Escape From New York [VHS]

For the age of this film, they've done a great job on this UHD release. The noise reduction isn't overdone, and the HDR grading is near perfect.

Another John Carpenter homerun

Great action, and soundtrack! And then there’s Snake. Awesome movie. Even bought the soundtrack.

Look this movie has bad acting, awful special effects, and a ridiculous plot, and I still love this movie, always have since I was a kid. I don't know what it is about it but it's almost in the "so bad it's good category". Kurt Russell is awesome, but he's always awesome so that's not saying much, I think he honestly makes the movie good. I really don't think any other actor could would have fit in this part and casting anyone else at the time would have made this awesome bad movie just a regular bad movie.

Lots of over the top explosive 80s social commentary. For a film with a tiny budget this still delivers some good action and laughs. It gets 4 stars because the pacing could be a lot better, the dialogue could use a few refinements, and at times it all looks very cheap.I won\t ruin this dusty old gem with a play by play synopsis. Get your snacks ready and buckle in with Snake!

It's a 1980s post-apocalyptic action film set in 1997, so you expect it'll likely be somewhat dated. It is. It's directed by John Carpenter and stars Kurt Russell as special-ops veteran turned criminal, Snake Plissken, so you expect it'll likely be somewhat formulaic and clichéd. It is. But it's still fun to watch Snake vamping around in pleather and an eyepatch while spitting out tough guy one liners.

LOVE THE METAL BOX

Back in 1981, John Carpenter released a film, set in 1997, that depicted a somewhat bleak future for the United States in that the crime rate had risen to the point where it was necessary to turn New York City into a maximum security prison by enclosing the island in giant, concrete walls, installing landmines on the access bridges, and providing constant surveillance with the threat of death for any that try to escape. Felons convicted and sent to this prison are given the option of execution rather than being forced to try and survive in this hellish, nightmare environment. Truly only the strongest and most ruthless survive behind these walls. The female narration, done by Carpenter favorite Jamie Lee Curtis, at the beginning ends with the ominous line, "Once you go in, you never come out."After this is set up, we learn that, while en route to an extremely important conference, the president's plane has been hijacked, and is crashed inside the prison. The inmates recover the president, and threatening to kill him if any attempt is made to release him. A plan is formulated, one including the recently captured, ex-military, now convicted, criminal Snake Plisskin (Kurt Russell) to send him in, alone, and try to bring the president out alive, offering him a full pardon should he succeed. Only problem is, due to time constraints, of the conference, Snake only has 24 hours to complete this mission, if he accepts it. Another minor glitch...without his knowing it, microscopic implants are inserted into Snake's neck in case he decided to skip out, and are set to go off unless Snake can recover the president and return him safely within the time allotted.This has always been one of my favorite movies. It brings to life the perfect anti-hero, the outlaw. We've seen and loved this type of character before, like in the Clint Eastwood western movies of the 60's. America loves an outlaw, and John Carpenter has brought the character into the future. Escape From New York is an excellent example of a low budget movie that is really well made, from the realistic sets and scenery, characters, casting, scripting, direction, and music, all of which was composed by John Carpenter himself. Kurt Russell plays Snake so perfectly that you'll never picture anyone else in the role. Other actors that provide wonderful performances, many of which Carpenter uses in his later films, are Harry Dean Stanton, Donald Pleasance, Adrienne Barbeau, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Van Cleef, and Tom Atkins. And let's not forget Isaac Hayes as The Duke of New York, leader of the most powerful gang within the prison, and the one holding the president in hopes of using him to escape. Another thing is that this movie moves. There is no plodding, the plot is clearly defined and drives the movie to its' satisfying conclusion.The special features included in this special edition DVD are many, and listed thoroughly on the product page. Included is the eleven-minute sequence involving Snake, a bank robbery, and subsequent capture that led him to be sentenced to the prison. This was only available before on the laserdisc version, so I am really glad it made it here. After watching it and listening to the commentary, you'll understand why it was cut from the movie, but the gist is that it humanized the character of Snake too much. Also included from the laserdisc version is a full-length commentary by John Carpenter and Kurt Russell. Many commentaries I watch tend to be dry and boring, but it was wonderful listening to these two talk about scenes and reminisce. They go into great detail, all while keeping it interesting. Some of the other extras are nice, but probably not for everyone, like the mini comic book and the additional commentary by producer Deborah Hill and production designer Joe Alves. It's a bit dry and boring, and probably only would appeal to the more hardcore fans. And last but not least is the quality of the picture. It looks beautiful and crisp, better than I have ever seen it. All in all, this release is truly befitting of the title 'Special Edition'. This movie was followed up in 1996 by a somewhat disappointing sequel called Escape From LA. The elements were pretty much there for that one, but the gritty edginess that made Escape From New York so wonderful just wasn't. Maybe too much time had passed between the movies.Cookieman108

