Escape from New York [Blu-ray]

Classic John Carpenter. Its a little grainy but thats due to the source material. Plenty of good extras. This is a good version of this classic movie

just like I remember watching it on the Big Screen

So, at first this movie made me feel old. I love John Carpenter and had seen most of his films (including the sequel to this and my step-father simply told me the plot of this film while we watched that,) but I had not yet seen this all the way through. So, here's the plot, around a year before I'm born (I'm 40) crime is getting really out of hand in America. By the time I'm in Kindergarten (the future when this was made,) crime is out of control and they turn New York into a giant, walled off prison unit for the whole country. This film's narrative opens in the far future (my freshman year of high school) where Kurt Russell is the only person that can save the president of the United States (Dr. Loomis from the original Halloween pictures,) from the Prison of New York City and also deliver to him a valuable recording that could end an ongoing war for the United States. As always, Carpenter and Hill had incredible attention to detail adding stuff you'll never forget like the voice speaker during the opening scene telling criminals they can simply elect to be immediately murdered and cremated and their cremains will be transferred to family and etc...4k Blu-ray is really a format where little things like this stand out in a home theater setting and you catch everything that John snuck in there. This is my third John Carpenter 4k disc (I also own The Thing and They Live) and I cherish it like I do the Blue Underground Italian discs. I met him one time at a convention, and it was a good time. He kept teasing Nick Castle trying to get a rise out of him. He definitely commanded a presence like he could run the show effectively FOR SURE. That must be why he's so successful. That impressed me and I always remembered it. It was nothing he said specifically but just him in general, he set the tone subtly with his presence and you know this guy runs the show, lol. I'm the boss at work, so I respect things like that. It was the first time I got to meet a hero and they were exactly what I hoped they'd be in my wildest dreams. Great movie, great film maker, buy this damn thing and watch it already! Watch Kurt Russel kick ass and know that I'm sitting in a dimly lit room experiencing sex ed during this same time period! 1997 forever! Carpenter forever! Russell forever! Pleasance forever! Also, the dude that played the angel Gabriel in Disney's One Magic Christmas is in this movie. You're welcome. If you watch it every year, you'd be trying to figure out like hell who that guy is. I know I was until I remembered during the second act!

I'll keep this short since this movie is roughly 30 years old and anything that there is to be said about it has been said already. This new release was barebones, I knew that going in, so I'm not going to take away a star for that because I just want the movie to look and sound as good as possible right now. I know that there will be a re-release at some point in the near future - either for the 30'th anniversary or for a "first look" at the upcoming remake. I'm sure this is going to happen. I'll worry about that when it happens, and decide what to do with this release when the time comes (if I decide that I *need* to have the extras on Blu-ray). Anyway... The transfer is great. Easily the best this film has ever looked outside of the theater. This release wasn't a DNR nightmare and lacks the edge enhancement and contrast boost mess that took place in the UK release. The picture here is nice (it looks a little dark, but it seems natural) - probably the best it will ever look on Blu-ray. The audio was amazing as well. Amazing DTS-HD MA track! There was only one line that was difficult to hear due to the sound effects/music, but it was like that on the DVD too - so whatever - I guess that's just how it is (for anyone interested, it's whatever Brain says after he says something about redskins). A DVD was included with this release, which was unnecessary but infinitely better than a 'digital copy.' The DVD is a flipper disc that features the widescreen version on one side, and the pan-and-scan version (EWWWW) version on the other side. Now, I know what you're thinking. Is this the same disc as the 2000 DVD release (since that was a flipper disc, too)? That's what I thought at first, but I distinctly remember that disc not having a 5.1 audio track (it only had 2.0). This one has a 5.1 track. So, is it the 2003 Special Edition DVD version, but instead of it being on a regular disc, it's on a flipper disc? This one is missing the Carpenter/Russell commentary track! I don't know what MGM did, but it's like they merged the two releases or something. The picture quality on the DVD wasn't bad, and the 5.1 track was nice, so I'm *guessing* that it was the 2003 version, stripped of the commentary, and pressed on a flipper disc. Why would they do this? I have no idea. If anyone knows what exactly went on with the DVD, since it is clearly SOME kind of mixture of the two discs, feel free to comment me on it! All in all, if you just want the best looking/sounding version of 'Escape from New York' that you could possibly buy right now, this is it. If you're worried about special features, maybe you could hold off for a year or two and see if the product gets re-released (I'm betting it will be since this one is barebones and the anniversary AND remake are coming up). I didn't want to wait, so I scooped this up. I care more about outstanding picture quality than special features, so this was a good buy for me, especially with the included DVD for those times where I'll want to get my Snake Plissken on and I'm not near my only Blu-ray player (or if I want to let somebody borrow the DVD).

