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** Brain is also the only person in Manhattan that can produce gasoline, possibly refined from crude oil obtained from the pump briefly shown well panning through his base (presumable the New York Public Library).
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** Brain is also the only person in Manhattan that can produce gasoline, possibly refined from crude oil obtained from the pump briefly shown well panning through his base (presumable (presumably the New York Public Library).
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** Possible shout out to the George Romero Film of the same name
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** Brain is also the only person in Manhattan that can produce gasoline, possibly refined from crude oil obtained from the pump briefly shown well panning through his base (presumable the New York Public Library).
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* AntiHero: Snake [[SlidingScaleOfAntiHeroes is a mix of type IV and type V.]] Also counts as a DesignatedHero.
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* AntiHero: Snake [[SlidingScaleOfAntiHeroes is a mix of type IV and type V.]] Also counts as a DesignatedHero.NominalHero.
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* DoNotCallMePaul: It's ''The Brain'', not Harold.
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** Also, Brain really doesn't care to be called "Harold".
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* DoNotCallMePaul: It's ''The Brain'', not Harold.
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* NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup: The cassette tape holding the secret of nuclear fusion.
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** It can be assumed since Cabbie traded for the tape that he was still around Dukes other men when Brain and Maggie break out the president, he could have followed Dukes men who were following Brain and Maggie.
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** It can be assumed since Cabbie traded for the tape that he was still around Dukes other men when Brain and Maggie break out the president, he could have followed Dukes Duke's men who were following Brain and Maggie.
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* MacGuffin: the tape with the secret of nuclear fusion.
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* MacGuffin: the The tape with the secret of nuclear fusion.
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* KillTheCutie: [[spoiler:Cabbie]]. He spends most of the whole movie as a happy-go-lucky, overly friendly wide-eyed optimist who [[spoiler:looks out for Plissken (even to the extent of throwing a molotov cocktail at some thugs, driving him for free and coming back for him just in time)]]. Then, despite being in an explosion that leaves the others inexplicably unscathed, he dies horribly. Thankfully, Snake gets some justice for his unnecessary death [[spoiler:[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome by screwing the ungrateful president.]]]]
to:
* KillTheCutie: [[spoiler:Cabbie]]. He spends most of the whole movie as a happy-go-lucky, overly friendly wide-eyed optimist who [[spoiler:looks looks out for Plissken [[spoiler:Plissken]] (even to the extent of throwing [[spoiler:throwing a molotov cocktail at some thugs, driving him for free and coming back for him just in time)]]. Then, despite being in an explosion that leaves the others inexplicably unscathed, he dies horribly. Thankfully, Snake gets some justice for his unnecessary death [[spoiler:[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome by screwing the ungrateful president.]]]]
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* IJustWantToBeFree: Arguably Snakes entire motivation. He just wants to get away and be left alone to his own devices.
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* IJustWantToBeFree: Arguably Snakes Snake's entire motivation. He just wants to get away and be left alone to his own devices.
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* InexplicablyAwesome: The movie tells us that Snake is an ex black ops soldier twice decorated who turned his back on his country and tried to rob the federal reserve. No reasons for Snake's choices that led him down that path are ever presented.
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* InexplicablyAwesome: The movie tells us that Snake is an ex black ops soldier twice decorated who turned his back on his country and tried to rob the federal reserve.Federal Reserve. No reasons for Snake's choices that led him down that path are ever presented.
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** Said shortly before the president escapes in a pod from airforce one and all his advisors and security die horribly in the crash.
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** Said shortly before the president escapes in a pod from airforce one Air Force One and all his advisors and security die horribly in the crash.
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Spoilering an entire example makes it entiely useless.
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* [[spoiler: KillTheCutie: Cabbie. He spends the whole movie just as a happy-go-lucky, overly friendly wide-eyed optimist who looks out for Plissken (even to the extent of throwing a molotov at some thugs, driving him for free and coming back for him just in time). Then, despite being in an explosion that leaves the others inexplicably unscathed, he dies horribly. Thankfully, Snake gets some justice for his unnecessary death [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome by screwing the ungrateful president.]] ]]
to:
* [[spoiler: KillTheCutie: Cabbie. [[spoiler:Cabbie]]. He spends most of the whole movie just as a happy-go-lucky, overly friendly wide-eyed optimist who looks [[spoiler:looks out for Plissken (even to the extent of throwing a molotov cocktail at some thugs, driving him for free and coming back for him just in time).time)]]. Then, despite being in an explosion that leaves the others inexplicably unscathed, he dies horribly. Thankfully, Snake gets some justice for his unnecessary death [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome [[spoiler:[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome by screwing the ungrateful president.]] ]]]]]]
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* SpiritualSuccessor: Although not intended, this film's premise is fairly similar to ''TheWarriors'', in which the protagonists have one night to escape from a dystopian New York City crawling with street trash and urban warlords. Some parts of the soundtracks even sound similar.
to:
* SpiritualSuccessor: Although not intended, this film's premise is fairly similar to ''TheWarriors'', ''Film/TheWarriors'', in which the protagonists have one night to escape from a dystopian New York City crawling with street trash and urban warlords. Some parts of the soundtracks even sound similar.
