as it couldn't quite match up to its potential. The final action sequence did little to change my opinion as a forgettable villain chases Snake across a dilapidated bridge where the budget straits really began show in what could have been a thrilling conclusion. If you are a fan of the Metal Gear series or enjoyed Carpenter's other work, then it might be worth your time but for everyone else, I'd suggest watching Mad Max 2.