Escape from L.A.
| John Carpenter's Escape From L.A. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | John Carpenter |
| Written by | John Carpenter Debra Hill Kurt Russell |
| Produced by | Debra Hill Kurt Russell |
| Starring | Kurt Russell Stacy Keach Steve Buscemi Peter Fonda Georges Corraface Cliff Robertson |
| Music by | John Carpenter Shirley Walker |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates | August 9, 1996 |
Running time | 101 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $50,000,000 |
John Carpenter's Escape From L.A. (better known as Escape From L.A.) is a 1996 film directed by John Carpenter. The sequel to the action film Escape from New York, the film again follows ex-war hero Snake Plissken, played by Kurt Russell. It co-stars Steve Buscemi, Stacy Keach and Pam Grier.
Plot
In the year 2000, a huge earthquake hits the city of Los Angeles, causing it to be separated from the continental mainland by flooding the San Fernando Valley (now called the "San Fernando Sea") and turning it into an island from Malibu to Anaheim. Just prior to this, an American presidential candidate (played by Cliff Robertson), who is also an out-spoken Christian militant, had made a doomsday prediction of the disaster during his campaign, saying L.A. was a "city of sin", and that; "Like the mighty hand of God, waters will rise up and separate this sinful, sinful city, from our great nation."
In the chaos that followed, the candidate is elected as the new President and a new constitutional amendment appoints him for life. This President declares that all people not conforming to the new "Moral America" laws he sets for the country (banning such things as smoking, drinking alcoholic beverages, eating red meat, owning firearms, profanity, and extramarital sex) will lose their citizenship and be deported to Los Angeles Island. Like New York in Escape from New York (which takes place three years prior, in 1997), Los Angeles is turned into a penal colony of sorts. A containment wall is built around the shores of the mainland, armed guards and watchtowers are posted everywhere and those sent to the island can never come back into the United States.
Now in 2013, Cuervo Jones (played by Georges Corraface), a Che Guevara-like Shining Path Peruvian terrorist, seduces the President's daughter, Utopia (played by A.J. Langer), via a holographic internet system and brainwashes her into stealing her father's remote control to the "Sword of Damocles" superweapon - a series of high-tech satellites capable of destroying electronics anywhere on the planet using a focused EMP pulse. The President had threatened to use the system to render enemies of America "unable to function", and eventually dominate the world. Utopia gets away in an escape pod from Air Force Three and lands in L.A. Island to be with Cuervo.
With the satellites under his control, Cuervo promises to take back America with the assistance of an allied invasion force of Latin American nations (which consist of nations like Cuba, Brazil, and Mexico) that is standing by for his signal to attack. Cuervo threatens that if the President tries to stop him, he'll "pull the plug" on the country and demonstrates his power by blacking out the capital (which has been moved to the President's hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia). Cuervo also knows the secret "world code", (which is 666), that can activate all the satellites and knock out power for the entire Earth.
Meanwhile, Snake Plissken (played by Kurt Russell), is captured for another series of crimes and forced to go to the island as an exile. Upon his arrival for deportation however, Snake is sent to meet the President and is offered the mission to retrieve the remote device. The President says he will give him a full pardon for all the crimes he has ever committed if he is successful. The President indicates he doesn't care if Utopia is returned or not, saying she is a traitor and "dead to me". Initially, Snake refuses to get involved, but to ensure his compliance, Snake was secretly infected with the man-made "Plutoxin 7" virus which will kill him in a few hours. If he completes the mission, Snake will be given the antidote.
Once again, Snake is forced into a mission in exchange for his life. He is given a machine gun, a personal holographic projector, a thermal-camouflage overcoat, and a countdown clock for how long he has to live. The virus works fast, and Snake is given only 9 hours to find the device and get out before he dies. Like New York, Los Angeles is now in ruins, and a hot-bed of scum and weirdos. Snake sneaks into the city with a nuclear-powered mini submarine which he soon loses when an aftershock quake causes the sub to sink into the ocean.
Making his way across the island, Snake meets an array of characters, including those played by Steve Buscemi (as "Map to the Stars" Eddie, a swindler who makes a living selling interactive tours of L.A.), a knife-wielding skinhead played by Robert Carradine, Pam Grier (as Hershe Las Palmas, a.k.a. Carjack Malone - a transsexual and former partner of Snake's, who also tells him the Plutoxin virus is a propaganda lie and won't kill him), Peter Fonda (as a hippie surfer), Valeria Golino (a lonely woman who falls in love with Snake, but is soon killed in a gang shooting), and also a cameo by Bruce Campbell (as the insane "Surgeon General of Beverly Hills").
Snake finally defeats Cuervo at his staging area of The Happy Kingdom By The Sea and gets hold of the remote control (which looks like any typical remote device that one character states "everyone has"). The only difference is a special compact data disc which contains the codes for the satellites. This makes it easy for Snake to pull a switch when he gets back (similar to what he did with the President's summit tape in the first movie).
Eventually, Snake escapes the island with Utopia and hands off the wrong remote to the President while Utopia is taken to the electric chair for execution. The Plutoxin 7 virus is revealed to be nothing more than a fast, hard hitting case of the flu, not in the least bit lethal to Snake. Thinking he has control of the satellites, the President tries to use it to stop a Cuban invasion force threatening Florida. Activating the remote, the President hears only Eddie's "Map to the Stars" intro over I Love L.A. instead.
In anger, the President orders Snake to be executed, but Snake had activated his hologram projector and the Snake that gets shot is an illusion. Snake activates the device, entering the world code 666, against pleas to stop, and in effect returns the Earth to the Dark Ages. The illusory Snake disappears, and in reality he is a few hundred yards away where he finds a pack of cigarettes on the ground and lights one up. He then says to himself; "Welcome to the human race."
DVD
Paramount released two DVD editions of the film in 1998 and 2006. They are "barebones" releases, containing no special features except for the original theatrical trailer. The two major differences in the 2006 edition are altered cover artwork and an anamorphic presentation.
Fans of John Carpenter's films have stated that Escape From L.A. is in need of special edition treatment on home video. It is the only Carpenter/Russell collaboration in which an audio commentary has not been recorded. Also, Carpenter had supposedly shot hours of extra footage that have not made it into the finished product. As of January 2007, Paramount has not expressed plans in releasing a special edition.
Trivia
- Snake is a legend in the underworld and there is a running gag in this film: whenever a character meets Snake for the first time they say they always imagined him being "taller". In the previous Escape from New York, characters keep telling Snake they heard he was "dead."
- John Carpenter stated that the rough idea for the hanglider climax is taken from The Wizard of Oz.
- Kurt Russell actually made the basketball shots depicted in the 'Shot Clock' sequence, including the full-court shot. He went to the trouble of practicing every day between takes up until the scene was shot so that special effects wouldn't be necessary.
- Solid Snake from the Metal Gear Solid series is based upon Snake Plissken. There are many similiarities between Escape movies and the game. In the second installment of Metal Gear Solid, The Sons of Liberty, Solid Snake uses the alias Iroquois Pliskin. Naked Snake, the legendary soldier who would become Big Boss, wears an eye patch in Snake Eater, and so does Solid Snake in Guns of the Patriots, similar to Snake Plissken. Solidus Snake fom MGS2 also looks like an older Snake Plissken due to the fact he too has an eyepatch over his left eye. The movie and the game also have several plot elements in parallel.
- Madelyne Thompson, celebrated Chicago writer and painter, depicted Snake Plissken in her satirical piece, "Gorilla Plissken", in which a large silver back ape with an eye patch "escapes" from an urban zoo.