Welcome, one and all, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna be covering a movie from 1981. That movie is "Escape from New York".
Now, I've been wanting to see this movie for a very long time. But, for one reason or another, I never got an opportunity to watch it. And thanks to this series, I finally have my chance to see it.
The only things I can tell you about this movie is that it was directed by John Carpenter. And I've only seen one other movie that he made, which was "They Live". A movie that, at least to me, was really good. And ever since I saw that movie, I've always wanted to see what else Mr. Carpenter has made. I can also tell you that it stars Kurt Russell, and that he plays an outlaw by the name of Snake Plissken, who has 24 hours to save the President. Otherwise, he will die horribly from an explosion that is, somehow, implanted in his neck. I'm kinda curious to know how exactly that happens, but I will find out eventually.
Now, I really want this movie to be amazing, and I've heard nothing but good things about it. However, with all the praise that this thing has gotten, it could also be a huge letdown. Because, and I mentioned it back when I reviewed "Transformers: The Movie", when people hype a movie up so much, it usually never lives up to that hype. Then again, I ended up loving "Transformers; The Movie", so this movie could end up that way as well. But I don't know if this movie will end up being any good. And the only way I'm gonna find out how good or bad this movie can be, is if I shut up, and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Escape from New York".
19 minutes later
You know, guys, I wasn't really sure what to think of Lee Van Cleef's performance in this movie, considering that I've seen him in nothing but the scant few Westerns that he was in. But you know what? He is turning in an amazing showing. In fact, guys, the whole movie has been really fascinating, so far, and I'm hoping it continues this way.
17 minutes later
Is that the drifter from "They Live"? Holy shit, it is! Out of everyone I expected to see in this movie, the guy who played the drifter from "They Live" was not one of them. I understand that I'm bringing up such a small point, but I was totally not expecting to see an appearance from him in this movie. That was...kinda awesome.
17 minutes later
So the Duke has little chandelier's spread out on the hood of his car. That is really cool. I personally don't think it's very safe for the chandelier's, but considering that there's almost no other operational cars in New York, I think the Duke could get away with it.
10 minutes later
OK, guys, I know that this may be a stupid question, but how does almost everyone in this movie know who Snake Plissken is? I understand that he's a war hero, but does everyone in this movie know about that? I am a little bit curious, guys, and again, I totally understand that it's a trivial thing to bring up, but I just felt like asking, you know?
14 minutes later
Well, that was...quite a brutal kill. Very simple, but very effective, too.
9 minutes later
Wow, um...I was not expecting that. Two characters killed off in the span of about a minute. That certainly caught me off guard. Wow.
The Review
Well, guys, that was "Escape from New York". Let me shut the movie off...wow. That was a satisfying way to end the movie. You know, guys, I kinda went into this thing with high hopes of this movie being great. And by the end, those standards skyrocketed past my expectations. Let's start with the writing.
Writing here is incredibly good. And it is essentially what I had described at the start of this Reaction & Review about Snake Plissken having 22 hours to save the President before the bomb that was implanted in his neck explodes. And yes, I did say he had 24 hours to save the President, but the movie clearly stated that he only had 22 hours. It's a little bit odd, and it is the one of the very few minor gripes I had with the movie is the time that Snake has to save the President. Because when he's first given the communicator that he has on his wrist, which shows the time he has left, it clearly states that he has 22 hours. And when the scene cuts to him getting in his glider so that he could fly onto the World Trade Center, it shows that he has 21 hours. And then a little later on, when he meets a character named 'Cabbie', and they are on the run from some lunatic hobos, it shows that Snake has 18 hours to go. Either this is the fastest countdown timer of all time, or the time discrepancy between scenes is a little bit off. Now, mind you, this only happens several times throughout the first, I would say, half hour of the movie, and after that, it doesn't really appear again until much later on. So honestly, it's not too much of an issue where you would have to wonder how much time does Plissken have left. You're going to be more focused on the story, because the writing is going to keep you interested as soon as the opening credits start playing. Essentially, crime has risen up so incredibly much that the United States government built a wall around Manhattan, and basically turned it into a prison. Nobody gets in, nobody gets out. However, because Air Force One was hijacked by a bunch of terrorists, the President is forced to use an escape pod that was inside Air Force One. I didn't know that Air Force One had an escape pod, but since I've never been inside Air Force One, and probably never will, I can totally see that there. But anyway, the President uses it and crash lands somewhere in New York. Which leads to Hauk, the Police Commissioner, who turns to Plissken for help because he's the only one who can get in there without being noticed. And if he's successful, the President will automatically pardon him off all his crimes. If not...well, I already explained it, so there you go.
