Escape from L.A. (1996)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

John Carpenter

Writers (WGA):

John Carpenter (characters) and
Nick Castle (characters) ...

Release Date:

9 August 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Plan your escape this Summer

Plot:

Snake Plissken is once again called in by the United States government to recover a potential doomsday device from Los Angeles, now an autonomous island where undesirables are deported.

Plot Keywords:

Earthquake | Prison | Sequel | EMP | 2000s

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Kurt Russell	...	Snake Plissken
A.J. Langer	...	Utopia
Steve Buscemi	...	Map to the Stars Eddie
Georges Corraface	...	Cuervo Jones (as George Corraface)
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

Also Known As:

John Carpenter's Escape from L.A. (USA) (complete title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and some language.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #34442) | Iceland:16 | Sweden:15 | France:-12 | South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Denmark:15 | Brazil:14 | New Zealand:M | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | Germany:16 (w) | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:18 | UK:15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

In an homage to the famed studio tour where Jaws pops out of the water, a shark tries to bite the mini-sub just as it passes the sign for Universal Studios.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Snake is attempting his fifth shot at the basket, the automatic timer shows 3 seconds twice.

Quotes:

Snake Plissken: Got a smoke?
Malloy: The United States is a non-smoking nation! No smoking, no drugs, no alcohol, no women - unless you're married - no foul language, no red meat!
Snake Plissken: [sarcastic] Land of the free.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Duke Nukem 3D (1996) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Scalped

THE BEST SATIRE ON America EVER FILMED BY AN American!!!

I don't think there's a better movie describing today's atmosphere in America and you can easily forget Escape From New York cause its political themes are pretty much restrained. Also Escape From L.A. is kind of timeless in a way that it satirizes all what America is known for, from motorcycle gangs, hookers, Hollywood agents, face-lifts, politics, freedom, violence TO implied peculiar American (created) all movie genres (sci-fi, action, comedy, western) to movie characters (typical US movies bad guys/good guys), music (typical western score, typical US orchestrated score), dialogues, typical US action movie scenes and especially parodying Hollywood stupid copycat sequels. You can find so much about America through this film, you just have to know how to watch it.

Also i think the fact that the story of this film is only borrowed from EFNY is done partially on purpose because Russell & Carpenter wanted to do it with familiar story and highlight especially those aspects only characteristic to contemporary America and make fun of them. Carpenter did surely one of his best films ever that already no doubt surpassed his inferior classic Escape From New York. Gee what amazing piece of work Carpenter created do you even realize that? And personally i think Escape From L.A. over time will definitely gain well-deserved status as one of the greatest master-pieces in American movie history!