Well, I haven’t been keeping up with this blog the way I should. I sort of realized that I am not the best person to write about media. I guess I’ve known it for years, knowing that it takes a special person to write record and movie reviews. The one that my friend Julie let me write for the Soft Boys reunion album “Nextdoorland” is pretty pretentious and a little fanboy-ish. I realize this now. I am the creator and therefore not qualified to critique as well as I’d like.
Be that as it may, I shall proceed here. Why? Well, it is a good place to keep up with the “media” or art that I perceive in my daily life. I know that any time I’m asked to give influences or say what inspired something else, there is a moment when my mind tries to draw all the points of influence together … recent and long-remembered … and vainly attempt to put together some sort of star map that would explain things.
… so, let’s try and get back on track.
“Escape from New York”
There has been a lot written about this little classic. Produced independently, starring Kurt Russell in his post-child star attempt to change his image, with “Halloween” and “The Fog” director John Carpenter also wishing to shed his horror film director image – “Escape” succeeds in giving us the first real post-apocalyptic vision in film. This is a point that could be argued, but even “Mad Max” didn’t make such a dramatic impression.
Plot - In the year 1997 Manhattan is turned into a maximum security prison (remember that … ah, those were the days.) The President’s plane is hijacked and he is forced to eject himself in an escape pod into the city. At the same time, Snake Plissken (Russell) has been captured during a bank heist. Former special services pilot and assassin, Plissken is recruited to fly a glider into NY, land on the World Trade Center, and find the president. For insurance, he’s injected with tiny explosives that will detonate if he’s not back in time.
It is, quite frankly, a movie that has aged very well. Both in terms of its dystopia, but also its naiveté. Sure, the world would get worse in the future, but as we’ve seen since 9-11 … it will be worse.
Kurt Russell’s performance is very cool and controlled, relying on tense action and reaction in his body to provide the necessary motivation for his character. His essential coolness is often undercut by the beatings, shovings, and general manipulation he is put through … that when he does “bite back” you know he means it. The only real character scene Snake gets is his introduction with Lee Van Cleef. When told that the President’s plane has crashed, he replies: “President of what?”
“Escape from L.A.”
A very much maligned movie. In fact, when I first saw it I was a little disappointed. Then the second time I saw it, years later, I felt even worse. This time, again another few years later, I love it. I get it. Finally. Perhaps it takes almost a decade to see the same dark humor of the previous film in the context of “modern day”? At the times it seemed very Hollywood and over produced. Kurt Russell didn’t seem as hard edged and every minute there was some star turn. The plot had the virtue or veracity to be exactly the same … so, why make it?
Well, first of all, the original film had as many star turns as this movie does. In fact, almost everyone in it is a star, so there is no real reason to use the “Hollywood” excuse for either film. Where LA differs is that it is no longer a satiric jab at the Nixonian era view of the Presidency, but the post-Reagan era of the Hollywood-Moral Majority President. Both offer excessive madness, but in profoundly different ways. This time the President’s own daughter is to be sacrificed as part of the job.
Kurt Russell, looking back on it, doesn’t look nearly as stylized as I recall him looking. He looks a bit older, but actually watching the two films back to back, I found that his performance as Snake was exactly the same. His ruthlessness is simple and immediate. He doesn’t have time to waste being clever and therefore, immediately proceeds to the action. In fact, rarely do movies get so visceral so fast. Both Escape films offer us a “hero” who doesn’t have time for James Bond niceties or cleverness. He’s just going to kill you before he gets killed.
Final thoughts – they are talking about a remake of the first film … I really hope they don’t do that. Let’s see one last Russell Snake film …
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