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* InexplicablyAwesome: The movie tells us that Snake is an ex black ops soldier twice decorated who turned his back on his country and tried to rob the federal reserve. No reasons for Snake's choices that led him down that path are ever presented.
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* NotInThisForYourRevolution: And how! Snake absolutely despises the authorities who literally have to coerce him into working for them with a [[ExplosiveLeash tailor-made "kill you in 24 hours" device]] in his body or he'd just bail on them in a heartbeat.
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** The Kansas City incident where Brain abandoned Snake and Fresno Bob is another one. It's possible that Snake could have almost died there, as he asks Brain "Do you know what they did to Bob?"
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* NotInThisForYourRevolution: And how! Snake absolutely despises the authorities who literally have to coerce him into working for them with a [[ExplosiveLeash tailor-made "kill you in 24 hours" device]] in his body or he'd just bail on them in a heartbeat.
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** The President is a selfish uncaring asshole too.
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* IJustWantToBeFree: Arguably Snakes entire motivation. He just wants to get away and be left alone to his own devices.
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* HellBentForLeather: Snake's old worn out leather coat.
* HeyItsThatVoice: JamieLeeCurtis is the voice of TheNarrator in the intro.
* HeyItsThatVoice: JamieLeeCurtis is the voice of TheNarrator in the intro.
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* HeyItsThatVoice: JamieLeeCurtis is the voice of TheNarrator in the intro.
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* SleevesAreForWimps: Snake.
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* FridgeLogic: If they turned Manhattan into a prison, why didn't they just blow up the bridges instead of mine them?
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* CloudCuckooLander: Cabbie has been driving his taxi in Manhattan for 30 years which means it's likely he's not there for any crime, but probably refused to leave when the city was walled up.
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* CloudCuckooLander: Cabbie has been driving his taxi in Manhattan for 30 years which means it's likely possible that he's not even there for any crime, but probably may have refused to leave when the city was walled up.
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* CrapSackWorld: The United States seems to have become this, with the crime rate rising by 400% in 1988 and Manhattan island being converted to a maximum security prison. When the movie was made in 1981, this didn't seem too unreasonable to expect of the future.
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* TheOnlyOne: Snake is told he's the man for the job due to his prior black ops experience and his expendability.
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* NotInThisForYourRevolution: And how! Snake absolutely despises the authorities who literally have to coerce him into working for them with a tailor-made "kill you in 24 hours" device in his body or he'd just bail on them in a heartbeat.
to:
* NotInThisForYourRevolution: And how! Snake absolutely despises the authorities who literally have to coerce him into working for them with a [[ExplosiveLeash tailor-made "kill you in 24 hours" device device]] in his body or he'd just bail on them in a heartbeat.
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* DisproportionateRetribution: Being sent to Manhattan Island means a life sentence with no chance of release. Once you go in, you don't come out. There are no provisions inside to keep the prisoners fed and housed, they simply fend for themselves [[ImAhumanitarian in any way that they can.]] It's heavily implied that everyone who commits a crime in the United States gets thrown in there.
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* DisproportionateRetribution: Being sent to Manhattan Island means a life sentence with no chance of release. Once you go in, you don't come out. There are no provisions inside to keep the prisoners fed and housed, they simply fend for themselves [[ImAhumanitarian in any way that they can.]] It's heavily implied that everyone who commits a crime in the United States gets thrown in there.
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-->(After the rescue)
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* KeepTheReward: After the rescue, the president is willing to give Snake anything he wants as a reward. Snake wants only one thing.
-->(After the rescue)
-->'''The President''': I want to thank you. Anything you want, you just name it.
-->'''Snake''': Just a moment of your time.
-->'''The President''': Yes?
-->'''Snake''': We did get you out. A lot of people died in the process. [[SecretTestOfCharacter I just wondered how you felt about it.]]
-->(After the rescue)
-->'''The President''': I want to thank you. Anything you want, you just name it.
-->'''Snake''': Just a moment of your time.
