History Film / EscapeFromNewYork

TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture (well, sixteen years, as the film takes place in the year 1997), the President's plane crashes in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity -- specifically Manhattan, which has become a giant penal colony filled with savage gangs that are led by "The Duke of New York" (Music/IsaacHayes). The commissioner of the United States Police Force, Bob Hauk (Creator/LeeVanCleef), is left without any realistic options for a rescue, so he recruits the most badass criminal he can find to get the President out: [[AwesomeMcCoolname Snake Plissken]] (Russell). When Plissken says he wants nothing to do with the mission, Hauk forces Snake into compliance with an ExplosiveLeash -- if Snake doesn't get the President out of New York within a certain amount of time, the leash goes boom and Snake goes with it.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Snake Plissken.

* FailedFutureForecast: By 1997, the United States has become a totalitarian dictatorship, and Manhattan Island is a penal colony.

* FailedFutureForecast: In 1997, the Cold War has turned hot and the USA is fighting a (presumably conventional) war against the USSR. Also, the high crime rate of the 70s and 80s continued to escalate to the point where Manhattan Island would be turned into a penal colony for containing all the convicts.

* AbsoluteCleavage: Maggie, played by [[http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3145242624/nm0000105 Adrienne Barbeau]], displays copious decolletage in every scene.

* SpiritualSuccessor: Although not intended, this film's premise is fairly similar to ''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.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The real 69th Street Bridge in New York City was actually [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Central_Railroad_69th_Street_Transfer_Bridge a dock]] and was meant for transferring rail cars across the Hudson, not for automobile traffic as the movie depicts.

* UrExample: Snake Plissken was a DarkerAndEdgier NinetiesAntiHero in 1981! That the film is itself is set in 1997 is somewhat HilariousInHindsight.

* PayEvilUntoEvil: The President defintiely enjoys shooting the Duke to save Snake.

* GrayAndGreyMorality: Our hero is saving lives only because he's been pressured into it on threat of death by a fascist government led by a corrupt president who cares little about the human cost necessary to save his own skin. The bad guy is a brutal gang leader who is at least slightly concerned about his men's wellbeing.

* TimedMission: Snake has 24 hours to get the President out of New York before the timer on his ExplosiveLeash hits zero.

* HighConcept: The President has been taken hostage in a future Manhattan that's been turned into a city-wide prison. And it's up to a badass criminal to get him out.

* BadassBureaucrat: Hauk never raises his voice, doesn't so much as blink when face to face with Plissken, and goes into New York (albeit with armored troops) with no sidearm and wearing a t-shirt. Conversation with Plissken reveals that Snake recognized ''him'' and that he's former Special Forces.

* {{Backseat Driver}}: Maggie critiques Brains choice of route when driving from the Library to The Duke's HQ.

* BadassBureaucrat: Hauk never raises his voice, doesn't so much as blink when face to face with Plissken, and goes into New York (albeit with armored troops) with no sidearm and wearing a t-shirt.

* FailedFutureForecast: In 1997, the Cold War has turned hot and the USA is fighting a (presumably conventional) war against the USSR. Also, the high crime of the 70s and 80s continued to escalate to the point where Manhattan Island would be turned into a penal colony for containing all the convicts.

* FailedFutureForecast: In 1997, the Cold War has turned hot and the USA is fighting a (presumably conventional) war against the USSR.

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: In 1997, the Cold War has turned hot and the USA is fighting a (presumably conventional) war against the USSR.

* SocietyMarchesOn: The film, in 1981, predicted that by 1997 crime rates would have risen to such catastrophic levels that Manhattan Island would be turned into a penal colony for containing all the convicts. While the high crime rates of the 1970s-80s make it look more plausible then, the fact they started falling just ten years on left it looking silly when the actual 1997 rolled around.

-->[[spoiler:'''President''':]] (just fired a long rifle burst on the Duke, dropping him on top of a car, chuckles) You are the Duke of New York! You're the Duke! (rifle burst) You're the Duke! (rifle burst) But, you ain't number one!

