Escape From New York (1981) Retrospective/Review
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- Опубликовано: 4 фев 2025
- Original published in March 2016. I had to make some edits to remove a copyright claim.
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Escape From New York (1981) Retrospective / Review
#EscapeFromNewYork #SnakePlissken #JohnCarpenter #EscapeFromNewYork1981 #OliverHarper #MakingOf #Documentary #OliverHarperRetrospective
Original published in March 2016. I had to make some edits to remove a copyright claim.
Thank you for reuploading.
Your stuff is awesome Oliver. More content please.
Well, I'm gunna watch it again, so take that!
Stupid copyright bots
Ah those pushy copyright bots. The First Escape From movie is a bonafide classic and the only one that Kurt Russell made with John Carpenter that was actually a hit. Aside from the sequel this combo duo made some of the best movies of the 1980's.
Oh Kurt, what a comedian. When people call him Plissken, he tells them to call him Snake. Then when they start calling him Snake, he tells them to call him Plissken.
It’s bad writing tbh
@Hockeygod98 That's not funny Hockeygod
All hail Mifune
@@firstnamelastname8332 Nah it was just part of his anti-hero attitude.
I see you on so many movie channels.
John Carpenter really brought the best out of Kurt Russell. Snake Plissken, R.J MacReady and Jack Burton are all legendary characters!
you said it bud.nail on the head.this time vhs era .is only for the fortunate few from those days.there will never be again.john carpenter,lucio fulci,george romero,dario argentoi was 12 at this time and only kid i knew in liverpool who had a vhs player and renting these classics.pirating them too.lol
100%
Agreement!
especially when you consider how drastically different each of them are. True proffesionals!
Ever thought if those movies would've been good if Kirk Russell wasn't in them 🤔 and if John Carpenter would've been as well known
I saw this at the cinema. We started stamping our feet and clapping our hands to the 'Duke's arrival' theme. Everyone loved it so they joined in. it was a really funny moment from the audience to a great movie.
You mean all the cowbell when Duke shows up?
The Duke is a puke
John Carpenter's synth scores are all really good, but the Duke's dark and funky disco dirge is awesome.
John Carpenter is so good. His films give me a feeling like no other.
A great example of this is
Prince of Darkness
the feeling of the whole film is one of consistent “Wtf?” moments and it just keeps escalating
"The president of what?"
best line in the film
Yeah, that was awesome 😎
That’s not funny Plissken!
I really like the theme score to this movie. It calms me right down every time I hear it.
I absolutely love playing this score - especially the Dukes arrival - in my open top jeep with no doors or side windows....that also may or may not have a P.A speaker for my C.B..... ;) Nothing like jamming to Dukes theme at a red light and seeing someone get the reference. Dopesnt happen often but the best one was a dude on a motorcycle - shut of his engine smiling - leaned over and says to me "I thought you were dead" - :)
You make a good point about the "lack or excitement" in the action, but I've always felt that the abrupt, unromantic action scenes help sell the bleakness of the whole situation. Anyone can die at any minute, like in real life. I think Escape from LA tried to up the action, and that's why it's underwhelming. There is a grit and immediateness to Escape from NY throughout, shot in almost a documentary style - Like "This is how it happened." Great video!
Aesthetically speaking the movie is interesting enough without the need for all of the action. It was like a slow burn Western. Pretty much flawless as far as i'm concerned as cinema goes.
Like you said, the element of chaos is always present, so it helps to chain the sequences together without ever dragging on. But the environment... it's like it's own character.
I think this is why Kojima drew inspiration from this movie, which in turn lent it'self to more inspiration for other game devs. It was great at building environment and characters which is paramount for a solid game.
What's so romantic about action?
@@cwrichardson3 I'm using the 2nd definition for "romantic": "of, characterized by, or suggestive of an idealized view of reality". So, John Wick's action scenes are romanticized in that way, whereas the scenes in Escape are not.
The Pedestrian Violence Of The Original.... Basic & Primal.
“Listen, Listennnnnnn…. The president gone, Brainnnn took him” loved that dialogue when I was a kid!
The echo of his voice in the arena .......chills.
This channel is an absolutt gem
So is your mom
A great example of a film where everything goes right. Script, direction, casting, effects, etc. and a PERFECT example of why you don’t need a $100m budget to make a visually stunning film!
