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ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK review

Never trust a Harry Knowles review by Tall_Boy	Aug 1st, 1999 11:20:49 PM
remember, in his enternal wisdom, "The Haunting is better than Star Wars." If that don't clue you in, I dunno what will. BTW, if Escape from LA is any indication, I think I'll miss out on the "classic" escape from New York. I mean, John Carpenter did that piece of cinematic trash, er, genius, Vampires, so any of his films give me an alergic reaction almost as bad as a Leo movie. . .except maybe THE BEACH (gotta love the Trainspotting boys) I orginally had a point to make, but I lost it. Oh well. . .
First? by cyboman	Aug 1st, 1999 11:25:29 PM
I may be first...if so, woo hoo. Snake Plissken? I thought you were dead! p.s. all AICN readers are invited to check out my new movie review site. I rate 'em on a percentage scale. The site is brand new, and doesn't have many reviews yet, but I want to invite Harry & all the AICN geeks (whom I respect greatly) to the birth of this site!! http://www.seanet.com/~markmur phy/MarksMarks.html
"Escape" is Carpenter's Best. by MagykElf	Aug 1st, 1999 11:50:35 PM
I agree with Harry, "Escape From New York" is John Carpenter's best film to date. That's kind of a sad statement because it was made back in the VERY early Eighties. Tall Boy above may have a personal point about Harry's opinions, but he obviously hasn't seen this awesome film. I want the REAL Director's Cut that would include the whole TEN minutes of footage only hinted at in the Carpenter interview. The scenes where Snake and buddies hold up the gold depository and then escape on a trans-continental underground subway. Snake is betrayed and arrested when the subway reaches the west coast. It would edit in perfectly just before the main credit sequence and really help establish Snake Pliskin's character to the viewer. --Sigh-- Maybee someday.
Carpenter's best?? What the hell?!? by Cronksty	Aug 2nd, 1999 12:21:22 AM
What is all this talk of Escape From New York being Carpenter's best? call me trendy, but Halloween is the true champion. Is there anyone else out there who DIDN't really get into Escape From New York like all these other geeks (by the way, this is the only site that I know of where the word geek is not used as an insult)??? Well, maybe I need to see a version besides the crappy VHS copy that rests in the cult classics section within Hollywood Video. That'll do it, but, by the way, I have this really strange feeling I need confirmation on: did the Paramount in Austin show plays before movies. I could have sworn that I saw A Christmas Carol performed there when I was like 10.
Harry, the clinging balls of shit remark was a little too much f by reni	Aug 2nd, 1999 01:06:00 AM
I can't handle it...
"I've come here to do two things: chew bubblegum and kick ass... by Martin Q Blank	Aug 2nd, 1999 02:27:09 AM
Ye-eehh. Don't dismiss the coolness of 'They Live.' Unfortunately not meeting New York's pinnacle, but damn it feels good to write that classic line.
Snake Plisskin vs. Jack Burton by devil0509	Aug 2nd, 1999 03:55:19 AM
That would be a cool video game. Personally, I think Big Trouble in Little China is Carpenter's best movie, because it parodies perfectly all the white-hero-in-amongst-the-exot ic-and-dangerous-Chinese bullshit Hollywood has thrown out there (ie: Year of the Dragon and Black Rain). The Thing is another good Carpenter movie, by the way, if anyone hasn't seen it. Now, just a question...who is the cooler character? Snake Plisskin or Jack Burton? I gotta love Jack, but then I favor that movie. "I can see thing no one else can see. Why are you dressed like that?"
The sad thing is... by Nootch	Aug 2nd, 1999 06:01:38 AM
...in your gushing over this film you fail to even once mention Mr. Carpenter. I guess he had nothing to do with the movie being the classic that it is?
The mad max universe thing by Pick	Aug 2nd, 1999 06:40:14 AM
THAT, really got my attention. You are right, the two universes are perfect tie ins. I couldn't think of any way to actually join the two without it being totally cheezy(Freddy vs Jason) but the images will churn in my brain for the next few days as I fall asleep.....Just as they did with EP1 (which was a better movie to dream about than see, I STILL imagine what it could've been). Ag, whenever I try to put a scenario into my head, images of THE POSTMAN and WATERWORLD pop up. Gotta face it I guess, the post apocatalyptic action movie genre has been sucked dry.
