John Carpenter's Escape from New York | Low Budget. Legendary Results.

John Carpenter's Escape from New York (1981) turns 45. To celebrate, we venture back to Manhattan with Snake Plissken to learn how a futuristic dystopia was achieved on $6 million.

Narrated by
Dread Diver ‪@dreaddiver‬

Written & Produced by
Dave James

Edited & Scored by
John Renney ‪@boneyardcinema‬

Escape from New York theme by
Rocco Pezzin ‪@RoccoPezzin‬

Via Wikipedia: Escape from New York is a 1981 American independent science fiction action film co-written, co-scored, and directed by John Carpenter. It stars Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Isaac Hayes, Harry Dean Stanton, and Adrienne Barbeau.

The film, set in a then-near-future world of 1997, concerns a crime-ridden United States, which has converted Manhattan Island in New York City into the country's sole maximum security prison. Air Force One is hijacked by anti-government insurgents who deliberately crash it into the walled-off borough. Former Special Forces and current federal prisoner Snake Plissken (Russell) is given just 24 hours to go in and rescue the President of the United States, after which, if successful, he will be pardoned.

Carpenter wrote the film in the mid-1970s in reaction to the Watergate scandal. After the success of Halloween (1978), he had enough influence to begin production and filmed it mainly in St. Louis, Missouri, on an estimated budget of $6 million. Debra Hill and Larry J. Franco served as the producers. The film was co-written by Nick Castle, who played Michael Myers in Halloween.

Released in the United States on July 10, 1981, the film received positive reviews from critics and was a commercial success, grossing more than $50 million at the box office. The film was nominated for four Saturn Awards, including Best Science Fiction Film and Best Direction. The film became a cult classic and was followed by a sequel, Escape from L.A. (1996), which was also directed and written by Carpenter and starred Russell.

#johncarpenter #kurtrussell #escapefromnewyork #snakeplissken