Better Late Than Never on "Escape From New York"

When the pandemic started I made the decision to go back and watch a good amount of classic movies that I've missed over the years. I have made good headway, but there are a ton of movies considered classics, and I've only made a small dent on my list. I've kept up as best I can, and this weekend it was my turn to pick the movie for date night. One movie I have been circling for quite a long time was "Escape From New York". I have become a big John Carpenter fan since the pandemic, and the "Escape From" movies are some I have missed. Well, that was remedied this weekend by us watching "Escape From New York".

I have to say right off the bat, I loved this movie. Every second of it was exactly what I wanted out of an action movie. "Escape From New York" takes place in the futuristic world of 1997. I love this about older movies as well, seeing what the actors, writers and directors all predicted what the future would be like. It's pretty wonderful. The island of Manhattan has become a prison, and all criminals have inhabited certain areas of it and are living horrific lives. Kurt Russell plays Snake Plissken. Plissken is one of the coolest characters that has ever existed. He's mean, gruff, angry all the time and has a certain set of skills. He is 1981's version of Liam Neeson from "Taken". Plissken needs to save the president who has been kidnapped, and we go along on the ride with him for 90 plus minutes. I can see why Russell was considered such a big star back in the early 80's. He is good looking. He has this rough side to him. He speaks the coolest of anyone I've ever heard on film. He carries himself like the movie star he was/is. I was glued to the screen every second he was on camera, which is the majority of the movie. He was exceptional. I could tell how much he loved this role and this movie. It showed on my tv. There are other actors in this movie that are doing some nice work, Romero comes to mind, but none did what Russell did while he was on screen.

I also love the way Carpenter directs this, and all of his movies, for that matter. He makes action and scary movies, but he lets you live in the world they have created. It's not non-stop action. There's not the constant threat of a jump scare coming at any moment. Carpenter builds the world within the movie. He lets us get to know the characters. We find reasons to root for or against them. He tells a story with his direction. They don't make action movies like that anymore. No one wants to sit and figure stuff out. We just want it fed to us like babies. Carpenter didn't do that. He wanted the viewer to figure things out for themselves, and I appreciate that. He's telling a story, but he lets us figure things out on our own. I miss action movies like that.

All in all, "Escape From New York" is instantly one of my favorite movies. I loved every single second of this movie. I loved the performances, mainly Russell'. I want more directors to take a page from Carpenter's work and build the world and story. I highly recommend this movie if you haven't seen it yet. It is one of the better movies that has been made. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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