Dom Robinson reviews

Cat.no: 74321 671589

Cert: 15

Running time: 94 minutes

Year: 1981

Pressing: 1999

Region(s): 2 (UK PAL)

Chapters: 27 plus extras

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround)

Languages: English

Subtitles: None

Widescreen: 2.35:1

16:9-enhanced: No

Macrovision: No

Disc Format: DVD 5

Price: £15.99

Extras : Scene index, Background Information

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Director:

John Carpenter (Halloween, Escape From L.A., Dark Star)

Producer:

Debra Hill and Larry Franco

Screenplay:

John Carpenter and Nick Castle

Music:

John Carpenter

Cast:

Snake Plissken: Kurt Russell (Backdraft, Breakdown, Escape From L.A., Executive Decision)
Hauk: Lee Van Cleef (For A Few Dollars More, The Good The Bad And The Ugly, High Noon)
Cabbie: Ernest Borgnine (All Quiet On The Western Front, Marty, The Vikings, The Wild Bunch, "Airwolf" (TV))
President: Donald Pleasance (Halloween, All Quiet on The Western Front, Great Escape, Fantastic Voyage)
The Duke: Isaac Hayes (It Could Happen To You, Robin Hood: Men In Tights, "South Park" (TV))
Girl In Chock Full O'Nuts: Season Hubley (A Caribbean Mystery, Child In The Night, Stepfather 3)
Brain: Harry Dean Stanton (Alien, Cool Hand Luke, Repo Man, Wild At Heart)
Maggie: Adrienne Barbeau (The Burden Of Proof, The Fog, Target Witness)

John Carpenter's Escape From New York is the prequel to 1996's Escape From L.A., with Kurt Russell first taking on his role of Snake Plissken.

In 1988, the crime rate in the USA rises 400%. To curb the rampant violence in the streets, the once great city of New York becomes the one maximum security blockade in the entire country. A fifty foot containment wall is erected, completely surrounding and isolating Manhattan Island. All bridges and waterways are mined. The US Police Force, like an army, is encamped all around the prison and helicopters circle overhead incessantly. There are no guards inside, only the prisoners, left to live on their own in a place where lawlessness reigns supreme and there is only one rule: once you get in, you don't come out!

It's now 1997. The plane conducting the American President to summit meeting of world leaders is abducted by terrorists and crash-lands in New York. Before the Police Force can reach him, the President is taken hostage. The only way to rescue him in time for the decisive conference is to have a prisoner infiltrate the dark bowels of the penal colony.

Snake Plissken is picked because he's a tough-as-nails veteran of the Siberian Front in World War III, sentenced for robbing a bank. In exchange for his freedom, Snake is given 23 hours to bring back the President alive - and if he needs a reason not to go AWOL it'll be the two lethal injections implanted in the arteries in his neck, set to go off if he doesn't return home in time...

Kurt Russell equips himself perfectly as the hero with witty one-liners and a devil-may-care attitude, although he has the determination to see the job through - then again, faced with the alternative...

It's sad that two of the cast are no longer with us, namely Lee Van Cleef as Hauk and Donald Pleasance as the President.

Elsewhere in the cast is Isaac Hayes as the evil ganglord of New York known as The Duke. These days, however, he's taken on a role that's just as smooth - the voice of the singing chef in Sky TV's South Park. Harry Dean Stanton has made a living out of roles in bizarre films such as Repo Man and Wild At Heart, but those who are not hitting the big-time these days are Season Hubley and Adrienne Barbeau.

"Call me Snake..."

The print is watchable but has a few artifacts that aren't particularly noticeable when sat down on the couch. It also loses a point for not being anamorphic when it's standard practice for BMG to release 16:9-enhanced anamorphic versions in Germany, often with plenty of extras.

Thankfully, the film is presented in its original widescreen ratio of 2.35:1 which is the only way to watch this film and not the "Original ratio 1.33:1" as quoted on the back of the box which is wrong. The average bitrate is a good 5.97Mb/s, occasionally peaking over 7Mb/s.