Escape from New York (1981)

Kurt Russell: Snake Plissken

Photos 

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Quotes 

• Bob Hauk : You going to kill me, Snake?

  Snake Plissken : Not now, I'm too tired.

  [pause] 

  Snake Plissken : Maybe later.

• Bob Hauk : Remember, once you're inside you're on your own.

  Snake Plissken : Oh, you mean I can't count on you?

  Bob Hauk : No.

  Snake Plissken : Good!

• Girl in "Chock Full O'Nuts" : You're a cop!

  Snake Plissken : I'm an asshole...

• Bob Hauk : You go in, find the President, bring him out in 24 hours, and you're a free man.

  Snake Plissken : 24 hours, huh?

  Bob Hauk : I'm making you an offer.

  Snake Plissken : Bullshit!

  Bob Hauk : Straight just like I said.

  Snake Plissken : I'll think about it.

  Bob Hauk : No time. Give me an answer.

  Snake Plissken : Get a new President!

  Bob Hauk : We're still at war, Plissken. We need him alive.

  Snake Plissken : I don't give a fuck about your war - or your President.

  Bob Hauk : Is that your answer?

  Snake Plissken : I'm thinking about it.

  Bob Hauk : Think hard.

  Snake Plissken : [pause]  Why me?

  Bob Hauk : You flew the Gullfire over Leningrad. You know how to get in quiet. You're all I got.

  Snake Plissken : [pause]  I guess I go in one way or the other - doesn't mean shit to me. Give me the paper.

  Bob Hauk : When you come out.

  Snake Plissken : Before.

  Bob Hauk : I told you I wasn't a fool, Plissken.

  Snake Plissken : Call me Snake.

• Bob Hauk : [Snake holds up his handcuffs]  I'm not a fool, Plissken.

  Snake Plissken : [whispering]  Call me "Snake."

• Bob Hauk : We'd make one helluva team, Snake!

  Snake Plissken : The name's Plissken!

• Bob Hauk : In 22 hours, the Hartford Summit Meeting will be over. China and the Soviet Union will go back home. Now, the President was on his way to the summit when his plane went down. He has a briefcase attached to his wrist. The tape recording inside has to reach Hartford in 22 hours.

  Snake Plissken : What's on it?

  Bob Hauk : You know anything about nuclear fusion?

  Snake Plissken : All right.

  Bob Hauk : The survival of the human race, Plissken. Something you don't give a shit about.

  Cronenberg : [Cronenberg approaches Snake with two injection guns]  I'm going to inject you. It will sting for a second or two.

  [Cronenberg places both guns on the side of Snake's neck and injects him, producing a loud bang] 

  Bob Hauk : That's it, Plissken.

  Cronenberg : Tell him.

  Snake Plissken : Tell me what?

  Bob Hauk : That idea you had about turning the Gullfire around 180 degrees and flying off to Canada.

  Snake Plissken : What did you do to me, asshole?

  Bob Hauk : My idea, Plissken. Something we've been fooling around with. Two microscopic capsules lodged in your arteries. They're already starting to dissolve. In 22 hours, the cores will completely dissolve. Inside the cores are a heat-sensing charge. Not a large explosion, about the size of a pinhead, just big enough to open up both of your arteries. I'd say you'd be dead in 10-15 seconds...

  Snake Plissken : [chokes Hauk]  Take them out, now!

  Cronenberg : They're protected by the cores. Fifteen minutes before the last hour is up, we can neutralize the charge with X-rays.

  [Pushes Snake away from Hauk] 

  Bob Hauk : We'll burn out the charges *if* you have the President.

  Snake Plissken : What if I'm a little late?

  Bob Hauk : No more Hartford Summit. And no more Snake Plissken.

  Snake Plissken : When I get back, I'm going to kill you.

  Bob Hauk : The Gullfire's waiting.

• Bob Hauk : Plissken? Plissken, what are you doing?

  Snake Plissken : Playing with myself! I'm going in.

• Snake Plissken : [radioing a pullout request]  All right, get your machine ready, I'm coming out.

  Bob Hauk : 18 hours left, Plissken!

  Snake Plissken : Listen to me, Hauk. The President is dead, you got that? Somebody's had him for dinner!

  Bob Hauk : Plissken, if you get back in that glider and fly back here without the tape or the President, I'll shoot you down myself! You try to climb out, I'll burn you off the wall! Do you understand that, Plissken?

  Snake Plissken : [beat]  A little human compassion.

• Snake Plissken : Where's the President?

  Cabbie : The Duke got him. Everybody knows the Duke's got him. You don't have to put a gun to my head. I'll tell you.

  Snake Plissken : Who's the Duke?

  Cabbie : The Duke? The Duke of New York, A-Number-1, the Big Man, that's who!

