Customer Reviews

Escape from L.A.

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1 star:		(19)

 

 

When I first saw this film in the theaters, I really didn't like it. In fact, I was pretty let down! I had grown up with Escape From New York, and to my horror, John Carpenter remade his own film! I'm not kidding, REMADE it. Right down to Snake getting shot in the leg and limping for the last half of the film. Years later I revaluated my opinion. You can't make a film as corny as this on accident, especially if you're a veteran director like John Carpenter; It had to be done on purpose. I've read numerous interviews over the years and have found out two things, and I think these two things are the reason this film ended up the way it did. First, John Carpenter hates sequels. He never wanted to make sequels to his films. He never wanted a sequel to Halloween(let alone six! That's why he produced Halloween 3 which people hated so much, coz he was trying to take this series in a different direction and not retread the whole Michael Myers thing). I also understand that both Carpenter and Kurt Russell were under alot of studio pressure to make this film. I don't know what kind of favor Carpenter owed the studio, but he made this film. And my theory is that he made this film intentionally bad to say to the studio, "There, I made the stinking sequel you wanted, don't ask me to do it again!" I mean really, if he had wanted to make a sequel to Escape From New York, don't you think he would have struck while the iron was hot and made it at the height of the first film's success instead of waiting 15 years? Think about it. When I consider this scenario, I can watch Escape From L.A and have a good laugh thinking that John Carpenter may have played a big joke on the Hollywood studios. Really, there's no way Carpenter included that surfing scene with the intention of it being taken seriously. The film is just way too overblown, way too cheesy and obviously a carbon copy of the original to be anything other than a joke. Kurt may be older now, but he's actually still able to play Snake Plissken like it's 1980. The performance is great, it's just the film surrounding Kurt that's silly. Try watching it again and see what you think.

Sequels used to be about remaking the same film again and again (remember "Friday The 13th" or "Nightmare on Elm Street"?)with minor variations so the audience gets their fix. John Carpenter, Kurt Russell and Debra Hill inverted the paradigmn reprising the best elements from "Escape from New York" while introducing a heavy dose of satire aimed squarely at the Moral Majority and groups of that nature. While not as memorable as that film, "Escape from L. A." takes perfect aim at liberal Hollywood, the conservative religious right, sequels and skewers them all dead on most of the time.

Snake Plissken is back in trouble. Captured again he's put into the service of national security against his will. It seems a device that can detonate orbital nuclear devices has been stolen by the President's daughter and delivered into the hands of a self styled rebel leader named Cuervo Jones (George Corraface)in what's left of Southern California. Cuervo plans on using this device against the United States. Plissken is sent to the island of Los Angeles to retreive the device. Yes, folks the BIG ONE finally hit and a large part of the Los Angeles basin dropped into the ocean like a ten ton weight while the remainder floats off the coast of the United States making the perfect place to deport people who don't have high moral fiber or generally tick off the President for life (Cliff Robertson in a twisted performance). Infected by a deadly designer virus that makes Ebola seem like the flu, Snake has no choice but to take the job of retrieving. Malloy (Stacy Keach stepping in for the late Lee Van Cleef)and Brazen (the beautiful Michelle Forbes late of "Star Trek: The Next Generation", "Homicide: Life on the Streets" and the second season of "24")provide Snake with his only link to the outside world.

Along the way Snake meets surfers (Peter Fonda), the Surgeon General of Beverly Hills (Bruce Campbell in a hilarious role that truly is the highlight of the movie)in pursuit of the device. Oh and once again Snake has one of those huge digital watches attached to his wrist to remind him his days are numbered if he doesn't get the device back in time. Filled with great cameos by Steve Buscemi (as Map to the Stars Eddie), B-movie queen Pam Grier (as Hershe Las Palmas), Italian beauty Valerie Golino, the late Paul Bartel, Issac Hayes (in a cameo) and Robert Carradine "Escape from L.A." just might be Carpenter's most undervalued film (along with the great satire "They Live").

The weakest link in the film turns out to be the uneven visual effects done by Disney's Buena Vista Visual Effects. Some of the opticals look great particularly the scenes where Los Angeles gets hit by the 9.6 earthquake. The sequences involving the mini-sub and some of the helicopters look as if they were taken from computer games. While computer graphics were still developing at the time, I'm surprised that Disney's effects house wasn't able to come up with more convincing visuals for this sequence. Still, while they aren't what they could be they're not the focus of the story either and are a pretty minor problem. Many of the best effects work quite well. The production design by Lawrence G. Paull ("Blade Runner", "Back to the Future", "Predator 2")gives the film a much bigger look than the budget the film had (it cost roughly $50 million to make including the marketing portion of the budget). A bit of trivia about the film. Russell appears wearing the same costume he had for the first film at the beginning. Russell also made all the basketball shots seen in the climatic game himself.

