|
Escape from New York Posters
Photos Art
Search for Posters Art Prints, photos and get
results from all the many categories from Amazon including
books, videos, dvds, toys, video games, and more.
|
|
|
Posters Art
Prints Photos collectables |
|
|
|
|
|
|
If for some reason you can't find what the
poster or art print your looking for try using the search boxes
below
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Rating:  -
John Carpenter's "Escape From New York" movie was way ahead of it's time and is a much better script and story than "Escape From L.A." In the second movie or it's continuum, there was too much repetitive dialogue copied or borrowed from the 1st movie. Snake is always left behind by one of his fellow thieves in both films and same dialogue of threats are made from United States Police Force commanding officers towards Plissken. They broke the mold with "E.F.N.Y." film after it was released into theaters. Do they have a 'special featurettes' with the new dvd version of "Escape From New York"?
Rating:  -
The movie held my interest, despite a crazy premise: the answer to out of control crime in the futuristic USA is to contain it in a big city surrounded by water and mines and whatever other disincentive to split. Why Washington, D.C. would choose the financial capital for the experiment is beyond any second-rate science fiction writer and should have been beyond Mr. Carpenter.
So we have the worm-laden Big Apple denizen Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), a War hero, whom the viewer is left to surmise, became a civilian criminal not long after his patriotic exploits. Anyway, the Police Chief enlists Snake to rescue the President, who has crash landed inside the prison-city and has become a prisoner himself. The viewer is never sure how much sympathy to lend to Snake because the details of his lawlessness are not brought out.
Instead of appealing to his good sense and inate Patriotism, they implant him with an explosive to be detonated if he doesn't accomplish his mission in due time. Interesting logic.
Along the way, he encounters the Brain and his girlfriend, none other than Adrienne Barbeau, who doesn't have alot to do, in fact, seems disintetested in the Brain, who doesn't exactly display the machismo of the Snake. She does come through in the end as a cool kitty wielding a weapon which advances the plot; she's every bit as cool as the cool cat Snake (just to mix metaphors for fun).
There's some "New York" left to New York, at least in one shot of what appears to be Central Park, though the production looks very cardboard. Bizarre lighting effects to create a composite of the Roman Colisseum in ruins and Broadway in decay.
Probably the best acting comes from the *musician* Isaac Hayes, who plays the unofficial inmate representative, the Duke; some of the best over-acting comes from the always dependable Ernest Borgnine, who drives a mean taxi-cab. Barbeau under-acts...good choice. I detected no close-ups for her.
Ultimately, the story has no useful symbolism, and is quite suspect in it's cynical view of Government. Snake shows no interest in rescuing the President, says "get another President", then reluctantly agrees to save him. When Donald Pleasence delivers his reassuring speech to the Nation following the rescue, Snake walks away in disgust.
Russell was two years away from a silly bio.-pic. on his childhood idol, Elvis Presley, and even incorporates some of that style here and there. But it's like when Elvis played a prize fighter and looked about 100 bench presses away from believability. Barbeau as the Brain's "Squeeze", didn't even look twice.
Rating:  -
Snake Plissken is one of those iconic characters, who everyone knows about, and who everyone loves. Except for me. Until now. I had no idea who Snake Plissken was until ages ago, when someone bought a soft toy snake, and called it Plissken.
There's something about Kurt Russell, that makes him fit the anti/reluctant hero role so well, he surpasses himself in this movie, as he was a bit cocky in Big Trouble In Little China, but here, he's mean, he's moody, and he's a bad boy. Perfect guy!
In Escape From New York, Plissken has to rescue the president, a guy he really couldn't give a damn about. Air Force One has crashed into Manhattan Island, holding the largest prison, and the President is now trapped, with vital information on his person. Freshly captured, and about to be incarcerated, Plissken is ordered to rescue him, within a time limit of 22-24 hours, and that's that. Lots of fighting, chasing and Kurt looking pretty damn good. It starts off set in the future (but in the past by now!), where in 1997 there were high levels of crime. New York is now a high level prison, where all the toughest criminals are to serve life. It's survival of the fittest inside, with no rules, except what's made by the prisoners, so it's survive or die!
