Escape
from New York (1981)
John
Carpenter's futuristic comic book actioner has become
camp with the passage of time. Could you ask for a better
cheesy action hero than Kurt Russell? Don't think so.
Also around is Season Hubley, Adrienne Barbeau, Isaac
Hayes, Lee Van Cleef and Ernest Borgnine to give the
film Velveeta value. But there's more: Imagine Donald
Pleasence as the President of the U.S. and Harry Dean
Stanton as a fey,
ascot-wearin' hoodlum and you've got a full blown slice
of vintage fromage! After seeing this, it's easy to
understand why "Pretty in Pink" was considered a career
resurrection for Stanton.
Carpenter's effects look like cardboard cut-outs on
string by today's standards but who cares!. And the
film is a lot of fun for it's trashy sets of a burned
out NYC but the true beauty of the film is Carpenter's
own synthetic score music which strum and drangs throughout
the film like Georgio Moroder with a headache.
Yep - I loved every minute of this film.
Note: Followed in 1997 by "Escape from L.A."
Personal Note: Viewed at midnight at The Alamo Draft
House in Austin, my first time there. Video entertainment
prior to showtime included a portion of a children's
fitness instructional video staring Arnold Schwarzenegger
and a student project that mixed "Star Wars" footage
with "Titanic" footage to make sport of Lucas' seeming
hope to make the new #1 grossing film of all time with
"The Phantom Menace." There were also coming attractions
for the Alamo's "Cannibal" film festival as well as
a local product called "Rock Opera." Finally, the 35mm
trailers preceding the film were for "Shoot," a "Deliverance"
wannabee about which Leonard Maltin quipped "Supposedly
anti-gun, it also seems anti-entertainment," and "Shadow
of the Hawk," starring Jan Michael Vincent and Chief
Dan George. Both of these films were Canadian efforts
from 1976.
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