-->'''The President''': Yes?
-->'''Snake''': We did get you out. A lot of people died in the process. [[SecretTestOfCharacter I just wondered how you felt about it.]]
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* BeyondTheImpossible: A landmine neatly bisects a car between the front and back seats with only one out of the five passenges being killed.
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* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Brain acts just loyal enough to Snake and the Duke on different occasions to avoid being shot, but doesn't hesitate to screw them both over if it helps him get away.
* CloudCuckooLander: Cabbie has been driving his taxi in Manhattan for 30 years which means it's likely he's not there for any crime, but probably refused to leave when the city was walled up.
* CloudCuckooLander: Cabbie has been driving his taxi in Manhattan for 30 years which means it's likely he's not there for any crime, but probably refused to leave when the city was walled up.
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* DisproportionateRetribution: Being sent to Manhattan Island means a life sentence with no chance of release. Once you go in, you don't come out. There are no provisions inside to keep the prisoners fed and housed, they simply fend for themselves [[ImAhumanitarian in any way that they can.]] It's heavily implied that everyone who commits a crime in the United States gets thrown in there.
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* DirtyCoward: The predisent.
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* DirtyCoward: The predisent.president.
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* DirtyCoward: The predisent.
-->'''President''': May god save me and watch over all of you.
** Said shortly before the president escapes in a pod from airforce one and all his advisors and security die horribly in the crash.
-->'''President''': May god save me and watch over all of you.
** Said shortly before the president escapes in a pod from airforce one and all his advisors and security die horribly in the crash.
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* TheLoad: The president.
-->'''Snake''': We have to move fast.
-->'''The President''': You're damn right I'll move fast!
** He doesn't.
-->'''Snake''': We have to move fast.
-->'''The President''': You're damn right I'll move fast!
** He doesn't.
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[[quoteright:240:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/plissken.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:240:The [[OlderThanTheyThink original]] mulleted, eyepatched badass named [[MetalGearSolid Snake]].]]
''Escape From NewYork'' (1981) is a cult-classic action film featuring the dream team of JohnCarpenter and KurtRussell. The story is one of the classics: a rescue mission. The President's plane has crashed in the badlands, and so Police Commissioner Bob Hauk (LeeVanCleef) is forced to recruit the most [[{{Badass}} Bad Ass]] criminal available to go in after him. That man is Snake Plissken, and if that name doesn't tell you everything you need to know about the character, you probably shouldn't be watching this kind of movie in the first place. If you still need a clue, he's wearing an [[EyepatchOfPower eyepatch]]. And the only way to get him to agree to help is by putting on an ExplosiveLeash and turning him loose.
Oh, and as you may have worked out from the title, the badlands in question are the ruins of New York. Because this film is set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture (or rather, sixteen years, in the year 1997), and Manhattan has become a giant ruin of a penal colony, full of savage gangs and ruled over by the Duke of New York, played by the late great Isaac Hayes.
The film is a classic of the dystopian future genre, and Snake is himself a classic JerkWithAHeartOfGold AntiHero. Snake's history is mostly just hinted at, but a {{Novelization}}, now out of print, [[AllThereInTheManual fills in some of the details]].
The supporting cast includes a lineup of memorable character actors, including LeeVanCleef, DonaldPleasence, Harry Dean Stanton, ErnestBorgnine, Adrienne Barbeau, and Adrienne Barbeau's cleavage, which frankly deserves its own credit despite the brevity of its appearance.
Fifteen years later, Russell and Carpenter reunited for a sequel, ''EscapeFromLA'', which dispensed with much of the grittiness to lampoon Los Angeles and Hollywood culture. It was not met with nearly the same level of acclaim as the original.
A remake of ''Escape From New York'' is currently in development.
----
!!'''This film provides examples of:'''
* AbsoluteCleavage: It's ''Adrienne freakin' Barbeau''.
* ActionGirl: Maggie is pretty handy with a pistol.
* ActorAllusion: It's been joked/speculated that since KurtRussell was appearing in a movie with LeeVanCleef, he decided [[TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly to imitate]] ClintEastwood.
* AfraidOfNeedles: Snake.
* AirForceOne
* TheAlcatraz: New York Maximum Security Penitentiary, AKA Manhattan Island Prison.
* AlternateHistory: The film's backstory and setting has become this.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Romero.
* AntiHero: Snake [[SlidingScaleOfAntiHeroes is a mix of type IV and type V.]] Also counts as a DesignatedHero.
* AwesomeMcCoolname: Snake Plissken.
* {{Badass}}: Take your pick.
