Cult Classic Film...

All I have to do is mention a five word phrase and most of you will know what cult classic film I watched on the Universal HD channel last night. Ready to guess? Here's the phrase:

"I heard you were dead."

Got it?

Of course you do!

I'm talking about none other than John Carpenter's 1981 sci-fi flick Escape From New York. And, of course, the quote really goes "Snake Plissken? I heard you were dead."

For those who don't know the film (like my wife who came home from a work dinner last night and sat down with me for the final half - she'd never seen the film), the year is 1997 and the entire island of Manhattan has been convereted into a prison for the world's most brutal inmates. When the President of the United State (Donald Pleasence) crash lands inside, only one man can bring him back alive: Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell).


Now, back in the day this was a cool film. I mean, come on, it was 1981 and it was right in line with the sci-fi of the day (dark, brooding, that synthesizer soundtrack, etc.). And the cast was cool: Lee Van Cleef as Bob Hauk, Ernest Borgnine as Cabbie, Harry Dean Stanton as Brain, Adrienne Barbeau (and her magnificent assets) as Maggie, and Isaac Hayes as the Duke of New York.

But, looking at it now, it is very dated. First, seeing the Twin Towers brings back thoughts of 9/11 and how the New York skyline changed forever that day. Next, a vital speech carried by the President on a cassette. Seriously? Yeah, tech evolved so much. LOL. And then seeing Hauk use one of those huge SAT Phone or Snake having to use a walkie-talkie with a pull out antennae. Hello? So much for forward thinking. All of that stuff kind of went the way of the 8-track player, eh?

Still, a fun piece of sci-fi classic filmdom. I respect it. I have it on DVD (been ages since I watched it - but thanks to Universal HD I can wait awhile longer to do so again).