Escape from New York

"1997. New York City is a walled, maximum security prison. Breaking out is impossible. Breaking in is insane."

1981 1h 39m EN

👍

7.0

SOLID

🍅

70%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.1

IMDB

★7.0TMDB · 3,669🍅70%Rotten Tomatoes●76Metacritic★7.1IMDB · 171,215

ActionThrillerScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In a world ravaged by crime, the entire island of Manhattan has been converted into a walled prison where brutal prisoners roam free. After the US president crash-lands inside, war hero Snake Plissken has 24 hours to bring him back.

“1997. New York City is a walled, maximum security prison. Breaking out is impossible. Breaking in is insane.”

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Cast

Kurt Russell
Snake Plissken
Lee Van Cleef
Police Commissioner Bob Hauk
Ernest Borgnine
Cabbie
Donald Pleasence
President of the United States
Isaac Hayes
The Duke of New York
Season Hubley
Girl in Chock Full O'Nuts
Harry Dean Stanton
Harold 'Brain' Helman
Adrienne Barbeau
Maggie

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Carpenter
Writers: John Carpenter, Nick Castle
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom, Germany, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 8.4× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

45 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: United Kingdom, Germany, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Escape From ... Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Carpenter, shot by Dean Cundey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alan Howarth. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Todd C. Ramsay shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Kurt Russell and Lee Van Cleef and Ernest Borgnine carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Carpenter directs. Dean Cundey behind the camera. Alan Howarth scores. Todd C. Ramsay cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom, Germany, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 8.4× over at the box office.
245 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3International production across 3 countries: United Kingdom, Germany, United States of America.
4Part of the "Escape From ... Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by John Carpenter, shot by Dean Cundey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Alan Howarth. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Todd C. Ramsay shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Kurt Russell and Lee Van Cleef and Ernest Borgnine carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "1997. New York City is a walled, maximum security prison. Breaking out is impossible. Breaking in is insane.".
10IMDB entry: tt0082340 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 24 themes, including "new york city", "taxi", "martial arts", "street gang".
12Released under 28 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Dean Cundey
Original score: Alan Howarth
Editing: Todd C. Ramsay
Production design: Joe Alves
Costume design: Stephen Loomis
Makeup / hair: Frankie Bergman
Sound: Bill Varney
Stunt coordinator: Dick Warlock
Runtime: 99 min · 1h 39m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.78:1 (16:9)
Status: Released
Budget: $6,000,000
Box office: $50,244,700
Return: 837% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Escape from New York (1981)
Rotten Tomatoes: 70% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 76/100
IMDB rating: 7.1/10 · 171,215 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

6 nominations total

Part of

Escape From ... Collection

A John Carpenter action film series following the main protagonist Snake Plissken, a former Special Forces operative turned criminal who is called upon to breach dangerous environments for search-and-rescue missions of the utmost priority.

Also by

John Carpenter

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Graviteer2014-12-06
"Too little of too much" would describe this movie well, which presented us a dystopian New York with development potential and characters whose background is shared, exposed with brief moments of characterization that made me feel like I was missing this movie's predecessor. It didn't exist, and so the end result was of an expanded universe of unknown circumstances - except for the brief introduction we got in the opening credits - where the events barely told the story during the time it was running. But where this movie failed in terms of script, it almost made up with atmosphere and music. It sounds great throughout, but the credit goes to the opening theme that is as minimal as the presentation is grounded, in that humble approach of whom ambition wasn't unheard. Sadly, it's not the case of a classic whose production values challenge the computer generated visuals of today (and ironically this movie's novelty was the wireframe view), but if you're interested in history and want to make a contextual analysis, you may find something worth treasuring. __ When authors create they sign. When editors hack they design.
John Chard2019-02-10
★ 9/10
A Snake, a Brain, a Cabbie, a Duke and the President Of The USA. It's 1997 and Manhattan Island is a walled off prison, during the flight of Air Force One the president's plane is taken over by a terrorist and the president ejects out in the safety pod. Sadly for him he lands right in the middle of Manhattan Island. When an armed unit lands inside the walls they are told that the president has been taken hostage and they must get out of their prison ASAP. At a loss what to do, the authorities decide to send one man in alone, ex war hero turned criminal, Snake Plissken, not only does he have to contend with surviving the incredibly hostile prison, he also has a time bomb implanted in his body that, should he not get the president out safely within 24 hours, will explode and mean no more Snake Plissken! Made in 1981 and set in 1997, it's safe to say John Carpenter is not the best predictor of the future around. However, his vision of a future where America has thrown all its criminals on one island, where they create their own society out of harms way, has to rank as an incredibly adroit piece of work. This place is grim and deadly, the flotsam and jetsam of society thrust together in this bleak and desolate place of class separation. What Carpenter has achieved with his usual minimal budget allowance is a smouldering sci-fi classic that may be as daft as they come, but it pulses with cool and cheekily slaps you around the face with its cheeky satirical edginess. Kudos is given to the great production design from Joe Alves, who along with Carpenter has crafted this brilliantly dirty netherworld of crime. Our anti-hero of the piece, Snake Plissken, is superbly played by Kurt Russell, the original choice interestingly was Tommy Lee Jones, but Russell fuels Plissken's mantra to make him one of the eighties coolest grumpy bastards, and his work here is first class in terms of the films' apocalyptic structure. Surroundning Russell is a wealth of quality performers each adding their personal bits to this tick-tock stew, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasance, Harry Dean Stanton, Adrienne Barbeau and Isaac Hayes all earn their money and flesh out the story to the end. Calling Escape From New York an action picture would be setting first time viewers up for a real let down, what action there is is minimal but highly effective, the machismo flourishes acting more as a point of reference to the picture's time bomb urgency. I like to think of the film as being more a sci-fi adventure yarn laced with darkly comic humour, with of course machismo thrown in as a side salad to accentuate the bleakness of it all. A wonderful concoction indeed. 9/10
Gimly2020-06-08
★ 8/10
Nails the "post-apocalyptic except the world didn't end" vibe. Final rating:★★★★ - Very strong appeal. A personal favourite.