Me and Snake hanging around in SwedenNews - Comments & Introduction
Snake Plissken
Snake isn't your average movie hero. This is a dark angry cynical innocent bad ironic sociopathic world weary self sufficient war veteran who just wants to be free and stay alive the next 60 seconds in a very dark and corrupted world. Unlike most Snake is so true to himself, incorruptible and individual it makes him the most honorable and likable character in Escape From New York and Escape From L.A. We don't care when he destroys the tape in EFNY or shuts down the earth in EFLA. In fact, we root for him. He makes a cruel statement about humanity and there's something we can learn here. He's someone many of us would like to be, but are afraid to be just like Debra Hill have said. He represent our distrust and anger in authority and it sure is therapeutic watching Snake rightfully getting even with them. He has a universal appeal that people really respond to. He's a wonderful intriguing and complex character really worth exploring and to admire. We somehow need him when things are looking really bad. He's been a great inspiration in my life and I hope I can do my part to keep this underdog's legacy alive and kicking.
Escape From New York
What I really enjoy about these movies is that they're inspired by true events. There's some truth in them. The first draft of Escape From New York was written in 1974 and was a reaction to the Watergate scandal and an increasing wave of criminality. Post-Vietnam and the Iranian hostage crisis was also current at the time. It looked dark and instead of making an utopian vision of the future John Carpenter did the exact opposite. He showed us a very grim and bleak future. A world gone too far. Escape From New York is a dark cautionary tale mixed with a unique blend of action, science fiction, thriller, film noir, western and satire. It can also be viewed as a dark comedy. It dares to make fun of authority. It dares to be really cynical. It dares to show us one of the most ironic and dark endings in cinema history etc. Among all this it is also very entertaining. This is why I think this movie holds up and works so well. There's an honest and authentic quality about it. It doesn't matter if Carpenter's vision didn't come true, it's still something that can happen and deep down it's something we'd like to see happen. What also amazes me is John Carpenter's ability to do great things out of limited budgets. There's many reasons why this movie has become such a cult classic. It really deserves it.
Escape From L.A.
Every time I watch Escape From L.A. I have a blast. I never tire of watching it. This is a different kind of take on Escape From New York. This one is a loud, campy, over the top, ironic, big budget Hollywood movie that doesn't take itself too seriously. It practically satirize, parodies and exploits everything (including itself). It has guts. No one is spared. Even Snake himself has to ride on a freaking tsunami for crying out loud! This is also why I think many fans were a bit disappointed. Some got it while others wanted a more serious approach. I can understand that. Escape From L.A. is VERY fun and unique and I salute John Carpenter for his brave move, but I can't deny that a part of me would have liked some more of the realistic action, dark mood and gritty tone featured in Escape From New York. They talked about doing a sequel in 1985 and it would have been a great year for another escape, but there was nothing happening at that time that could inspire them to come up with something of relevance. It took them another eleven years to realize that Los Angeles had become a perfect place to escape from. All the increasing earthquakes, riots, floods, fires, crime, drive-by shootings and people living in denial gave them inspiration. The timing was right for another escape. I'm really grateful for Escape From L.A. Better late than never. I hope someday more people will give it another chance. It deserves a lot more credit than it got. I truly believe it was ahead of its time like many other John Carpenter films. It also has the best ending in a movie ever.
John Carpenter
My favorite director of course. Why? Because he makes his movies his own way and puts his name above the title for a reason. He is John Carpenter and he makes John Carpenter movies. He is a talented, multi-gifted artist and craftsman who can write screenplays, make his own music and direct anything etc. His movies also has a unique tendency to get rediscovered and appreciated on home video and such and become cult classics. There's something about them that lasts. There's more than meets the eye about his work. I also love his old school sensibility, integrity, honesty, dry sense of humor and hatred of authority. His music too of course. Very much so. He's simply John Carpenter and in Escape From New York and Escape From L.A. he really sets his wonderful rebellious nature free. Thank you John, your movies means a lot to me and I watch them regularly.