Our characters are, admittedly, not the most developed. Because, outside of Plissken and Brain, nobody here has a ton of depth. However, it's one of those situations where the story is incredibly good, that it benefits from having shallow characters. And you'll end up caring about them, especially towards the end, because the story takes a rather dark turn with it's characters. And I kinda spoiled it for a couple of the characters, because they end up dying, and you really feel for them after their gone. I even felt bad for their deaths, because they were rather likable. And that's something I don't see happen often with movies that attempt this sort of thing. A real good example of this would be "The Gene Generation". In that movie, you had a character named Jackie, who becomes incredibly unlikable because of the shit he does to try and earn money. And that movie tried, and failed miserably, to make you care about him when he gets killed. This movie, however, shows that you don't have to go out of your way to try and make your side characters unlikable, because John Carpenter knew what he, and Nick Castle, the co-writer, wanted to write for their characters. And when the writing accomplishes that sort of feat, then that is an amazing accomplishment, and I wish certain filmmakers would take note of this movie, because it shows you how to write good supporting characters. Not only do we have likable characters, but we also have incredible pacing. This movie speeds on by, and at no time will you feel like the story is crawling at a snail's pace. It just continues to chug forward with it's story and doesn't stop. And as much as I enjoyed "They Live", the first time I watched it, I felt like the pacing had a bit of a slow start, but the second time I watched it, I didn't really notice the pacing issues and wound up loving that movie. "Escape from New York" I was able to get into with no pacing problems, and wound up loving it on my first viewing. This movie has some of the best pacing I have seen in a long time. The only other movie that I could think of that had great pacing was when I watched "Killer Klowns from Outer Space". But anyway, guys, the pacing in this movie is awesome.
One other minor issue that I had with writing is something I asked earlier. And that is how does almost everybody in this movie know who Snake Plissken is? I ask that because it seems like everybody who he runs across in Manhattan recognizes who Snake is. The only ones who don't seem to know are the lunatic hobos and the President. One of them that makes sense is Brain, because he was a former friend and comrade to Plissken. And Plissken is the one who recognized him first. Not in a friendly way, but I'm not gonna get too deep into that. But anyway, I still thought it kinda strange to see that almost everyone recognizes who Snake is, even though they never met him. And again, I know that he is a war hero, and that kinda thing can spread to some people knowing about what you did. But still, it was something I noticed. But regardless of that, that is a trivial matter that almost no one is going to notice, or even care about. Because, as I said, the writing here is fantastic. And it's going to keep you interested, regardless if you notice these things or not.
Now let's get to the acting. Now, when I bought this movie last year, I noticed the huge cast list on the front of the DVD cover. And I said to myself, then, that this movie would have to commit a huge cardinal sin if the acting sucked from this all-star cast. And thankfully, that doesn't happen. We have acting that is fantastic from across the board. We have Kurt Russel, Ernest Borgnine, Issac Hayes, Adrienne Barbeau, and Lee Van Cleef, just to name those actors alone. Every single one of them shined beautifully here, and nobody turns in a bad showing. I want to mention two actors in particular. One of them is Lee Van Cleef. Because, as I mentioned before, Lee Van Cleef is mostly known for his roles in Westerns. I haven't seen all of them that he was in. The only two that come to mind that I did watch were "For A Few Dollars More" and "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly". And I knew he could act then. So I was curious to see how exactly he would do in a role that's not a Western. And he plays that role really, really well. Which, at least to me, kinda makes him stand out a bit amongst the entire cast. Now, I don't want you to take that as a negative. It's just that I kinda have a bias for Westerns. Again, I've only seen two Westerns that featured Lee Van Cleef, but I may end up watching some more of his films, possibly even for Reaction & Review. But that's a whole different story altogether. So he does a fantastic job in this movie. The other actor I want to mention, and I had to look up his name, because I forgot who it was, goes by the name of George Buck Flower. I mentioned him earlier on during the reaction portion of the movie, but I recognized who he was because he played a character known as the drifter in "They Live", another movie from John Carpenter. I won't tell you his role in that movie, you're gonna have to watch that thing for yourself. But anyway, he makes a cameo appearance in this movie in which he plays a drunk, who was also wearing the President's communicator. It was such a small role, but he stood out the most for me, because I recognized his voice from "They Live" and that's when I put two and two together and realized that it was him. Again, that's just a nerdy thing for me is when I recognize actors from different movies and TV shows, so take it for what you will. But overall, guys, the acting is fantastic from the entire cast.
There really isn't a whole lot of special effects in this movie. The only things I could remember were some slightly dated shots of Snake flying his glider, but since they're incredibly trivial shots, I'm not gonna count that as a negative. There is also quite a bit of practical blood used during the final act of the movie where some of our side characters end up getting killed. And the shots of blood that were used also looks really good. The makeup effects are also done really well. So I can definitely say that special effects, what few there were, were genuinely awesome.
Camerawork here is amazing. I love the cinematography in this movie. There are certain shots in this movie that are gonna stick out at you, in a good way. Such as when you see a front shot of Snake riding his glider. Although that's partially because of the lighting effects that were used in that shot, so I can add the lighting as a positive. Sound-mix is mixed rather well. The music is here is really good, too. It's similar to the score that I heard in "They Live". However, I do think it's better in this movie than in "They Live". Part of that has to go to the theme song. And I'm gonna tell you, the more you listen to the opening theme, the more that it's gonna stick out at you, because it is rather catchy. And mind you, it does not have any lyrics, so you're gonna end up humming this song for quite a while.
So, when all is said and done, am I able to recommend "Escape from New York"? Oh, hell yes. This movie was amazing. And after finally getting a chance to see this movie after so long, I'm totally happy to say that it was worth the wait. I loved this movie. Now, do I think it's better than "They Live"? It's kinda hard to say. For me, I'd say both films are equally great. And trying to pick one of them would be very difficult for me to do. In fact, now that I'm thinking about "They Live", I kinda want to go and watch that movie again. So, I'm probably gonna end up doing that. And this movie is going to have a very prominent spot on my DVD shelf.
Anyway, with that, guys, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all in the near future. Peace.
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