Artist's Blog #130 - Escape from New York (1981)
A Classic Worth Watching: Escape from New York
Nothing new under the sun folks – I saw the name John Carpenter, and even though I’d heard of Escape from New York, I knew I needed to watch it. One evening, I put Tubi to work and added this classic to my IMDB watched list. No surprise, John Carpenter doesn’t disappoint. I felt pleased with how I had spent this watch opportunity – 1.5 hours of my life put to good use! I learned a lot, thought a lot, and had a great time watching a movie that wasn’t a remake, was creative, and had one of the best premises out there. Escape from New York is unique, fun, and certainly worth watching.
Directorial Choices: Familiar Faces in John Carpenter Films
I’ve noticed something and perhaps there’s nothing to it, but I feel like there is. There are 3 directors that I like: Quinton Tarantino, Tim Burton, and John Carpenter. All three of these fellows have something in common that I’ve noticed. They tend to use a lot of the same actors in their movies. Tarantino has Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson among others. For Tim Burton, it’s Winona Ryder and Johnny Depp among others. With John Carpenter, we see a lot of Donald Pleasence, Tom Atkins, and Kurt Russell. Escape from New York features all three of these and some others too.
I suppose that directors get along well with certain actors and not so well with others. I can imagine that the styles of actors and directors mesh well too. For instance, I can see Johnny Depp and Tim Burton getting along great because they are both odd. I say “odd” as a term of endearment and as a compliment. I don’t know what it is about Russell and Pleasence with Carpenter but, there is clearly a link – there must be. From personal experience in the professional world, I know that I work better with some people than others. Artistically speaking, I never collab but, I can see where creative styles could clash. Whatever the reason, John Carpenter used routine actors in Escape from New York, and, as usual, it worked well.
The Unique Premise of Escape from New York
The premise behind Escape from New York is exactly this: escaping from New York City. It’s the why you’re “escaping” that makes the story unique. In this movie, New York City is a walled island and serves as a prison. Donald Pleasence plays the president of the US, who gets captured and held hostage by the inmates inside the walled city prison. An extraction team of one man, played by Kurt Russell, gets sent in to rescue him. Thus, you have the “Escape from New York” idea and the story unfolds from there. I must admit, this premise is out of this world and the movie is excellent on top of it.
Prison Dynamics Explored in Escape from New York
I can imagine, based on what little I know about the prison system, that there’s a lot of truth in the dynamics used in Escape from New York. Prison is a place I’ve never been and don’t plan on going but, everybody knows that inmates, not guards, run prisons. It’s a political matter of keeping the imprisoned happy enough to not riot. After all, inside a prison riot, there is little that can be done, there are no rules, and the people involved are often violent in nature. As one could imagine, the strong would survive and the weak would quickly become prey.
Escape from New York shows this idea, but the colorful setting allows it to be more theatrical and embellished. Just like in prisons, there are “shot callers” or inmates who are in charge. There is a warlord who runs the city (prison) of NY. This character, The Duke of NY as he is called, is played by Isaac Hayes. The Duke is a flashy character who rides around in limousines that are donned with chandeliers on the front fenders for lights. I love over-the-top creative and wild ideas like this that show a loud style to a character’s persona. He makes people scream “You’re the Duke of New York, You are A-Number-One” as his signature move. I loved this because of my ATHF fandom. I didn’t realize that Boxy Brown got this line from Escape from New York.
Fight Scenes in Escape from New York
So, John Carpenter is not the Shaw Brothers thus, we shouldn’t expect epic bamboo-bending kung fu action. While we don’t see this, we do see fight scenes, and well-done ones at that. When I jump into Kung Fu theatre stuff, I expect to see people being beaten for hours and kicked in ways that would kill normal people 10 times over. Further, these people live and learn a rare style to come back and take revenge. Anyway, fighting in Escape from New York is short, to the point, and somewhat accurate to fighting. Take the game Bushido Blade for instance, if you hit a character’s arm with a sword, their arm won’t work any longer. I like this element of Escape from New York.
Creative Elements and Memorable Moments
I only have a few more notions on Escape from New York before closing this collection of thoughts out. This movie was weird to me in scenes where you expected to be on edge due to things being drawn out, didn’t have this effect. Instead, you knew things would pan out and the hero would press forward. The costumes, color choice, and scenery were great. The dilapidated city and rundown abodes looked great. There’s no telling what it cost to create these backdrops. It’s random but at one point, someone used a Coke button as a shield – I found this creative and fun. As much as I love Donald Pleasence, he did not play a good US President. A psychiatrist, yes but, a President no.
Final Thoughts on Escape from New York
Do you hear the echo? Listen closely – I love everything John Carpenter. Escape from New York is not my favorite of Carpenter’s work though. I would watch this again if a friend wanted to watch it, but I would not choose this one as a rewatch. I’d gladly throw in Halloween or They Live (read my blog on this one here) but, not Escape from New York. I’m honestly not sure why but, this just wasn’t my cup of tea. For the super fans out there – what is the hype to you? Let me know in the comments. I love watching movies with different spectacles on – someone else’s hype may allow me to see it differently, I mean. I’d love for you to follow me on social media and buy my art. You can find all those links in one link here. Peace.
