Saturday, May 21, 2011

Escape From New York

Escape from New York (1981), which I just bought on Blu Ray, is one of my all-time favorite films. 

The movie was scripted to begin with a 10 minute scene showing how Snake Plissken (played by Kurt Russel) initially gets arrested following a bank robbery, before being sent to New York.  This scene was cut from the final version released to movie theaters, however.  It was finally included as a 'deleted scene' on a recent DVD, though, and you can watch it HERE.  Having now seen it myself, I actually think the movie is better without it.

You can also watch a 15 minute interview with the film's legendary director, creator, and co-writer, John Carpenter, conducted in 1994.  In part 1 HERE he discusses the origin of the concept and the original script, the casting of Lee Van Cleef, and the special effects work done in part by (a very young) James Cameron.  In part 2  HERE, he discusses how the film is really a western and not a science fiction movie, the character of Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell channeling Clint Eastwood), and and the bizarre, unstated back story about why English actor Donald Pleasance plays the President of the United States.

As an epilogue, another sequel was planned to follow 1996's Escape From L.A. It was to be called "Escape From Earth," and was to begin right where Escape From L.A. ended, with the world about to be plunged into chaos.  The film proposal never went anywhere, however, because of the disappointing box office results of Escape From L.A.

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