One of the few movies that give me such a strong vibe, and a sense of not that good future.
I absolutely love this movie and its message.
@Ann Hanover
It will probably take a third world war to actually unite and prevent civil war in the US.
The country is in such a precarious position thanks to the current administration... When the most powerful political figure in the world is seemingly incapable of speaking coherently or answering questions from (non pre-approved) journalists, we should _all_ be very concerned.
I absolutely love playing this score - especially the Dukes arrival - in my open-top jeep with no doors or side windows....that also may or may not have a P.A speaker for my C.B..... ;) Nothing like jamming to Dukes theme at a red light and seeing someone get the reference. Doesn't happen often but the best one was a dude on a motorcycle - shut of his engine smiling - leaned over and says to me "I thought you were dead" - :)
I smiled reading this. You're the duke! You're A Number ONE
I’ve always liked your retrospectives. I love how you give an insight on the background of the films you’re covering, using the score as background music, making the mini trailers, everything, really, and I really love the vibe your retrospectives give off. Love the videos, keep up the great work, man!
Escape from New York was my introduction to Carpenter and where my love for his work came from. I repeatedly watched it as a kid on VHS, and even to this day if I see it on TV I'll sit and watch it.
The soundtrack was on my turntable all the time back then!
It was the first DVD I ever purchased. I have Blade Runner, Black Hole and Flash Gordon on LP
Retroactive copyright strikes are cancer. Thank you for re editing and not letting your content just get deleted.
An absolute all time classic.
I love it so much. The visual effects are what happens when you get guys who are extremely creative and talented.
One of the most memorable intro themes I’ve ever heard.
It’s amazing how much a soundtrack can elevate a film.
I love the fact this isn't a shoot em up movie and glad it doesn't have big shootout scenes. It gives the movie more urgency that Snake needs to do this fast and lets us be introduced to the various odd characters, even if they only have a little screen time.
Huh, never seen this movie all the way through. Idea of turning New York itself into a prison is a cool idea and could make for a whole TV Series.
It’s one of my Top 10 favorite movies. Yeah the prison could have its own world, it could be a neo noir version of Oz the TV show.
@@KinkESizemore Oz meets Blade Runner
Real Reality TV.
If they made like a 10 episode miniseries prequel to Escape From New York I'd die happy.
If they made Escape From Earth or Escape From America and Russell came back for one last hoorah with the eye patch I would die happy.
"It's premise of New York being a prison is very far fetched."
2021: Hold my beer.
*2001 'patriot act.
Clearly you have no clue what a prison is, if you think NY in 2021 is a prison...
Well considerin' New York is run by criminals ( just like southern California etc. etc. etc.) WHADDYA EXPECT.
I generally hate politics but checked Carpenters twitter just for fun, the guy who "hates authority" and made "they live" seems to be all about these lockdowns.
Word
Romero really stuck out in my mind when i saw this as a kid. For a long time, i thought he was played by Michael Biehn from terminator and aliens, but it was really Frank Doubleday. I loved the hiss as Lee van Cleef and team are running back to the airlift.
Great item.
Very fond memories of this film.
It was the first movie that I taped with our new video recorder in early 1983. I was 13 years old. The excitement and awe, when watching it, I will always remember.
Great movie.
One of my favorite movies. And I love the soundtrack, just an awesome picture all around.
Rest In Peace to Harry Dean Stanton 1926-2017 who plays Brain and to Frank Doubleday who plays Romero 1945-2018. May they both play Brain and Romero and work along side The Duke (Issac Hayes 1942-2008) in the big New York pen in the sky.
But hey, don't forget Ernest Borgnine (1917-2012). He stole the show really
@@NickB1967 cabbie was fantastic.
Deep Rising?
Anyone else Love this film?
Oliver, your work is amazing and entertaining. Thank you .
Deep Rising is awesome movie. A proper creature feature done with respectable budget, with solid cast. Treat Williams as a laid back hero Finnegan is also a hoot, because dude was usually cast as an asshole or villain. Now What?
One of my all time favourite films, I hired it from the video shop when it came out for a week and took it around all my friends houses and watched it at lease twice a day. I brought the sound track album and still have it in my record collection. I used to play the title song on 45rpm instead of the correct 33 1/3rpm and it sounded pretty good as the original has a slow quality about it.
