Escape From L.A. Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Snake Is Back.
Plan Your Escape.['LA' from 'Plan' and 'Escape' are highlighted]
The man with the patch has escaped N.Y., try L.A. in the apocalypse
Sequel to "Escape From New York". In 2000, a huge earthquake hits Los Angeles which causes the whole city to be now situated on an island. In that year the new life-term US President, an out-spoken moralist declares that all people not conforming to the high morals he sets for the country will be deported to the Los Angeles island. Like New York, a wall is built, guards posted to stop any escapes and if sent there - you can't return to the US. In 2013, Cuervo Jones, a terrorist invades the dreams of the President's daughter, Utopia, and brainwashes her into stealing a device from a weapons establishment and runs with Cuervo to the island. Snake Plissken, hero of Escape From New York, is forced again to go to the island to get the device by the President (who doesn't care if Utopia returns or not.) and he is poisoned to ensure his co-operation. Like New York, Los Angeles is now a decaying city, a hot-bed of scum and weirdos and Snake has 9 hours to find the device and Utopia, and get out before the poison kicks in.
| Kurt Russell | Snake Plissken |
| A.J. Langer | Utopia |
| Steve Buscemi | Map to the Stars Eddie |
| Georges Corraface | Cuervo Jones |
| Stacy Keach | Cmdr. Malloy |
| Michelle Forbes | Brazen |
| Pam Grier | Hershe Las Palmas |
| Jeff Imada | Saigon Shadow |
| Cliff Robertson | President |
| Valeria Golino | Taslima |
| Peter Fonda | Pipeline |
| Ina Romeo | Hooker |
| Peter Jason | Duty Sergeant |
| Jordan Baker | Police Anchor |
| Caroleen Feeney | Woman on Freeway |
| John Carpenter |
5.10 out of 10 (17869 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Good
posted on 27 Aug 2009A very fun film, a sequel/remake to ESCAPE FROM NY. I found this movie to have a different path to NY thus while giving the viewer the feeling of deja vu, a new experience. The film features good acting all round, nice characterisations (Maps to the stars Eddie springs to mind) and a quick, fast moving plot.I think the only movie I've seen move more consistantly faster is Aliens or maybe Evil Dead 2.This film is a good session of fun and easy to watch. Enjoy!
I am sorry to say this...I liked it better than New York. I am so ashamed.
posted on 24 Aug 2009Yes, I thought this movie was a bit better than New York. Not by much mind you, but this one has a much lower score so I know I have chosen the wrong one to like. Snake is back, and Kurt Russell once again really brings life to the character. I am sure even those who did not care for this movie can at least say he did a credible job. The plot is a bit different a bit the same. The president's daughter has joined in with a criminal from LA, which is somehow an island now and a maximum security prison just like New York. America is now ruled by strange laws combining the worst of conservatism and liberalism. Add to that the fact other countries wish to invade the US and are using what the president's daughter has to try and make their plans work. What does she have you ask? Some sort of device that controls satellites that can cut power off to all machines and such. It can do this to any region or even the entire earth. Well once again Snake has been captured and once again he is duped into going into LA and retrieving the data, but not the president's daughter. So off he goes with a cool new outfit and some nice weapons and gadgets and just like the first one things almost immediately. He gets caught a couple of times in this movie, once by a strange bunch of people addicted to plastic surgery. He also has to play a deadly game of basketball and fly off with his "allies" in a strange helicopter. Hell, there is even a crazy surfboard scene with Peter Fonda. The movie is a bit goofy compared to New York, but I rather like the over the top way this movie is done. The effects are hit and miss, the actors are hit and miss and so is the action, but overall I think this movie is rather cool. Of course, I may think that only because Snake is back.
