This is a movie I really don’t know whether to recommend or not. It has good moments but doesn’t execute a lot of it particularly well and lacks in certain areas but due to the response the film has received, I’m saying yes as I gather most people enjoy it and that’s something I like to take into consideration.

In “Escape From New York”, Manhattan is now a place where convicts are sent without any guards or rules. Air Force One crashes lands in this prison so the government send in bank robber Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell “The Thing”) to rescue the President (Donald Pleasance “Halloween”, “You Only Live Twice”). Snake only has 24hrs to get the President out because an important conference is going to be held that will attempt to resolve a war.

Kurt Russell is nothing special as Snake; he’s a tough guy with an iconic look and that’s all. Russell lacks the charisma of more popular tough guys. Donald Pleasance isn’t very good as the President. Lee Van Cleef (“For A Few Dollars More”), Isaac Hayes (“Kill Bill Vol.1”) and Ernest Borgnine (“The Dirty Dozen”) all make appearances but aren’t all that great. Acting is something “Escape From New York” fails to master.

I’ve heard people say “Escape From New York” is an action film but it doesn’t have enough action to be a proper action film in my books. The idea of criminals living without guards or rules is interesting and it’s great to see they’ve developed some sort of culture and some neighbourhoods are considered worse than others. I feel as a viewer you need to see what director John Carpenter (“The Fog”) has done with the concepts featured in the film. The other aspects aren’t bad but they’re nothing special so that’s why I was on the fence with this one.