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• Escape from New York

  • Dashiell B.
  • 1/13/13

  A known enthusiast for B-movies, director Carpenter made a true cult classic. Russell, sporting an eyepatch & a one-dimensional personality is a model for heroes of this genre; ensemble includes Borgnine, Van Cleef, Hayes & Stanton. This entertaining pulp story is not without faults, but the dystopian setting is well-created. A better story & more depth of characters could've made this a masterpiece, but that would destroy the cult of fans who appreciate this cyberpunk hit. I give it a 3.5/5.

• Kurt Saves the Day...

  • nshepard
  • 4/2/12

  Mostly filmed in the oppressive St. Louis heat wave of 1980(allot of night scenes) John Carpenter creates a very atmospheric moody film, where the U.S.President(Donald Pleaseance) crashes his capsule into the the prison city of New York. He is taken into hostage status, and Snake Plissken(Kurt Russell) is released from prison and promised full immunity if he rescues the Pres., and returns him safely. Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Harry Dean Stanton,Adrenne Barbeau,Issac Hayes all add to the story and give memorable performances. Many continuity and factual errors, but hey, mindless fun and an interesting storyline. 4 stars out of 5. Guilty pleasure for sure...

• John Carpenter at his best

  • BigReview
  • 1/24/11

  The first four notes of the opening title sequence are every bit as memorable as Carpenter's theme from Halloween (which is also great). That sequence is a perfect example of doing more with less, as it is nothing more than words appearing on a black background. Yet it perfectly sets the tone for the film, which creates this great environment into which the characters are immersed without over the top effects. The entire production is a testament to storytelling skill. The ensemble cast is great, including the great Kurt Russell, great character actors like Ernest Borgnine and Harry Dean Stanton, and genre legends like Lee Van Cleef, Tom Atkins, Donald Pleasance, Adrienne Barbeau, and Isaac Hayes. The perfectly paced and visually awesome scene between Russell battling Ox Baker is classic.

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