I guess that the director insisted on attaching his name to the title so we wouldn't confuse John Carpenter's Escape from L.A. from, say, Woody Allen's Escape from L.A.
posted on 09 Aug 2009This futuristic, action-packed adventure is dark and cartoony, but it provides a few good laughs here and there. It has been 15 years or so since Plissken ("call me Snake") escaped from New York. If you thought that the Big Apple was a hellhole, wait until you see the Big Orange. A massive 9.8 earthquake (finally the Big One?) has separated Los Angeles from the rest of California making it an island. Orange County to Malibu is now the dumping ground for all the undesirables as defined by the militantly puritanical US Government. Sunset Boulevard hasn't changed much. It is lined with hookers, and one looks suspiciously like Divine Brown. The Beverly Hills Hotel is pretty run-down now and is a haven for those who've had too many face-lifts and those who are looking for other replacement body parts. So what else is new? Motor-mouthed agents like Map To The Stars Eddie (Steve Buscemi) still try the fast-talk routine, though the entertainment business is a thing of the past. Wildfires burn out of control around the landmark Hollywood sign. Snake has come to town, against his will, to recover a little black box that can control the world. The villain in charge of LA island is named Cuervo, a Latin strongman who looks like a youngish Castro. Before it's over, Cuervo will force Snake to play hoops for his life in the LA Coliseum. With a firing squad waiting for him to miss the basket, "shot clock" takes on a whole new meaning. Snake also meets up with an aging surfer (Peter Fonda) whose favorite word is "tsunami." Together, they get to hang ten on a well-timed wave down Laurel Canyon. Not quite totally awesome due to some rather horrible special effects. There are also fun times with a transsexual gang leader named Hershe (Pam Grier, sounding like RuPaul with a chest cold, but sporting bigger hair) and Utopia, the renegade daughter of the President (Cliff Robertson), who wears black leather hot pants and thigh-high boots. She doesn't look a thing like Chelsea Clinton.This movie should be thought of as a spoof of the brilliant original Escape from N.Y. and nothing else. I did rather enjoy the ending though.
average on it's own, a stinker compared to the original...
posted on 06 Aug 2009Escape From New York is one of those great cult movies... Once my parents got cable in the mid 80s, I watched it whenever it was on. So, many many moons later when the sequel came out, I was excited. Oh boy, was I dissapointed. It didn't measure up to the original very well...EFLA is one of those films that is much, much better if you have no idea that it's a sequel. It has some interesting social commentary / satire. As mentioned in other reviews, the plastic surgery addicts are pretty amusing. (Bruce Campbell has an over-the-top, but memorable, performance)However, the whole film has a rushed and cheap feel about it. Maybe this was some type of intentional master plan by Carpenter, but if it was I didn't get it. The original 'Escape' film was much more somber, gritty and lent itself to disbelief much easier. This sequel seems to tell us: "Hey, this movie is Escape from New York on lots of drugs and mini-thins..."The plot followed the first film far too closely, and the special effects were pretty laughable most of the time. Bad production values aside, watching Kurt Russell try to shoot basketball was hilarious!! Steven Hawking could probably kick his butt in a game of horse!!!Anyways, taking this film completely detached from EFNY I'd give it a 6/10. It was mildly entertaining, but rode that mediocre middle ground between cheese and action and satirical comedy. Much like Hudson Hawk... you never knew what to think of the movie until you watched it a few dozen times...Judging this as a sequel to EFNY, I give it 3/10. In my opinion, it just doesn't compare very well to the original. The plot is derivative and the cheese factor kills the 'edge' that the first film had.
Not in the same league as its predecessor
posted on 08 Jul 2009Escape from L.A.
** 1/2.
This movie takes the original cult classic Escape from New York and tries to one up it. EFLA fails and quite badly.
First, I think EFLA falls into that trap that it gets enamored with itself. So much so, it almost falls into camp. Its surreal. The underlying tone of seriousness present in EFNY isn't there. EFLA goes for humor or cheesy situations (Peter Fonda, Beverly Hills) in places where ESNY would've gone for darkness and death.
Second, the whole idea of some gang lord of a criminal island getting the remote device that controls the satellites above is just silly. Everyone knows about changing a password. There are contingencies for such things. Makes for good plot, but real - no.
