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The Dominator reviews

Escape From New York

Distributed by
Pioneer LDCE

Cat.no: PLFEB 37181
Cert: 15
Running time: 96 minutes
Sides: 2 (CLV)
Year: 1981
Pressing: 1998
Chapters: 29 (16/13)
Sound: Dolby Surround
Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Panavision)
Price: £19.99
Extras : None

Director:

John Carpenter

Halloween, Escape From L.A., Dark Star

Producer:

Debra Hill and Larry Franco

Screenplay:

John Carpenter and Nick Castle

Music:

John Carpenter

Cast:

Snake Plissken: Kurt Russell

Escape From L.A., Executive Decision, Breakdown

Hauk: Lee Van Cleef

For A Few Dollars More, The Good The Bad And The Ugly, High Noon

Cabbie: Ernest Borgnine

All Quiet On The Western Front, Marty, The Vikings, The Wild Bunch, "Airwolf" (TV)

President: Donald Pleasance

Halloween, All Quiet on The Western Front, Great Escape, Fantastic Voyage

The Duke: Isaac Hayes

It Could Happen To You, Robin Hood: Men In Tights, "South Park" (TV)

Girl In Chock Full O'Nuts: Season Hubley

A Caribbean Mystery, Child In The Night, Stepfather 3

Brain: Harry Dean Stanton

Alien, Cool Hand Luke, Repo Man, Wild At Heart

Maggie: Adrienne Barbeau

The Burden Of Proof, The Fog, Target Witness

John Carpenter's Escape From New York is the prequel to 1996's Escape From L.A., with Kurt Russell first taking on his role of Snake Plissken.

In 1988, the crime rate in the USA rises 400%. To curb the rampant violence in the streets, the once great city of New York becomes the one maximum security blockade in the entire country. A fifty foot containment wall is erected, completely surrounding and isolating Manhattan Island. All bridges and waterways are mined. The US Police Force, like an army, is encamped all around the prison and helicopters circle overhead incessantly. There are no guards inside, only the prisoners, left to live on their own in a place where lawlessness reigns supreme and there is only one rule: once you get in, you don't come out!

It's now 1997. The plane conducting the American President to summit meeting of world leaders is abducted by terrorists and crash-lands in New York. Before the Police Force can reach him, the President is taken hostage. The only way to rescue him in time for the decisive conference is to have a prisoner infiltrate the dark bowels of the penal colony.

Snake Plissken is picked because he's a tough-as-nails veteran of the Siberian Front in World War III, sentenced for robbing a bank. In exchange for his freedom, Snake is given 23 hours to bring back the President alive - and if he needs a reason not to go AWOL it'll be the two lethal injections implanted in the arteries in his neck, set to go off if he doesn't return home in time...

Kurt Russell equips himself perfectly as the hero with witty one-liners and a devil-may-care attitude, although he has the determination to see the job through - then again, faced with the alternative...

It's sad that three of the cast are no longer with us, namely Lee Van Cleef as Hauk, the man charged with assigning Snake the unenviable task, Ernest Borgnine as the fast-talking cabbie (a role later reworked by Steve Buscemi in the sequel) and Donald Pleasance as the President.

Elsewhere in the cast is Isaac Hayes as the evil ganglord of New York known as The Duke. These days, however, he's taken on a role that's just as smooth - the voice of the singing chef in Sky TV's South Park. Harry Dean Stanton has made a living out of roles in bizarre films such as Repo Man and Wild At Heart, but those who are not hitting the big-time these days are Season Hubley and Adrienne Barbeau.

The picture quality is excellent, bringing the crisp layout of John Carpenter's vision to life much sharper than any video release could. Also, there are present none of the "sparklies" which dogged the release of the sequel.

The sound quality is superb too - mainly for incidental music, not least the classic theme tune, but also atmospheric music some of which is used to pinpoint key moments and a number of directional effects including Snake's fight in the ring and his foray into Broadway with his colleagues. The whole thing comes across very clearly, despite a couple of forgivable crackles in the soundtrack along the way.

The disc is well-chaptered with twenty-nine covering the film, although an extra one could have been added to keep the end credits separate. But it's a shame there are no extras as this disc faces strong competition from the NTSC Special Edition which contains an interview with John Carpenter as well as a commentary track.

After John Carpenter's first film, Dark Star, shot in Academy 4:3 ratio, all his films have been shot in 2.35:1 Panavision. Carpenter's vision is such that nothing other than the original ratio will do. Anything less is not so much a compromise as an impossibility. Put simply, this and his other films cannot be viewed in anything other than their original widescreen ratio. This film has been released in a widescreen video, but for the best in picture clarity, you owe it to yourself to buy this laserdisc.

Click on this title for a review of John Carpenter's Halloween and John Carpenter's Escape From L.A. on PAL LD, plus John Carpenter's Escape From New York and Dark Star on DVD.

Film: 4/5
Picture: 5/5
Sound: 5/5

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1998.

Check out Pioneer's Web site.

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