* BatterUp: Snake vs. a huge guy in a BloodSport.
* BigBad: The Duke.
* BloodSport
* BottomlessMagazines: Snake's MAC10 is never reloaded once, and it fires about 10x as many bullets as he apparently brought with him.
** Also applies to Snake's revolver; not only does it never get reloaded, but when [[spoiler:Maggie gets charged at by the Duke]], the revolver '''''[[YouFailLogicForever with six chambers]]''''' is fired '''''[[YouFailLogicForever seven times.]]'''''
*** [[Film/{{Halloween}} It must be apart of the linage of Dr. Loomis' revolver]].
* BoxedCrook
* BulletholeDoor
* [[ChekhovsGun Chekhov's Gun]]: Subverted. Snake takes a wide array of weapons with him, but doesn't get a chance to use them all.
* CombatPragmatist: Snake.
* DeadpanSnarker: Snake.
* TheDragon: Romero for The Duke.
* DubNameChange: In Italy, Snake is known as "Jena" (hyena), due to "Serpente" (snake) being too long to properly sync up with the video (oddly enough, the Spanish dub averts this, in spite of the fact that their word for snake (serpiente) is even ''longer'').
* EnforcedMethodActing: In some of the shots during the fight scene, Snake's expressions of terror are ''real''. Ox Baker, having never done a film before, got a little too into his role, and poor KurtRussell really ''did'' end up fearing for his life.
* EstrogenBrigadeBait / PerverseSexualLust: Snake has quite a following.
* EvilLaugh: Romero.
* ExactTimeToFailure: The explosives planted near Snake's carotid artery will kill him at a pre-set time unless he returns with the president.
* ExplosiveLeash: The government ensures that Snake won't give up his mission by implanting explosives into his body that will kill him if he doesn't return within a day.
* EyepatchOfPower: Snake.
* FemaleGaze: Come on, ''you'' know [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything where]] you were looking during Snake's ShirtlessScene...
* FingerInTheMail: A creepy punk taunts the government troops with the kidnapped President's severed finger.
* FilkSong: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3ZsyFNmkcY "The Escape"]] by Julia Ecklar
* ForcedPrizeFight
* FridgeLogic: If they turned Manhattan into a prison, why didn't they just blow up the bridges instead of mine them?
* GiantMook: Ox Baker's character.
* GoodHairEvilHair: Snake Plissken.
* TheGovernment: Fascist and totalitarian.
* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: In 1997, the Cold War has turned hot and the USA is fighting a (presumably conventional) war against the USSR.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Maggie]]. Later, Snake asks the President if he knew how many people died to save him. The President's rote response doesn't please Snake.
* HollywoodSilencer: Averted with Snake's MAC-10.
* HeyItsThatVoice: JamieLeeCurtis is the voice of TheNarrator in the intro.
* TheHyena: Romero.
* ImAHumanitarian: The "Crazies".
* InsistentTerminology / DoNotCallMePaul: In both ''EscapeFromNewYork'' and ''EscapeFromLA'', the U.S. government is on a LastNameBasis with protagonist Snake Plissken, to which he consistently replies, "Call me Snake." However, during the respective climaxes of both movies, when one of the government's men finally does call him Snake, he reverses his previous attitude with the reply, "The name's Plissken".
* InsufferableGenius: Brain. It's a minor miracle he's still alive in Manhattan since everyone ''hates'' him save Maggie and Cabbie.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Snake cannot be persuaded to give a shit about anything but his own interests. Considering there is [[BlackAndGrayMorality no particularly good side]] for him to be on, one can hardly blame him.
* [[spoiler: KillTheCutie: Cabbie. He spends the whole movie just as a happy-go-lucky, overly friendly wide-eyed optimist who looks out for Plissken (even to the extent of throwing a molotov at some thugs, driving him for free and coming back for him just in time). Then, despite being in an explosion that leaves the others inexplicably unscathed, he dies horribly. Thankfully, Snake gets some justice for his unnecessary death [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome by screwing the ungrateful president.]] ]]
* LaughingMad: Romero.
* MacGuffin: the tape with the secret of nuclear fusion.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Snake Plissken.
* [[CaliforniaDoubling New York Doubling]]: Filmed in St. Louis to keep the budget low. Four years later, the scene of the BatterUp BloodSport (see above) was renovated into a hoity-toity shopping area -- visual MoodDissonance.
* NinetiesAntihero: Snake exemplifies this despite being nine years ahead of his time, making him one of the progenitors of the trope.
* NoodleIncident:
* NotInThisForYourRevolution: And how! Snake absolutely despises the authorities who literally have to coerce him into working for them with a tailor-made "kill you in 24 hours" device in his body or he'd just bail on them in a heartbeat.