Third, the larger social commentary that the Unites States as a "moral" nation. I can go along with the government premise in EFNY. It was believable. EFLA degraded into comedy. The US electing some perminent evangelist type President who hides under his desk at any resistance? pfffft. If Carpenter wanted to make the point that sometimes you have to pull the plug and start over. Fine. Writing it in a way where its almost utterly cheesy makes the story lose the impact that was intended. He could've kept it within reason - then that scenario would've had a real impact.
Kurt Russell plugs in and does great. He's the saving grace. There is just something sexy about Snake and his F*ck off attitude.
In short, if you liked EFNY you will want to rent this. You may or may not find this as enjoyable. For the willingness to go camp it loses me. This movie just doesn't pack the grit and punch of its predecessor.
Good plot, Just not carried out good!
posted on 07 Jul 2009Being a die hard fan of E.F.N.Y, I waited for a long,long time for a sequal to be made. Unfortunately, I was not satisfied with the movie. The earthquake senario was the perfect backdrop for the sequal, but it's like they rushed through the story line to get to the bad guy. In E.S.N.Y., almost forty minutes pass before the "DUKE OF NY" appears in the movie. In this movie, you see "CUERVO JONES" appear in about 20
min.
I only hope the mini-series carpenter is planning to do about our fav. tough guy is much better than E.F.L.A.(check out the snake plisken fan page).
One of Carpenter's best
posted on 11 Jun 2009Surprisingly, I find John Carpenter's best works to be his non-horror films. Two of his films Big Trouble in Little China and Escape From L.A. just have a certain ring to it that appeal to me more than Halloween and his other horror films (with the huge exception of the creepy Prince of Darkness and the very good In the Mouth of Madness. I found The Thing to be more along the lines of science fiction). I would watch Escape From L.A. over its predecessor, Escape From New York, anyday. It's special effects and acting are better and there's a heck of a lot more action. So it's not gripping sci-fi. That's what the first film should have been like and it failed. Carpenter was wise to make L.A. a satire rather than making it bleak and dark. You're more likely to enjoy Escape From L.A. than most of Carpenter's other films.
Interesting enough
posted on 07 Jun 2009After seeing "Escape from New York", I heard about the sequel, "Escape from L.A.". I did not know what to think, but I'm glad I saw it now.Kurt Russell returns as the great Snake Plissken. And he is just as good as he is in the first movie, despite a 16 year difference. Steve Buscemi was great as Map to the Stars Eddie. I wouldn't say AJ Langer was anything special though, but she wasn't terrible. Same with Georges Corraface. Stacy Keach was good as Malloy, the Bob Hauk replacement. Pam Grier was really good as Hershe. Cliff Robertson wasn't half bad as the President, but he was no Donald Pleasance. Valeria Golino was promising as Taslima. Peter Fonda was really good as "Pipeline", the surfer. and Michelle Forbes was good as Brazon, Malloy's assistant.The shots of the earthquake were amazing, and the overall plot was great.However, there was some really really bad CGI in this movie that was not necessary in most parts.Besides plot holes and bad CGI, this movie was still good.7/10. Fans of the original should see this one.
Well done to all involved!
posted on 29 May 2009Out of the shadow of the 90's came a few good films, and this one is top of my list! A remake? Perhaps. A retelling? Definitely. A ridicule of all things a sequel is thought to be? I thought so.Listen to the soundtrack, to the songs in the background. What are they telling you? Mostly that you've been here before. Listen to the dialogue. John carpenter doesn't just write dialogue to fill gaps around the action. Look at the situation Snake finds himself in at the beginning of the film, same deal as the first with the virus in his system.Then take a look around at what Carpenter and all have created for you, an America not too different to the real one right now! And they were meant to poking fun! Also have a look at the Hollywood setting and listen to how everyone talks. It's all about deal making and clearing a profit and screwing people over to get it. But it's also a survival film, with everyone out for themselves, a situation I'm sure many film makers have found themselves in over the years.This was a new breed of action film. A film with may layers and great characters. Which is the next point. The film's look is very retro, right down to the choice of actors. Nothing in the film is there by mistake.Action sequences look similar to the first film for a reason. According to Hollywood a sequel is meant to have the same sort of outline of events as the first (check out 'The Fugutive'sequel) only bigger and this film is no exception. The topper for me is the surf boarding sequence. I can only imagine Carpenter sat there thinking that there would be no way studio executives would allow it in the script but low and behold it ends up in the movie! It's a love note to the stupidity of Hollywood and I for one lap up every second of this film. Again and again and again.There is a point to this film ladies and gents, so seek it out and enjoy. It's up to you what to make of it.