Kurt Russell
Who'd knew a former Disney child actor could play a bad-ass character this good. That's also one of Kurt's many gifts. He can play anything and he has proven this again and again during his many years of making movies. Unlike many he dares to take chances and he's not afraid of testing new things. He also got a wonderful playful and ironic side that is contagious. He's just a very fun and intriguing guy to watch. He can do it all and he truly is one of the more underrated actors out there. He also seems to be a very down to earth person with a great personality. He just kicks ass. That's it.
Debra Hill
She was described by John Carpenter as "a real pioneer in this business, who opened the road for women". She was also an environmentalist being a Board Member of Women in Film and a Founding Board Member of the Earth Communications Office (ECO). Aside from producing she also wrote Halloween 1-2, The Fog and Escape From L.A. with John Carpenter (EFLA with Kurt Russell too). She wrote the whole Beverly Hills part in EFLA for instance. A wonderful and brilliant part. She also produced some really remarkable films like The Dead Zone, The Fisher King etc. The list goes on. She was also the driving force for the many Snake projects going on in the early 2000s. She truly was a remarkable woman and leaving us abruptly in 2005 having cancer came as a shock to me. However, I hope someday her dream will become reality. When she was honored by Women in Film in 2003, Hill said, "I hope some day there won't be a need for Women in Film. That it will be People in Film. That it will be equal pay, equal rights and equal job opportunities for everybody."
Introduction
The Escape From New York & L.A. Page - A Tribute to Snake Plissken is created by a Swedish nut called Andreas Johansson and it premiered on the net in 2002. From the beginning it was called "The Escape From New York Page", but after a webhost upgrade it expanded along with a new design to make it work with most screen resolutions. Now the site was proudly called: "The Escape From New York & L.A. Page - A Tribute to Snake Plissken" The site aims to be the most comprehensive source for all things regarding Escape From New York, Escape From L.A. & Snake Plissken on the net. It is maintained and updated regularly, but I strongly advice visitors to revisit the pages on it since I don't report everything I add, change or do.
My old pageSite credits
Created, designed, paid for & maintained by
Andreas Johansson
Contributors (Special Thanks)
Joe Thornton
Lars "Sweden" Olsson
Gayle Bykowicz
Kim Gottlieb-Walker
The Official John Carpenter
Titania Le Fay
Kim August (Kaz)
Will King (A southerner)
Tone Rodriguez
Christopher Chouinard (aka: Fotog Ink)
Hector De La Rosa (Warhero)
Art (SD Bob)
Erik Markarian
CreedsGalBirdy
Stephen Manley (Bankok Rules)
Leca Buchan (Pack of Rats)
SnakePlissken.net and all the rest of its members
I would also like to thank former sites such as Assault on Webpage 13, A Tribute to John Carpenter, Russell Muscle, I Head You Were Dead, The Snake Plissken Page, From 1997 To 2013..., Escape From the Net, The un-official Snake Plissken Page for their effort, time and inspiration. I still have stuff found on these sites. Many thanks.
Dedicated to
John Carpenter
Debra Hill (1950-2005)
Kurt Russell
Nick Castle
Lee Van Cleef (1925-1989)
Donald Pleasence (1919-1995)
George 'Buck' Flower (1937-2004)
Shirley Walker (1945-2006)
Issac Hayes (1942-2008)
All the Snake/Escape fans out there
And finally to all the innocent people out there who have been used and mistreated by Governments and authority throughout the history.
Support
Contributions, help, suggestions, corrections, scoops, questions, opinions, comments, feedback, problems, complaints or issues with this website are more than welcome:
andreasj1981@hotmail.com
Link to The Escape From New York & L.A. Page - A Tribute to Snake Plissken
Feel free to link to this site using this URL or banner:
http://www.theefnylapage.com
Have a good time and I hope to see you soon again.
- Andreas