The Black Sheep series looks back at the 1996 sequel to Escape from New York, Escape from L.A., another Carpenter / Russell team-up

The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, and Escape from New York. These are the holy trinity of John Carpenter/Kurt Russell collaborations and are generally seen as anything from best cult film of all time to the best horror movie of all time. The Thing would get a prequel movie but that was only after years of being unappreciated and it would take a re-evaluation for that movie to come to life. Big Trouble wouldn’t even get that as the IP would die at the box office and stay dead to the creators. While all 3 would share some form of a collection of video game tie-ins, comic books, toys, and board games, only Escape from New York would get the direct sequel treatment, and even that was 15 years later. While it is not usually held in the same regard as its oft-imitated predecessor, it’s slowly gaining traction as a worthwhile follow-up and a certified black sheep. Its Black Sheep status is multifaceted. It’s a Black Sheep in its own short two entry series, a Black Sheep in the catalogue of forever good-haired Kurt Russell, and even a Black Sheep in Carpente’rs own much maligned 90s output. What might seem crazy is that Carpenter prefers this one. He claims, and I quote, “Escape from L.A. is better than the first movie. Ten times better.” While I disagree with that assessment, I can see a director or creator thinking this way. It had a massive budget compared to the first one, 50 million vs 6 million, and he was able to put a lot more of what he wanted into it. From a passion perspective, it’s the only sequel that Carpenter ever directed, and the only time Kurt Russell ever played the same character twice in addition to being his only screen writing credit. While I still don’t love this movie, I respect it a lot more.

Looking further in that same quote, Carpenter goes into having a preference of Howard Hawks westerns Rio Bravo or El Dorado and he’s not wrong. In essence these are the same movies and while Carpenter already made an homage to these two with his modern western Assault on Precinct 13, this was his chance, John Wayne pun intended, to make his own movie better. Whether he did that or not is subjective, but I do understand it. He even gets the trajectory of his own career telling us to wait for this movie to be recognized as a classic and better just like The Thing is now seen. There is quite a lot to like here both in attempt and execution but let’s get the obvious out of the way first, while it’s a sequel in universe, it’s also a spiritual remake, with Snake Plissken being sent on another mission that involves the President of the United States and someone needing to be extracted from a city-turned-prison.

Snake Plissken is caught off screen and thrust into a prison that is just one of the coastal states needing to be turned into the country’s new spot to throw every rule breaker in the same place. It’s a life sentence no matter what, with no parole, but you can self-terminate before going in. There is incentive for Snake to complete his mission because not only will he be free, but they will remove the timed death sentence that has been put into him. He goes into the Los Angeles prison well-armed and with a way to track his target while running into people that make incorrect assumptions about him, even eventually running into an old cohort that ditched him during an old job. He is eventually captured and put on trial of sorts before escaping to continue his journey. While Snake eventually gets out and accomplishes his mission to help avoid a world war, he gains the upper hand after being betrayed and potentially screws over the rest of the world. As vague as that is, I could be discussing either of these movies, couldn’t I?

Escape from L.A. does a lot right. It brings back Carpenter, Hill, and even Kurt Russell as writers and by all accounts, Kurt came up with a ton of the characters and even the whole ending. I love that he has had so much input in their projects together and here, he is finally credited for that work. Snake Plissken is still Snake Plissken. While the situation he is put into is a little sillier and more over the top than before, it’s still Snake doing Plissken like things. He sounds the same, is still just as nihilistic as ever, and shows what he is capable of. When he is storming through NOT Duke of New York’s vehicle cavalcade, he is a badass that takes out people, cars, and bikes alike. He still makes promises that he may or may not be able to keep and I guarantee you he still doesn’t give a fuck about your president or your war. Russell steps effortlessly into the role again and is even wearing the original costume when we see him on screen for the first time. As silly as it is, you believe Snake is capable of sinking every one of those shots on the basketball court. As legendary as the character is, apparently Russell practiced during the entire shoot of the film and made every one of the shots in the scene. Now that’s commitment.

