| Escape From New York (Blu-ray/DVD Combo w/ DVD Packaging) |  | Actors: Kurt Russell, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Category: DVD
List Price: $24.99
Buy New: $16.50
as of 9/8/2010 21:18 CDT details
You Save: $8.49 (34%)
New (16) Used (2) from $16.50
Seller: -importcds
Rating:  180 reviews
Sales Rank: 101,858
Format: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Discs: 2
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Running Time: 99 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.5
MPN: 883904224396
UPC: 883904224396
EAN: 0883904224396
ASIN: B003O97W3M
Theatrical Release Date: 1981
Release Date: August 3, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK - DVD Movie
Amazon.com
In the future, crime is out of control and New York City is a maximum security prison. Grabbing a bargaining chip right out of the air, convicts bring down the President's plane in bad old Gotham. Gruff Snake Plissken, a one-eyed warrior new to prison life, is coerced into bringing the President, and his cargo, out of this land of undesirables. Kurt Russell put his Disney days behind him as the nicest bad guy in the picture. All comic-book sensibilities and macho posturing, this is one of writer-director John Carpenter's better brainless escapes. There are snappy one-liners and explosive action scenes. However, the film lacks tension and some believability even within the realm of SF fantasy. Even when it fails to gel, though, it always manages to amuse, thanks in great part to a varied and unusual supporting cast (watch for Ernest Borgnine as a cabdriver). Followed in 1996 by Carpenter's overdone and campy Escape from L.A. --Rochelle O'Gorman
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 180
 No extras!! September 6, 2010
Bill Kmetz
Good quality, no extras except the trailer on DVD.. Awsome movie well worth the purchase!! 1 of John Carpenter's best.
 NO FRILLS BLU-RAY OF OK CULT FILM September 6, 2010
Robin Simmons (Palm Springs area, CA United States)
Snake Plissken is still in business in this cult fave from 1981. Kurt Russell's over-the-top turn as outlaw and former Special Forces war hero sent him into the brutal, converted prison of Manhattan to rescue the President from a plane crash. Oh, and Plissken has a bomb in his gut set to go off in 24 hours if his mission fails. You know the drill by now. By the numbers and from the mind of John Carpenter. A no frills Blu-ray edition. Where are the extras? How come no commentary from Carpenter and Russell? Not enough bucks to make 'em talk?
 where are the BONUS features on the BLU RAY Version? August 18, 2010
Richardson (Sunny California USA)
2 out of 7 found this review helpful
Hi folks,
I love this 5 star movie....make no mistake, its an all time favorite. I was thrilled to get the 2 disc edition with bonus opening, commentary, making of and more...but imagine my surprise when I find that this new Blu RAY is bare bones!!! Maybe it has something to do with Fox taking over the MGM catalog? I don't know..but I'm tired of these bare bones Blu Rays which make keeping older DVD versions mandatory for fans... just a rip off.
I obviously bought the Blu Ray...maybe hoping the description was wrong and there would be the bonus content or maybe because I'm a mark for this film...but either way it arrived...sure it looks a wee bit better than the deluxe edition...but zip bonus features..unless a bare bones DVD with a full frame option excites you?
Great Blu-Ray transfer! August 14, 2010
The SciFi Moviebuff (California)
1 out of 7 found this review helpful
I have been having iffy results with many of the BR discs I've purchased recently... but, I am very relieved to have found this copy is just great! There is the most minor grain in the very darkest scenes, but nowhere near the amount to ruin watching. And the rest of the scenes are near perfect. When you consider this is from 1981, they did a magnificent job on this movie. Yes, there are no extras, but I don't care, I wanted a great copy of the movie in the proper screen width and I got it! Thanks to those who made this possible! - I may just get the Escape from L.A. now after all...
Decent Blu-Ray of a classic cult film hampered by MGM's current high sticker price/no-frills policy for releasing catalog titles August 7, 2010
Hugo D. Hackenbush (Main Street, USA)
22 out of 25 found this review helpful
The film itself is three and a half stars (out of five): yet another entertaining "B" thriller from cult film director John Carpenter, this sci-fi/action romp is lots of fun in every sense of the word: great characters populated by a great cast, led by Russel's iconic take on "Snake Plissken", the love child of Clint Eastwood and Jim Morrison; a delicious, cheese-tastic premise that maintains a sense of humor while playing it serious (unlike its campy lesser sequel); production values that sporadically waver between solid and chintzy, somehow only adding to the film's gritty, dark (and fun) comic book-like tone; and a classic (albeit corny) John Carpenter synth score. As a point of acknowledgment, I'm a big John Carpenter fan... but if truth be told, while Carpenter is terrific with atmosphere and suspense, he is somewhat challenged when it comes to shooting action sequences. That point is underscored once again with this film, as the action sequences are fairly unmemorable; fortunately, the film's creepily weird atmosphere and colorful characters more than make up for it. While the film ultimately does not live up to its potential, it has more than enough attributes to cement its place as a minor genre classic. This is not Carpenter's best work by a long shot (for my money, "Halloween" and "The Thing" are tied for that honor); nevertheless, this is still a must-see for those who dig the 1970's-early 1980's era of "B" movie sci-fi/action flicks.
