ThiefHott Too much of everything

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Brainsbell The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

recognizablethemes The film exults in its imagination of the greater Los Angeles area as a ruined metropolis, with the Santa Monica Freeway well underwater and the Universal Studios theme park beset by real sharks instead of the Spielberg variety. In the action climax, Disneyland--stripped of its familiar branding following a corporate bankruptcy--is invaded from the skies as Plissken drops in, gun blazing. (It's not the movie of a man who's entirely happy with the machinations of Hollywood studios.) Carpenter later said he wanted the scene to be reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz, which figures. With its aggressively whimsical dream logic, the only way this movie really makes sense is if Snake wakes up in Kansas in the final reel.What's memorable are the film's gaudy visions of excess. Escape from L.A. has a brighter and more colorful look than the resolutely dim Escape from New York, which may have been a deliberate decision to embrace a sunny Southern California palette, though I'm guessing it also had something to do with the presence of cinematographer Gary Kibbe, rather than the wizard Dean Cundey, behind the camera. The friendlier look goes conceptually with the picture's more overtly jokey approach.Escape from L.A. is at least partially model-led on westerns-- Plissken is actually described at one point as a "gunfighter"-Pam Grier plays Hershe--it's pronounced like "Hershey," thus it's an insistent play on race as well as gender. See, Hershe is a trans-woman with hairy 'pits and an uncharacteristically deep voice who used to be a buddy of Snake's known as Carjack Malone. When Snake finds her, he gets in close, runs his hand up her thigh to her crotch and declares, "The more things change, the more they stay the same," before intimidating "Carjack" with the gun he found there. When she insists, "I'm no longer Carjack Malone," he hisses in response, "I don't give a f'ck what you are." Yes, Plissken has story reasons for threatening Hershe. But, absent that greater context, the film plays here exactly as though Snake is threatening a hate crime.The surprisingly character-driven script, too, wouldn't fly today. Rather than focus on elaborate set pieces and action sequences, Carpenter, Hill, and Russell give their actors ample time to talk and double-cross each other.The most satisfying payoff of seeing Escape From L.A. today is in realizing that 1996 imagined 2013 so as to fantasize about regressing.

Duncan Gosseyn I'll admit, I'm not a huge fan of Escape from New York. It has a ton of plot holes and none of the characters were all that likable. I usually like Kurt Russell's performances (he was quite good in The Thing, Executive Decision, and Tequila Sunrise) but I didn't really like his performance in EFNY. I thought he was trying too hard to talk and act like Clint Eastwood. But I decided to give Escape from L.A. a chance and I actually liked it quite a bit. And I kind of have gained a bit more respect for the original after watching EFLA. I think the original could have been like this if it had a larger budget. EFLA has basically the same story but its budget allowed it to be far more over the top. There definitely are plot holes in ESLA but I just didn't care.I really like how EFLA doesn't take itself seriously at all. There's this one scene where Snake Plissken surfs off a tsunami onto a car driven by this one guy played by Steve Buscemi. And Kurt Russell is far better here than in EFNY. You'd think a character who unhesitatingly sends the whole world back into the Dark Ages would be unlikable but Snake Plissken was actually a likable character.Some of the special effects are bad and the sets aren't the best. But the story just has a charm that is lacking in other films with far better visuals, like the insanely imbecilic 2009 Star Trek reboot (I really, really, really hate that movie). It's too bad Escape from Earth is probably not going to get made. I'd really like to see what happens to Snake after the events of this movie.

