Escape From New York

Never mind von Sternberg and Dietrich, Scorsese and De Niro, or even Hal Needham and Burt Reynolds: one of the most fruitful director-actor collaborations has been John Carpenter and Kurt Russell's. Escape From New York (1981) was their first theatrical film, a cheap thrills adventure in the cynical, hardboiled B-movie tradition. In the year 1997, New York is one big walled-off maximum security prison that houses society's most hardened and vicious criminals. Channeling Clint Eastwood, Russell reinvented himself as Snake Plissken, an eye-patched antihero who is made an offer he can't refuse: rescue the President of the United States (Donald Pleasence at his hammiest), who has been taken hostage, in 24 hours, or a device implanted in Plissken's neck will explode (with fatal consequences). Thanks to Russell and a glittering cast of character actors--including Issac Hayes as terrorist ringleader Duke, Harry Dean Stanton as the Brain, and Ernest Borgnine as a helpful cabbie--Escape From New York (which was followed in 1996 by the lesser effort Escape From L.A.) is grand escapist entertainment. This double-disc “special edition” includes a mixed bag of supplements, including a reprise of Carpenter and Russell's original commentary track (which appeared on a previous laserdisc edition), a new retrospective "making of" documentary featuring new interviews with the cast, and a deleted opening scene that revealed Plissken's backstory. Less compelling is the second commentary track by producer Debra Hill and production designer Joe Alves. Presented in a sparkling new anamorphic widescreen transfer, with a decent remixed Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, this cult favorite is definitely recommended. (D. Liebenson)[Blu-ray Review—Aug. 31, 2010—MGM, 99 min., R, $24.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1981's Escape from New York sports a nice transfer with DTS-HD 5.1 sound. The Blu-ray includes a flipper DVD copy of the film with widescreen and full screen versions, but no special features. Bottom line: Carpenter's cult classic looks good in Blu, but the lack of any extras—especially since the previous special edition DVD release was loaded—is disappointing.][Blu-ray Review—Apr. 21, 2015—Shout! Factory, 98 min., R, $29.95—Making its latest appearance on Blu-ray, 1981's Escape From New York features a nice transfer and a DTS-HD 5.1 soundtrack. Extras include three audio commentaries (a new one with costar Adrienne Barbeau and cinematographer Dean Cundey; another with director John Carpenter and star Kurt Russell; and the third with producer Debra Hill and production designer Joe Alves), a retrospective featurette (23 min.), “Scoring the Escape” with composer Alan Howarth” (19 min.), the production featurettes “Big Challenge in Little Manhattan: The Visual Effects” (15 min.) and “On Set with John Carpenter: The Images” (11 min.), a deleted scene (11 min.), an “I Am Taylor” interview with costar Joe Unger (9 min.), a “My Night on Set” interview with filmmaker David DeCoteau (5 min.), various galleries, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for this winning cult classic.]