aarondevoll John Carpenter's film stars Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken, a rugged, one eyed man who is jettisoned into a thuggish New York City that's been taken over by a crime lord named the Duke (Issac Hayes) to rescue a president (Donald Pleasence) taken hostage. To say anymore would spoil the fun but certainly it is quite memorable.The film uses the tropes of many classic westerns. Carpenter (himself a huge fan of westerns) turns a futuristic New York into a land brimming with grimy, sleazy men. The legendary Snake Plissken resembles the man with no name (who was based on Kurosawa's Yojimbo). Speaking one sentence at a time, Russell plays him with so much macho elegance, it's hard not to be absorbed when he's on screen.Escape from New York is similar in ways to The Warriors, another cult classic, released two years earlier but it's the casting in Carpenters film (Hayes, Stanton, Van Cleef) that give it a certain flavor despite its minimal plot. Carpenter would direct a sequel 15 years later with Escape from L.A. which is mostly dumb and worth watching only for a couple cool sequences with Russell.9/10. Escape from New York5/10. Escape from L.A.

jimw-36807 I first saw Escape From New York on HBO back in the early 80's (I was about 13 years old then.) I thought it was awesome, and it still is today, it's not outdated like some older movies. John Carpenter is my all time favorite director being that I grew up watching his movies. I would put this movie in his top 4. It features a great cast (my favorite Russell character, Snake is beyond cool.) Plus, it has an excellent soundtrack & is visually stunning. I bought the Blu ray collector's edition from Shout Factory, it's a nice two disc set. However, I felt that the video transfer could have been a bit better. If you have never seen this movie, you really should rent it. I bet you will enjoy it.

inspectors71 I felt disappointed when I watched John Carpenter's Escape from New York some 36 years ago, and when I saw it again two weeks ago, getting over a viral menace that makes everything ache, except the muscles for the remote, I found EfNY just as disappointing and silly. Now, mind you, this isn't supposed to be a big, thoughtful dystopian nightmare, just an adventure into the bowels of Manhattan-as- Supermax, wherein the President, Donald Pleasance, of all people, crashes, and it's up to our hero, Kurt Russell, to get him out. Read that last sentence again. Yes, I know it's a ginormous run-on, but all you need to know is right above this paragraph.It's that pretentious and dumb. And it's not even very good. Carpenter lets the reins go in the third reel, and the movie meanders and muddles until its inevitable "big message" ending. The whole thing is only 80+ minutes long, and I got bored. Never a good thing for dystopian nightmare action flicks.I guess Escape from New York was the first true inkling that Carpenter was going to collapse as a major director. I think he had one more goodun' in him, The Thing.

jimw-63592 I was in JR. High when I saw this on HBO back in the 1980's on a late Saturday night, and I loved every second of it. I was pretty young when John Carpenter and Debra Hill were cranking out their great movies, the first one I saw in the movie theater was Christine. But now with blu Ray I have a great collection of their movies, including the 2 disc collectors edition of Escape From New York form Shout Factory. It's amazing that this movie does not look outdated and has an incredible cast. Kurt Russell was perfect for Snake Plisken. I find it funny that Donald Pleasance is British and plays the U.S. President in this movie, but he was such an incredible actor. Isaac Hayes was excellent as well by playing the bad guy The Duke. I wish this movie would be re-released into the movie theatres so I could see it on the big screen. But, every time I watch a John Carpenter movie like Escape From New York, it takes me back to another time and place in my life. I think that's why I love his movies still today.