Presented in its original widescreen format with a trailer as the only extra, this was released when Paramount was playing catch up in releasing product for the DVD market. The image quality is exceptionally good with great color reproduction and a nearly flawless print (particularly when compared to the remastered re-release of "Escape from New York")with a nice 5.1 sound mix.

It's too bad this hasn't been reissued with extras (such as a commentary from Carpenter and Russell and one or two featurettes. Heck, there's got to be a promo piece somewhere in Paramount's vault about this as I seem to remember one being released to promote it)because, while isn't quite up to "Escape from New York", "Escape from L.A." is still a memorable sequel with enough satire, parody and humor laced moments to keep fans of the original happy. Hopefully one of these days this minor Carpenter classic will get the re-evaluation it deserves.

There is no better way to view John Carpenter's films in WIDESCREEN and it's no exception with this sequel to Escape from New York! Gratitude definitely has to be given for the DVD's quality as it fully displays all the shades of blacks [especially those on Snake's coat] in a solid yet crisp quality that even the Laserdisc version can't match. I also found this DVD much sharper, with more visible detail in the crouded scenes. To top it off, this DVD is a fine example of professional solid blacks! Unfortunately though, its sound is NOT quite as powerful as the THX-approved version on LD. Scenes where Snake fires his Core Burner, his cowboy guns and other big explosions, all seem to scream in a lower rumble when you compare this DVD with the LD. But if I were to choose between those 2, I'd still pick the DVD version as it has the Theatrical Trailer [among the coolest ones I've seen], yet there's no need to flip the disc! For fans, I recommend this version of the film [though I can never stop thinking there should have been more extra features in it]!

They sure don't make 'em like this anymore -- that much can be said for this balls-to-the-wall, over-the-top sequel to John Carpenter's classic "Escape From New York." In "Escape From L.A.," the audience is reunited with loveable Snake Plissken, the eye-patch sporting, leather-clad war-hero made famous by Kurt Russell. Russell, together with Carpenter and his long-time collaborater, Debra Hill, wrote the script, so you can bet that not only is it a labor of love for all involved in the making of the movie, but also a fitting companion-piece to the original. If you haven't seen the original, don't fear. Like any good action sequel, this one does it's audience the favor of existing as a stand-alone feature as well.

The year is 2013. The constitution has been rewritten and the president is serving his life-long term. Red meat, along with other simple pleasures such as premarital sex, alcohol and any sort of fun has been outlawed. Those who can't comply or conform with this ultra-conservative new vision of The United States are banished to Los Angeles. Doesn't sound so bad, but unfortunately and conveniently, L.A. has been isolated from the country by a devastating earthquake and transformed into a prison camp, full of the dirtiest and uncivilized criminals and low-lifes. Universal Studios has been banished to the depths of the Pacific Ocean, and you can bet this ain't the happiest place on Earth. After being captured by the government and injected with a deadly virus for motivational purposes, Snake is dispatched to this wasteland to retreive a doomsday device, hijacked by the president's daughter, which has the power to revert Earth back to the dark ages. As our hero wades through the sewers, surfs tsunamis and plays a deadly game of basketball, he encounters some colorful characters along the way, played by the likes of Steve Buscemi, Bruce Campbell, Peter Fonda and Pam Grier. If you think these characters are bold and outlandish, just get a load of the action, which takes many liberties with the human imagination and stands out from much of the disposable fluff of it's time ("Independence Day," for one).

Since this is a John Carpenter film, you know two things: First, the music is going to be good. Composed by Carpenter himself, it's yet another classic score. Second, the movie looks gorgeous. There may be some dodgy special effects here and there, but for 1996, this is a pretty tight looking feature. It's far from a perfect film, but at the very least, it's an example of the best escapism movies have to offer. Kurt Russell is brilliant and doesn't miss a mark as Snake, and Carpenter's vision is that of confidence and bold imagination. Those who appreciate a good action flick that checks your brain at the door will find salvation in "Escape From L.A."