Click on the Alamo Draft house link, Wizard of Oz and Dark side by spike lee	Aug 2nd, 1999 08:31:35 AM
And Rambo playing. That is incredible. I live in Houston and we never get anything that cool. I look on the bright side of things, at least Sandra Bullock does not call our town home.
Lay off already by Toranaga	Aug 2nd, 1999 08:59:38 AM
If Harry likes a movie, he likes a movie. Not everyone will share the same opinion. Hell, I had an argument with my parents last night. "Blair Witch sucked!" "No it didn't!" If you rely on a person to tell you what movie to see, its your own problem. Now that that's out of the way, EFNY is a kick ass movie. I happenned to be at that screening at it rocked on the big screen. Its even more fun when you play the Snake Plisken Drinking Game. "Snake Pliskin, I thought you were dead!" Drink up! It makes a difference on the big screen. My wife hated Big Trouble in Little China until we saw it at the Alamo. But I must disagree with Harry. EFNY is a damn fine film, but cannot touch Assult on Precinct 13 or The Thing. The Thing is perfection, and if you have not seen it, get it today. John Carpenter is the master.
Carpenter. What happened? by zlow	Aug 2nd, 1999 09:41:32 AM
John Carpenter has made some of my favorite movies of all time (EFNY, The Thing, AP13). Very few directors can evoke a mood or feeling from film to film that easily identifies the director. Carpenter had that touch, but the man who made those great movies from the 80's is no longer with us. IMHO, every film since They Live seems motivated by money and lacks Carpenter's great approach to making b-movies with style and intelligence (i.e. EFNY).
Big Trouble is my fav JC flick... by Ninja Nerd	Aug 2nd, 1999 11:33:14 AM
Harry, EFNY is definitely one of the coolest "badass" flicks ever made, but top honors at my house go to Big Trouble in Little China. We quote lines from it (and a million other flicks) all the time. Because the boy and I are real ninja types, this gem is also number one on the top ten martial arts movies list (of which there are only eight, by the way)at our house. Our second favorite Carpenter film - almost a tie with EFNY - is They Live. Escape is great in so many ways and TL has some glaring problems, but somehow it works. I play the theme from it on the guitar...great bass lick. To me, TL had an edge they should have done with the "V" crap on NBC a few years ago. Oh well, my 2 cents worth. As always, if you don't like what I say, then BOOT TO THE HEAD! :-)
well by Elmo_Da_pimp	Aug 2nd, 1999 05:09:46 PM
Well you know what Jack Burton always saws.Haha i just couldnt resist.
by Elmo_Da_pimp	Aug 2nd, 1999 05:14:06 PM
opps i mean says
christ was a carpenter, carpenter is a christ by Krinkle	Aug 2nd, 1999 07:10:12 PM
Not to name drop, but I told Joel Hodgson the above once and his jaw dropped. "Carpenter is Christ?" he said. The next time I saw him (trust me, he's the only semi-famous person I have ever known), months later, he told me (winking) that he still "doesn't agree with me about John Carpenter?" Well, damn it, I THINK JOHN CARPENTER IS THE BEST GENRE DIRECTOR ALIVE, MAYBE THE BEST THIS COUNTRY HAS EVER PRODUCED. He's underrated, mostly because he has never really attempted to break out of his bastardized niche. When I was working at Video Archives (yes, THAT Video Archives), my first project was "The JOHn Carpenter Wall", wherein I collected all of his films and tried to get people interested. And they were. They even rented "Black Moon Rising", which our man wrote. He's just so KICKASS!! That's the word, a stupid one. But that's the word. I mean, look at the resume: "Assault On Precinct 13", "Halloween", "The Fog", "Escape From New York", "CHristine", "The Thing", "Starman", "Prince OF Darkness", "They LIve", "In The MOuth OF Madness", "Escape From L.A.", "Vampires"--he's so terrific! His films are so MACHO, they're so COMPACT, they always end on a harsh cut to black, his SCORES are great, he always shoots in 2.35:1--my God, what more could you want in a cause celebrer director? Quentin's got De Palma, and I've got Carpenter. (Anybody else hungry for a DVD release of his two TV films, "Elvis" and "Somebody's Watching Me?"
