Escape from New York (1981)

Escape from New York
Directed by John Carpenter
Written by John Carpenter and Nick Castle
1981/US
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel

Bob Hauk: It’s the survival of the human race, Plissken. Something you don’t give a shit about.

I loved the setting for this dystopian action adventure.

It is 1997.  Since the late eighties, Manhattan Island has been used as a maximum security prison.  The prisoners are allowed to govern themselves.  Provisions on the island are scarce and gasoline is precious.  Punishment for escape is swift and fatal.

As the story begins, a plane is hijacked and the President (Donald Pleasance) is ejected via an escape pod.  He is deposited in the center of Manhattan.  He carried a briefcase containing a tape explaining nuclear fusion that he was supposed to reveal at an international summit (a more McGuffinish McGuffin is hard to imagine).  Prison warden Bob Hauk (Lee Van Cleef) is tasked with rescuing the President and the tape.  His only hope is Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell), an ace pilot and bad ass.  Snake has 24 hours to complete his assignment.  He will die if he does not complete it by the deadline.  He will be pardoned for an offense that was about to send him to Manhattan if he succeeds.

Snake lands atop the World Trade Center.  The first person he meets is loopy cab driver Cabbie (Ernest Borgnine) who somehow secures enough gas to drive him around town.  Next he hits up “friends” Brain (Harry Dean Stanton) and Maggie (Adrienne Barbeau). Brain knows that the Duke of New York (Isaac Hayes) and his minions are holding the President as a bargaining chip to escape via the Brooklyn Bridge.  Much action follows.

This is the kind of thing I would not have sought out in 1981 but decades of movie watching have made me realize it is something special.  The concept is intriguing and the production is out of this world.  I particularly liked the black and grey vision of New York.  In this case style over substance won me over.  If the concept appeals, I can recommend it.

I’m with Gene on this one.