Dir: John Carpenter
Starring: Kurt Russell
Oh, how I love watching John Carpenter films. If you gave a camera and a sizable budget to a precocious 13-year old boy, I'm pretty sure you'd get something akin to a Carpenter flick. There's an unmistakable naivety to his oeuvre, almost like they are caricatures of real films. Look at the characters in Escape from New York: Snake Plisken, with his leather boots, combat trousers and sleeveless vest; Donald Pleasance as the (bizarrely English) US President who is all about self-preservation; Lee Van Cleef as Hauk, the police chief who's a bit of a maverick and wants to get the job done at any cost... these are characters straight out of a 50's DC comic.
If any of this sounds like a criticism, it's cos you don't 'get' Carpenter. While I would rate The Thing above this, Narry B is convinced that Escape from New York is essential watching and should be on the national curriculums of all civilized countries.
Rating: Top Work
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