Escape From New York (1981)
1997. New York City is now a maximum security prison. Breaking out is impossible. Breaking in is insane.
On tonight’s edition of “I’m surprised I haven’t done that,” we’ll be hitting up a movie as old as I am with one of my favorite actors in it. Also with a director I really enjoy. Who happens to be a musician I like as well. Yeah, there’s a lot of me liking this - but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be all peachy clean and impressive stands right? Guess you’ll have to read or listen on to find out as tonight we visit what I think is the best thing to start with the words escape from - get your best edgy hero on, tonight it’s time to Escape from New York.
It’s the past’s future that’s actually currently our past - it doesn’t matter, I just always love to try and state it the most confusing way possible - in which crime took such a hike in numbers that all of Manhattan was walled off and turned into a prison. It’s a simple concept - what goes in never comes out. It’s a very simple premise up until some terrorist types screw it up by hijacking the president’s plane above it, and he jettisons out the escape pod to escape and lands smack dab in the prison. The guards go in to get him, but by the time they arrive the president is already taken captive - and there’s an important deadline the US is trying to make, so it really can’t afford to play the prisoner’s waiting game. After having just caught themselves one super cool dude, they crack a deal - he goes in, gets the president and his breifcase, and gets them all out - that results in him getting some pardon action in. Set up the adventure where our lead ends up butting heads with the Duke of this prisoner-filled New York, and meets some familiar (at least to him) faces. Oh yeah, did I mention the bombs in our hero’s arteries giving him a hard mission timer if he wants to make it out alive?
Acting here is pretty good. I’ll say that with a bit of a caveat - I don’t think anyone is doing a bad job, but I also feel that there’s a certain level to this that was meant to be over dramatic and scene chewing. There’s a side character prisoner that’s sort of like the Duke’s shadow whose a perfect example of this - the actor is blowing it out of the park with coming off as absolutely weird and crazy. Unhinged would be another good word for it. In a small context-less selection of clips though, on might not think of it as great acting though. Some of the side characters, particularly extras or folks who aren’t in the spotlight for long will have a more consistent level of having their acting levels feel like they are extras - either with some flat deliveries or no lines at all - but from our mains I feel like it’s just at the level of camp and silliness that it’s perfectly in tune with what a imaginative kid would come up with acting out stuff with their toys - down to the cool main character whose just. as edgelord feeling as one would want at that age. There’s no real complaints from me in this one - I like it for what it is, but I did feel it should be pointed out that there are some decent names in here and those folks do a fine job, but that fine job will often include some cheesy you know?
As for the characters themselves, there’s a lot in here but I wouldn’t really call any of it character arcs by any means. Our main character does have plenty of interactions with other characters, and the entire time it builds up this big mystery behind our hero - who he is, what he’s done, and why everyone keeps thinking he’s dead. Each character does contain exactly that - character - but it’s not entirely to the level you might see in a drama or character study. Our smart guy side has a plan, and funnily enough ends up making a lot of dumb choices. Our main character is a badass, and he acts that way with his aloofness towards everyone. The main lady of the movie gets to have a moment where she gets to be kind of cool, but honestly get’s underused for the movie if you ask me - fair enough since it’s technically Snake’s story, but it is what it is i suppose.
New York, the something apple.
The city could sort of be considered a character in a way - but I feel of it more as a mood. Where the characters are just that, scampering about from scene to scene, the city works as this visual glue that keeps everything from being too different while also allowing for crazy stuff that we don’t necessarily actually see - like the street walled off with destroyed cars, or sewer people coming out for their monthly dinner raid on the streets. This extends a bit to the costumes as well - you won’t have to worry too much about “looks modern and doesn’t stand out” here. Yeah, some characters look pretty casual like the President, and even to some extent Snake has a bit of a classic action movie hero army man look to him with the addition of the eye patch, most the prisoners get to just have a ball. Sometimes it’s just wearing a big pair of wrestlers underwear and rocking a crazy mustache, other times it could be the Duke’s underling with his over-product inspired hair that’s gotta be like foot taller than he’d be otherwise. It keeps stuff visually interesting to look at, but the oft-used darkness of the setting also helps to keep some of the less impressive bits of it covered up. Oh, the Duke’s car also has chandeliers for headlights.That’s just a ridiculous idea that still seems cool anyways.
Actors do the line deliveries fine for what the movie is aiming for I think. They aren’t all amazing to be fair, but in my head it sounds mostly better then if this was a hardcore super-serious feeling production where everyone was chasing after an acting award. That said, it’s not like they are intentionally trying to be bad or self-referential goofy either, and the balance is done well enough that you feel fine with how they are saying things either way. The music here is something that I do love, and outside of the fact it’s a lot of that John Carpenter synth music it also takes me back to playing games like Gain Ground on the Sega Genesis. For some, maybe it’s gonna feel al little bit basic and not really soundtrack like. That’s a fair argument I suppose, as perhaps a full-blown orchestra would do a better job channeling emotions or something, but I’m wired to enjoy the synths and still feel they get some different feelings across with their various incarnations during the runtime.
So how about the thinking people? Well, I suppose there is some stuff there. The whole quasi-being tricked into doing something you don’t want to do, power and corruption, or the nature of people. I’d like to say don’t judge a book by it’s cover, although I’m not entirely sure just how much that would apply. I feel you’d have a better time producing the concept of the movie - a walled off island of prisoners - as a philosophical argument more so than necessarily finding the little bits of human stuff in there, but maybe that’s just because I’m more into thinking of what-ifs half the time than I am to picking apart why-ifs. It’s there, but in typical fashion I’m just not the right guy to making a thesis on all the commentary a person could glean from a movie about going into penal colony New York to save the President.
Snake’s extending an antenna, but it kind of looks like he’s doing the Pulp Fiction meme.
Yeah, it shows it’s age at times - be it through some of the effects or how our main character acts - but I still enjoy it. It’s not a flawless movie, but it’s got enough that I never feel bad re-watching it when I inevitably come back again. I feel like someone would most likely enjoy it better if they go in with the thought of a budget flick over some mega-Hollywood blockbuster (as would most movies honestly), but it’s got some quotable lines and has that certain charm if you like that era where all the hero’s were kind of the way Snake is. Heck, speaking of what ifs, who knows how Metal Gear would have turned out with this guy right? Either way, I enjoy the music, find it acted well enough, it’s got that “how the past saw the future on a budget” and an interesting concept - interesting enough I might add they did that one movie which is essentially this except with the president’s daughter and set in space (Lockout, which I also enjoyed). All I’m saying is, I’m not the only one to enjoy this movie, so it might be worth checking out sometime you know?.