No doubt 2013 seemed suitably faraway when John Carpenter chose the year as the setting for the futuristic thriller Escape from L.A.
In this 1996 follow-up to his 1981 B-movie classic Escape from New York Carpenter asks us to imagine that a humongous earthquake has turned Los Angeles into an island which functions as a dumping ground for folks deemed unfit to live in the "new moral America" ruled by an ultra right wing president, played by Cliff Robertson.
The President's rebellious daughter (A.J. Langer) has just stolen a top secret government weapon and is hiding out in what is left of L.A. with her Latin terrorist lover (George Corraface).
Snake Plissken To The Rescue
Our surly anti-hero has ten hours to slip into the city in a nuclear sub, find and kill the Prez's prodigal daughter and retrieve the weapon before her boyfriend can use it to launch an invasion.
If Snake does not fulfill his mission within the allotted time he will die from a deadly designer virus which has been implanted into his bloodstream. Nurse!
Kurt Russell Returns to Role
In addition to reprising the role as Snake Plissken in this follow-up to the original 1981 film Russell co-wrote the screenplay for Escape from L.A. (with Carpenter and Debra Hill.) He also co-produced the movie with Hill. Obviously he feels comfortable with both the character and the movie and it shows.
Sly Satire and Quirky Characters
Steve Buscemi contributes a reliably wigged-out bit of business as a seedy vendor of maps to the ruined homes of Hollywood stars. His character is obviously intended to remind viewers of Ernest Borgnine's cabbie compadre in Escape from New York.
Like the original 1981 film, Escape from L.A. is a movie geek's dream with performances from cult movie faves like 1970s blaxploitation queen Pam Grier, Evil Dead star Bruce Campbell and Sixties film icon Peter Fonda, who has great fun lampooning his stoner image in the role of a woozy surfer.
It's a Wrap!
The imaginative set design presents the movie's vision of postapocalyptic L.A. as a futuristic Gomorrah infested with hooligans, hustlers and hookers.
Carpenter gets a special kick out of trashing familiar Los Angeles landmarks. For example, Universal Studios is pictured floating underwater during a tour of the submerged part of the city.
With a larger production budget than Escape from New York to play with, Carpenter, a master of lo-fi filmmaking, is able to splurge on flashily orchestrated action sequences and cool special effects.
The scene in which Fonda surfs a tsunami down Wilshire Boulevard is a special favorite.
Okay, maybe it doesn't have the classic B-movie appeal of the original 1981 flick. There is still a lot to enjoy in this agreeably entertaining timewaster served up with wit and flair by Carpenter and his crew.
Richard Goertz - Richard Goertz has a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in English and History acquired light years ago (when his hair was longer) and have ...
