Escape from New York

Escape from New York is pure B-movie gold. In the far-flung future of 1997 the crime rate in America has become so bad that the entirety of Liberty Island has been turned into a walled-off prison. This proves to be a bit of a problem when Air Force One crashes in middle of New York. The only man capable of getting into the city, freeing the president and bringing him back alive is ex-Special Forces lieutenant turned criminal Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell). Wonderfully shot on a relatively small budget ($5million) and featuring a career-defining performance by the wonderfully taciturn Kurt Russell, Escape… is a great piece of action cinema.

Richard W Holliss: Thanks to high-definition technology Escape from New York probably looks better now than it did in 1981 at your local Odeon. On spinning the disc, what strikes you first is just how good the widescreen 2.35:1 image looks and how convincing the special effects in Chapter 2 are with the helicopters strafing the murky Hudson River. With the majority of the movie being set at night, superb black levels are sustained throughout, although flesh-tones and brightly lit scenes are just as accomplished with little or no picture noise.

Steve May: This freakshow adventure comes with both a routine DD5.1 track and a newly minted 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio alternative. All the assets have been dusted-down and given a high-bitrate sheen. Like most older movies, its vintage is ultimately betrayed by the crudity and thinness of the Foley effects (what did they use for breaking glass back in the Eighties, paper?), but overall I've no complaints. The surround sound imaging is very effective. Carpenter has always made great use of the 2.35:1 frame for his images, and here the sound-mix gets a similar treatment. In Chapter 4, when Snake enters Manhattan, the noises of the ruined city and the extraordinary score almost circle the audience. It's a perfect widescreen audio moment.

Anton van Beek: ‘My involvement in Rob Zombie’s remake [of Halloween] was to extend my hand and have a cheque placed in it. And then close my hand and return to my position on the couch watching basketball’. This is just one of many pearls of wisdom director John Carpenter dispenses in an exclusive new 31min interview about his career that Optimum included on the disc.
That is the sole new extra on this Blu-ray edition, but ported across from the 2005 DVD SE are a superb commentary by Carpenter and Kurt Russell, a 23min retrospective featurette, the deleted 11min opening sequence and three trailers. Missing is a second commentary (featuring producer Debra Hill and production designer Joe Alves), but as it wasn’t all that interesting in the first place, I’m not particularly upset at its absence.

We say: Cult icon Snake Plissken makes a successful jump to hi-def with this impressive Blu-ray package.

Optimum Home Entertainment, All-Region Blu-ray, £20, On sale now
HCC VERDICT: 4/5