This is a review for the November 2018 4k box set edition of Escape from NY. Disclaimer, i do not own a 4K player, and bought this solely for the BluRay and my own collection. First off the packaging - its really nice, its brand new artwork across the whole box and i like that it also matches the style and the spine design for the other studio canal restorations. I Only bought the box set edition of Escape, however it still matches up with the regular slipcover blurays of Prince, They Live and the Fog. Inside is a small booklet about the making of the film and the restoration. It is similar to what can be found in Arrow Films boxsets. Then there is the triple gatefold packaging, its dark blue and has nice artwork of Snake and some of the other characters. It all folds out to display the three discs as well as the folded (and small) poster and artcards. My only complaint is the booklet and the gatefold packaging is too tight for the box and its hard to easily remove from the outer sleeve.Onto the film, note that ihave only viewed the bluray, but i can say this restoration is fantastic, and is by far the best available. The previous studio canal blu-ray was awful and was essentially a DVD transfer slapped onto a bluray disc. The US had the shout factory bluray, which looked a million times better, but it pales in comparison to this transfer. The blu-ray looks top notch, so i would imagine the 4k UHD disc looks even better.The extras are ok, i have not gone through all of them, but it seems to be the same stuff as on previous releases. My biggest complaint, is that the deleted opening scene of the bank robbery was not restored and looks awful. However this is only minor, and its still an enjoyable watch. The soundtrack is a nice touch too, and is a much better addition to that of a DVD copy (as some boxset do include).Overall a fantastic package, and is currently the best way to watch this film.

This review is for the 2018 4K Slipcase Collectors set which includes the 4k UHD Release and a whole lot of extras inc the soundtrack on cd, an extras bluray, a booklet and poster with art cards. i ordered this straight away despite owning several other versions on DVD and Bluray over the years. Let me tell you this - the 4K version of the film is stunning. We will never see EFNY look any better than it does here. There is a little grain (as is expected from old movies shot on celluloid) but WOW.... I kept finding my self sitting closer and closer to my 65'' TV to fully immerse myself in this new found detail and clarity I was experiencing. Looking at the specs (won't bore you here) but it looks like they did this properly and meticulously, finishing off with the original cinematographer supervising the colour grading for the UHD release, for me, rubber stamping the authenticity of this new transfer. I love the artwork on some of my old dvds and blurays of EFNY, so i'll never part with them, but also, I'll never again open them to play the discs... they are now redundant. As a lifelong fan of EFNY, I love this new transfer and to talk about the extras which come in this package is almost insignificant, but a very welcome inclusion. Soundtrack CD, Poster, Art Cards, Booklet, Extras Bluray...... all housed in a nice slip case with fresh artwork. If I'm totally honest, I'm not a fan of the artwork for these new releases - they look too polished to me, whereas I always think of EFNY as this dystopian movie, full of grit and dirt...but hey. this is a VERY minor personal gripe. If you can get your hands on one of these sets, just buy it, you won't be disappointed. Well done Studiocanal.

