After revisiting John Carpenter's Escape From New York, I am pleased to say that this thrilling dystopian masterpiece still holds up great and maintains its tough cynical bite at authority, appropriately reflecting the mistrust society still has with political authority today. What truly makes Snake Plissken remain an iconic character is not just his nihilistic manner and rebellious attitude, it's mostly the mystery that surrounds him. With Hollywood's urgent need today to over-explain every character and world in popular entertainment properties till every sense of awe and wonder that made these movies great die with one last desperate gasp, it's refreshing to revisit a time that respected the power of mystery and mythology.
Snake is a lone gunslinger with combat skills, an Eastwood growl, and an eyepatch who's seen some crazy shit and is thrown into a dangerous situation with his life on the line—that's all this movie needs to explain, there's no need to hold the audience's hand and insult their intelligence. Played by a hugely talented cast including Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Tom Atkins, Donald Pleasence, Isaac Hayes, Harry Dean Stanton, and Adrienne Barbeauhe, the supporting characters are all equally intriguing and not wasted as exposition. Every character this movie introduces opens up this world and the imagination of the viewer, much like the best pulp and fantasy stories often do.
This was the biggest budget Carpenter was given to work with at the time, yet it's still quite modest for the sheer scale of his ambitions. The practical approach to the dark setting with model sets and matte paintings gives this movie a timeless quality that feels more real than most computer-generated set pieces offered in movies today. From the opening Jamie Lee Curtis narration to its anti-authoritarian conclusion, Escape From New York is a thrilling post-apocalyptic adventure that has influenced countless stories in movies, books and video games. John Carpenter was at his absolute best creatively in the ’80s, and though I think Starman is his underrated gem, Escape From New York made a stronger cultural impact in that decade, and for good reason.
Scream Factory used a new 2K high-definition scan of the original negative, making this version the best this movie has (and probably ever will) looked. The bonus features are more than any fan could hope for, comprising a new audio commentary with actress Adrienne Barbeau and director of photography Dean Cundey, audio commentary with co-writer/director John Carpenter and lead actor Kurt Russell, and an audio commentary with producer Debra Hill and production designer Joe Alves.
There's also a fascinating featurette fittingly called "Big Challenges In Little Manhattan: The Visual Effects" that shows how the look of Carpenter's dystopian world was created. Another great featurette, "Scoring the Escape: A Discussion With Composer Alan Howarth", focuses on the iconic soundtrack and its revival. An interview with set photographer Kim Gottlieb-Walker, titled "On Set with John Carpenter: The Images of Escape from New York", dives into portions of her engrossing book, and new interviews with actor Joe Unger and filmmaker David DeCoteau add even more intrigue to the extras.
For Escape From New York fans yearning for further footage, the deleted scene, "The Original Opening Bank Robbery Sequence", should satisfy, and the "Return To Escape From New York" featurette should also please Plissken devotees. I haven't been this impressed with a Scream Factory release since Phantom of the Paradise, and I highly suggest adding this one to your collection as soon as possible.
Movie Score: 4.5/5, Disc Score: 5/5
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