  Snake Plissken : I wanna meet this Duke.

  Cabbie : You can't meet the Duke! Are you crazy? Nobody gets to meet the Duke. You meet him once and then you're dead!

• President : I, uh, I want to thank you. Anything you want, you... you just name it.

  Snake Plissken : Just a moment of your time.

  President : Uh... yes?

  Snake Plissken : We did get you out. A lot of people died in the process. I just wondered how you felt about that.

  President : [cocky, distant tone]  Well, I...

  [clears his throat] 

  President : I wanna thank them, this nation appreciates their sacrifice.

  [Snake looks at him with disgust] 

  President : Look, um, I'm on in, uh... two and a half minutes?

  [Snake throws his cigarette down and walks away] 

• Brain : I swear to God, Snake, I thought you were dead.

  Snake Plissken : Yeah. You and everybody else.

• Bob Hauk : [reading Plissken's file]  S.D. Plissken... American, Lieutenant: Special Forces Unit "Black Light". Two Purple Hearts, Leningrad and Siberia. Youngest man to be decorated by the President. Then you robbed the Federal Reserve Depository... life sentence, New York maximum security penitentary. I'm about to kick your ass out of *the world*, war hero...

  Snake Plissken : [calmly strikes a match against Hauk's desk to light his cigarette and in a bored tone of voice]  Who're you?

  Bob Hauk : Hauk, Police Commissioner.

  Snake Plissken : Bob Hauk...

  Bob Hauk : Special Forces Unit "Texas Thunder"... we heard of you too, Plissken.

• Bob Hauk : You gonna kill me now, Snake?

  Snake Plissken : I'm too tired. Maybe later.

  Bob Hauk : I've got another deal for you. I want you to think it over while you're resting. I want to give you a job. We'd make one hell of a team, Snake!

  Snake Plissken : [turns and glares at Hauk]  The name's Plissken.

• Snake Plissken : What's wrong with Broadway?

• Cabbie : Brain? Brain, I brought somebody to see you.

  Snake Plissken : [recognizes Brain]  Harold Helman...

  Brain : Snake?

  Maggie : [curious]  Harold?

  Snake Plissken : How you been, Harold? It's been a long time.

  Maggie : You never told me you knew Snake Plissken, Brain.

  Cabbie : Isn't that great? Hey, Brain, I could use some gas if you could spare some.

  Snake Plissken : I'm glad you remember me. Yeah, a man should remember his past. Kansas City, four years ago, you ran out on me... You left me sittin' there.

  Brain : You were late.

  Snake Plissken : [bitterly]  We were buddies, Harold. You, me, and Fresno Bob. You know what they did to Bob, huh?

• Snake Plissken : [to Maggie]  You wanna see him sprayed all over that map, baby? Now where's the President?

• Bob Hauk : There was an accident. About an hour ago, a small jet went down inside New York City. The President was on board.

  Snake Plissken : The president of what?

• Snake Plissken : [after threatening Brain with his machine gun]  You always were smart, Harold.

  Brain : Just one thing, right now... don't call me Harold!

• Bob Hauk : [referring to the Gullfire]  Is the glider intact?

  Snake Plissken : Yeah, but takin' off is for shit... I'll work it out.

• Girl in "Chock Full O'Nuts" : Hey, wait a minute. I know who you are. Yeah. But I heard you were dead.

  Snake Plissken : I am.

• Snake Plissken : Where am I landing?

  Bob Hauk : Top of the World Trade Center. Only place you can land. They won't see it and you can take off from a free fall.

• Girl in "Chock Full O'Nuts" : Take me out with you, Snake.

  Snake Plissken : Why?

  Girl in "Chock Full O'Nuts" : I can think of lots of reasons why.

  [kiss] 

• Cabbie : Hey. You're Snake Plissken, ain't you?

  Snake Plissken : What do you want?

  Cabbie : Nothing. I thought you were dead.

• Cabbie : Oh, that Brain, he's the greatest. Mr Fabulous! The Duke loves him.

  Snake Plissken : Who's that?

  Cabbie : That's Maggie. Brain's squeeze. The Duke gave her to Brain just to keep him happy. See what I mean, He-he.

• Snake Plissken : You wanna see him sprayed all over that map, baby? Where's the President?

  Brain : I swear to God, Snake, I don't know!

  Snake Plissken : Don't fuck with me!

  Brain : Why do you wanna know?

  Snake Plissken : I want him.

  Brain : Working for the man now, huh?

  Snake Plissken : I'll just beat it out of your squeeze.

  Brain : Mm-hmm. Maggie doesn't know exactly where he is and unless you know exactly, precisely where he is, you'll never find him.

• Snake Plissken : Hauk sent me in. We've gotta move fast.

  President : Move fast? You're goddamn right I'll move fast.