Escape from New York (1981)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Escape from New York (1981) – J. Carpenter

More high-concept than high-tech, John Carpenter’s cult classic has a similar low-budget feel to his Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) and also a distinctive synth soundtrack (which he always composes himself). Kurt Russell (not too far from his Disney past) plays Snake Plissken, an ex-special forces commando turned bank robber destined for the maximum security prison that is Manhattan in 1997. However, before he can be incarcerated, he is taken aside by the Police Chief (Lee van Cleef), injected with capsules that will blow up in 22 hours, and ordered to rescue the president (Donald Pleasance) whose plane has crashed somewhere in the prison (where prisoners roam free and have their own pecking order, including Isaac Hayes as the Duke, Harry Dean Stanton as the Brain, and Ernest Borgnine as the Cabbie – with Carpenter’s wife Adrienne Barbeau there for good measure).  So, the clock is ticking and Snake has to navigate the perils of ravaged NYC and escape via the booby trapped 69^th Street Bridge before time runs out. The eyepatch was apparently Russell’s idea.