"Escape From New York" - stupid film, but.... Classic or Dud?

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Lee Van Cleef's look in this scene, so good

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMGI0YzE1ZjUtZWE2Yy00NmQ5LThlMTgtZDFhOWRiNTE5MDkxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjUyNDk2ODc@._V1_.jpg

jmm, Tuesday, 26 March 2024 16:20 (one month ago) link

This film did have the same gritty, surreal atmosphere as The Warriors, an undisputed classic.

immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Tuesday, 26 March 2024 16:28 (one month ago) link

I like The Warriors more but I love both of them. I'm pretty much a sucker for dystopian New York movies of the '70s and early '80s, even lesser ones like Fort Apache the Bronx.

I hadn’t considered the idea of the tape recording as a threat. I like that interpretation. Even in the movie, where it’s not spelt out, you can easily read the President’s intended announcement as an implicit threat to China and the Soviets. That fits a lot better with what we see of this President and government.

As for the ending, Snake is ultimately just doing what he warned he was going to do the whole time, which is not to cooperate except under compulsion. It was their dumb mistake to assume they had more leverage over him than they did. He’s also not irrevocably dooming the world (nor irrevocably thwarting the U.S.’s plans for world domination, if you prefer that interpretation). They can probably create another copy of this nuclear fusion information, I assume? Maybe they couldn’t do it within 23 hours, for some reason? In any case, I figured the reason it was so important to get the President and tape in front of the cameras by that time is just that this is what the U.S. had announced (threatened) previously, and they need to project strength and competence. Snake’s basically just allowing them to screw themselves, and leaving it to them to clean up the mess.

jmm, Tuesday, 26 March 2024 16:40 (one month ago) link

I remember liking Escape from LA and find myself surprisingly not hostile to the idea of an "Old Man Snake" sequel.

Philip Nunez, Tuesday, 26 March 2024 17:04 (one month ago) link

I'd really like to find a book with something like this movie's style and approach to dystopian world-building. Genocidal Organ by Project Itoh seems like a possibility? The author wrote a Metal Gear novelization anyway.

jmm, Tuesday, 26 March 2024 17:16 (one month ago) link

To me the movie kind of reads like an 80s Wm. Gibson caper but like 20% more flamboyant?

Philip Nunez, Tuesday, 26 March 2024 17:20 (one month ago) link


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