** There has to be a reason everybody thinks Snake is dead...
** The Kansas City incident where Brain abandoned Snake and Fresno Bob is another one. It's possible that Snake could have almost died there, as he asks Brain "Do you know what they did to Bob?"
* OffTheShelfFX: What appeared to be an impressive (for 1981) wire-frame CGI image of Lower Manhattan was actually a physical model with the buildings outlined with glow-in-the-dark green tape and filmed in black light. Courtesy of none other than JamesCameron.
* OhCrap: The President when he discovers [[spoiler: that Snake's switched the nuclear fusion tape with Cabbie's, and thus he's playing the dignitaries "Bandstand Boogie"]].
* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: Well for starters he sounds British. An in-universe reason was given, but seriously it was to give Donald Pleasance the role.
* ParrotExposition: An example occurs early on in the film. Also HilariousInHindsight.
--> '''Hauk:''' You go in, find the President and bring him back in 24 hours, and you're a free man.
--> '''Snake:''' 24 hours, huh?
* PhraseCatcher: See RunningGag below.
* PlayingAgainstType: Before ''EscapeFromNewYork'', KurtRussell was best known for doing {{Disney}} comedies and other lightweight fare. The studio was surprised when Carpenter picked him, instead of someone like Charles Bronson or TommyLeeJones.
* PrecisionFStrike: Snake's initial response to Hauk's proposal:
-->''I don't give a fuck about your war, or your president.''
** And again when Brain tries to dodge his questions:
--->'''Snake:''' *holding his gun to Brain's chest* Where's the president?!
--->'''Brain:''' Swear to God, Snake, I don't know-
--->'''Snake:''' Don't ''fuck'' with me!
* PunchClockHero: Snake, although kinda motivated since he has microscopic explosives that will rupture his carotid arteries in 24 hours.
* RealLifeRelative:
** The girl in the Chock Full O' Nuts is played by KurtRussell's then-wife, Season Hubley.
** Also, Adrienne Barbeau was married to JohnCarpenter at the time.
* RefusalOfTheCall
* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: "I heard you were dead."
* RunningGag:
** "Snake Plissken? I thought you were dead."
** "Call me Snake". followed up by later "The name's Plissken".
* SanitySlippage: The President suffers one, combined with a RoaringRampageOfRevenge when he ''stops'' the winch that's bringing Snake to safety (keep in mind, he's about to be killed by explosives in his neck), to machine gun The Duke, screaming, "You're the Duke! You're the Duke! You're the Duke!... [[BondOneLiner You're the Duke, but you ain't number one.]]"
* ScaryBlackMan: The Duke (Isaac Hayes).
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Snake, in a weird way.
* ShoutOut:
** "I thought you were dead" was also a running gag in the 1971 JohnWayne movie ''BigJake''.
** The "Crazies" are, no doubt, a ShoutOut to the George Romero movie of the [[TheCrazies same name]].
** The characters Cronenberg (the doctor who injects Snake with the explosives) and Romero (the spiky-haired {{Mook}} with the crazy laugh) are named after DavidCronenberg and George Romero, respectively.
* SociopathicHero: If Snake gives even a fraction of a damn about the people who die helping him, he certainly doesn't show it. The only hint that he might care is when he asks the president how he felt about all the people who died to rescue him and is not impressed with the president's flippant response.
* SpiritualSuccessor: Although not intended, this film's premise is fairly similar to ''TheWarriors'', in which the protagonists have one night to escape from a dystopian New York City crawling with street trash and urban warlords. Some parts of the soundtracks even sound similar.
* StateSec: The ''United States Police Force'', who despite their name is well armed and equipped.
* StylisticSuck: The song "Everyone's Coming To New York" is sung by various criminals, and even on the soundtrack CD, the singers sing slightly out of tune, and various interludes are played on kazoos. Why yes, [[HilarityEnsues hilarity most certainly does ensue]].
* TallDarkAndSnarky: Snake.
* TimedMission: Both films. [[spoiler: Subverted in the sequel in that it was a fake threat.]]
* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Occurs in 1997. In 1988 the U.S. crime rate rose 400%, Manhattan was turned into the maximum security prison for the whole country, and the U.S. became authoritarian. There is a war going on with Soviet Union (presumably non-nuclear) and the whole film begins as Communist terrorists kidnap AirForceOne. ColdWar-phobia was very popular in TheEighties.
