ESCAPE FROM L.A.

"ESCAPE FROM L.A."
(1996) (Kurt Russell, Cliff Robertson) (R)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
*Minor	Moderate	Heavy	*Minor	Extreme

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Minor	None	Mild	None	Heavy

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Mild	Minor	None	Minor	Extreme

QUICK TAKE:: Action/Adventure: A convict is sent to the prison island of Los Angeles to retrieve the President's daughter who has taken a secret high tech weapon there.

PLOT:: It's the year 2013 and an earthquake has separated Los Angeles from the U.S. mainland. A moral majority has taken over the land and anyone who breaks the "law" is sent to the prison island of L.A. The President of the U.S. (CLIFF ROBERTSON) has a dilemma. His daughter, Utopia (A.J. LANGER) has stolen a top secret "black box" from a space research lab and has taken it to the leader of L.A., Cuervo Jones (GEORGE CORRAFACE), a violent, ruthless gang member. With the black box Jones will be able to selectively wipe out all electrical systems in the world via an electromagnetic pulse and that doesn't sit well with the President. So he enlists the aid of Snake Plissken (KURT RUSSELL), a former war hero turned convict, to retrieve the black box. Plissken's incentive is that they've infected him with a quick acting virus that will kill him in ten hours unless he can get the antidote which will only happen if he successfully returns the box.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they've seen the original (1981) or are fans of Russell's or futuristic action adventure films, they will.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For violence and some language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: There isn't a good one in the entire batch. Everyone either is a killer or has evil plans, including KURT RUSSELL.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

OUR TAKE: 2 out of 10: While I seem to remember enjoying the original Escape, it was fifteen years ago and time could've faded my recollection of it. Hopefully it was better than this one, which trods along on a bare bones plot, has horrible acting and terrible pacing. I realize this kind of film isn't meant to be high art, but even as a low level, common denominator film, this one's really bad. With its bad special effects (compared to other recent films) and cliched post apocalyptic sets, this movie comes across as a poor "B" movie. The height of absurdity arrives when Snake and an old sufer (PETER FONDA) ride a tidal wave on surfboards into L.A. where the wave happens to take Plissken right next to someone he's after. UGHHH! We give it just 2 out of 10 (and that's being generous).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:: This is a very violent film, although much of the violence is pretty much played out comic book style. Many people are killed, many bullets are expelled and there are scenes of people being shocked in what appear to be electric chairs. Profanity is heavy, but there isn't much in the alcohol, smoking or sex categories. For details, read through our category listings.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Cuervo drinks something in his car, but we can't see what it is.

BLOOD/ GORE: Several of the murder victims are bloody (including one man who has his head cut off --we just see the blood splatter -- and another man whose blood is wiped up to make room for the next victim)

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Nearly everyone from Snake to Cuervo to the President has a bad or disrespectful attitude.

FRIGHTENING/TENSE SCENES: If you find action oriented violence tense (see "Violence"), then this had mild scenes. Otherwise, there are none.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Machine guns/Handguns/Knives/Missile Launchers/Bombs: All used throughout the movie to kill or injure other people. For details see "Violence."

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Sucks," and "Loser."

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): A few scenes have music that's more action oriented than suspenseful, but we'll give it a mild rating anyway.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: 4 "f" words, 12 "s" words, 6 "ass" words, 3 hells, 1 slang term relating to male genitals ("d*ckhead"), and 2 uses each of "My God," and "God damn," and 1 use each of "God," and "For God's Sake" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: A marque in L.A. reads "Safe Sex: No Condoms Needed," and several lingerie clad prostitutes are seen in the alley.
A woman is seen on the street wearing a thong bottom and her butt cheeks are seen.
A doctor grabs a woman's breasts and states "My God, they're real."
A woman tells Snake that she just broke up with her boyfriend, so she'll have to take care of him (Snake) and "make him feel good." He turns down the offer.
Cuervo says that the President's daughter is "sweet to eat, but you just can't shut her up."

SMOKING: Cuervo smokes a cigar.
Snake smokes a cigarette.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Snake meets up with an old acquaintance who now is a woman (either a transvestite or he/she had a sex change operation).

VIOLENCE: There is an earthquake in L.A. where cars run into other cars, buildings collapse, and fires break out everywhere.
A woman walks by Snake and scratches his hand, infecting him with the virus that will kill him in ten hours.
Prisoners are seen being shocked in what appear to be electric chairs.
It's mentioned that four of the five rescue team members have already been killed.
Snake sees two cars drive by where the riders fire machine guns at each other.
The fifth rescue team member is seen strung up on a wall with several knives in him, and a local thug bets Snake he can't throw a knife and have it stick in the dead man.
The local thug prepares to throw a knife into Snake's back, but Snake spins around and shoots the guy dead with his machine gun.
Snake takes out several bodyguards as he makes his way through Cuervo's motorcade. The motorcycle riding bodyguards are thrown aside and/or shot by Snake and their bikes explode on impact with walls, etc...
Cuervo orders his men to kill Snake, but Snake fools them by challenging them to a game of "no one shoots until this can hits the ground." Of course once he throws the can up into the air, he shoots the four men dead.
Snake is captured along with a woman and both are taken to the Plastic Surgery Chamber of Horrors where fresh body parts are cut out and sewn into former plastic surgery patients. The doctor likes Snake's good eye and prepares to cut it out but Snake shoots a sedative into the guy's forehead and escapes.
A woman with Snake is shot in the back in a drive by shooting with kids shooting machine guns.
Snake, riding with "Maps to the Stars" Eddie, a Cuervo aide, is shot in the neck with tranquilizer darts.
Snake is taken to the L.A. Coliseum where there are combat games being held. Many people are seen fighting each other. A man on a basketball court is rushing to make a basket before the scoreboard clock runs out. It does, he misses and the man is blasted by gunfire. Snake is then put into the same situation, but he meets the requirements to stay alive. Cuervo, however, isn't happy about this, and tries to shoot Snake with a rifle, but misses.
A large man approaches another man with big hedge clippers and cuts the man's head off (we don't actually see it) and blood splatters onto the large man.
Snake causes a car to explode, and then shoots several people with a machine gun and then runs off.
Eddie shoots Snake in the leg while both are in a sewer system.
Snake rides a surfboard on a tidal wave and just happens to ride up alongside Eddie driving down the road. Snake jumps over to the car and fights with Eddie, bashing his head into the steering wheel several times.
Cuervo threatens Eddie by telling him to get Snake or "I'll pull your balls off."
There's a big final fight scene between Cuervo and his men and Snake and his buddies who come hang gliding (yes, you read that right) into the city square and drop bombs and shoot machine guns down onto everyone. There's a big gun battle as well as the obligatory fight scene between Snake and Cuervo. Snake and his team escape in a helicopter and Eddie shoots Cuervo in the chest just as he fires a rocket which hits the helicopter and kills all but Snake and the President's daughter.
The helicopter crashes and explodes, but Snake and the President's daughter are okay.
The President orders his daughter to be killed via the electric chair and for Snake to be shot to death. Neither occurs and thankfully, the movie ends.

Reviewed August 9, 1996

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