Well, it's bad, that's what makes it so good
posted on 29 May 2009When I first saw this movie, I thought, Kurt Russell, dodgy special effects, a plot with so many wholes in it. Well this movie is all those things but if you don't take it seriously it's definitely worth seeing. Personally it had me laughing my head off when he was riding the surfboard, you would not believe how funny it is to see Kurt Russell playing basketball. This started me thinking, hmm, maybe this is worth it after all, now I get urges to see this movie every once in a while just for a bit of a laugh.I recommend everyone go and see this movie every now and again, just for a laugh.Dave
Escape From the [other]Reviews!
posted on 09 May 2009First of All I would like to say that "Escape From New York" has bad music, bad effects, not a very good story, the only thing good about it was Kurt Russell. But now one of Si-Fi's coolest B-A is back, and Carpenter has composed a Broken Arrow like score which kicks butt, Kurts Weapons or bigger and better, and his como pants are gone so now he looks like hes came right out of The Matrix, Brain is gone(think God), so you know its alreay better. The story much like the first one is desent, the effects are not great but I wouldn't go as far as bad. If you liked the first one, like Kurt Russell, Si-Fi or action movies, you will like this. Plissken is as crazy as the movie its self, I love it.
Very Poor Sequel
posted on 26 Apr 2009Despite being one of the worst sequels a major Hollywood studio has produced ESCAPE FROM LA gets off to a fairly good start as we see an earthquake hitting California , but unfortunately the film plays out almost exactly like ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK , and I do mean exactly . For example Snake is given a mission in LA which has been turned into a prison just like in the original , he`s injected with something that will kill him if he tries to abscond just like in the original , he faces conflict in an arena just like... In fact it`s absolutely ridiculous how much this film mirrors the original , lazy scripting of the lowest order which means there`s no surprises .There are one or two aspects that might market it as being original like satirical touches ( The plastic surgery sequence is the only clever bit of the movie ) and scathing attacks on the fundamental christian right and political correctness but these two attacks are locked together and when have you seen a politically correct fundamental christian right winger ? I should also point out that the special effects are nothing short of pathetic, I`ve seen cartoons with more realistic effects
Bitterly disappointing sequel/remake of an 1980s trash classic.
posted on 23 Apr 2009Back in the mid-90s when I first heard that John Carpenter was planning a sequel to 'Escape From New York', my initial reaction was "Why?". I'm a big fan of Carpenter's early movies from 'Dark Star' to 'The Thing', but by the 1990s it was obvious he'd lost his vision and the idea just seemed like a cynical money making exercise. I was bitterly disappointed by the movie when I first watched it and subsequent viewings haven't made me enjoy it more. I don't know why the movie turned out so bad. Was it the big (for Carpenter) budget? Did Kurt Russell having a hand in the script and the production having anything to do with it? I really don't know. The movie is as much a remake as a sequel to the original. Once again Snake Plissken is forced to go on a mission to save the Government's ass, only (as the title makes clear) it's a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles this time instead of New York. Russell isn't half as much fun this time around, in fact NOTHING about the movie is half as much fun this time around. The only thing I can say for it is that Carpenter has assembled a supporting cast that is a movie buff's wet dream - Stacy Keach, Cliff Robertson, Steve Buscemi, Peter Fonda, and blaxploitation legend Pam Grier to name a few. Even Bruce "Ash" Campbell pops up in an unrecognizable cameo. But sadly few of them are given anything memorable to do or say, and around the half way point I always have to fight the urge to hit the fast forward button on my remote. My advice is skip this one and watch 'Escape From New York' again. At least you know you'll enjoy yourself.
