“Call me Snake.”
When I was in high school I had a video tape that had three of what my friends and I called “blue movies” on it. Not those kinds of blue movies, get your mind out of the gutter. No, they were films that had a predominantly blue hue to their cinematography. These films were The Terminator, Aliens, and Escape from New York. We watched that tape so many times that the tracking noise became permanently burned into the tape.
I always liked to pretend the films were somehow set in the same universe, alternate possible futures notwithstanding, but Escape from New York made that difficult. There’s a certain hopefulness to James Cameron’s sci-fi films that John Carpenter’s work just doesn’t share. Escape from New York has a very cynical view of humanity and what our future looks like, and there are times when it seems like the more accurate take.
Despite that cynicism – or maybe because of it – Escape from New York has always been one of my favorite Carpenter films. It helps that it’s fast, action-packed and full of weird and interesting characters and memorable lines. It leans into its post-apocalyptic weirdness and anti-authoritarian message without bludgeoning us over the head (with a spiked baseball bat?) with either. Yes, it’s about a man with no morals trying to save his own skin by rescuing a president from a city-sized prison, but it’s damn fun for all that.
“You flew the Gullfire over Leningrad, didn’t you?”
John Carpenter wrote the initial draft for Escape from New York in 1976, in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal and the resignation of Richard Nixon. It was a time of cynicism about our government and also a time of rampant crime – especially, it seemed, in New York City. A financial crisis, Son of Sam, White Flight and urban decay all contributed to a feeling that things were falling apart. Carpenter had directed Dark Star but wasn’t able to get any studios interested in his high-concept follow up.
Instead, Carpenter took on the writing/directing/editing chores for Assault on Precinct 13 – a film that can be viewed as a prequel of sorts to Escape from New York. Featuring an out-of-control gang that assaults a police station in a major city, you could see how the events of the movie might help lead to the creation of a “national police force” and eventually a city-sized prison for criminals of all kinds.
By 1981, with Halloween and The Fog under his belt, Carpenter was finally able to turn to Escape from New York. He enlisted his friend Nick Castle (who had played The Shape in Halloween) to help add humor to the script and cast a bunch of actors who had been – or would become – regulars in his films: Tom Atkins, Adrienne Barbeau, Donald Pleasance, Ernest Borgnine and Harry Dean Stanton, as well as Lee Van Cleef and Isaac Hayes.
For the all-important role of Snake Plissken, Carpenter chose Kurt Russell – known primarily for Disney films at the time – over studio picks like Charles Bronson and Tommy Lee Jones. Russel took the role seriously, looking to change his image, and helped create one of the greatest film anti-heroes of all time.
Unable, for budgetary reasons (the film cost roughly $6 million to make), to film in New York City, the production ended up shooting most of the film in areas of East St. Louis that had been severely damaged in a massive fire. This gave them the opportunity to shoot on location in a massive, semi-destroyed area and gives the film much of it’s atmosphere.
Special effects include some computer graphics, but one of the most distinctive visuals – the “computer-generated” flyby of New York shown as Snake pilots the glider into the city – was created using a model of the city and glow tape. James Cameron worked on some of the special effects as well as serving as one of the Directors of Photography.
“You are the Duke of New York! You’re A-Number One.”
Escape from New York is a key film in Carpenter’s filmography, as it marks his successful attempt to break out of a cycle of horror films (having made Halloween and The Fog just before it). It’s an example of his melding several of his cinematic influences – westerns and 50s sci-fi – into something new and beautifully weird. He’d later do the same with Big Trouble in Little China, merging Hong Kong action with westerns (he’s all about the John Ford westerns). In some ways the film reminds me of a Quentin Tarantino film and how he too mixes his influences.
It’s also the film that launched Kurt Russel’s mainstream movie career, proving his charisma extended beyond bland likeability and that he could carry an action film. He’d collaborate with Carpenter twice more, on 1982’s The Thing and in the aforementioned Big Trouble in Little China – both favorites of mine.
Escape has a look, feel and sound I associate with 1980’s sci-fi cinema. Like the other two films on that tape I mentioned in the introduction (both directed by James Cameron, who may well have been influenced by his work on Escape) and including dystopian, anti-authoritarian films like The Running Man and Carpenter’s own They Live.
“Snake Plissken… I’ve heard of you.”
Escape from New York was one of Carpenter’s most successful releases – grossing $50 million on a $6 million budget – and appreciation for the film has only grown over time. Creators from William Gibson to Hideo Kojima have cited the film as an influence on their own work. (I mean, come on, Solid Snake even goes under the name “Plisken” in Metal Gear Solid 2.) Cloverfield has a scene inspired by the poster for Escape and the Purge series of films have definite Escape DNA in them.
Beyond that, Snake as a character has inspired over-the-top anti-heroes for decades. If they have a gravely voice, a tragic (or criminal) backstory and are an ultimate badass, Snake is somewhere getting residuals. Clint Eastwood’s Man With No Name walked so Snake could run so John Wick could fly. (So my brother Jeff could say his roleplaying character was “Dirk Dark Dirk” in Snake’s voice and we could all laugh and know exactly what kind of character it was.)
Escape from New York spawned one sequel – the disappointing (but over-hated, IMHO) Escape from LA – and there are constant rumors of another sequel (Escape from Earth?) or a remake. Snake has appeared in comics, novels and even a board game. The film’s themes are constantly relevant, so it seems inevitable that someone will eventually get another Escape film off the ground. (A remake is currently supposed to start shooting this year with Zach Snyder at the helm, which… I dunno.)
I still find new things to enjoy every time I watch Escape. This time I realized that Snake’s only moment of real concern and caring for another human being in the film occurs when he tries to talk Maggie off the bridge after Brain’s death. Russell’s face is amazing as it softens for the only time. “A little human compassion” indeed. Escape from New York is peak 1980’s dystopian sci-fi awesomeness, and one of John Carpenter’s best films.
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