Great Film, great memories, I had the 4K version given to me for Christmas upon release which was like and old friend.
Visuals is what really sold me on this film, the story and the characters were secondary admittedly. It reminds me so much of another visually stunning movie that I later saw by the name of Blade Runner.
Love this channel! Great info on the film :D I ordered the 4K Scream Factory edition of the film and am so excited!
Escape from New York is a classic one of my favourite films from the 80s.
The Things is by far my favourite Carpenter film, but they all have a definite uniqueness which I have very appreciate. The style of the music is just its own thing and you know you've got a Carpenter experience. Though of course with my previously alluded to favourite The Thing the music was Enzo Marioni-- but it's amazing and fits the film perfectly.
Oh! I love this movie! I'm a UBER diver and this video it's fantastic for my free time!! Greetings from Argentina, and sorry for my english...
No matter about your English. However, it is "driver" not diver so pull it together.
One of the best movies of the 1980ies and a milestone in genre film making. And as a bonus: a subtext that's still relevant. A thriller to think about after you've been entertained. Great review!
Awesome call out to Lockout! Guy Pearce is the man and one of the most underrated actors
Among my very favourite music in this one. Thanks for the excellent work that's gone into this retrospective, young man. :)
I recently watched both Escape from NY and LA with my 13 year old son. I was curious what his opinion would be. He loved the first movie. The pacing and music was completely alien to him. He had never seen anything like it. My son thought that the second movie was good but not great. He was disappointed that LA didn't take it's self very seriously.
E F LA WAS a MAJOR disappointment!
@Jip Jackson unironically the WORST cgi scene ever put on film.
I love the music so much in this movie. The remixes of the themes are amazing. Snake's lines with the government agents is classic and applies today. 💥💯💫
Great retrospective. Huge fan of the movie was not aware of the details around how they achieved the 'computer' gfx. Absolute genius!
Probably my favorite actor of all time is Kurt Russell I don't think there's a movie he's in that I don't like
Don’t go overboard.
I even liked the corny super hero dad role he played
@@youlittlerocket lmao yeah he actually wasn’t bad in Sky High he played the role well
@@snusemcgoose1001 Great film lol 👍
Thanks for the re-upload!
Amazing, the way computer graphics were mimicked, simply perfect! I would also like to watch Plissken's initial robbery act
I largely gave up on movies. I still enjoy me some Escape from NY. I really hope they don't go through with the remake.
At the time NY was a violent shit hole... 1981 was it's most violent year ever. While, yes, far fetched, the idea of Manhatten's abandonment and repurposing was on the fringe of plausible. 'NY in collapse' was almost it's own sub genre at the time. The movie's premise is more acceptable than you probably think.
NYC WAS A MESS BACK THEN. IT'S like Disney World NOW...especially Times Square.
Magical gem of a film. And while Hideo Kojima may deny ir or even beat around the bush with it, Solid Snake was definitely heavily inspired by Snake Plissken. Amazing retrospective once again Ollie 🙂😊
I love Snatcher, but it is obviously borrowed from Blade Runner, Terminator, Dune and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Policenauts totally not Lethal Weapon.
Another great retrospective of one of the greatest science fiction/ horror films ever made. Nice touch with the inclusion of the music from the Superboy TV series at the end!
I like to think that The Warriors existed in this universe as a part of the rise in crime that led to the prison being built. lol
The best we've got for a Metal Gear Solid film these past decades
When they made this it made sense for New York. But in 2021 I think we can all agree it would much more likely to be in California.
I fondly remember first seeing this great film at a drive in theater back then. It was double feature and the other movie was Used Cars, also starring Kurt Russell.
Nothing was better than watching this in New York, in 1981 on 42nd street, with a rowdy crowd! You just had to be there.
Great upload and a Quality Classic Film! I'm glad you mentioned the Skotak Brothers, coz of there work on Aliens is still better than most CGI Today! Carpenter is Amazing at Directing, story telling & he writes/plays the instruments for the film score! Also Carpenter got a real coup with Ennio Morricone on The Thing! Thanks Again Oliver
Great job on a classic we saw this at least 3 times when it came out and still holds up what a cast love u lee van cleef!
Seen this when it came out, I was in the 1st grade. I was traumatized. Great movie, greater cast, one of the greatest writer/directors ever.