RE: Krinkle by Veidt	Aug 2nd, 1999 07:51:04 PM
You hit the nail on the head about Carpenter being The Man. Of all the great directors I admire (from Hitchcock to DePalma to Kubrick to Cronenberg) the one I actually own the most films by and re-watch the most are those of Carpenter. He may not always scale the heights of the aforementioned geniuses but he has one of the few filmographies in cinema truly deserving of being considered autuerish. His films are so distinctive not only visually but thematically. His tough, cynical, paranoid, misanthropic films form a consistent body of work that distinguish his films from that of his peers. And I do think that it's Carpenter's refusal to pay attention to popular trends that has unfairly marginalized him in the eyes of many critics and equally why so many of his films seem to emerge as classics only long after their initial release (The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, Prince of Darkness, They Live, to name a few and I suspect the followings for In the Mouth of Madness and Vampires will similarly expand in time). For me a new Carpenter film is always an event. For my money, film for film he's the best genre director America has ever produced.
Escape From New York by W. Leach	Aug 3rd, 1999 05:40:01 AM
I'm not much of a John Carpenter fan. In fact, I only consider three of his movies to be worthwhile (and I've seen 'em all): HALLOWEEN, ELVIS, and ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK. But can someone answer me a question: a few years ago, New Line Home Video released a "director's cut" of the film, boasting that it contained the original opening, showing Plissken committing his crime. Yet the tape shows about thirty seconds of this footage over a John Carpenter interview, and the movie is the same theatrical version that's been shown since 1981. Why does the tape case SAY it contains missing footage when it doesn't? Oh well. On another note, Ernest Borgnine spoke at my college graduation in 1997 (I graduated in New Haven, and Borgnine was a Hamden [next town over] resident). Unfortunately, I didn't have the balls to approach him, even though, before the ceremony, he was only a few feet away from me.
Holy shit by jimimack	Aug 4th, 1999 10:26:47 PM
Are we talking about this flick on AICN??? This is my favorite movie of all time, I can repeat the dialogue verbatum. "You gonna tell me Brain, or do I gotta beat it out of your squeeze?" I just bought the soundtrack, and I also bought the limited edition soundtrack to Big Trouble because it has a previously unreleased track from Escape on it. I too want to see the edited opening scene replaced on a DVD Director's Cut, not that pussy shit on the VHS version. Does anyone else wonder what the fuck is up when Escape from LA is out on DVD, and not the far superior Escape from New York???
Definitions by Khaless	Aug 7th, 1999 12:17:08 AM
If you looked up "badass" in the dictionary, Snake Plissken would be in the illustration.
Carpenter's good, not god by limbo	Aug 7th, 1999 02:53:17 PM
Before everyone goes off on a John Carpenter jizzfest, let's not forget that he's had his share of seriously bad movies. Body Bags is complete crap--oh, no, scary hair!!!--and Vampires could have been cool, but just ended being a scriptless piece of brainless-action foolishness. Personally, I think Halloween is overrated, too: I saw it for the first time recently (I'm in my late-20s, and can remember all the buzz when this first appeared 20-odd years ago on the then-fledgling HBO), and couldn't believe how nonscary it was. (Love the theme music, though.) I'm sure no one will agree with me, but I actually thought Halloween: H20, where Jamie Lee goes ballistic and actually pursues Michael with a vengeance, was way more exciting. I must say, though, that The Thing remake is a damn fine movie, and I liked Escape From New York, too. But Carpenter's not immune from serving up some real shit once in a while.
