Escape From New York (2 Stars)

This is the film I originally planned as the third film in my John Carpenter mini-marathon. It's a film I'd never seen before. I'd heard good things about it, and it's considered a cult film, so I sat down to watch it with high expectations. After less than ten minutes I was already disappointed.

The plot: in the near future (1997) Manhattan has been turned into a high security prison. The tunnels have been closed, and only one bridge is still in use. The American president's plane, Air Force One, has been hijacked by a terrorist group. The president is ejected in an escape pod, which lands in Manhattan. He's captured by criminals who hold him to ransom.

Snake Plissken, a highly decorated war hero, has been arrested after attempting to rob the Federal Reserve. He's due to be imprisoned for life in Manhattan, but the police commissioner makes him a deal: if he can rescue the president he'll be pardoned.

That's a twisted premise. Why would Manhattan of all places be used as a prison? It's the location of some of America's most valuable real estate, including the World Trade Center. One of the smaller Hawaian islands would be more suitable. Manhattan has been chosen so that the locations can be recognised, albeit in a chaotic, dystopian condition.

And that brings me to why I don't like the film. Dystopian. I don't like films where society has fallen apart. Mostly this applies to post-apocalyptic films, the aftermath of a large scale war, but in the case of "Escape From New York" it's the aftermath of Manhattan being handed over to criminals.

The film has a redeeming feature. Adrienne Barbeau appears as a criminal called Maggie. At the time the film was made she was married to John Carpenter.

This is John Carpenter's fifth film. There's a progression in the budget, from his meagre beginnings.

1974	Dark Star	$60,000
1976	Assault on Precinct 13	$100,000
1978	Halloween	$300,000
1980	The Fog	$1,100,000
1981	Escape From New York	$6,000,000

The simple graph is a screenshot from Excel. If I had more time I'd draw it by hand to make it look better, but I think it's sufficient to show how much money he had available. Does the extra money mean an increase in quality? Definitely not. If you read my reviews you'll see that I rated the first three films five stars, "The Fog" four stars, and "Escape From New York" two stars. The quality is inversely proportional to the budget. Someone should have taken John Carpenter's money away. That's the only way his films could have been improved.

Success Rate:  + 2.2

	Order from Amazon.com
	Order from Amazon.co.uk
	Order from Amazon.de