Review – Escape from New York

Snake Plissken may well prove to be Kurt Russell’s finest hour. The plot is as implausible as it is innovative: New York City has been transformed into a giant, maximum security prison, and Air Force One is forced to crash-land therein. Our hero, a desperado headed for the big island anyway, is recruited by the government to save the President. The action is well done, and the plot keeps moving pretty well. In the end, though, it’s probably Russell’s performance as the anti-establishment rebel Snake that carries the day. The DVD includes few special features and thus has little to recommend it beyond the widescreen presentation format (though to be fair the widescreen thing does add more than a little to some of the scenes). Buy the tape