"The United States is a no-smoking nation," announces Stacy Keach in John Carpenter's Escape From L.A., revealing what it will be like to live in right-wing America, circa 2013: "No smoking, no drinking, no drugs, no guns, no foul language, no red meat." And, on the basis of what we see here, no decent movies. In the crowded field of "Who Asked For This Anyway?" sequels, those so-awful-they're-funny follow-ups to hit flicks, like Texasville, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, King Kong Lives and The Evening Star, Escape From L.A. stands tall as a shining beacon of Bad Moviedom. Time has not been kind to Snake, Kurt Russell's ultramanly Escape From New York antihero, conceived over 15 years ago in tribute to Clint Eastwood's sandpapery spaghetti Western loner. Today, decked out in long hair and an all-black skintight wardrobe with matching eye patch, mondo-butch Russell conjures up not Eastwood but his own Captain Ron--after one too many drinks at a West Hollywood leather bar.

Ordered by president Cliff Robertson onto the maximum-security prison island of Los Angeles to retrieve a doomsday machine in less than 10 hours or die, Russell sneers, "You'd better hope I don't make it back" (which is exactly what we were thinking on the way out of Escape From New York). He then sets off to track down evil terrorist George Corraface in the post-apocalyptic ruins of L.A. Captured briefly by baddies inside the Beverly Hills Hotel, now a plastic surgery house of horrors full of "surgical failures" whose implants and face-lifts have all "turned to Jell-O," Russell realizes that L.A. has become an island of the damned. But Valerie Golino, the tough cookie he has teamed up with, sees it differently: for her, L.A. is "the only free zone left, where a girl can still wear a fur coat if she wants to." It's an idea she's promptly shot dead for by a sniper--presumably a 21st century PETA activist.

You know you're watching a cheeseball classic when Russell glances down at his Special Countdown Watch to see that he has only seven more hours left to complete his mission and then, several minutes later, Stacy Keach informs Russell by walkie-talkie that he has only seven and a half hours left.

Things go seriously awry for Russell when he hitches a ride with Steve Buscemi, overacting as usual, this time as a Pee-wee Hermanesque slimeball who does dirty work for the highest bidder. Buscemi hits Russell with a poisonous dart gun and what happens next is so shocking that out-of-shape couch potatoes should stop reading right this second because it's their worst nightmare: Russell wakes up to find he's been shackled to a treadmill and is being aerobicized to death. When he mysteriously survives that ordeal, the villainous Corraface has him taken to a coliseum where he's forced to play a solo game of basketball in which he must score consecutive baskets or be machine-gunned down (an idea we think the NBA should take a look at). As luck would have it, Russell (who cowrote the script, mind you) plays basketball like no white guy you've ever seen.

Russell escapes his theoretically deadly workouts only to be shot in the leg by Buscemi. Just then, a tidal wave happens by and friendly stoner Peter Fonda teaches the bleeding Russell how to surf a tsunami. As Fonda puts it, "Bitchin'!" When Buscemi drives away in an open convertible, Russell actually rides the gigantic wave directly into the villain's front seat. Together they search down Russell's onetime male partner-in-crime, now a transsexual party doll living aboard the Queen Mary, played by Pam Grier (who must have quite a mortgage to feed to have taken this role). Not believing that his bud's now a she, Russell runs his hand up, up, up Grier's innermost thigh and pulls out--no! yes!--a loaded revolver (discuss meaning amongst yourselves).

There is, as they say, much more: the cast flying on hang gliders over a bankrupt faux-Disneyland (in the film's only good line, Buscemi explains, "That thing in Paris killed them"); a climactic shootout featuring animated gunfire even toddlers would snort at on a Saturday morning cartoon show; Corraface biting deeply into Russell's bloody wound (yum). It all ends, as you'd hoped, with Russell peevishly using the doomsday weapon to shut down every source of energy on the entire Earth. We're told that all the technology of the past is lost forever. Including, we hope, any machine capable of projecting a surviving print of this movie.

In the year 1998, too many Mexicans are jumping the border and crime is continuously increasing. In the year 2000, a terrible earthquake happens separating California from the U.S. coastline. A presidential candidate decides to turn it into a deportation zone to send off illegal immigrants and scum not worthy of living in the country. In 2013, the President's daughter hijacks Air Force Three and sneaks off to the new island once split away from the states. Only one man has the skill for the job to bring her back and return what she has stolen and taken with her. Snake is back! Plisken has once again been hired by the police force of the future to complete an objective for the sake of the President. This time he does it in Los Angeles. 15 years later after New York. Snake Plisken did it once. He can do it again. Good Action Movie! But not as good as the first. Only better special effects and greater quality.

This movie is an absolute pleasure to watch. It's fun, exciting, and extremely funny. Sure, the acting, the story, and the action is cheezy, but you cannot deny that it's fun to watch. "Escape from LA" is a pure action movie that makes fun of the "action movie" at the same time it's succedding as one. Watch it!

