Entertainment

Cult Movie: Escape with an eighties classic

Escape From New York

THE year is 1997 and society has indeed gone to hell in the proverbial handcart.

As lawlessness rules and the criminals run riot, Manhattan has been turned into one big prison colony to house the very baddest of the bad guys. When the President of the USA crash-lands inside this forbidden zone only one man can bring him back : Snake Plissken, a one time Special Forces war hero who now earns his crust as a fearless outlaw.

In exchange for a full pardon, Snake agrees to being dropped down into the ravaged city where he must battle the inmates to save the president. To add a little extra pressure to his task he’s got an explosive charge planted inside his body that will detonate in 24 hours if he fails in his mission.

That’s the plot of director John Carpenter’s Escape From New York and while time hasn’t been too kind to it since its release in 1981 there’s no denying that it remains a fun-filled thrill ride for cult junkies.

There’s the setting to enjoy for a start. As anyone fortunate enough to have visited New York pre clean-up in the late seventies and early eighties will testify, the Big Apple was fairly rotten to its core in that era and Carpenter captures that grimy, sleazy side to the city’s neon underbelly beautifully.

He makes the cardinal sci-fi sin of setting the film in a year not too far away (1997 probably seemed like a lifetime away in 1981, admittedly) and that dates proceedings somewhat but enter this world with an open mind and there is much fun to be had despite the slightly tatty trimmings.

Kurt Russell is splendid as Snake Plissken and he huskily delivers his familiar hard man lines with all the heavy-handed charm of an eye patch wearing B-movie hero of the highest order. The script is cliché-ridden of course but it’s hard to deny the laidback charm of the muscle-bound Russell as he barnstorms his way through the streets. Carpenter would later use Russell to similar if less histrionic effect in his re-make of The Thing but that’s the subject of another cult column altogether.

Top notch cult hero support comes from the likes of Donald Pleasence, who adds an unlikely actorly gravitas to the role of the stranded president, and there are small but nicely formed parts for the great Harry Dean Stanton and western anti-hero Lee Van Cleef that up the cult credibility points even further.

There’s even a home for Stax soul man Isaac Hayes – still best remembered for his Oscar-winning score to Shaft and his role as Chef in South Park. He plays the Duke of New York, who imprisons the president and sparks the whole crazy adventure off. His inclusion adds to the sense of postmodern playfulness that the film throws up throughout its 99 minutes.

Carpenter films usually bear two distinct trademarks: a synth-heavy score from the director himself and a pop culture friendly sense of film history that means you are reminded of other films throughout.

Both those things are present and correct in Escape From New York but despite the feeling of familiarity there’s no denying this is a hugely entertaining cult classic from start to finish.