True. I love his scores.

I agree. Carpenters scores as a rule, kick serious ass.
Come with me if you want to live.

I'm 28 and I watched this with my old man last night and we both loved it. Screw this whole generational thing, great movies are timeless. Sure, I can understand people not liking it but then you get pricks on here who give it 1 out of 10, WTF? Movies like this or The Thing are waaaaaaaaaaay better than most movies coming out nowadays (Transformers 3, Green Lantern, I'm going to stop there and save myself from typing for ten more minutes). That's not to say that ALL modern movies are crap but the majority are so formulaic and predictable that its not even fun to watch. Modern action movies seem to be edited by a chipmunk on meth, Escape From New York had many cool scenes where the camera just sort of lingers and lets you take in the unique and brooding atmosphere of the scene. Also, how can you not like the soundtrack? I swear to God I wish more action movies had unique scores to them like this instead of generic rock that most seem to have. So to any of those teens who say this movie is old and sucks, no dude, you sucknow go listen to some Nickelback.

Most of why other people like this film is more than valid, it is an undoubted classic of the crop that Carpenter created in the early 80s. Shame about his last 30 years.
My personal reason is it is one of the first films I saw on a very creaky VHS top loading deck with cabled remote. I was about 10 and it has imprinted on me since then.
The argument that letting children see adult films may affect them is bunkum, the likelihood is I would still wear an eye patch and have a tattoo of a snake on my stomach whether I had seen this film or not.
And fantastically you can now get the soundtrack on MP3. Guess what I bought on Friday after watching the special edition DVD on Thursday.

hahahaha, that list made me smile! cheers!

Why do I like it? Atmosphere. The budget was like 6 or 7 million clams and you honestly feel like you are trapped on a prison island.
Secondly, the characters. Everyone knows how badass Snake is, but it's the thought put into the secondary characters that make it great. Hauk, The Duke, Cabbie, Romero, hell, even the drunk (played by Buck Flower) had a ton of personality.
I also agree with the dude who said it may be a Carpenter thing. When I was younger, I didn't care too much for his films, but as I approached thirty, I began to see the brilliance in his work. Now I love most of his movies.
Come with me if you want to live.

Why did I enjoy it?

1. Snake Plissken
2. A range of colourful characters.
3. John Carpenter's score.
4. Carpenter's direction and handling of action sequences.
5. Imaginative concept of the premise.
6. Snake Plissken
7. Snake Plissken's outfit.
8. Fabulous, quotable dialogue.
9. Lee Van Cleef.
10. Great villain (The Duke).
11. Hilarious villain (Romero).
12. Snake Plissken.
13. Ernest Borgnine, his cab and his crappy jazz tape.
14. Terrific sets, lighting and production design.
15. Exciting chase sequences (crazies, 69th St. Bridge)
16. Tom Atkins.
17. Adrienne Barbeau's cleavage.
18. Snake's wrestling bout.
19. Interesting gadgets and weapons.
20. Broadway!
21. Snake Plissken.
    There are more but I'm really too tired to go on!
    And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.

You need to have your ears checked.
Second that. That voice is just part of Snake. I didn't realize anyone was crazy enough not to like it.
Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle.

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"Boyish voice? That was Russell doing his an Eastwood impersonation. "
he failed. you need to have a much darker voice to pull that off.

Boyish voice? That was Russell doing his Eastwood impersonation.
"Don't believe everything you hear on the radio." - Charles Foster Kane

"yes kurt russel is very cool in this but his performance is annoying. he whispers half the time."
oh how I agree with this sentiment. his cool aura was somewhat undone by a boyish voice.

Please stop watching movies and subjecting people to your idiotic 'thoughts', thanks.

"It's better not to know so much about what things mean." David Lynch

Eventually, when you are older, some know-it-all kid is going to be dismissive of the era of your formative years and lacking in perspective and experience of your beloved pop-culture touchstones, and then you'll truly understand the breadth of your hateful foolishness

The score is absolutely great and Snake Plissken is obviously about as cool as human beings get. Then theres also this uniquely somber and trashy scenery, the most ludicrous pimpmobile ever conceived, planes flying to the World Trade Center, Harry Dean Stanton what more do you need? I wouldnt call it a masterpiece, but it sure has character and a bad attitude. 7,5/10.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

I agree with OP. This movie was horrible and I find it hard to believe that so many people enjoy it. It was more of a comedy for me, especially the music, just notice the music during the "intense action sequences", and you'll just start laughing. Snake Plissken might have been a little cool, but the acting was pretty bad. The way Kurt Russell talks, trying to be all cool, that was pretty funny too.
I gave it a 2/10, 2 instead of 1 because it was unintentionally funny. I'm 19 years old by the way, perhaps you need to have experienced the 70s/80s and been part of the ridiculous trends to fully enjoy this movie.
It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything.

I enjoy the story, the script, the acting, the direction, the production.

"I can always find at least something positive to appreciate about films"
At least Carpenter knows where to put the camera. Maybe you had a bad day.

I wonder the same thing really.
I gave this movie 1/10, it's got to be one of the worst I've ever seen! (I try to avoid them.) I can always find at least something positive to appreciate about films, but this one is complete crap except the DVD menu and perhaps the soundtrack!
~ Observe, and act with clarity. ~

Carpenter has a way of telling a story that hmmmhow do you describe it? He has a certain "flow" that I guess you either love or don't get. And I don't mean don't get in a condescending/dismissive way. It either works for you or it doesn't. For me, his movies have an almost poetic way of creeping up on you until all of a sudden you realize you are completely immersed in this world and it's fantastic. I think EFNY and The Thing are perfect examples but Big Trouble does it in it's own way too. Even EFLA has "it" just to a a lesser extent. For Escape, there is something about the combination of the lighting, the music, Plissken, and the story that just works.
I won't even begin to try to explain the appeal of Plissken. Aside from the fact that I am a woman and Plissken is 100% aesthetically pleasing, there is something so untouchably cool and smooth about him that you route for him from the first second. He is the bad-ass other bad-asses want to be but not in an over-the-top way. He just kind of quietly goes about doing what he needs to do. They never relent and have him doing typical heroic stunts. He's not out to save the world or the damsel in distress. He's just doing what he can to get himself out of a bad situation. You put everything Carpenter is a master of together with what Kurt did with Plissken and - BAM - you have a legend.
Do yourself a favor. Erase any and all preconceived notions you have about the film. Try not to worry about what differences would be apparent because 30 years has passed. Don't worry about lack of action in an action movie. Try to forget what you think you already know about the film. Go in with no expectations and just let it kind of wash over you. I don't mean that to sound preachy. It's just such a great movie. If you go in expecting it to be The Matrix you are going to miss some great stuff.
Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle.

Too bad Detroit has hardly changed, still a dump thanks to political "leaders".

Another reason for the appeal of Escape from NY is that at the time of its release the events of the film were 16 years in the future. 1981 was a time ripe with urban decay and high crime and fearful murder rates. Along with Detriot, NYC was the most hellish hole in the States and as the city was 13 years away from being rescued by Giuliani. In 1981 it was no stretch of the imagination to think that Carpenter's distopia could actually happen.
I was looking forward to this exciting future and was disappointed when the (real) calendar rolled to 1997 and Manhattan hadn't become a walled prison. But during the 80's thoughts of this literally happening gave the movie added punch.

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