Watching it in HDR is a must - so much I hadn't seen - at least clearly - before.Most of it was night shoots - apparently they did not shoot day for night, it was just interesting Cinematography.Surprisingly this does not date; that's the beauty of alt history fiction.It IS as funny as I remember, not a comedy obviously, but typical John Carpenter telling a tale using parody, pastiche, slapstick almost - the message is clear, the medium typical of the time.The ONLY surprise casting was Isaac Hayes - he makes a remarkably good villain / victim of circumstances, cannot imagine anyone else as "The Duke Of New York, A Number 1"; talented musician, surprisingly talented actor; perfect laconic match for Kurt Russell.The Bank Robbery sequence looks ghastly in 4K - surely they could have restored it properly.Better still, restored and recreated an entire run though including amending the opening blurb and voiceover.Much as I love this movie and have since it was released - yes I AM that old - I prefer the sequel Escape From LA - broad comedy as opposed to the more restrained humour in this and sends itself and this movie up perfectly.Frankly too many missed opportunities in restoring this and I would have preferred to see a Special Edition with BOTH movies together - one informs the other.SO glad I didn't spend £40+ on the box set.

This is a review of the 2018 Region B2 Blu-ray from Studiocanal. This inexpensive offering comes with an entire disc full of tasty extras. And the film, in a new restoration from a 4K scan, looks and sounds fabulous ~ more like a film made in 2021, rather than 1981.John Carpenter films are like Marmite: people either love them or hate them. They also vary, probably more than those of virtually any other director, between the utterly dire ~ ‘Big Trouble in Little China’(1986) is especially awful ~ and the indisputably 6 Star ~ ‘Starman’(1984) and ‘The Thing’(1982) stand out. Carpenter specialises in horror, sci-fi and the cross-over between the two. Grungy, murky, violent and dystopian scenes abound. And that is very much the central theme here.We are in a dystopian future (1997 as it happens!) where crime has outrun the United States’ ability to cope through normal means, and a single giant secure ‘reservation’ has been created to hold all serious criminals. It is an interesting premise, created and written by Carpenter himself, with a regular collaborator, Nick Castle. And as ever with Carpenter films, the script is laced with deeply black humour along with plenty of gore, gunge and grime. The scene dressing inside the ‘reservation’ is outstanding, with some really imaginative costumes and transport.There is masses of excitement here. The action scenes are excellent ~ well-staged, fast paced, varied. I would single out for special mention, a sort of gladiatorial event quite late in the film, which is a masterpiece of staging and looks seriously impressive. And the plot, a quite simple but satisfying yarn, stands up to scrutiny. However, not all the background plot lines are really explained or exploited ~ the long-running war with China and the USSR for example.The acting is perhaps a tad more patchy. Kurt Russell, a Carpenter regular, scowls and sulks his way through some great set pieces in a persuasive Alpha Male performance. Lee Van Cleef brings a touch of class as the Police Commissioner, and de facto Prison Governor of the ‘reservation’, as does Harry Dean Stanton as the brains behind the ‘reservation’ hard man. However, Ernest Borgnine, who can be so effective as a baddie, is wasted in a gurning support role; and Donald Pleasence is decidedly and sadly light-weight, as the US President.This is very much a film from Carpenter’s mid range, a great deal better than his worst, but not of the quality of his best offerings. It is a hugely entertaining, not especially serious, not particularly scary romp, through a slightly cartoony dystopian future. It is only 99 minutes long, and Carpenter makes every minute count. I’m happy to give it 4½ thoroughly enjoyable Stars.One additional and poignant aside: the Twin Towers feature significantly. They provide a tragic reminder that sometimes fact can be stranger, sadder and far far more horrific, than fiction.

For a film like this it deserves so much more than we get. I took a punt on this release as well its ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, nothing else needs to be said. The artwork cover straight away raises eyebrows as it just looks off, like someone just went onto Photoshop and got a cut out of Snake and plonked him on the end.What made me press the trigger on this was the extras. They are the same as the Special Edition DVD but with the added HD upgrade I was happy enough to pretend the cover didn't exist. Sadly I was wrong. The extras on any Blu-Ray are delightful but this upgrade, well it just wasn't anything there to enjoy. It felt like I was watching a DVD on a Blu-Ray disc and that is not why you pay the extra money. If I was a fan giving advice to another fan I would suggest pay the extra money and buy the Scream Factory release with the real HD upgrade plus the original artwork as your front cover plus a newly commissioned cover by the great Paul Shipper. Make sure your player is Region Free first though. Overall not worth it.