Escape from L.A.

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So Los Angeles has become a glorified open-air prison (who'd have thought?) and "Snake" (Kurt Russell) is invited to do his "Mad Max" thing and go in, at considerable peril to himself, and fetch a gadget that could enable the US President (Cliff Robertson) - or anyone else with the codes, for that matter - to use a satellite in the best traditions of "Diamonds are Forever" (1971) and destroy parts or all of the world. The twist, well it turns out that it's "Utopia" (A.J. Langer), who just happens to be the president's disgruntled daughter, who is the one who took the device into the lawless wasteland in the first place and enforcer "Malloy" (Stacey Keach) is determined to get it back, regardless of whether or not she comes back with it. It's a derivative mess, this film. It's rooted in so many other stories that are much better executed; there is simply no menace or jeopardy at all, and John Carpenter seems unsure whether he wants an all-out action film or a semi-comedy. Russell is always at his more entertaining with the latter, here he just comes across as a man with a mission who is no more interested in the plot than I was. Steve Buscemi doesn't really add much either as the duplicitous "Eddie" and I am sure I spotted Peter Fonda in here too - a payday for a few actors who ought to have known better. The effects and pyrotechnics are adequate but the nadir in a basketball court surrounded by gun-toting assassins who could't hit a cow on the tit with a tin cup just put the icing on this really undercooked muffin.

John Carpenter’s anarchic sequel Escape from LA to conservative Escape from NY swaps grim dystopia for gleeful, sleazy chaos, and it’s all the better for it. Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell, still the ultimate anti-hero) is back, this time sent into a crumbling, post-earthquake Los Angeles turned into an island prison. Same gritty premise, but now dripping with dark humor, wild satire, and Carpenter’s signature punk energy. While Escape from NY is colder and meaner, Escape from LA leans into the absurdity and has way more fun with it. The action is inventive, the supporting cast is perfectly bizarre, and the whole thing feels like Carpenter winking at the audience while flipping off Hollywood. But don't worry, Snake Plissken is still the same laid back, cool alpha anti-hero. Both films are classics from a master. Ignore the formulaic nerds who only want the first one. Watch them both back-to-back and enjoy two of the coolest cult action movies ever made. Highly recommended.

90s cheese not quite as good as 80s cheese, but still an entertaining enough action-thriller, though some moments were laughable and not in a good way (Snake riding surfing a wave isn't all that bad ass), plus the effects work was rather poor. I don't have a great fondness for Escape from New York, however it was far superior. **3.0/5**