Escape from New York

“I’ve got my eye on you.”

Hey didn’t that guy marry Goldie Hawn and perform in such memorable movies as “Overboard” and “Sky High?” Before those dark years, Kurt Russell made actually great films like “Big Trouble in Little China” and “The Thing” and of course his pinnacle of success, “Escape from New York.” No, He’s not stuck in midtown traffic or lodged in a herd of human cattle aboard a smelly subway. He’s a convincted bank robber named Snake Plissken who is forced to be sent into to rescue the president. The president has crashed into Manhattan which has been turned into a maximum security prison. This movie supposedly take place in the future…1998. Uh…well Manhattan has some snobby pet owners but I wouldn’t say it’s an island prison yet. Snake has 24 hrs to get the president out and yet Keither Sutherland never makes a cameo and of course this just puts Snake in a bad mood. He was already pretty grumpy getting caught robbing a bank and all. Snake Plissken is one bad dude and is the greatest anti-hero of the early 80’s. Combine John Wayne, Dirty Harry, and a ticked off pirate and you get Snake. The movie is directed by John Carpenter who is one of my favorite all time directors.This is one of his best gritty action movies. I’ll have some later reviews of some of his other films, but this classic action film is a great place to start a Carpenter marathon.

rated: 9.6 out of 10
learn more about this movie at imdb.com