John Carpenter Meets Kurt Russell

Some of my favorite movies are also some of the world's cheesiest. John Carpenter mastered cheesey melodrama in his 1981 cult classic "Escape From New York". Basically, the United States has converted Manhattan Island into a giant maximum security prison. Biker gangs rule the entire island, and there's no way on or off of it. The plot begins in 1997 (16 years in the future when the movie was made in 81. I love movies that are so old that their future is our past) when Air Force One goes down over Manhattan Island and the president gets captured by the island's rampant gangs. Snake Plisskin, played by Kurt Russel, is a legendary ex-soldier/fugitive who is offered a clear record if he saves the president in 24 hours. He's a perfect anti-hero.



Snake's character is a bad-ass, anti-social, fugitive who could hardly care whether he lives or dies, let alone anyone else in the world. The movie is overflowing with one-liners, and from start to finish, you can't even tell whose side he's on. What a bad-ass. He has his own agenda, and if it doesn't comply with what you want, he'll kill your ass. You meet a handful of other shady characters throughout the movie, including the Duke of New York, played by Isaac Hayes. Hell yeah, right? I don't want to give anything away, but the movie has one of the best endings ever. Snake pulls a total "fuck the world" in the best way possible. Something else interesting about Snake's character is that Hideo Kojima, the creator/director of one of my favorite videogames ever, "Metal Gear Solid", got his inspiration for the main character, Solid Snake, from Carpenter's Snake Plisskin; right down to the eye patch. I guess John Carpenter is huge in Japan.



Another interesting scene is when Snake gets into Manhattan Island by landing a glider on top of the World Trade Center. The Twin Towers were also in the first "Die Hard" movie. Thankfully John Carpenter and John McTiernan immortalized the Trade Center in their movies.

Carpenter had a hell of a time getting this film made because he didn't have much say-so in Hollywood at the time he wrote it (in the 70s). However, after his success with Halloween he had a lot more influence. It's an excellent post-apocalypse action movie from beginning to end, and I highly suggest it to anyone looking for a little 80s cheese in their life. Also, if you like this movie, you might try another John Carpenter movie starring Kurt Russel; a little cult classic action/comedy called Big Trouble in Little China. There was also a sequel to Escape From New York released in 1996 called Escape From L.A. Hmm... the sequel was made a year before the original was set... Science Fiction writers should really start setting their stories deeper into the future. 2001: A Space Odyssey is an excellent example of this. I'VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR THE MONOLITH FOR SEVEN YEARS NOW!