Snake: Got a smoke? Malloy: America is a no smoking nation, no smoking, no drinking, no foul language, no sex unless your married, no red meat. Snake: Land of the free.

There's not much new about Escape From LA, compared to its predecessor. It's pretty much the same story, set in a different place, and Kurt Russell once more in a race against the clock, in order to rescue a black box from the president's daughter.

This time, 2013, the prison is LA, after being separated from mainland by major earthquakes, and still suffering from the aftershocks. The president's daughter hijacks Air Force 3, and crash lands in LA, away from the restraints of daddy, and free to do what she wants. Which is get in with the wrong crowd and not wear very much. Of course, Snake is back and instantly recognisable to everyone, after his escapades in New York, and he has to be the one to go into LA.

Of course, there are a few similarities to the first movie: he gets a time limit on his life to get the mission done, the vehicle that he uses to get to the island is destroyed, the girl he briefly meets is killed, and he has to play a game to survive. Sure there's nothing new, but Kurt manages to pull it off.

The supporting cast, alongside Kurt, is excellent. Steve Buscemi, playing his usual eccentric character, Pam Grier, Michelle Forbes (who I knew from Kalifornia), Valeria Golino, and a shockingly different Bruce Campbell, were all excellent. Bruce Campbell I luckily managed to spot - he's not recognisable, a lot of prosthetics, but the chin is impossible to disguise!

Why was there never a third movie made? After the ending Escape From LA was given? Hell yeah, there should have been another movie made. Escape From Earth has been batted around for many years since this was made, but it's never been made up until ... soon hopefully. With Stallone coming back for Rocky & Rambo, and Ford coming back for another Indiana Jones, why not revisit this once more? The finale just left too many things hanging. It's a necessity. Hey, I think Kurt could still fit into that outfit. And get the hair long again. Easy. Do IT!!!

What can I say? Did you see Escape from New York? Well then you have practically already seen Escape from L.A. There's no going around it. It's the EXACT same movie. Same urban renewal backdrop, the same plot twists, same jokes even. You can put the two movies next to each other and follow them scene-by-scene. Oh sure a few details are different, but you're getting the exact same movie.

I'm not kidding here. Snake is forced to help the government just like the first movie. Snake has to look for someone lost inside an urban wasteland who happens to also hold something important... just like the last movie. There is a main villain who controls the city and plans to break out just like the last movie. There is even a gladiatorial game scene like the last movie. And wouldn't you know it the movie ends with the same plot twist as the last movie. Sorry if I spoiled it for you but lets face facts. If you seen Escape from New York you haven't missed anything.

Granted the first movie was made back in 1981 so Escape from L.A. is more polished with its special effects, cinematography and stuff like that. Snake does have more toys to play with guns and weapons-wise and the tech is neater. You have all these little improvements as well as a recycled story, but none of the personality from the last movie. Escape from New York had a raw and gritty feel to it that put it in the annals of the cyberpunk genre. This movie is just a Hollywood rehash with hardly any of the color and charm from the original.

One more time for those not paying attention: If you've seen Escape from New York you have already seen this movie. No joke. If you never seen either of them I would still recommend watching Escape from NY instead of this one. It's not that the movie is bad. It's just that it's been done before... literally.

Okay, I'll admit it. John Carpenter's "Escape From L.A." is one of my absolute favorite guilty pleasures. Where else can you see Snake riding a tidal wave? Snake shooting hoops in order to save his life? Or even Snake kicking the entire world's butt?

In 2000, an earthquake seperated Los Angeles from the U.S. and California. Now those who decide not to follow the rules (No smoking, no drugs, no alcohol, no women - unless you're married - no foul language, no red meat!) are sent there, and are not allowed to return to the U.S. In 2013, the president's daughter Utopia has stolen the doomsday device, and has fled to L.A. It's up to ex-special forces war hero Snake Plissken to recover the doomsday device, as well as the president's daughter within nine hours, or the virus he has been injected with will kill him.

The R1 DVD from Paramount features an excellent transfer of the film, but unfortunately, it's non-anamorphic. The film is presented in it's original 2.35:1 widescreen ratio. The DVD also includes a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, as well as a Dolby Surround 2.0 soundtrack. The only bonus feature on the disc is the theatrical trailer. It'd be nice if Paramount gave us a special edition for EFLA, containing a commentary with John Carpenter and Kurt Russell, as well as the HBO making of featurette, and deleted or extended scenes, if any.

In the end: Escape From L.A. is a minor classic that should not be missed by fans of John Carpenter, Kurt Russell, or fans of "Escape From New York".