Dear old Dad took me to see this and Outland in '81. Two awesome sci-fi movies.
Trivia: That is Jamie Leigh Curtis explaining the NY Maximum Security Prison in the beginning. Her voice is slightly altered to give it a lower tone, but it is her.
No it is NOT her.. it's Debra Hill
This is the best Escape movie I've ever seen. It's one of my favorite movies.
I agree completely! Better than L.A n Escape To Victory etc! Escape From New York, The Thing & Big Trouble In Little China are my childhood films that, haven't been rebooted or Sequels/Prequels (apart from L.A) like Predator, Aliens, Terminator etc! Love Carpenter's style n Russell. Thanks edit I forgot about the Guy Pearce film! Which I enjoyed and it is very similar between New York and L.A!
@@eddysandland58 yep though there were talks of a reboot of Escape from NY with Gerard Butler and Dwayne Johnson wanted to re-do Big Trouble.
@@zaltmanbleroze NOOOOOOO!!!! Does JC have to give them Permission? Or up to the Studio Exc's?
Escape From Alcatraz is also pretty damn good
Thank you. This is the best review of this movie I could find on yt.
Excellent summary of one of the classics. 2 thumbs up bro!
There was a videogame inspired by the film, although not official, called Manhattan 95 on the Amstrad CPC. It has an 8 bit rendition of the score. Look for it on RUclips. The intro even has the computer schematics from the opening sequence.
Carpenter in his prime, one of the greatest action fliks ever
Thnx for re-uploading Ollie.
May this classic never be remade. Influence, sure ... but never remade. Same goes for Big Trouble in Little China.
Amen
Great video dude first and foremost.
This movie is without question top five Sci Fi movies of all time...
This along with certain others set the tone for dark neo noir classics , Japan , metal gear etc love this film and rightly so.
Mr Carpenter deserves all the praise he gets for this...
This film is the benchmark , hence Robert Rodriguez who wanted to direct a remake and qudos to him for wanting to do so , it's an absolute masterclass of cinema and Sci Fi from start to finish , 1980? ... Wow.
The opening original scene that was cut I only watched on the special edition DVD release and was still blown away only 5/6 years ago I saw it....
For the life of me I don't know why it was cut ...
But maybe it added to the mystique of snakes character.
Escape from L.A I enjoyed , Kurt Russell looked just as good as he did 16/17 years earlier... .
And that basketball scene , just as good as the end of E.F.N.Y , when he drops to the floor and gets his implants shocked and terminated Is still edge of your seat everytime you watch I love.
John carpenter is and will always be influential when it comes to cinema , I personally salute him just for the endless joy of rewinding my V.H.S and shaping my vision of Sci Fi to this day on anime and endless references and influence on generations on movie makers.
Absolutely classic and much respect to John Carpenter and the Iconic Kurt Russell who no other could of played apart from him.
The video game is a travesty , wow... Would if loved to played that just for the nostalgia , crazy....
My opinion for a third sequel tho would be to see Snake rescuing his son , there's so many ways you could go from there , along the lines of the remake of True Grit , a grizzled vet , down but not forgotten... And can still kick ass in this cyber world were living in.
Gonna watch these both after this , classics.
Great vid again , respect from the U.K ✌️
I don't live too far away from where this film was made and 40 years later lots of areas in St. Louis are still rundown.
No revival? No gentrification? 😔😕
@@bonghunezhou5051 none. It’s is worse than it was especially in that area.
@@sultanofswing7198 good, i love the shitty run down Post apocalypse look
@@nickm5419
You should come over to London on vacation then mate! You'd be in your element 😳
the closest thing we have to a metal gear solid movie.
Absolutely loved this movie when it first came out. Kurt Russell channeling his best Clint Eastwood imitation opposite Lee Van Cleef! All you needed was an Ennio Morricone score. LOL.
THANK YOU!!! Great deep dive into what I consider the best movie ever made, right up there with The Thing and Big Trouble. Those three are in my top five.
Snake Plissken is also Wolverine, John Rambo and Brock Samson put together.
Nobody cared about Wolverine in 1981. Hell nobody cared about Wolverine really until the graphic Novel in 1993, he was "popular-ish" before that, but not to the extent anyone really cared or knew who he was...I guarantee that Wolverine never crossed John Carpenter's mind in either 1979 or 1980 when he was writing and filming the movie.
