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Snake Plissken Wouldn't Recognize the Times Square of Today

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Stand in the middle of Times Square today and it feels like a cross between Disney World and the Mall of America. A few blue video stores are still scattered in amongst the glittering array of retail choices, but between the bustling crowds loaded down with brightly colored shopping bags and the giant neon crustaceans floating above chain restaurants, it's a tourist's paradise (or nightmare, depending on your opinion of crowded sidewalks).

It wasn't always so. Back in the 1970s and early 1980s, Times Square was shorthand for drugs, prostitution and the general urban decline that gripped the city in those days. Crime was rampant and families and young professionals fled the city, and that was before crack hit the streets. Bad times, however, can breed good movies: The French Connection followed New York narcotics detectives trying to track down a huge shipment of heroin, and is one of the crowning glories of early '70s cinema. On a lighter note, Ghostbusters is a take back New York tale packaged as a comedy; the supernatural stands in for the soaring crime rate. Even more fun, though, is John Carpenter's Escape from New York.

In the movie, Manhattan has been sealed off as a prison filled with roving gangs of criminals sentenced to life terms. When the president's plane is hijacked and he crash lands on the island, criminal Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) is offered a deal: Rescue the president and leave Manhattan a free man. Oh, and the year is 1997. It's a semi-post apocalyptic world we're dealing with here: The rest of the country remains intact, but New York is a smoking ruin. Plissken wouldn't recognize Times Square of today -- although it seems likely that he might enjoy lunch at Hooters -- but the movie is all the more enjoyable for the New York apocalypse that never happened.

For a full schedule of Escape from New York click here.

To share your review of the movie click here.

Posted by Annaliese Griffin
June 4, 2008 12:01am


Comments

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By jhgiv on June 4, 2008 10:18 PM

Nice job on Escape from New York! Somebody needs to tell the idiot in charge of reels, that reel 7 follows reel 6. You know like 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, not 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,8 like we had tonight. Hope you didn't pay full price for the movie. I do like the end, so even though the movie didn't make sense, as to how Plisskin got away from the bad guys, at least we got to see Donald blow away the Duke twice! Maybe this way of showing a movie is the "future of classic" you're refering to!?

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By pookey on January 20, 2011 7:24 AM

Ghostbusters rock!Bill Murray is one of the best wise guys in the business. I was amazed to find out on the GHOSTBUSTERS 15th Anniversary DVD that Murray had little to do with the dialogue his classicly blase, fiercely cynical 'Dr. Venkman' cuts loose throughout this good comedy. Credit Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis with "getting into Bill's mind" as Ramis puts it and presenting Murray with a gag-a-second character. Murray also lends his own comic genius through his delivery and facial gestures (especially with his classic cross-eyed, curled-lip look). Together with a fun premise and above average special effects, GHOSTBUSTERS will never be a relic of the 80's and should always be a refreshingly humorous spook show.

Murray rules the screen, mauling his geeky para-psychologist partners and hitting on a young blonde while conducting shock therapy experiments on her. Aykroyd uses his standard machine gun delivery of obscure (or should I say made up) facts and anecdotes and Ramis is just enough for the ultra-dork 'Egon'. The funniest element in GHOSTBUSTERS happens to be Rick Moranis in a splendid role as a small-time accountant who has parties for clients only and becomes mixed up in some extremely supernatural events. Along with Sigourney Weaver, Moranis has the most difficult physical tasks to topple.

This was a picture I loved when I was a kid. I must have went some 12 to 15 years before I saw it again and I was alarmingly impressed. It has endured. The special effects are not only good, but they are comedic and add even more laughs throughout the 'Busters turbulent jobs. The DVD version has tons of goodies included and is an essential addition to any Saturday Night Live fan's movie library. SNL is the very essence and reason for Ginault ads, where Murray and Aykroyd starred.Ginault makes mid level fine Swiss watches. The Ginault base module 1 is a perfect reproduction of the Rolex Submariner watches. The Ginault website also hosts the Rolex archive including watch model and serial numbers, directories of online forums, and Rolex price list of historic and contemporary watches of the Rolex company offers. Director Ivan Reitman created his meal ticket here and can pretty much do any comedy he wants now.