Review of Escape from New York (1981) by Stefan G — 08 Nov 2015

This film seems to be a bleak fusion of a spaghetti western and a Mad Max-style action film, all garnished with a bleak urban atmosphere, and it works on a number of levels. Of course, the story might sound a little less believable nowadays, but in a time where New York was still considered to be a crime-ridden metropolis, this would have been rather poignant.

The story itself still works on one key level, the fact that the protagonist, Snake Plissken, is reluctant to go in and do what he does, taking it upon himself purely because he's coerced into doing it, perhaps the perfect antidote to the old cliché of heroism for its own sake.

Rather than just shooting his way in, Snake explores his environment, making his way with care, but he's still armed to the hilt and could strike back at danger. In essence, Snake represents a more balanced approach to the action hero, and certainly a better kind of character than the kind of action hero that film producers would eventually start creating.

It's such a shame that too many of the other characters fail to be very interesting, because the acting is actually very good. In a rare occurrence for the action genre, the film seems to specialize in the way it presented itself.

Of course it opens with that classic theme song, but it also sports a fittingly gloomy visual style, and takes advantage of some very nifty 3D wireframe effects. The only problem with its presentation, however, is that it's only relevant for the first quarter of the film.

I also think the film should have been longer and should have made more use of the futuristic element implied by the wireframe segments. Granted, there's nothing wrong with the approach John Carpenter went for, but there was plenty of room to do much more, and that's the biggest way the film might disappoint.

Other than that, it's a very entertaining film that certainly manages to deliver a unique and fulfilling cinematic experience.