Snake Plissken-Solid Snake ?
posted on 21 Apr 2009I heard this was one of Hideo Kojima`s favorite movies-Kojima is the producer/director of the Metal Gear Solid video games on the PlayStation consoles which i love-Other then by name Snake Plissken is kind of like Solid Snake(They are nor related by the way) he only devotes his work to himself has no interest in other peoples lives.Anyways this film is great but i have never watched the New York one.If Kojima ever came a Movie director he should make a Metal Gear movie-though a movie like that would be expensive as it has super-natural beings and those giant Bi-Pedal tanks(Robots) plus they need the right actors-the music is not a problem as they have Harry Gregson Williams make and direct music for the Metal Gear/Metal Gear Solid games.great movie
compare it to the Taliban
posted on 20 Apr 2009I'm not a big fan of sequels--most of them suck big time--this is no exception in my opinion. "Escape From New York" was intense with some sympathetic characters; "Escape From L.A." was simply re-hashed nonsense that was neither as intense or as exciting as in the original. John Carpenter has done so much better, and he's very talented, but this one missed the boat. BTW, I must add a religious commentary on this. The U.S. president played by Cliff Robertson is a Christian and thus a right-wing fanatic (all Christians ARE right-wing fanatics, aren't we? At least Hollywood seems to think so). Anyway, early in the movie Snake meets a prisoner, and she confesses to him that her crime was being a Muslim--hence she was banished because the fanatical right-wing Christian government was intolerant of Muslims and other non-believers. Christian rulers can be so intolerant and mean-spirited. Golly, it's a good thing that right-wing Christians weren't running the Taliban in Afghanistan instead of fanatical Muslims. The Christians are so hateful & intolerant of non-believers that they might've tried to kill us all and start a war since Americans are so secular and tolerant of others! I guess we can rest easy knowing that Al-Qaeda is so tolerant of everybody else in the world and that they're looking out for us--God (or whatever spiritual deity one may wish to invoke) help us if anyone with Christian beliefs gets into power. It would be the end of society as we know it! (Although I do recall the founding fathers mentioning something about religion in the Declaration of Independence). BTW--to the liberal elite--I have nothing against Muslims and have several friends of the Islamic and other faiths throughout the world. I DO have something against hypocrisy (no matter where it comes from)--and since Hollywood generally leans to the left, then that makes it so much easier to charge Hollywood liberals with being the blatant hypocrites they often expose themselves as.
Fun seeing snake again, thats all.
posted on 14 Apr 2009I was disappointed with this movie. Normally when an unbelievable idea is made into a sci-fi movie it is a good ride. Unfortunately not in this case. It is a shame that such a fun plot line was made into a dull predictable story there were to many minor plot twists that just were not interesting enough to follow, and the few great action scenes were just that, few. I do have to say that it was enjoyable to see Snake in action again. But when he stuck it to the man in the end, (what we want to see Snake doing), it was again poorly conceived. I don't want to spoil this as many may enjoy, but I will only suggest it if you are a big fan of "Escape From New York".P.S. I do recommend all other Carpenter/Russell movies
Maybe it's already like that.
posted on 27 Mar 2009This time, Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) has to venture into Los Angeles - which got separated from the rest of the country after an earthquake and turned into a maximum security prison - to find the president's daughter. Maybe the movie is just a rehash of "Escape from New York", but it's not bad. Steve Buscemi turns in a really cool performance as Map to the Stars Eddie, and Peter Fonda plays a surfer waiting for a tsunami (maybe that seems a little inappropriate nowadays, after the tsunami that swept South Asia, and Hurricane Katrina, but it was still a neat scene). You might say that the movie is looking at urban decay, or at how our prison population keeps burgeoning. Not a masterpiece, but pretty neat.
Escape From N.Y. Lite
posted on 27 Aug 2009This is Escape From New York Lite in more than one way, lightweight as well as lighthearted, the tone perfectly captured in a scene where Snake plays baddies to a draw "Bangkok style". Attractive cult cast are doing their thing, the fx are however not paticularly convincing. However the original is still numero uno. 6/10