http://home.earthlink.net/~quiet bob/carp/stories/ by mrplissken	Aug 9th, 1999 02:45:47 AM
The above link will take you to some Carpenter Fanfiction (at Patrick Kerrs John Carpenter page), including my story KANSAS CITY, FOUR YEARS AGO which details the bank heist involving Snake, Brain, and Fresno Bob that was mentiones in EFNY (I also have a FOG story there as well). Glad you finally reviewed this classic film, Harry. I saw EFNY at the tender age of 12 back in 1982 and it, along with HALLOWEEN, had such an impact on me that I knew I someday wanted to be a writer and filmmaker. The hard edged, laconic characters, the eriee setting, the powerful, futuristic/gothic music, and the beautiful cinematography firmly imbedded themselves in my psyche and not a day goes by that I don't seem to rattle off a line or an entire scene off to my girlfriend or a family member. EFNY has been, and alway will be, my all time favorite film, for personal as well as obvious reasons- it's pretty much my STAR WARS (and hey, I love that little gem as well). The absolutley perfect ending tracking shot, with Snake walking off to fight another day, fucking over THE MAN (yeah!) with a slight smile on his face, all to the incredibly cool main title theme still make me feel like a 12 year old every time I see it. I always wondered where Snake went after that (I try to think of LA as a fever dream he had) and I just had to revist him in the past at least, with KANSAS CITY. For those of you who check it out, I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And Harry- I think a great poll would be one in which you do a survey to drum up intrest for ESCAPE FROM EARTH. Maybe even see if Robert would put his directorial power behind it. He's the only one besides Carpenter that I would want to see bring Snake Plissken back to the big screen. And if he would let me show him my treatment/Screenplay for ESCAPE FROM EARTH, hey, I'd be happier than a Crazy in a dank sewer tunnel. Take care, guys! Kirk Howard Hazen ---http://home.earthlink.net/~ quietbob/carp/stories/
But Harry, what did you think about THE FILM? by emorr	Aug 11th, 1999 10:07:55 AM
I was waiting for a review in there somewhere.
Harry got it wrong about Tom Aitkin by Frank Doubleday	Sep 16th, 1999 01:19:56 PM
The classic original actor who played Pit Bull's bird like man, Tom Aikin played Hauk's right hand man!!! Credit where credits due Frank also played the cool Gang White warlord who shoots the little girl with the ice cream!
Tom Atkins passed away recently.... by mrplissken	Sep 19th, 1999 09:20:50 PM
First J.T. Walsh and now this: I read while browsing the Hallowee.com site that the highly underrated character actor Tom Atkins passed away recently from heart problems. Being a Pittsburgher (Atkins hometown), I saw him just last November looking tough as nails at the local south hills Borders books. Tom really had a unique screen presence (he rooted the supernatural elements in THE FOG with a blue collar reality and likewise had the same regular tough guy charm in ESCAPE and other films and TV shows like NIGHT OF THE CREEPS and THE ROCKFORD FILES) and he had a way of delivering his lines that just stole every scene he was in (witness his speech as Det. Cameron in CREEPS, where he tells Spanky about his 'cover-up'- GREAT stuff!). It's a little eriee; I have a script that I've been working on for the past year and a half and have had three actors in mind for the main role- Tom Atkins, Darwin Joston (who played the great Napoleon Wilson in ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13) and Robert Forster (of JACKIE BROWN and THE BLACK HOLE fame), all mature character actors, perfect for my main character. Well, Darwin Joston sadly passed away last year and now Tom is gone. I wish Robert Forster the best of health, and hope like hell that my project's not jinxed! My sympathies to Mr. Atkins family- we movie fans will miss his presence dearly. Kirk Hazen
Tom Atkins may be alive after all! by mrplissken	Oct 4th, 1999 07:34:09 AM
There seems to be some confusion reguarding Tom Atkin's demise: there have been some very recent local sightings (he apparently was at the local Pittsburgh Borders south within the last week), so there might just be some misinformation out there. There are folks looking into this, so hopefully we'll find Mr Atkins alive and kicking and ready to tear into another meaty character part on the screen soon...
But.....but it's New York for the time of your life! by Wolfpack	Aug 19th, 2006 08:41:04 AM

During 911 it was EFNY when..... by Orcus	Aug 21st, 2006 10:17:33 AM
the bridges and tunnels closed. I had to stay with family in Manhattan until they let us out

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