'Escape From New York'
The Ringer's Bill Simmons, Shea Serrano, and Chris Ryan record this pod from the inside of a maximum security prison after rewatching John Carpenter's 1981 sci-fi adventure 'Escape From New York' starring Kurt Russell and Lee Van Cleef.
Cast
Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken
Lee Van Cleef as Hauk
Isaac Hayes as The Duke of New York
Donald Pleasence as The President
Harry Dean Stanton as Brain
Adrienne Barbeau as Maggie
Ernest Borgnine as Cabbie
Directed by: John Carpenter
Written by: John Carpenter, Nick Castle
Notes
- Filmed in East St. Louis, Illinois, which looked so run-down they didn't need to add much to make it look post-apocalyptic.
- James Cameron was on the special effects crew – one of his earliest film jobs.
- Jamie Lee Curtis narrated the opening prologue.
- J.J. Abrams was in a test audience focus group for the film at age 11.
- John Carpenter bought the Chain of Rocks Bridge for $1 to use as a location.
- Made on a $6 million budget and grossed $25 million.
- Carpenter wrote the screenplay in the mid-1970s as a reaction to Watergate.
Categories
Quote from Rog's review:
“Escape From New York has the disadvantage of its own preposterous premise. The setup is so unlikely and the hero so unsympathetic that we are left trying to enjoy it on the level of a 1950s science-fiction movie.”
- Snake's introduction and the bank robbery scene
- The gladiator fight at Madison Square Garden with the baseball bats
- The crossing of the 69th Street Bridge
- Kurt Russell's performance – he's just incredible in this
- The synth score by John Carpenter
- The practical effects and the grimy, lived-in feel of the world
- The idea that Manhattan would be turned into a prison – New York is the most expensive real estate in the world now
- Some of the action sequences look a bit cheap
- The pacing in the middle section drags
- Charles Bronson was considered for Snake Plissken
- Tommy Lee Jones was considered for Snake
- Jeff Bridges was also in the mix
- Harry Dean Stanton as Brain – winner
- Ernest Borgnine as Cabbie
- Isaac Hayes as The Duke – 'A-number-one!'
- Donald Pleasence as the President – he's terrified the entire movie
Frank Doubleday as Romero – the creepy henchman who barely speaks but steals every scene he's in
- Kurt Russell – this launched his action star career
- John Carpenter – established him as a master of genre filmmaking
- Lee Van Cleef – great late-career role
- Why does the President have a tape of important information instead of just knowing it?
- The timeline doesn't quite work – how does Snake get everywhere so fast?
This would be incredible as a limited series – you could really build out the world of the prison island
- What did Snake Plissken do to become so famous?
- How did they actually convert all of Manhattan into a prison?
Kurt Russell – this is his movie from start to finish
The hosts discussed the film's production history, Carpenter's influences, and the cast's backgrounds