Press - Alternate Versions - Escape From New York


TV Version
 

A southerner (Will King) has confirmed that he's seen a rare TV version of EFNY featuring the following deleted scenes. If more have seen this version or even has this recorded somehow, please let me know.
 
• Bank Robbery Sequence Opening
 
Description (Will King): Snake robs the Bank of the United States Colorado Federal Reserve as a maintenance man, gets away with several billion dollars in credit cards, meets with Bill Taylor in a subway platform and travels to San Francisco. They are ambushed in the hummer station by the USPF and Taylor gets shot. Snake tries to escape but decides to go back for him and tries to talk him into giving up to save his life. Taylor refuses to surrender and gets killed. Snake surrenders, grieving. This is the famous missing "Bank Robbery" scene in EFNY.

• Extended Snake going through the processing area scene

Description (Will King): "The Duty Sergeant said: "Hold it." Snake stopped and looked at him with uninterest. The scene doesn't stop there, it continues. The Duty Sergeant looks at Snake's profile. "Snake Plissken." he said and asked how he was doing. Snake responded: "Fabulous." The Duty Sergeant said: "Not for long.", then he is led (or pushed) to another hallway toward a doorway with a sign above saying: "Goodbye, Charlie. Don't think it hasn't been fun!"

• Hauk and the Secretary of State having a conversation in the Executive Conference Room

Description (Will King): "Instead of it starting with the Secretary of State on the phone with the Vice President saying: "Yes. He's right here, Mr. Vice President." Hauk picks up the phone and talks to him. The scene was longer. There was some talking before that scene came and more talking afterwards and I think Dr. Cronenberg and a Police Officer showed up in the scene."

• Snake almost "Garroted" by an Indian in the lobby of World Trade Center

Description (Will King): "After Snake Plissken lands on the World Trade Center tower, there is a scene showing him going to the lobby inside the World Trade Center. He sees some Indians down in the lobby ahead and walked over to them. They were cooking a cat for dinner. One of the Indians came behind him and tried to strangle Plissken with a piano wire. Plissken fought back and ran out of the World Trade Center with the Indians running after him."

• Snake running from the Indians in the World Trade Center Lobby

Description (Will King): "He loses them by running through the dark streets."

• Altercation with the manager in the theater

Description (Will King): "Snake inside the theater. When he goes to the auditorium, he had an altercation with the theater manager and the ticket taker."

• Snake running out after the fight with Slag at the Grand Central Station

Description (Will King): "This is Snake running out of the building where he fought the Slag while the inmates are running around looking for Harold Hellman and the President. Snake steals one of the inmate's car and drives to the World Trade Center."

• Four cars chasing Snake in cab

Description (Will King): "Three other cars besides the Duke chases Snake. One of the cars rams another car from behind and an explosion occur."

Links: Multimedia - Deleted Scenes/Press - Deleted or Never Filmed Stuff

Escape From New York Extended Fan Edit




Description (Tranzor): This is EFNY with an additional 7min Snake Pliskin scene. It makes the film longer and gives you more footage. This is one film where more is better.
Purpose of edit: To add back in the one deleted scene that occurs with Snake at the very beginning.
New Run Time: 106 Min
Cuts Removed/Added/Extended:

The novel is very similar to the movie except for some altering and added material. Mike McQuay's book has a more humanized approach to Snake Plissken. We get to know that his parents were killed by the USPF from a hostage situation. We also get to know more about his thoughts and past like how he lost his eye due to gas in Leningrad and what happened in Kansas with Fresno Bob for instance etc. Other alterations include a back story of New York being the first North American target to be attacked by this deadly nerve gas (and fire bombs) as a result of World War III that turns the survivors into Crazies and then spreading and turning other poor Americans from a collapsed economy into criminals and Crazies. USPF is also exclusively filled with mad war veterans. He also added a chapter called the Steri-Chamber where criminals gets castrated by a machine placed over your hips before being sent into the prison. In this chapter a guy called Sergeant Duggan is watching over Snake in this room and is being a real pain in the ass. Bob Hauk is also fleshed out with a similar back-story to Snake that deepens the relationship between them. We also get to know how he became the warden of New York and that he has a crazy son living in the prison. It also fleshes out the world that these characters exist in a little bit more, at times presenting a future even bleaker than the one depicted in the movie. It also includes scenes that were cut out of the movie or never shot: Deleted Scenes/Deleted or Never Filmed Stuff

Links: Multimedia - Memorabilia/Merchandise - Books/Press - Escape From New York Novel


Coleman Luck's & Peter Briggs Escape From L.A. Scripts


Coleman Luck's EFLA Script

Two different Escape From L.A. screenplays were written before the movie was made: One by Coleman Luck in 1985/86, the other by English screenwriter Peter Briggs, of Aliens vs. Predator fame.

Back in the late 1980s, Carpenter and Russell decided that it was time to try and make a second Snake Plissken film. They set the project up at DeLaurentis Studios and ended up commissioning screenwriter Coleman Luck to write a draft of Escape From LA.  Carpenter & Russell were somewhat pleased with the script, but had wanted to do a rewrite. Unfortunately, it never came to be because Dino De Laurentis' company went under so the project died. The Coleman Luck version was based on an outline by Carpenter & Russell. Carpenter would later describe the script as "Too light, too campy."

An Exclusive Interview wirh Coleman Luck
Coleman Luck's Escape From L.A. Script (Review) By RaulMonkey, Ain't It Cool News

The Peter Briggs version was written "on spec", meaning he did it on his own, without getting paid for it, in the hope of selling it to the rights owners. However, they, (the right owners & Carpenter & Russell), never got to read it, as it wasn't distributed or promoted at all.

The two versions have not made it to the general public. However, in a Looker exclusive, Peter Briggs have kindly agreed to shed a little light on his own take. So here's a cursory description of the much longer and denser plot. (The script originally was 115 pages long).

Peter Briggs Original Synopsis (From 1997 to 2013 Page) The Alternate EFLA!