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John Carpenter on Escape From New York
"I first wrote the screenplay in the mid-70's, during the time of Watergate, the whole feeling in the country was one of real cynicism about our president... No studio wanted to make it. They all said: We can't have this kind of dark view."
- John Carpenter, High Adventure In The Future, Starlog Issue 41, Dec, 1980
"I had just made Dark Star, but no one wanted to hire me as a director. So I thought: Well, then, I'm going to write screenplays and work my way in. I scripted Escape, only to discover no studio was interested because they felt a: it was to strange b: it was too violent or c: we're not thrilled with the idea of NYC as a prison."
- John Carpenter, On The Set For Escape From New York, Starlog, Issue 45, Apr, 1981
"Actually, I wrote Escape From New York way back in 1974. I believe I was inspired by the movie Death Wish [about a vigilante killer], that was very popular at the time, I didn't agree with the philosophy of it, taking the law into one's own hands, but the film came across with the sense of New York as a jungle, and I wanted to make a sci-fi film along those lines."
- John Carpenter, On The Set For Escape From New York, Starlog, Issue 45, Apr, 1981
"I had been in New York, which had a reputation for being a great city, but I saw the other side of it. It was a little dark and grim. I'd heard all the show biz clichés about the place: the white lights of Broadway, the "city of cities." In actuality, parts of the city were pretty bad. I decided to sort of do a slightly humorous, slightly violent film about New York as a prison in the future. So, I started there."
- John Carpenter, John Carpenter And His Escape From New York, Cinema Odyssey, Vol 1, Issue 1, 1981
"It's both our fears and what we would like to happen."
- John Carpenter, Director's Special Edition VHS & Collector's Edition Laserdisc interview, 1994
Kurt Russell on Escape From New York
"I think Escape From New York is a great film. It's ridiculous in a way and it's horrible in a way, but overall, it's wonderful. There are a lot of laughs, but the underlying theme is realistic. And the country's crime rate IS rising - if you project it to 1990, we might not be that far out of line."
- Kurt Russell, New Role Gives Kurt Russell New Look, Newport Daily Press, Jun 14, 1981
"I think people are reacting to the movie differently in different parts of the country. City audiences seem to get the laughs. Midwestern audiences and southern audiences see it more as a science-fiction drama. I think they all get caught up in it, though. It looks Real."
- Kurt Russell, Escape From New York, Future Life, Issue 30, Nov, 1981
Debra Hill on Escape From New York
"I don't know what specific genre it belongs in. It's a musical. It's a comic book. It has tenderness, adventure, action, suspense. I find myself compelled to watch it. At the end, I just feel good. It's a very special film because it's about something that's in short supply - loyalty. John pointed that out - Kurt is loyal to the people he cares about: Season, Adrienne, Harry Dean, Ernest. There's even loyalty to the President; Kurt actually begins to like Donald Pleasence. Even Lee Van Cleef, in his way, is loyal to Kurt."
- Debra Hill, Escape From New York, Prevue 45, Vol 2, Issue 5, May, 1981
"The film is a statement about how I feel that we must protect peoples libertarian rights. People themselves need to find the goodness in them, and I think it makes a political statement."
- Debra Hill, Return To Escape From New York featurette, 2003
Adrienne Barbeau on Maggie
"I don't think my character is nasty, she just keeps blowing people away! I guess you can say I'm sort of a 1997 gun-moll."
- Adrienne Barbeau, On The Set For Escape From New York, Starlog, Issue 45, Apr, 1981
Isaac Hayes on The Duke
"I know I had to be cool; still, I wanted audience empathy for the convicts., who were thrown into barbaric situation - we wanted our freedom! We wanted OUT!"
- Isaac Hayes, Escape From New York, Prevue 45, Vol 2, Issue 5, May, 1981