It was with great joy that I came across Escape from New York in my DVD store last week. Even when this movie was first released in 1981, the world knew it was a great bad movie. I myself hadn't seen it in over a decade, so I leaned back in the recliner, popped open a beverage, and prepared to review one of my favorite bad movies of all time. And then things got a little weird.

As I mentioned, it's been over ten years since I saw this flick and I had completely forgotten about the opening of the movie. Oh I remember all of the background nonsense, that in 1988 the crime rate rises by 400% and as a result the U.S. decides to encircle Manhattan with a 50 foot wall and just dump all of the nation’s criminals on the island and let them fend for themselves. In a brilliant moment of irony, John Carpenter turns Liberty Island into a guard tower and police headquarters for keeping an eye over this impressive penitentiary. But wait, now we're way in the future, that far off year of 1997. That made me chuckle a wee bit. Up to this point in the movie, my recollection is serving me well.

What I had forgotten was the inciting incident. Terrorists have taken over a plane and are flying it towards Manhattan. And not just any plane, they have taken over Air Force One. Their ultimate aim is to crash it into the skyscrapers of Manhattan. I have to admit that I felt a little weirded out viewing this scene anew as we see this jet heading directly towards the Twin Towers. It heads directly towards them and then at the last moment veers
towards the buildings in the blocks next to the WTC and crashes into them. I had just completely blanked on all of that.

Well enough of that. The President, played by Donald Pleasence, pops out in his orange Austin Powers-like safety egg just before the big crash, and the hunt for his recovery is on. We must rescue the President! Not just because he's the commander in chief, but because he's carrying a cassette tape with really important info about saving the world or some such nonsense. They send in a commando unit led by moviedom's third best bad guy (Lee Van Cleef playing Police Commissioner Bob Hauk), but they're already too late. The baddies have already nabbed him. They're informed so by Romero, played by Frank Doubleday. This guy is worth the price of admission alone. He looks like a cross between a Mad Max character and the Bride of Frankenstein, and he should be the poster boy for overacting. Good overacting.

Thwarted in his initial attempt to save the President, Hauk turns to the only man who can save the day; Snake Plissken! Outstanding! This has to be up there in the top ten character names ever! Snake is played by Kurt
Russell doing his best imitation of Clint Eastwood . . . and wearing an eye patch! Hasselhoff would be proud! Snake is a criminal about to be sent to Manhattan, but he's given one chance to receive a full pardon; save the
President in the next 24 hours. Of course he has the necessary military and secret-ops background to complete such a mission (a tired and used plot line, don't you think?), and just to make sure he comes back in time they
plant two explosives in his neck that will get him blowed up if he's late. Let's go hunting!

New York in the far away future of 1997 is just what you would imagine it would be and more. We've got cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers living in the subways, crazy derelicts roaming the streets, and one really annoying cab driver played by Ernest Borgnine. But the key to getting the President is the Duke. The Duke runs this city and there's only one way to get to him; brains and boobs. The brains come in the form of Harold 'Brain' Helman, played by Harry Dean Stanton, and the boobs are provided by Maggie, Adrienne Barbeau. Nice! It's a shame that she doesn't let those sweater puppies out to breathe, but her funbags are impressive indeed.

As I said, they must go through the Duke, and he is memorably played by Isaac Hayes. He makes his way around town in the pimp mobile of all pimp mobiles. This car has four chandeliers for head and tail lights and a disco mirror-ball hanging from the rearview. And the man can actually act, at least enough for this movie.

Escape from New York is a nice combination of horror movie and action flick and marks the end of Russell's Disney boy career. Call him Plissken!

Hamlin Grade: 5

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