Fluke_Skywalker At times 'Escape From L.A.' feels more like a parody of 'Escape From New York' than a sequel, and it's clear that Carpenter was going for more of a satire vibe here; A satire of (then) current political culture. A satire of big budget Hollywood action movies. A satire of Southern California culture. The problem is that it overwhelms the entire movie, and everything else feels like an afterthought to his quest to zing his targets.There are still a few worthwhile moments tucked in amongst all of the flotsam and jetsam, and Kurt Russell doesn't miss a beat after a fifteen year absence from the role of Snake Plissken, but it's just not enough to save this well-intended misfire.

ma-cortes Exciting and spectacular rescue into Los Angeles destroyed by earthquakes, floods, mudslides, and become a top-security prison . This thrilling picture results to be an inferior sequel to Escape from N.Y. , the latter become a real Cult Movie . It contains mystery , chills , noisy action , thrills , fights , social critical , bits of humor with tongue-in cheek attitude and a weird atmosphere with dark and surprising ending . Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell, he was the only cast member from the original film to appear in the sequel)is once again called in by the United States government (Stacy Keach as officer , Michele Forbes as deputy and Clift Robertson as President) to recover a potential doomsday device from Los Angeles, now an autonomous island where undesirables are deported and finds itself under siege by violent gangs . A previous war hero named Snake Plissken gone rebel must execute a daring adventure and bring up a powerful artifact in twenty four hours . Snake must recover it and along the way facing off villains like Cuervo Jones (George Corraface) . He's only helped by a sympathetic rogue underling (Steve Buscemi who took the part in this film to help fund his directorial debut, Trees Lounge) , and action women (Valeria Golino, Pam Grier) . As Snake Plissken to get in and out of Los Angeles . The film is a comic book plenty of action , fun , adventures , suspense , thriller and surprise-filled entertainment . Magnificent plethora of characters with decent performances by its entire cast . Middle-budget by Paramount Pictures , in fact its President Sherry Lansing was a fan of "Escape from New York" and wanted John Carpenter, Kurt Russell and Debra Hill to make the sequel in the same vein as the original. Kurt Russell as tough and valiant renegade is terrific . At the beginning of the film, Kurt Russell wears his costume from the original film, which still fits after 15 years . Kurt Russell not only came up with but wrote the entire ending of the movie , in fact it was the first and only writing credit . Escape From LA was caught in development hell for over ten years . A script for the film was first commissioned in 1985 but John Carpenter thought it "too light, too campy" . An initial script was written , but it remained dormant until Carpenter and Kurt Russell got together with frequent collaborator Debra Hill. It was Russell's persistence that got the film made ; Snake Plissken was his favourite character, a character he loved and wanted to play again . Support cast is frankly good such as Peter Fonda , Cliff Robertson , Valeria Golino , Stacy Keach , Pam Grier , Bruce Campbell , Michelle Forbes , A.J. Langer and Peter Jason , Carpenter's usual . The picture contains an imaginative and memorable production design by Lawrence G. Paull . Colorful and glimmer cinematography by Gary B. Kibbe . John Carpenter also made the atmospheric music score along with Shirley Walker . The movie likely to satisfy action enthusiasts and Kurt Russell fans .Director John Carpenter is in familiar ground with this well-done tale on the style of comic books and old Sci-Fi serials . His films often feature important visuals shown from a video screen , as the end-of-the-world transmission from the future in ¨Prince of darkness¨ (1987), the Norwegian recordings of the expedition to uncover the aliens in ¨The Thing¨ (1982), various TV sets and the general anti-TV motif in ¨They live¨(1988), etc. ¨1997 escape from N.Y¨ was realized during his best period in the 70s and late 8os when he directed classics as ¨Halloween¨, ¨The fog ¨, ¨Christine¨, ¨They live¨ , ¨Big Trouble in Little China¨ and ¨The thing¨ . The sequel ¨Escape from L.A¨ rating : average but entertaining . The movie will enjoy to noisy action fans but packs a roller-coaster thriller and wholesome amusement . The film will appeal to John Carpenter enthusiasts . A third sequel was going to be made titled Escape from Earth which would have had Snake escaping Earth after a dark matter experiment. However, the negative reaction to this film prevented the sequel from being developed. As the movie was a notorious failure on release, making around $25 million , just half its budget , at the US box office. Many reviews criticized the film for being too violent or for being too similar to the original film .