Review of Escape from New York (1981) by Dawdlingpoet — 27 Nov 2021

This is very much a 1980s film. It has the look and feel (plus the sound, I suppose) of a 1980s sci-fi film. I couldn't help but smile at some of the outdated technology shown in this film and I imagine for fans of it, there's quite a lot to be nostalgic about.

I thought it was interesting that in the film, the main character goes into the World Trade Center to try and locate the president, having been involved in a crash nearby (thankfully the president wasn't killed in 9/11, obviously).

I wonder how they managed to film it - large urban sets with a desolate backdrop. The sense of fear and distrust is fairly strong. It has quite an underworld type feel to it too. Yes its kind of cheesy but its an ok watch, especially/particularly if you like destruction and not full out explosive type destruction but things being smashed into other things type destruction.

For me, this is ok but not an especially good film as such. I know its a bit of a cult hit - fair enough but I wouldn't outright recommend it as such, no.