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Escape from new york4/11/2023 ![]() Producer, screenwriter and longtime Carpenter collaborator, Debra Hill stated of Hayes “he came in, he was just wonderful. Predominantly known as a massive figure within the ‘70s soul music scene (having composed the theme to Shaft) Hayes’ acting credits at the time included such films as Truck Turner as well as a recurring role on TV’s The Rockford Files (although younger audiences perhaps better remember Hayes as the voice of Chef on South Park). Being chauffeured through the ruins of Manhattan in his chandelier affixed Cadillac is the villainous Duke of New York, played by the late great Isaac Hayes. Of course a hero (even an anti-hero) is nothing without an equally strong, equally challenging antagonist. Carpenter and Russell would go on to work together in three subsequent feature films including the direct sequel, Escape from L.A. Fearing that Bronson’s influence would allow him to seize control of the entire production, Carpenter successfully managed pivot the casting of Snake toward Russell whom the director had previously worked with in the made-for-television film Elvis. Rather, producers initially considered Charles Bronson, who’s film career was undergoing a bit of an action renaissance with the Death Wish franchise. From Ernest Borgnine ( Poseidon Adventure, The Dirty Dozen) to Donald Pleasance ( Halloween, You Only Live Twice) to Harry Dean Stanton ( Alien), to spaghetti western great Lee Van Cleef ( The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) the film featured no shortage of prestige eccentricity however it’s the film’s charismatic lead that truly added the fuel to this cinematic fire.Ĭutting his teeth as a child actor in live-action Disney productions such as The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit, Kurt Russell was no one’s first choice to portray one-eyed anti-hero Snake. The film was a veritable who’s who of innovative character actors from the ‘60s and ‘70s. ![]() Published by Titan Books and written by John Walsh ( Harryhausen: The Lost Movies), Escape from New York: The Official Story of the Film details the engrossing pre-to-post production for one of the greatest cult films of ‘80s motion picture history. ![]() When Air Force One goes down in the heart of the Big Apple, it’s up to outlaw mercenary and Special Forces veteran Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) to go in and save the President as well as the audio cassette tape in the his possession intended to stave off nuclear holocaust.Īlongside Mad Max 2 and the original Terminator, Escape from New York was pivotal in shifting the sci-fi/action subgenre into what we know it as today. In a future of unchecked urban decay and fascistic governmental overreach (1997 apparently…), Manhattan island has been cordoned off from the rest of New York and utilized as a maximum-security prison wherein the counties worst criminals are left to their own devices. For me personally however, Escape from New York unquestionably remains the man’s third greatest film and the flick has a litany of low budget ( 1990: The Bronx Warriors) and big budget ( Lockout) rip-offs to back that up. ![]() After that the purists of Carpenter’s early work either gravitate toward The Fog or Assault on Precinct 13 whilst fans of the filmmakers more comedic efforts tend to prop up They Live and Big Trouble in Little China. Whenever the topic of John Carpenter comes up among film aficionados, the pecking order within his filmography always includes Halloween and The Thing at the very top.
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