Great film, I own the the first " Special Edition Laserdisc even the deleted scene was shown E.T( Entertainment Tonight ,I find curious ) , The two discs ' DVD and now The 'Blu-Ray , This release from " SHOUT " Has really done , their previous releases such as " They Live" and other I have purchase picture and audio are excellent , well that is whole idea of blu-ray , This release from " Shout , the first twenty minutes , The scenes after the credits , incidentally the exposition of the prison ( uncredited Jamie: Lee Curtis ) sounds like a whisper . The scene showing the attempting escape , getting out of the water is fine , until the normal narrative starts , where " Snake Plissken is hauled off the prison bus and heading into the corridors , and this where it gets bad ,now most the mastering faults are the shots, where scene we have cold white lighting ,there is particular type out of focus issue with wide angle lenses and streaks ,you can see this more with 4K mastered blu-rays , most of dark scenes are fine . I will let l you be the judge , as far as mastering issue goes . The title does not have Book mark facility and only thirteen chapters, you would think that with such a classic is given a poor ' Transfer , I am glad I kept my ' Double DVD Special Edition. I did a A and B comparison e.g. A : blu-ray , B: DVD . The DVD won , granted lower resolution but not much and the mastering faults . Thank you it is a privilege to review this Classic.

Back in 1981, John Carpenter released a film, set in 1997, that depicted a somewhat bleak future for the United States in that the crime rate had risen to the point where it was necessary to turn New York City into a maximum security prison by enclosing the island in giant, concrete walls, installing landmines on the access bridges, and providing constant surveillance with the threat of death for any that try to escape. Felons convicted and sent to this prison are given the option of execution rather than being forced to try and survive in this hellish, nightmare environment. Truly only the strongest and most ruthless survive behind these walls. The female narration, done by Carpenter favorite Jamie Lee Curtis, at the beginning ends with the ominous line, "Once you go in, you never come out." After this is set up, we learn that, while en route to an extremely important conference, the president's plane has been hijacked, and is crashed inside the prison. The inmates recover the president, and threatening to kill him if any attempt is made to release him. A plan is formulated, one including the recently captured, ex-military, now convicted, criminal Snake Plisskin (Kurt Russell) to send him in, alone, and try to bring the president out alive, offering him a full pardon should he succeed. Only problem is, due to time constraints, of the conference, Snake only has 24 hours to complete this mission, if he accepts it. Another minor glitch...without his knowing it, microscopic implants are inserted into Snake's neck in case he decided to skip out, and are set to go off unless Snake can recover the president and return him safely within the time allotted. This has always been one of my favorite movies. It brings to life the perfect anti-hero, the outlaw. We've seen and loved this type of character before, like in the Clint Eastwood western movies of the 60's. America loves an outlaw, and John Carpenter has brought the character into the future. Escape From New York is an excellent example of a low budget movie that is really well made, from the realistic sets and scenery, characters, casting, scripting, direction, and music, all of which was composed by John Carpenter himself. Kurt Russell plays Snake so perfectly that you'll never picture anyone else in the role. Other actors that provide wonderful performances, many of which Carpenter uses in his later films, are Harry Dean Stanton, Donald Pleasance, Adrienne Barbeau, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Van Cleef, and Tom Atkins. And let's not forget Isaac Hayes as The Duke of New York, leader of the most powerful gang within the prison, and the one holding the president in hopes of using him to escape. Another thing is that this movie moves. There is no plodding, the plot is clearly defined and drives the movie to its' satisfying conclusion. The special features included in this special edition DVD are many, and listed thoroughly on the product page. Included is the eleven-minute sequence involving Snake, a bank robbery, and subsequent capture that led him to be sentenced to the prison. This was only available before on the laserdisc version, so I am really glad it made it here. After watching it and listening to the commentary, you'll understand why it was cut from the movie, but the gist is that it humanized the character of Snake too much. Also included from the laserdisc version is a full-length commentary by John Carpenter and Kurt Russell. Many commentaries I watch tend to be dry and boring, but it was wonderful listening to these two talk about scenes and reminisce. They go into great detail, all while keeping it interesting. Some of the other extras are nice, but probably not for everyone, like the mini comic book and the additional commentary by producer Deborah Hill and production designer Joe Alves. It's a bit dry and boring, and probably only would appeal to the more hardcore fans. And last but not least is the quality of the picture. It looks beautiful and crisp, better than I have ever seen it. All in all, this release is truly befitting of the title 'Special Edition'. This movie was followed up in 1996 by a somewhat disappointing sequel called Escape From LA. The elements were pretty much there for that one, but the gritty edginess that made Escape From New York so wonderful just wasn't. Maybe too much time had passed between the movies. Cookieman108

AWESOME movie, Kurt Russel as Snake Plisken is the bomb. Great escapism. A movie you will no doubt watch more than once. The music, casting, acting and writing is great.

Nice little action flick!

Solo viene en inglés audio y subtitulos. La imagen en 4 k y bluray se miran muy bien. Me hubiera gustado que llegara con slipcover pero aún asi es una excelente edición. Aún no la reproduzco pero trae 3 discos. El 4k y 2 bluray con la película y otro de características especiales. En geberal muy bonita edición y dificil para mi de encontrar.

Received region 1 DVD - it even says not for resale outside or Canada or USA (should not be sold in Europe)

Un chef-d'œuvre très respectable ! Révolutionnaire dans son concept, ses idées, sa cinématographie à son époque. John Carpenter est décidemment un très grand cinéaste de la débrouille.

Kurt russell est extra en snake plissken

Yes