this is one I've been holding in my back pocket to put up somewhere. It was written, I think, around October last year.
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John Carpenter's 1981 film, Escape From NY, is a masterpiece. Now, I am aware that a lot of people say that about a lot of films. They are Biased. OK, so am I. BUT COME ON. Watch it once. Let it sink in. Watch it again, maybe a day or two after. I can sum up the "whammo factor" of this film with one word: Atmosphere.
Plot: In the future (well, the future as per real-life 1981), the crime rate has risen exponentially. In response, the government turns Manhattan Island into one gigantic prison for all convicted criminals sentenced to hard time. All get life. There are no guards, as it says in the intro, only "prisoners and the worlds they have made." Anywho, violent leftist revolutionaries crash a President-packing plane into the old city, with an added twist or two. The President is actually on his way to the Hartford Summit, to talk to China and the Soviet Union. Yes, it is assumed that in this alternate timeline we are still in the Cold War. The President (who Michael Myers fans will recognize as Donald Pleasance) is carrying a tape containing nuclear secrets or some shit that will totally peace-pipe the Chinese and Ruskies into ending the war, or so they hope. He gets ejected from the crash in some pod and subequently gets yoinked by goons of The Duke. The Duke is "Duke of New York, A #1," played by Isaac goddamn Hayes. Everyone's all like "oh shit, if we go in they'll kill the president..." Enter the snake.
SNAKE GODDAMN PLISSKIN
Yes, he gets his own section in the review. Snake is every badass antihero motherfucker ever, rolled into a fat, dank joint, lit, and shotgunned into your lungs. Eye patch? Check. Bad ass boots? Check. Grizzled war hero? Check. Robbed the Federal Reserve? FUCKING NOTCH THAT ONE OFF. Got nabbed, though, and everyone thinks he's dead. The Commissioner of the island's guard staff sees this as a golden opportunity and offers Snake this: full pardon for rescuing the President and that tape.
Snake Plisskin is given a ridiculously tooled-out MAC 10, complete with massive silencer (which by watching the film I can deduce does not work worth a damn), scope, and all the trimmin's. Snake fires far more than 32 rounds while it is his, so I am assuming that he simply shits out 9mm rounds from all the gunpowder, steel ingots and lead pipes he eats due to being such a horrible monster of a man.
Now I normally take a wishy washy stance on Kurt Russell as an action hero. He failed to dazzle me in the original Stargate film. I think he was working extra hard here, because I read somewhere that he was trying his damnedest to shrug off the mantle of his early career... Disney films. Poor fucker. Well, kudos, Kurt. Snake kicks ass. Literally and figuratively.
Plot: In the future (well, the future as per real-life 1981), the crime rate has risen exponentially. In response, the government turns Manhattan Island into one gigantic prison for all convicted criminals sentenced to hard time. All get life. There are no guards, as it says in the intro, only "prisoners and the worlds they have made." Anywho, violent leftist revolutionaries crash a President-packing plane into the old city, with an added twist or two. The President is actually on his way to the Hartford Summit, to talk to China and the Soviet Union. Yes, it is assumed that in this alternate timeline we are still in the Cold War. The President (who Michael Myers fans will recognize as Donald Pleasance) is carrying a tape containing nuclear secrets or some shit that will totally peace-pipe the Chinese and Ruskies into ending the war, or so they hope. He gets ejected from the crash in some pod and subequently gets yoinked by goons of The Duke. The Duke is "Duke of New York, A #1," played by Isaac goddamn Hayes. Everyone's all like "oh shit, if we go in they'll kill the president..." Enter the snake.
SNAKE GODDAMN PLISSKIN
Yes, he gets his own section in the review. Snake is every badass antihero motherfucker ever, rolled into a fat, dank joint, lit, and shotgunned into your lungs. Eye patch? Check. Bad ass boots? Check. Grizzled war hero? Check. Robbed the Federal Reserve? FUCKING NOTCH THAT ONE OFF. Got nabbed, though, and everyone thinks he's dead. The Commissioner of the island's guard staff sees this as a golden opportunity and offers Snake this: full pardon for rescuing the President and that tape.
Snake Plisskin is given a ridiculously tooled-out MAC 10, complete with massive silencer (which by watching the film I can deduce does not work worth a damn), scope, and all the trimmin's. Snake fires far more than 32 rounds while it is his, so I am assuming that he simply shits out 9mm rounds from all the gunpowder, steel ingots and lead pipes he eats due to being such a horrible monster of a man.
Now I normally take a wishy washy stance on Kurt Russell as an action hero. He failed to dazzle me in the original Stargate film. I think he was working extra hard here, because I read somewhere that he was trying his damnedest to shrug off the mantle of his early career... Disney films. Poor fucker. Well, kudos, Kurt. Snake kicks ass. Literally and figuratively.
Supporting cast includes Harry Dean Stanton, Ernest Borgnine, and Adrienne goddamn Barbeau. You may not know who all of those people are, but dammit you should. Be ashamed, just for a moment, if you didn't. OK, we'll move on now.
STRENGTHS
-Well written and envisioned. Watch it and you'll see what I mean. A feasible yet visibly different "future" combines with some excellent creativity as far as costuming, etc. to give theme and atmosphere to the USA presented in this tale. As art, the film is both convincing and of an appropriate tone/feel.
- The cast rocks. Lots of players here who are/were unfairly considered B-list or fell to that status by the time of this film's making. An example of the latter is Borgnine, who plays some old fucker who drives a cab around the decrepit prison city. Weird character, great job. Even actors and actresses doing bit parts are excellent.
-Action. There is no shortage of it. The plot dynamically moves, like a better-scripted live action version of a pulp comic.
-Snake fucking Plissken.
STRENGTHS
-Well written and envisioned. Watch it and you'll see what I mean. A feasible yet visibly different "future" combines with some excellent creativity as far as costuming, etc. to give theme and atmosphere to the USA presented in this tale. As art, the film is both convincing and of an appropriate tone/feel.
- The cast rocks. Lots of players here who are/were unfairly considered B-list or fell to that status by the time of this film's making. An example of the latter is Borgnine, who plays some old fucker who drives a cab around the decrepit prison city. Weird character, great job. Even actors and actresses doing bit parts are excellent.
-Action. There is no shortage of it. The plot dynamically moves, like a better-scripted live action version of a pulp comic.
-Snake fucking Plissken.
WEAKNESSES
- Fuck you. Saying this film is weak is like saying Tyson is weak. You're wrong and you're fixin' to get hurt bad.
OVERALL
9.5/10, simply because giving it a ten would be just about too much ass kissing for me.
- Fuck you. Saying this film is weak is like saying Tyson is weak. You're wrong and you're fixin' to get hurt bad.
OVERALL
9.5/10, simply because giving it a ten would be just about too much ass kissing for me.
2 comments:
a john carpenter review? welcome freind :)
:goonsay:
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