Nick Clement takes a look at the brand new Shout Factory Escape From LA Blu Ray.
John Carpenter has made tons of legitimately great films. Escape from New York. Big Trouble in Little China. The Thing. Starman. Assault on Precinct 13. Halloween. These are era-defining works that stretch the imagination, providing memorable characters and set-pieces, with many of the ingredients from those above mentioned titles becoming key works of inspiration for a legion of other genre-obsessed filmmakers.
Carpenter’s 1996 sequel, Escape from L.A., is most definitely not a great movie, but it is a great piece of trash, and sometimes, that’s exactly what’s required from the cinema. After all, it was Pauline Kael who once famously said: “Movies are so rarely great art that if we cannot appreciate great trash we have very little reason to be interested in them.”
Now, she used a very different yard stick than I do in terms of measuring a film’s overall sense of greatness, but in terms of audiences being able to appreciate “great trash,” we’re in complete agreement. The souped-up and recently released special edition Blu-ray of Escape from L.A., by the amazing people at Shout! Select, only confirms this film’s true cult-status.
Escape from L.A. is a total blast from start to finish, with a wild supporting cast including Steve Buscemi, Pam Grier, Peter Fonda, Stacy Keach, Georges Corraface, Valeria Golino, Bruce Campbell, Leland Orser, Michelle Forbes, and Paul Bartel.
The plot centers on the United States president (deliciously played by Cliff Robertson), who is exiling all citizens who don’t conform to his hyper-conservative views to Los Angeles, which became an island after a huge earthquake. But, when the president’s daughter nabs the detonator to her dad’s apocalyptic weapon and sneaks into the city of angels to be with the rebel leader she loves, the government tracks down Snake Plissken to retrieve the young woman. And, as you’d expect if he doesn’t get the job done, he’ll be executed.
It’s a classic scenario, essentially riffing on the events of Escape from New York, and if the film doesn’t win any points of originality, it coasts by on winking, snarky charm.
Carpenter’s film, which he co-wrote with longtime producer Debra Hill and iconic star Kurt Russell, has a (purposefully?) chintzy visual design, with certain set-pieces (I’m looking at you, surfers!) looking unfinished from a CGI standpoint, but in all honesty, and especially in retrospect, this cheapie-quality actually boosts the film’s fun factor, as it allows you to never take anything too seriously, especially when compared to the darker and more somber antics of its predecessor.
This new 4K scan of the movie allows Gary Kibbe’s colorful and saturated cinematography to truly pop off the screen, and Carpenter’s musical-score, which he co-wrote with Shirley Walker, is robust in all of the appropriate spots.
Review by Nick Clement
Bonus Features:
NEW 4K Film Scan From The Original Negative
NEW A Little Bit Off Beat – An Interview With Actor Stacy Keach
NEW Beverly Hills Workshed – An Audio Interview With Actor Bruce Campbell
NEW Part of the Family – An Interview With Peter Jason
NEW Miss A Shot, Get A Shot – An Interview With George Corraface
NEW One Eye Is Better Than None – An Interview With Special Effects Artist Jim McPherson
NEW The Renderman – An Interview With Visual Effects Artist David Jones
Theatrical Trailer
TV Spots
Still Gallery
Our Rating
Summary
Shot for a reported $50 million, Escape from L.A. was a bust both with critics and audiences at the time of its summer release 24 years ago, but throughout the years, the film has easily gathered a passionate fan-base, all of whom likely dream of seeing one more Snake Plissken adventure on the big-screen in the future.