* AnAesop: That HumansAreBastards when they have power over many, no matter how much they try to whitewash over it. The President is a shining example of humanity's savage murderous asshole nature. His ordeal as a prisoner of the Duke turns him from a typical CorruptBureaucrat into a LaughingMad killer taking revenge on the man who held and humiliated him, showing that he is NotSoDifferent from the scum that were thrown away and forgotten by the rest of the country. And the fact that he can go right back to being a stuffy bureaucrat again in the blink of an eye drives the point home that everyone with power is one step away from being a complete bastard in this dystopia - especially in the name of "peace" (of which Manhattan was turned into a prison to keep its most violent away from America as a whole, and the 'energy source' that America was supposed to deliver at the peace conference). Contrast with Cabbie who is a simple, friendly, honest man with no agenda and winds up dead for it. Also contrast with Snake who's a selfish bastard, but he doesn't want power and doesn't commit acts of violence for pleasure. He is also honest about who and what he is.

[-[[caption-width-right:300:The original mulleted, eyepatched badass named Snake. No relation to [[VideoGame/MetalGear that other one]].]]-]

!! ''Escape from New York'' contains the following tropes:

->'''Bob Hauk:''' ''You go in, find the President and bring him back in 24 hours, and you're a free man.''
->'''Snake Plissken:''' ''24 hours, huh?''

* TheBigRottenApple: By the early 80s, most major American cities had seen anyone who could afford it flee to the [[{{Suburbia}} suburbs]], infrastructure was decaying, cities were bankrupt, and of course crime was out of control. New York, as America's largest and most prominent city was the ultimate symbol of this urban decay. In the late 70s the federal government refused to bail the city out. This led many New Yorkers to declare "America has given up on New York." The film takes the situation to its logical conclusion-all of Manhattan's residents have fled, and the island has been turned into a giant penal colony where gangs battle for supremacy.

* BreakTheHaughty: The POTUS is a BitchInSheepsClothing and the Duke's tortures and humiliations endure onto him were harsh, yet justifiable. When the President finally, [[spoiler:snaps out of his mental torture from the Duke and kills him]], its justifiable. He does seem shellshocked afterwards, but nevertheless returns to his normal state of mind after a few moments of being treated by presidential aides.

** Also, Brain really doesn't care to be called by his given name, "Harold".

* FailedFutureForecast: By 1997 the United States has become a totalitarian dictatorship, and Manhattan Island is a penal colony.

* FlayingAlive: According to the novelisation, this is what happened to Fresno Bob.

* FuturisticJetInjector: To keep Snake Plisskin from escaping once he's loose, a gun-like jet injector is used to insert a miniature explosive device into his neck. If it isn't removed within 24 hours, it will kill him.

* HeroicNeutral: Snake, obviously. "I don't give a fuck about your war, or your president." He would prefer to just take the Gullfire and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere fly straight to Canada]], letting the US, China and the Soviet Union blow each other to hell, but he can't because of the ExplosiveLeash he's injected with.

* HiddenDepths: Snake does prove to legitimately care about Brain, Maggie and Cabbie.

** The President wears a vital signs bracelet that broadcasts a "sync pulse". Snake is given a device that can home in on the signal, showing direction and distance to the device.

* WarHero: When Snake Plisskin arrives at the facility, he is taken to a meeting with Police Commissioner Bob Hauk. Plisskin was a U.S. soldier during a war with Russia. He received two Purple Hearts and was the youngest man ever to be decorated by the President. However, Plisskin robbed a Federal Reserve depository and was sentenced to the Manhattan prison. Hauk tells Plisskin "I'm ready to kick your ass out of the world, war hero."

* {{Mondegreen}}: After gunning down the Duke, it's hard not to hear the President saying, "You're the Duke of New York, but you ''ain't'' number one."

* TheBigRottenApple: By the early 80s, most major American cities had seen anyone who could afford it flee to the [[{{Suburbia}} suburbs]], infrastructure was decaying, cities were bankrupt, and of course crime was out of control. New York, as America's largest and most prominent city was the ultimate symbol of this urban decay. In the late 70s the federal government refused to bail the city out. This led many New Yorkers to declare "America has given up on New York." The film takes the situation to its logical conclusion-all of Manhattan's residents have fled, and the island has been turned into a giant penal colony where gangs battle for supremacy.