Escape From New York

In the future, criminality is so out of control that New York has been fenced off. All America's prisoners have been dumped there and left to their own devices. When the President's plane is crashed by hijackers into Manhattan, he survives, but is captured by the prisoners. The legendary Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) is given 24 hours to try to save him.

Surprisingly, Escape From New York has survived the years well. It would have been easy for its relatively low budget and futuristic view of 1997 to have rendered it a laughing stock, but actually it is the low budget that has given it longevity. Instead of relying on showy set pieces, co-writer/director John Carpenter has had to concentrate on a tight plot and good characterisation. It even has that unholiest of additions to a sci-fi action movie - acting.

The casting is spot on, from Russell in the primary role, through Donald Pleasence as the President and Isaac Hayes as the Duke, down to Harry Dean Stanton and Adrienne Barbeau as ex-associates of Snake. Carpenter's direction gives all the actors enough space with which to perform, whilst also creating a glorious atmosphere of urban degeneration at its most extreme.

It's not all perfect. There are a couple of cheesy touches, in particular Russell's eye patch and the name Snake Plissken, but once you've sneered at these, the rest of the film carries more than enough credibility. The computer graphics are the most dated aspect of the whole film and unfortunately get everything started off on the wrong foot. Thankfully, they feature only briefly.

Escape From New York could easily have been dreadful and dated horribly, but it has managed to survive and is as fun to watch as it ever was.

Highly recommended.