* [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse What Happened To The Cab Driver]]: After Snake lands in New York, Cabbie is the first major character encountered. Cabbie takes Snake, Brain and Maggie to the Duke's headquarters, then drives off after panicking over the Duke's reputation. Later, as Snake, Brain and Maggie [[spoiler: make their way with the President to the 69th Street Bridge]], Cabbie suddenly returns, with no explanation as to where he was throughout a third of the movie. Seems like ContrivedCoincidence.
** He's a taxi driver in New York (it's implied he's just a New Yorker who never left). [[FridgeBrilliance If there's a fare involved, he'll show up]].
** It can be assumed since Cabbie traded for the tape that he was still around Dukes other men when Brain and Maggie break out the president, he could have followed Dukes men who were following Brain and Maggie.
* {{Zeerust}}: While cassette tapes were still widely used in 1997, telex were gone by then. The wireframe guidance images in the glider might raise some eyebrows, but it's conceivable that such a light aircraft would use simple computer graphics.
----
[[caption-width-right:240:The [[OlderThanTheyThink original]] mulleted, eyepatched badass named [[MetalGearSolid Snake]].]]
''Escape From NewYork'' (1981) is a cult-classic action film featuring the dream team of JohnCarpenter and KurtRussell. The story is one of the classics: a rescue mission. The President's plane has crashed in the badlands, and so Police Commissioner Bob Hauk (LeeVanCleef) is forced to recruit the most [[{{Badass}} Bad Ass]] criminal available to go in after him. That man is Snake Plissken, and if that name doesn't tell you everything you need to know about the character, you probably shouldn't be watching this kind of movie in the first place. If you still need a clue, he's wearing an [[EyepatchOfPower eyepatch]]. And the only way to get him to agree to help is by putting on an ExplosiveLeash and turning him loose.
Oh, and as you may have worked out from the title, the badlands in question are the ruins of New York. Because this film is set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture (or rather, sixteen years, in the year 1997), and Manhattan has become a giant ruin of a penal colony, full of savage gangs and ruled over by the Duke of New York, played by the late great Isaac Hayes.
The film is a classic of the dystopian future genre, and Snake is himself a classic JerkWithAHeartOfGold AntiHero. Snake's history is mostly just hinted at, but a {{Novelization}}, now out of print, [[AllThereInTheManual fills in some of the details]].
The supporting cast includes a lineup of memorable character actors, including LeeVanCleef, DonaldPleasence, Harry Dean Stanton, ErnestBorgnine, Adrienne Barbeau, and Adrienne Barbeau's cleavage, which frankly deserves its own credit despite the brevity of its appearance.
Fifteen years later, Russell and Carpenter reunited for a sequel, ''EscapeFromLA'', which dispensed with much of the grittiness to lampoon Los Angeles and Hollywood culture. It was not met with nearly the same level of acclaim as the original.
A remake of ''Escape From New York'' is currently in development.
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!!'''This film provides examples of:'''
* AbsoluteCleavage: It's ''Adrienne freakin' Barbeau''.
* ActionGirl: Maggie is pretty handy with a pistol.
* ActorAllusion: It's been joked/speculated that since KurtRussell was appearing in a movie with LeeVanCleef, he decided [[TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly to imitate]] ClintEastwood.
* AfraidOfNeedles: Snake.
* AirForceOne
* TheAlcatraz: New York Maximum Security Penitentiary, AKA Manhattan Island Prison.
* AlternateHistory: The film's backstory and setting has become this.
* AmbiguouslyGay: Romero.
* AntiHero: Snake [[SlidingScaleOfAntiHeroes is a mix of type IV and type V.]] Also counts as a DesignatedHero.
* AwesomeMcCoolname: Snake Plissken.
* {{Badass}}: Take your pick.
* BatterUp: Snake vs. a huge guy in a BloodSport.
* BigBad: The Duke.
* BloodSport
* BottomlessMagazines: Snake's MAC10 is never reloaded once, and it fires about 10x as many bullets as he apparently brought with him.
** Also applies to Snake's revolver; not only does it never get reloaded, but when [[spoiler:Maggie gets charged at by the Duke]], the revolver '''''[[YouFailLogicForever with six chambers]]''''' is fired '''''[[YouFailLogicForever seven times.]]'''''
*** [[Film/{{Halloween}} It must be apart of the linage of Dr. Loomis' revolver]].
* BoxedCrook
* BulletholeDoor
* [[ChekhovsGun Chekhov's Gun]]: Subverted. Snake takes a wide array of weapons with him, but doesn't get a chance to use them all.
* CombatPragmatist: Snake.
* DeadpanSnarker: Snake.
* TheDragon: Romero for The Duke.
