I Watch Films: Escape From New York

 

Escape From New York

It’s the future year of 1997. In 1988 faced with a 400% increase in crime, and also a war with China and the Soviet Union for some reason, the US turned Manhattan island into a prison, where they send the worst criminals and don't let anyone out. This now backfires when the president (Donald Pleasance) is forced to eject from his plane on the way to a peace summit.

Police Chief Bob Hauk (Lee Van Cleef) goes in to rescue him but they are told to clear out as other wise the inmates will kill him. He’s fallen into the hands of The Duke (Isaac Hayes), the most powerful gang leader on the island. He intends to lead the inmates off the island, using the president as a human shield.

Unknown to them there’s a time limit; if the president can’t address the peace summit before it’s over the war’s going to continue (this is bad). Hauk has another plan; former special forces soldier and notorious bank robber Snake Plissken (Kurt Russel) has been captured. Hauk offers him a deal; rescue the president and he’ll get a pardon. And to ensure this he injects him with micro explosives on the same deadline.

This is classic early 80s apocalyptic New York, various gangs who have themed themselves on topics, strange adapted cars, one guy, “Brain,” (Harry Dean Stanton) who knows how to make things work etc. He’s also the guy Plissken needs to see to find the President, but rather unfortunately they worked together as bank robbers and have bad blood.

Plissken is a slightly opaque figure, refusing to be what people want him to be. He’s not a hero, he wears his notoriety lightly, he’s focused on getting those damn explosives out of his neck, but he’s uninterested in any larger questions. In a dark, grim future, he’s too cool for school.

Watch This: Classic 80s apocalyptic New York with some wonderful nihilistic choices
Don’t Watch This: A lot of bad people doing bad things in the dark