ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK - Special Edition

By: Patrick Sauriol
Review Date: Friday, December 19, 2003

Back in 1981 it seemed plausible that by 1997 New York City would be a walled-off prison. Of course, no one could have predicted Rudy Juliani's run as Mayor of the Big Apple. Still, even though there's no Duke of New York running things in Manhattan, John Carpenter's ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK remains as enjoyable an experience as it was more than 20 years ago.

In Carpenter's vision of the future the United States has suffered from a rocketing crime rate and turned into a military state. Prisoners are sent to New York permanently without a hope of parole and left to fend for themselves. When Air Force One goes down inside the prison and the President (Donald Pleasance) is captured by the top dog of convicts (Isaac Hayes), it's up to a fallen U.S. military hero (Kurt Russell) named Snake Plissken to go in and get the Commander in Chief out alive or die trying.

First off, MGM has done a brand new master of the film for this DVD release and the film looks better than I remember it when I saw it at the drive in as a kid. The colors are vivid and the shadows are dark and don't bleed into each other, and as any fan of EFNY knows, all the action in this film takes place in the dark. There's also a new 5.1 audio transfer which does enhance the viewing experience thanks to a great score by Carpenter himself.

Two audio commentary tracks are included on the disc. The first, and probably the one that will be most enjoyed, is a older 1994 laserdisc commentary by director Carpenter and star Russell. Of the three Carpenter/Russell commentaries I've heard, the ESCAPE one is probably the best of the three, followed closely by THE THING (the BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA one was surprisingly weak.) Carpenter provides a large amount of raw information about the shoot and the tricks he used to squeeze every penny from his $6 million budget. For his part Russell provides the color commentary, adding stories or pointing out the contributions by co-stars and crew. Both men are having a hoot yakking about the movie and it comes across in their conversation. The second commentary, with producer Debra Hill and production designer Joe Alves, is more dry than the first commentary track but offers more insight into how the film was realized on the budget they had to work with.


The biggest nugget of new material is the previously unseen 10-minute bank robbery scene that was supposed to begin the movie but that was ultimately cut by Carpenter. Here we get to see the crime that Snake did that led him to being sentenced to New York, and the film is in rough shape but still watchable. It's interesting to see if you're an ESCAPE fan but after viewing it (and listening to the optional Carpenter/Russell commentary) it makes sense why this scene was cut from the final version of the movie.

A 24-minute new documentary, "Return to Escape From New York", has been created featuring new interviews with most of the film's cast and its key crew members. The short covers most of the general aspects that went into the production but isn't too in-depth considering it's less than a half-hour in length.

The remainder of the bonus material, a gallery of still images, a three-minute video of "Snake Bites" clips, a making-of short examining the creation of the SNAKE PLISSKEN CHRONICLES comic book, and the film's original trailers are included. Other two-disc sets being produced would have a few more documentaries and interviews, and when weighted against these newer films the special edition of EFNY feels a little lightweight. Still, consideration has to be given for the age of the movie, and the fact that the new transfer of the film is of such good quality that it makes up for the missing matter. And hey, even though it's a cardboard sleeve, MGM selected the best pose for Snake as their cover art. Another brownie point awarded.

If you're a fan of classic John Carpenter this new edition of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK is going to have to find its way into your collection. While it might not stand toe-to-toe with your other special editions, the movie is what we're all here for in the end. Snake finally looks great on DVD.