Every scene except one was filmed in St. Louis, Missouri. St. Louis had a large old warehouse district that in the dark looks exactly like New York. Every night after work at KPMG, it was very hard getting to the old style YMCA Gym. Different streets were always being closed for that nights filming. When the movie hit the screens, we all loved it. Great movie.
18:48 Actually, the early drafts of the script (which can be found online) all began with a lengthy introduction on how the world of "Escape from New York" came to be - including footage of riots, which were probably going to be stock newsreels. I reckon they didn't have the money to do it - the script as a whole describes a much more stylish and visually-elaborated movie (lots of dolly ins and outs), quite far from Carpenter's usual, minimalistic approach. The beginning of "Escape from LA" is an attempt at recreating the original intro.
My top 10 favourite movies of all time. A true masterpiece!
I ran into Ernest Borgnine in the airport in Montreal Canada in 2000. He is a very big man in person. Escape From New York is one of my all-time favorite movies and I was a young kid when it came out so I was not familiar with anything he had done prior to that. I sat there and had a beer with him and we talked about the movie. Cool guy. The only other person I met where I was Starstruck would be R. Lee Ermey.
7:00, " You are THE DUKE OF NEW YORK! You're A number 1!"
6:40, RIP, Isaac.
I had a replica of that M11 sub machine gun with the silencer. It came with a metal magazine that you load with proper shell casings that had a primer that you attached caps to & then open fire on semi or full auto.
Kurt Russell is a National Treasure. Gotta love his Clint Eastwood impression that is Snake Plissken . One of my favorites.
one of my favourite movies. i wish they would release a version with the cut robbery at the start.
Great Retro always Oliver , one thing If you are watching Lockout please close your eyes for the shoddy cgi bike chase!!!
One of the most atmospheric movies i have ever seen
"If you're a fan of the film, I'm sure you already own it." 🤣🤣 Yes, yes I do! Been a fan since it came out! ❤️❤️
This review is good. In the mid 80's I rented this movie at a video store and watched it over and over again. It's still one of my favorite movies from the 80's. Have you reviewed the 1987 movie Robocop? I'm from St Louis. The Old Chain of Rocks Bridge is now a part of The Mississippi River Greenway bicycle trail.
When your hit with a movie like this in your youth i am dumb struck, it´s just later you really realize how good it was in so many ways.
This one among many from the era but it´s one of the top titles.
The line 'You flew the Gullfire over Leningrad...' influenced William Gibson when writing Neuromancer.
Manhattan in the movie looks like Portland, Seattle, Minneapolis last summer.
JC still my directing hero. As a kid seeing his films with his name above them just made you take interest in who this guy was same with George A and Wes. The Holy Trinity for me but JC my no 1.
My uncle worked on the model sets of escape from ny and big trouble , a colleague of Johns ,1980 to 1986 greets from Liverpool UK.
I hate copyright claims cause most of the time they are not ok its FAIR USE policy youtube sucks with their rules
Fun review and trip down memory lane :)
This was such a fun movie!
It's still so delicious that you use GUNSHIP for your background intro.
@Oliver Harper
Please do a retrospective/review on "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters"
Love your content. Please always keep it up!
5:00, that man is a genius, from The Thing, to Back To The Future, to Jurassic Park
You have to make Assault of Precinct 13th review!
7:30, RIP, Harry Dean Stanton
Lockout is in my top 10 movies since 2000. Ripoff or not, it is amazing.
Hey Oliver, I love your channel. Awesome work on In Search of the Last Action Heroes. I grew up watching a lot of Van Damme and martial arts movies. Are you going to review Double Impact? Also any Jet Li movie reviews?
I just saw you are going to review
Double Impact!! Lol same wavelength!!
solid snake has his roots here
@Oliver Harper had to re-sub stupid youtube. Wanted to ask you a quick question good Sir. Any chance we can see you do a deep dive like this in either the remaining 2021 or early 2022? As the Captain America films in the Marvel U with Chris Evans are one of our favorite super-hero genre flicks. Many thanks was fun this was what got sent to us by you tube as Carpenter is one of our 3 favorite directors and Escape one of our 5 favorite he did