* DubNameChange: In Italy, Snake is known as "Jena" (hyena), due to "Serpente" (snake) being too long to properly sync up with the video (oddly enough, the Spanish dub averts this, in spite of the fact that their word for snake (serpiente) is even ''longer'').
* EnforcedMethodActing: In some of the shots during the fight scene, Snake's expressions of terror are ''real''. Ox Baker, having never done a film before, got a little too into his role, and poor KurtRussell really ''did'' end up fearing for his life.
* EstrogenBrigadeBait / PerverseSexualLust: Snake has quite a following.
* EvilLaugh: Romero.
* ExactTimeToFailure: The explosives planted near Snake's carotid artery will kill him at a pre-set time unless he returns with the president.
* ExplosiveLeash: The government ensures that Snake won't give up his mission by implanting explosives into his body that will kill him if he doesn't return within a day.
* EyepatchOfPower: Snake.
* FemaleGaze: Come on, ''you'' know [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything where]] you were looking during Snake's ShirtlessScene...
* FingerInTheMail: A creepy punk taunts the government troops with the kidnapped President's severed finger.
* FilkSong: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3ZsyFNmkcY "The Escape"]] by Julia Ecklar
* ForcedPrizeFight
* FridgeLogic: If they turned Manhattan into a prison, why didn't they just blow up the bridges instead of mine them?
* GiantMook: Ox Baker's character.
* GoodHairEvilHair: Snake Plissken.
* TheGovernment: Fascist and totalitarian.
* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: In 1997, the Cold War has turned hot and the USA is fighting a (presumably conventional) war against the USSR.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Maggie]]. Later, Snake asks the President if he knew how many people died to save him. The President's rote response doesn't please Snake.
* HollywoodSilencer: Averted with Snake's MAC-10.
* HeyItsThatVoice: JamieLeeCurtis is the voice of TheNarrator in the intro.
* TheHyena: Romero.
* ImAHumanitarian: The "Crazies".
* InsistentTerminology / DoNotCallMePaul: In both ''EscapeFromNewYork'' and ''EscapeFromLA'', the U.S. government is on a LastNameBasis with protagonist Snake Plissken, to which he consistently replies, "Call me Snake." However, during the respective climaxes of both movies, when one of the government's men finally does call him Snake, he reverses his previous attitude with the reply, "The name's Plissken".
* InsufferableGenius: Brain. It's a minor miracle he's still alive in Manhattan since everyone ''hates'' him save Maggie and Cabbie.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Snake cannot be persuaded to give a shit about anything but his own interests. Considering there is [[BlackAndGrayMorality no particularly good side]] for him to be on, one can hardly blame him.
* [[spoiler: KillTheCutie: Cabbie. He spends the whole movie just as a happy-go-lucky, overly friendly wide-eyed optimist who looks out for Plissken (even to the extent of throwing a molotov at some thugs, driving him for free and coming back for him just in time). Then, despite being in an explosion that leaves the others inexplicably unscathed, he dies horribly. Thankfully, Snake gets some justice for his unnecessary death [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome by screwing the ungrateful president.]] ]]
* LaughingMad: Romero.
* MacGuffin: the tape with the secret of nuclear fusion.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Snake Plissken.
* [[CaliforniaDoubling New York Doubling]]: Filmed in St. Louis to keep the budget low. Four years later, the scene of the BatterUp BloodSport (see above) was renovated into a hoity-toity shopping area -- visual MoodDissonance.
* NinetiesAntihero: Snake exemplifies this despite being nine years ahead of his time, making him one of the progenitors of the trope.
* NoodleIncident:
* NotInThisForYourRevolution: And how! Snake absolutely despises the authorities who literally have to coerce him into working for them with a tailor-made "kill you in 24 hours" device in his body or he'd just bail on them in a heartbeat.
** There has to be a reason everybody thinks Snake is dead...
** The Kansas City incident where Brain abandoned Snake and Fresno Bob is another one. It's possible that Snake could have almost died there, as he asks Brain "Do you know what they did to Bob?"
* OffTheShelfFX: What appeared to be an impressive (for 1981) wire-frame CGI image of Lower Manhattan was actually a physical model with the buildings outlined with glow-in-the-dark green tape and filmed in black light. Courtesy of none other than JamesCameron.
* OhCrap: The President when he discovers [[spoiler: that Snake's switched the nuclear fusion tape with Cabbie's, and thus he's playing the dignitaries "Bandstand Boogie"]].
* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: Well for starters he sounds British. An in-universe reason was given, but seriously it was to give Donald Pleasance the role.
