On E List of Movie Reviews

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Escape from New York (1981)

Rate: 9
Viewed: 11/02, 10/03, 1/05, 6/06, 11/21

Eny
6/06: At the hands of master director John Carpenter, Escape from New York is an ultimate cult film.

It's also a surreal futuristic flick with an all-time badass by the name of Snake Plissken whom Kurt Russell was born to play. He has frequently mentioned that Escape from New York was his favorite of all films he had done and that Snake Plissken was his favorite of all characters he had played.

Epitomizing the definition of "antihero," Snake doesn't give two shits about the mission of saving the President of the United States. He just wants to get the hell out and move on with his life. The persona, the monosyllabic talk, and the getup along with the eye patch make the character of Snake Plissken unique and ultra cool.

Of course, all hell breaks loose in New York City when Snake meets unsavory, eerie-looking characters around the city and starts pissing them off which makes for a fun picture. The premise is also intelligently crafted because there's nothing like it.

All in all, Escape from New York is one of the best John Carpenter pictures.

11/21: A true antihero, Snake Plissken is one of the coolest characters ever conceived in the history of motion pictures.

A unique picture in its own right, Escape from New York is a bona fide John Carpenter classic with a great cast and an interesting storyline. My favorite recurring theme is Snake's reputation preceding him and everybody can't believe they're seeing him in the flesh. It's also comical when Snake insists people he's neutral with to call him "Snake" and people he dislikes to call him "Plissken."

All in all, when Kurt Russell's career will be analyzed in retrospective, Escape from New York is going to be recognized as his magnum opus.