The film's quite brisk, and passes by quite quickly. There's literally no scenes in this that deserved to be on the cutting room floor, and it was to the point. No nonsense from the Plissken. The only quibble is that it's dated now - they actually use cassette tapes (how did we EVER manage?), and apart from Kurt's hair (mullets were never a good idea), it feels like it could have been made recently.
There's something about Escape From New York, in my opinion, it lacked a certain something. It never really punched me right in the gut. But it was a good movie. With a meagre budget, compared to today's standards, it doesn't look that way.
With rumours about this being remade - with Gerard Butler of all actors - I seriously hope it falls through. I wasn't quite sure what all the fuss about Kurt was about until I saw this. This film cannot and should not be remade. Get some original ideas and leave Snake Plissken alone.
Rating: -
Oh yeah, the entirety of Manhatten island, surrounded by a 50-foot concrete wall! Just drop the convicts in and leave. Oopsy daisy! The president's plane has crashed within said mega-penitentiary! Now, it's up to total bada$$, Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell from The Thing) to rescue the prez along with the secret tape he carries. Can Snake slither his way through the roving gangs of nocturnal nutcases? ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK was to me, John Carpenter's last fully satisfying movie. Though I did love THEY LIVE, I've found his other movies after EFNY to be hit and miss. EFNY ended Carpenter's string of perfection that included DARK STAR, ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, HALLOWEEN, THE FOG, and THE THING. ESCAPE is also pleasing in that it's a cavalcade of Carpenter regulars like Donald Pleasence (Halloween), Charles Cyphers (Assault On Precinct 13, Halloween, The Fog), Tom Atkins (The Fog), and the ever-delectible, Adrienne Barbeau (The Fog)! It's always cool to see any of these folks together. Plus, we get Harry Dean Stanton (Alien, Repo Man) as Brain, Ernest Borgnine (from the original Willard, The Devil's Rain) as Cabbie, Lee Van Cleef (The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly), and Isaac Hayes himself as the Duke of New York! My favorite scenes include the death-match between Snake and that bearded behemoth, and any scene with Ms. Barbeau running at me! Buy this immediately, it's a bloody masterpiece...
Rating:  -
Only goes to show you Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson aren't the early 80's only people who can portray a wicked-cool tough guy. Escape from New York is John Carpenter's post apocalyptic answer to those lone wolf anti-heroes we used to see in the classic westerns. Though the movie is rough around it's edges I see this one as one of Carpenter's better movies.
Stick an anti-establishment ex-military dude, load him up with weapons and drop him in a city controlled by roving gangs of convicts. That's Escape from New York in a nutshell. What makes it work? The characters. What makes the characters work? The actors. You get a nice slice of star power in this movie with the likes of Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasance, Adrienne Barbeau and a slew of others. Put them together and you have some pretty sweet performances. Even Isaac Hayes (Chef of South Park) plays a surprisingly interesting role as the Duke of New York. Considering he was a popular singer back then and not an actor I'm impressed. Of course Kurt Russell owns the screen as Snake Plissken. Thanks for Russel's portrayal that name will go down in sci-fi history.
Special effects aren't much to speak of. Most of the movie is based on set design of a ruined New York City. Not exactly high budget and it shows. The special effects that are on the movie are in the beginning and are quite impressive in a very subtle way. First off you have the model work that really brings the trashed city to life. Also there are some images they put on a display screen that have an impressive and very convincing three-dimensional effect you wouldn't expect by first looking at it. Although it's brief, it's neat enough to be worth noting.
Action there is plenty. You get running gun fights, arena death matches, exploding land mines, and a race against the clock. Kind of like a street gang movie with more props. They do get into that tired cliché of killing off as many good guys as you can so the hero can be left alone. Such a shame when considering alternatives to that predictable formula. Plissken is a relatively one dimensional character, but in a way that's the beauty of him. Just keep in mind you won't see much character growth in him.
Escape from New York could be called your standard post apocalyptic/gang war type movie, only this is the one that set that standard in the first place. Many people consider it a classic and I tend to agree. It's an interesting look into that harsh cyberpunk future without all the gadgets and tech in the way. It's not a classic in the sense of the greatest of the great, but it is a landmark in science fiction heritage and should be respected as such.
|
