![]() The original poster artwork is on the reverse side. Hugh Fleming captures the film’s fiery spirit on the new cover art, although it’s rather busy with characters. It includes 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo DTS Master Audio options. ![]() The gorgeous transfer is a notable upgrade from Warner Bros.’s earlier high definition release. has received a new 4K scan from the original camera negative for Scream Factory’s Collector’s Edition Blu-ray. The cast includes Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs) in a fun supporting role as an opportunistic sidekick Stacy Keach (The Ninth Configuration) as a Commander that essentially fills the Lee Van Cleef role from New York Peter Fonda (Easy Rider) as a bitchin’ surfer B-movie queen Pam Grier (Jackie Brown) as a transgender woman with a modulated voice horror icon Bruce Campbell (The Evil Dead), nearly recognizable under prosthetics, as a mad surgeon Valeria Golino (Hot Shots) as an unlikely ally to Snake and character actor Leland Orser (Seven) as an IT guy.Įscape from L.A. Russell falls back into the role as if no time had passed between the two productions, fully realizing his own gruff, reticent antihero in the mold of Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name. Escape from New York might be the best example of this, and L.A. Any number of his films are populated with an amalgam character actors of yesteryear, contemporary stars, and up-and-comers. In addition to his atmospheric visuals and innovative synthesizer scores, Carpenter has always had a knack for casting. The diverse soundtrack also ranges from Tool to Tori Amos, from Sugar Ray to Randy Newman, plus an original White Zombie song over the end credits. The result varies from bombastic rock (similar to Ghost of Mars) to Western-style blues (similar to Vampires) to traditional orchestral cues. While the main theme is a update of New York’s instantly recognizable cue, the score mixes Carpenter’s signature synth with additional instrumentation. On the practical side, Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London) provides some fun effects.įor the soundtrack, Carpenter collaborated with Shirley Walker (Final Destination, Memoirs of an Invisible Man). The early sequence of Snake’s submarine diving through the ruins of Universal Studios is akin to a Syfy movie. Although fairly impressive by 1996 standards, the film’s visual effects have aged poorly. Kibbe (They Live, Vampires) does a fine job. lacks the shadowy cinematography with which Dean Cundey captured the post-apocalyptic New York, but director of photography Gary B. ![]() The script also delves into satirical social commentary.Įscape from L.A. The wacky ideas (the basketball challenge, tsunami surfing, hang gliding) don’t always pay off, but these elements - and Carpenter and Russell’s commitment to them - make the movie feel like a comic book come to life. If he fails to comply within 10 hours, a designer virus will kill him.Īlthough the setup is a blatant carbon copy of Escape from New York - “Sounds familiar,” Plissken quips during the expository opening - Carpenter and company take a few outside-the-box swings with the larger budget and expanded scope. with the power to end her father’s tyrannical empire, the government deploys Snake Plissken (Russell) in exchange for a full pardon of his laundry list of crimes. Langer, The People Under the Stairs) - daughter of the self-declared president for life (Cliff Robertson, Spider-Man) - escapes to L.A. Set in the near-future of 2013 - after an earthquake has turned the crime-ravaged Los Angeles into an island - the city becomes a modern-day Alcatraz to which “undesirable” people are deported. The master of horror took the skeleton of his 1981 cult classic, Escape from New York, and worked with frequent collaborator Debra Hill (Halloween, The Fog) and star Kurt Russell - his sole writing credit to date - to pen a followup for Paramount Pictures. Despite launching one of the genre’s most successful and longest running franchise with Halloween (and returning to write and score its first two sequels), the only sequel John Carpenter ever directed was 1996’s Escape from L.A. ![]()
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