"Escape from New York" may be told in a somewhat by-the-numbers fashion but is a lot more than that. Upon closer examination of the films story and characters, you will see that it is showing us a frightening depiction of what America could have become had not our society improved. It's completely ironic that we would have ended up choosing New York City (and later Los Angeles in the sequel),which in this country are landmark cities, as the last place to house America's worst criminals. With all of the problems currently facing our society, is this what things could have eventually come to?

"Escape from New York" is set in the future, in the year 1997. We learn that Manhattan Island has become a giant maximum-security prison. It is completely surrounded on all sides by a fifty-foot containment wall that has soldiers patrolling it at all times. All roads and waterways that lead off of the island are mined. The prison itself is kept under constant watch from security headquarters, which is stationed at nearby Liberty Island. Everyone in the prison follows one simple rule: once you go in, you don't come out. When Air Force One, which we should all know is the president's airplane, is hijacked and crash lands inside the prison, the security officials in charge blackmail a hardened but highly decorated war hero who is currently on his way to the island to serve a life sentence for a daring robbery. His mission is to infiltrate the prison and safely escort the president and the tape recording in his possession off of the island. To ensure that the convict doesn't try to escape, two micro-charges are injected into his arteries that if he doesn't get the president back within twenty-two hours, will explode. If he does succeed, the charges will be deactivated and all crimes he has been convicted of will be fully pardoned. And so the adventure begins...

From here we really don't know what to expect of this film and that's good. You'd probably be expecting to hear car horns or the sounds of a city that is alive and full of people. When we first see New York, it looks a lot like a ghost town, meaning as in dead. The city is crawling with rapists, thieves and murderers. Things in the city have become so bad, that some groups of people, most notably the "crazies" who are a group of underground subway-dwellers, have had to resort to cannibalism to survive. The "new" New York is not a prison at all, but more of an asylum for the worst of the worst. People here are basically living out death sentences, as that is the equivalent of saying these people are serving out life sentences. It is really nice that the prison gives you the option of being executed on site, rather than dying somewhere inside the prison where you'll probably end up becoming someone's lunch. Which would you prefer?

Snake Plissken, played here by Kurt Russell, was an excellent choice to play a reluctant hero. He plays his role very good. Singer Isaac Hayes makes a great villain here with his role as The Duke of New York. He is very good too. It amazes me though about how a man such as himself could have come to power and become the most feared man in "new" New York.

"Escape from New York" is an excellent film that has received a much deserved cult following. This John Carpenter film is easily one of his best and I really like it.

Okay, I'll admit it...my summary is completely ridiculous! "Escape From New York" is anything but cerebral or sophisticated. Instead, it's a rather absurd little sci-fi film that actually manages to be awfully entertaining despite being utterly ridiculous. Much of this is because the film takes itself so very seriously--and this heightens the campy atmosphere and makes the film a lot of fun.

This John Carpenter film is set in the near future. Lawlessness has taken hold until society has come up with a strange solution--to turn Manhattan Island into a giant prison. This 'prison' is really just a dumping ground--a dumping ground where there are no guards and no rules--just a weird self-created society of scum.

When a terrorist hijacks Air Force One and crashes it into this city, the President is able to use an escape pod--but he lands in the middle of this hellish city. For some odd reason, instead of sending in the Marines or the Navy Seals, they send in one man--'Snake' Plissken (Kurt Russell). Plissken is ridiculously overplayed by Russell--and that adds to the fun. I am pretty sure he didn't take himself very seriously and the viewer certainly can't! Plissken is sort of like Rambo and Clint Eastwood (Russell REALLY had the Eastwood voice down pat)--but even more indestructible! Now Plissken is NOT the hero type. He himself is a convicted criminal but he's also a war hero. To convince him to take the assignment, they not only promise him his freedom but his life. You see, this is because they implanted a nanoprobe into him that will kill him if the assignment isn't completed in 24 hours! Can he do it? What do you think?

As I said above, Plissken is played in such an overly serious and over-the-top manner that the film is really a hoot to watch. Also, the film is very original even if it is silly. A few other things I loved were the faux computer graphics (done amazingly well considering everything--see the IMDb trivia for more on this),the scene towards the end of the President having his revenge on 'The Duke' and the incredible soundtrack (by Carpenter himself). All in all, a dumb but incredibly cool guilty pleasure. And sometimes you just have to let your brain relax and watch something mindlessly fun.

One of the things I like about Escape From New York is the fact that the lead character is named Snake. It was a snake who tricked mankind out of paradise and in John Carpenter's world a snake is what saves the free world's leader.

Of course the free world ain't all that free any more. In Escape From New York crime has risen to astronomic proportions, so much so that the entire island of Manhattan is now one big prison surrounded by the National Police Force. We now have one of those, I assume this is what the Federal Bureau of Investigation has morphed into.

And the USA is at war, with who they don't say. But the enemies of the new American way of life have seized Air Force One and crash it in a suicide move worthy of what we see from the Middle East. But President Donald Pleasance, who looks a whole lot like Peter Sellers's president from Dr. Strangelove. He escapes in a pod that crashes on the prison island of Manhattan.

What to do, but rescue Pleasance. And the guy that police chief Lee Van Cleef has in mind is Snake Plissken, former war hero, now career criminal with a Rooster Cogburn patch and played by Kurt Russell.

To make sure that Russell doesn't double-cross him, Van Cleef implants a couple of mini bombs in his veins, just enough for him to bleed out when detonated in seconds. And they will detonate 22 hours from the point implantation.

The rest of the film is Russell's rescue of President Pleasance who is being held by the head of the criminal society that has grown up in Manhattan headed by Isaac Hayes. Russell gets some help and some betrayal from folks like Adrienne Barbeau, Ernest Borgnine, Harry Dean Stanton and Season Hubley. To see who does what, watch the film.

Escape From New York is a fun science fiction film that's attained a cult status of sorts. Certainly the world has not quite developed as John Carpenter envisioned it for 1997.

Or has it?