* ParrotExposition: An example occurs early on in the film. Also HilariousInHindsight.
--> '''Hauk:''' You go in, find the President and bring him back in 24 hours, and you're a free man.
--> '''Snake:''' 24 hours, huh?
* PhraseCatcher: See RunningGag below.
* PlayingAgainstType: Before ''EscapeFromNewYork'', KurtRussell was best known for doing {{Disney}} comedies and other lightweight fare. The studio was surprised when Carpenter picked him, instead of someone like Charles Bronson or TommyLeeJones.
* PrecisionFStrike: Snake's initial response to Hauk's proposal:
-->''I don't give a fuck about your war, or your president.''
** And again when Brain tries to dodge his questions:
--->'''Snake:''' *holding his gun to Brain's chest* Where's the president?!
--->'''Brain:''' Swear to God, Snake, I don't know-
--->'''Snake:''' Don't ''fuck'' with me!
* PunchClockHero: Snake, although kinda motivated since he has microscopic explosives that will rupture his carotid arteries in 24 hours.
* RealLifeRelative:
** The girl in the Chock Full O' Nuts is played by KurtRussell's then-wife, Season Hubley.
** Also, Adrienne Barbeau was married to JohnCarpenter at the time.
* RefusalOfTheCall
* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: "I heard you were dead."
* RunningGag:
** "Snake Plissken? I thought you were dead."
** "Call me Snake". followed up by later "The name's Plissken".
* SanitySlippage: The President suffers one, combined with a RoaringRampageOfRevenge when he ''stops'' the winch that's bringing Snake to safety (keep in mind, he's about to be killed by explosives in his neck), to machine gun The Duke, screaming, "You're the Duke! You're the Duke! You're the Duke!... [[BondOneLiner You're the Duke, but you ain't number one.]]"
* ScaryBlackMan: The Duke (Isaac Hayes).
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Snake, in a weird way.
* ShoutOut:
** "I thought you were dead" was also a running gag in the 1971 JohnWayne movie ''BigJake''.
** The "Crazies" are, no doubt, a ShoutOut to the George Romero movie of the [[TheCrazies same name]].
** The characters Cronenberg (the doctor who injects Snake with the explosives) and Romero (the spiky-haired {{Mook}} with the crazy laugh) are named after DavidCronenberg and George Romero, respectively.
* SociopathicHero: If Snake gives even a fraction of a damn about the people who die helping him, he certainly doesn't show it. The only hint that he might care is when he asks the president how he felt about all the people who died to rescue him and is not impressed with the president's flippant response.
* SpiritualSuccessor: Although not intended, this film's premise is fairly similar to ''TheWarriors'', in which the protagonists have one night to escape from a dystopian New York City crawling with street trash and urban warlords. Some parts of the soundtracks even sound similar.
* StateSec: The ''United States Police Force'', who despite their name is well armed and equipped.
* StylisticSuck: The song "Everyone's Coming To New York" is sung by various criminals, and even on the soundtrack CD, the singers sing slightly out of tune, and various interludes are played on kazoos. Why yes, [[HilarityEnsues hilarity most certainly does ensue]].
* TallDarkAndSnarky: Snake.
* TimedMission: Both films. [[spoiler: Subverted in the sequel in that it was a fake threat.]]
* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Occurs in 1997. In 1988 the U.S. crime rate rose 400%, Manhattan was turned into the maximum security prison for the whole country, and the U.S. became authoritarian. There is a war going on with Soviet Union (presumably non-nuclear) and the whole film begins as Communist terrorists kidnap AirForceOne. ColdWar-phobia was very popular in TheEighties.
* [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse What Happened To The Cab Driver]]: After Snake lands in New York, Cabbie is the first major character encountered. Cabbie takes Snake, Brain and Maggie to the Duke's headquarters, then drives off after panicking over the Duke's reputation. Later, as Snake, Brain and Maggie [[spoiler: make their way with the President to the 69th Street Bridge]], Cabbie suddenly returns, with no explanation as to where he was throughout a third of the movie. Seems like ContrivedCoincidence.
** He's a taxi driver in New York (it's implied he's just a New Yorker who never left). [[FridgeBrilliance If there's a fare involved, he'll show up]].
** It can be assumed since Cabbie traded for the tape that he was still around Dukes other men when Brain and Maggie break out the president, he could have followed Dukes men who were following Brain and Maggie.
* {{Zeerust}}: While cassette tapes were still widely used in 1997, telex were gone by then. The wireframe guidance images in the glider might raise some eyebrows, but it's conceivable that such a light aircraft would use simple computer graphics.
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