Not to discredit the predecessor, "Escape from New York", but this feels fresh today to watch, while the 1981 cult film is definitely of its time, important and good, but not timeless. Snake (Kurt Russell) is back, looking exactly the same, and one of the L. A. guards comments on his very 20th Century look. Snake has a toxin in his system and eight hours to find "president for life" Cliff Robertson's daughter who has betrayed him, demanding his removal and return to a free society. Russell is sent via submarine to the island of Los Angeles (much of it destroyed and sunk in a huge earthquake and tidal wave) where she is presumably hiding and encounters a strange prison community more depraved than Manhattan.
Great performances by Steve Buscemi, Pam Grier, Stacy Keach and Peter Fonda, and great visuals of what L. A. would look like once destroyed, quite different than "2012". The shot of part of the city underwater is fabulous, and the use of the main theater of the Chinese Graumans is as profound as the main library was back in 1981. What was scary for one reason in 1981 was even scarier 15 years later, for much different reasons, and this was pre-9/11. John Carpenter creates another great classic that I found to be underrated and quite gripping. Usually I say about sequels, "That was unnecessary." Not the case here.
Great performances by Steve Buscemi, Pam Grier, Stacy Keach and Peter Fonda, and great visuals of what L. A. would look like once destroyed, quite different than "2012". The shot of part of the city underwater is fabulous, and the use of the main theater of the Chinese Graumans is as profound as the main library was back in 1981. What was scary for one reason in 1981 was even scarier 15 years later, for much different reasons, and this was pre-9/11. John Carpenter creates another great classic that I found to be underrated and quite gripping. Usually I say about sequels, "That was unnecessary." Not the case here.