Escape from L.A. (1996)
Into the 9.6-quaked Los Angeles of 2013 comes Snake Plissken. His job: wade through L.A.'s ruined landmarks to retrieve a doomsday device.
- John Carpenter
- Christian P. Della Penna
- Marty Jedlicka
- John Carpenter
- Debra Hill
- Kurt Russell
- Nick Castle
- John Carpenter
Rating: 5.9/10 by 1416 users
Alternative Title:
John Carpenter's Escape from L.A. - US
John Carpenter's Flucht aus L.A. - DE
Die Klapperschlange 2 - Flucht aus L.A. - DE
Evadare din Los Angeles - RO
Flucht aus LA - DE
Fuga de Los Ángeles - AR
2013: Rescate en L.A. - ES
Los Angeles 2013 - FR
แหกด่านนรก แอลเอ - TH
Los Angeles'dan Qaçış - AZ
Country:
United States of America
Language:
English
Runtime: 01 hour 41 minutes
Budget: $50,000,000
Revenue: $42,277,365
Plot Keyword: prison, martial arts, showdown, usa president, war veteran, dystopia, anti hero, post-apocalyptic future, earthquake, attempt to escape, sequel, los angeles, california, frantic, reluctant hero
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**
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.