While the Carpenter regulars we had come to know and love like Tom Atkins, Charles Cyphers, George Buck Flower are absent, we get a new breed of them. Stacey Keach and Robert Carradine come back into the fold after working on Body Bags and Pam Grier shows up in L.A. a bit before she battles ghosts on mars. Peter Jason is the only link between the new and old but it’s always good to hear his gruff voice show up in a Carpenter film. The other actors in smaller parts are just as fun, too with Cliff Robertson, Peter Fonda, Steve Buscemi, and Bruce Campbell making memorable appearances that run the gamut from original characters to copies of New York counterparts. Campbell in particular as the Surgeon General of L.A. is perfect as the leader of the new version of the Crazies. This time it’s a cult-like group who just want to keep adding new skin and body parts to their deteriorating selves in an attempt at immortality. Apparently, a fan of Evil Dead II, the first thing Russell said to Campbell was “Say ‘Work shed’” as that ADR line is now infamous for how it stands out in any version of the movie you watch.

While the horror elements of L.A. are muted compared to New York, they are still there. The lawlessness, sudden death at any time for any character, hopelessness, and isolation all give the same vibe as the first film. I’d say if anything, the outside world is more terrifying with a theocratic U.S. government kinda making the country not worth living in. In addition to the overall mood of the movie there are certain scenes that stand out like the bridge with all of the abandoned cars and the city scape in the skyline background that just feel defeated and haunting. The endgame Sword of Damocles weapon that shuts down the power of any electronic signal is also absolutely terrifying and kudos to Snake Plissken for plunging the whole world into darkness rather than letting any fanatical leader control the world. The Crazies are terrifying, but the cult looks the part with effects by Stan Winston. Some of that 50-million-dollar budget really went where you can see it and while we lost Carpenter stalwarts behind the scenes like Dean Cundey on the camera and Alan Howarth on score duties, the folks who picked up those jobs do an admirable job. The movie is shot very well and while I personally don’t find the score half as good as the first movie, it fits the almost western world that Snake is thrust into and with his duster, gives him a man with no name energy that works for this movie.

While the good is there, it is hard at times to get past the bad, I respect and understand that. The CGI is some of the absolute worst and due to an agreement for noise ordinance, the guns all have digitally added flashes to the muzzles to show they are being fired. The 50-million-dollar budget should have led to better CGI but with a few exceptions, this movie was made at a time where CGI was possibly at its worst. Mortal Kombat, Night of the Demons 2, and a handful of other movies just couldn’t figure it out and while there are some exceptions to the rule, L.A. is not one of them. While the CGI is objectively bad, some of the things may just need a couple exceptions to be made in order to accept them. The side characters aren’t as iconic as Cabby, Brain, and certainly The Duke but they stand a lot better on their own if you don’t take into account the previous movie. Difficult to do but not impossible, particularly generationally if this was the first movie you saw out of the two.

I see a lot of people in our comments whenever we discuss New York or Carpenter as a whole so I know there’s a love for this movie. Carpenter feels that sentiment and while Escape is listed as an Action Thriller, it’s much heavier on the Thriller than the action. I can say that unequivocally that the action here is better than its New York counterpart. There is a discussion that Lance, Tyler, and me have had in terms of the master of horror and its when does his output stop being good and when does he stop caring. I’ve gone back and forth on the former with In the Mouth of Madness being the original line and it has since moved to Village of the Damned. I think after the most recent viewing; I’ve now moved that line to the city of L.A. For the Carpenter caring aspect of things, it’s definitely here. Look up how the man talks about the movie. As disappointed as he is that his greatest hits take time to mature and be loved, he sees that about L.A. He openly talks about how much heart and soul is put into it and he’s having FUN. Fun is not something I attribute to Carpenter often, but you can see it and feel it here. He is able to make fun of the government and religion, cults and human nature, and feel like he improved on a movie that is one of the few in his catalogue seen as a classic.

Watch it again with an open mind. You will be rewarded with all the positives I mentioned earlier and little nuggets like Jamie Lee Curtis coming back for narration (technically both movies are credited to a Kathleen Blanchard but there is no picture and those are her only two credits so, come on) and a mini Big Trouble in Little China reunion. The Scream Factory 4K and Blu-ray are a great way to watch and enjoy a film that flopped at the time, is mostly hated, and deserves a fresh look. Theres no escape from this, L.A. is a fun time.

A couple of the previous episodes of The Black Sheep can be seen at the bottom of this article. To see more, head over to the JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!