Review of Escape from New York (1981) by Jacob W — 07 Mar 2012
Of all of John Carpenter's films, this one was my favorite. It had my favorite type of hero, the anti-hero. The way it portrayed a dark future with a totilatarian dictatorship U.S. and turning the isle of Manhattan into a prison facility, surrounded by 50 foot walls and mined bridges.
Snake Pliskin (Kurt Russell) an ex soldier war hero turned wanted criminal is recruited by the warden of New York to rescue the president, who was taken by the inmates due to Air Force One being hijacked and crashing into Manhattan, containing an important cassette tape.
Snake is sent in, sees the decrepit and decayed once shining isle of Manhattan, but to the inmates, it's a Utopia, doing whatever they want and not having to answer to anyone. And at the end, all the inmates who help Snake all die trying, showing the audience how vulnerable these characters all are, giving the movie more realism, Snake says to the President "We did get you out.
A lot of people died in the process, I just want to know how you felt about that" all the president says is "I want to thank them as well, this nation appreciates their sacrifice" He says it so callously, and Snake stares at him for a bit.
"Look I'm on the air in two and a half minutes." clearly showing he doesn't give a shit. So as the president plays the cassette tape over the video broadcast, it turns out to be the wrong one, then it cuts to Snake destroying the real one, screwing over the fascist government he once served.
Got to love Snake Pliskin.
This review of Escape from New York (1981) was written by Jacob W on 07 Mar 2012.
Escape from New York has generally received positive reviews.
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