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Escape from New York (1981)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
10 July 1981 (USA) moreTagline:
The world's greatest leader is a hostage in the most dangerous place on Earth. Now only the deadliest man alive can save him. morePlot:
In 1997, when the US President crashes into Manhattan, now a giant max. security prison, a convicted bank robber is sent in for a rescue. full summary | full synopsisPlot Keywords:
moreAwards:
4 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(7 articles)
Please Don’t. (From Twitch. 4 December 2008, 6:36 AM, PST)
Rest In Peace Bernie Mac And Isaac Hayes
(From Screen Rant. 12 August 2008, 2:12 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
"The name's Plissken." moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Kurt Russell | ... | Snake Plissken |
 | Lee Van Cleef | ... | Hauk |
 | Ernest Borgnine | ... | Cabbie |
 | Donald Pleasence | ... | President |
 | Isaac Hayes | ... | The Duke |
| Season Hubley | ... | Girl in Chock Full O'Nuts |
 | Harry Dean Stanton | ... | Brain |
| Adrienne Barbeau | ... | Maggie |
| Tom Atkins | ... | Rehme |
 | Charles Cyphers | ... | Secretary of State |
 | Joe Unger | ... | Taylor (scenes deleted) |
| Frank Doubleday | ... | Romero |
| John Strobel | ... | Cronenberg |
 | John Cothran Jr. | ... | Gypsy #1 |
| Garrett Bergfeld | ... | Gypsy #2 |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
99 minLanguage:
EnglishColor:
Color (Metrocolor)Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 moreSound Mix:
DolbyCertification:
Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:R (Manitoba) (director's cut) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Iceland:16 | UK:15 (video rating) | UK:AA (original rating) | Germany:16 | Brazil:14 | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) | Netherlands:16 | Australia:M | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Sweden:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16 (w) | Singapore:PGMOVIEmeter: 
No change since last week
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Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The final credit is a reference to a strip club and the dancers across the river from St Louis. moreGoofs:
Continuity: Toward the end, the helicopter lands just outside the prison walls, and it's broad daylight. The rest of the film takes place at night, even though the times given indicate clearly that the helicopter landed only moments before the subsequent action. moreQuotes:
Bob Hauk: Remember, once you're inside you're on your own.Snake Plissken: Oh, you mean I can't count on you?
Bob Hauk: No.
Snake Plissken: Good!
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Soundtrack:
Everyone's Going to New York moreFAQ
What is Plisskin's reasoning for the ending of the film?What is on the tape that the President keeps in his briefcase?
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First things first, Kurt Russel is just plain cool. That said, on to the review. Escape From New York is a classic action movie with a great horror cast, including Donald Pleasence, Tom Atkins, Charles Cyphers, and who could forget Buck Flower. Buck, who has one of the best scenes in the movie ("Sure, I'm the president!"), is hilarious. John Carpenter proves that he is a versatile director and can make a hell of a film outside the horror genre. In Carpenter's classic, Kurt Russell plays the immortal Snake Plissken, New York has become a prison state, and the president has just crash landed there. Enter Snake Plissken. Freshly captured and about to be incarcerated in New York, he must save the President (Pleasence, who isn't even American but pulls it off well) from the clutches of Isaac Hayes in order to regain his freedom. It's all great stuff and you can't stop watching as Snake fights his way from one famous landmark to another (he even has to wrestle Ox Baker). But it leaves me with one unanswered question: What did happen to Fresno Bob?
Note: A couple of the Duke's cronies are credited as Romero and Cronenberg. Also, Jamie Lee Curtis does the opening computer dialogue.