Now, on to the Blu-Ray review: the 1080P widescreen picture quality of this Blu-Ray is a decent step-up from the special edition DVD released a few years back. Released in the correct aspect ratio of 2.35:1 (Amazon incorrectly listed the film at 1.85:1), colors are punchier, contrast is good, sharpness is increased, and grain is at a minimum for a picture this age. Blacks are solid, if a little grayish at times. Thankfully, the look original look of the film is preserved, meaning the green hue of some previous home video releases is gone. Also, there are no obvious signs of edge enhancement or DNR manipulation... always a good thing. However, all's not perfect; the film's original cinematography alternates inconsistently between being soft, hazy and reasonably sharp. That fact, coupled with the film's inherently dark and murky look (the film was shot almost entirely at night on a fairly low budget) means that this film is hardly Blu-Ray demo material. That being said, fans should be pleased, as this is the best the film has ever looked on home video (and that includes the green-hued Optimum U.K./Canadian Blu-Ray release from a few years back, which was so artificially touched-up, it barely looked like the same film that was released in 1981).
The audio quality is also a decent step-up from earlier DVD iterations. The 5.1 DTS-HD soundtrack makes good use of surround sound for much of the picture, with good bass and nice aural ambience. Dialogue from the center speaker was sometimes quite low, making it necessary to raise the volume at times; however, it was not enough to ruin the overall experience. To sum up, while hardly demo-quality, this is unquestionably the best the film has ever sounded.
As for the rest: MGM continues its desperate attempt to stay afloat and raise cash... at the expense of both the good will of its customer base and the reputation of future releases of its formidable library of catalog titles. As is the case with its recent release of "Kalifornia", the quality of this release reeks of cheapness in every sense of the word. Absolutely no special features come with this Blu-Ray, unless you count the film trailer and the DVD copy of the film that is included with this set... and unlike earlier MGM Blu-Ray/DVD combo releases, where the included DVD had special features the Blu-Ray lacked ("Misery" and "Bull Durham" come to mind), the included DVD on this set has zero special features; this means that all of the special features from the fine 2003 special edition two-disc DVD set are nowhere to be found on this release.
The included DVD is in fact a flipper, which has an anamorphically-enhanced widescreen version of the film on one side of the disc and a fullscreen copy on the other. Really? Is "fullscreen" considered a bonus feature in 2010? Since MGM included a flipper DVD disc, why not have offered the two-disc special feature edition as a flipper?
Also, a careful comparison on my part found that the quality of the included DVD is of lesser quality than the 2003 special edition DVD, with colors and sharpness looking duller. From what I can tell, the included DVD is the same as the inferior 2000 DVD release with one puzzling difference: the audio on the 2000 DVD was in 4.0 Dolby Surround, and this included DVD has a 5.1 Dolby Digital track! It seems that MGM did put some effort into this combo release after all... just in the wrong places.
Even the case that houses the Blu-Ray is a disappointment, as MGM didn't even bother to package it in the standard small Blu-Ray case, but rather opted to release the combo set in a larger-sized standard DVD case. This may seem like nitpicking to some, but I, with my large video library, appreciate the smaller size of the Blu-Ray case.
<<< UPDATE: Confusingly (and annoyingly), I have just noticed that there are TWO Blu-Ray listings on Amazon.com for "Escape from New York", one that offers "Blu-ray/DVD Combo w/ Blu-ray Packaging" and one that offers "Blu-ray/DVD Combo w/ DVD Packaging"; from what I can tell, the Blu-Ray packaging is an Amazon.com exclusive, so for those who care, snap it up while you can >>>.
So, it boils down to this: for casual viewers and those on a budget, if you already own the 2003 special edition DVD of "Escape From New York", this Blu-Ray upgrade is probably not worth your time, as the picture quality on that DVD looks very good upconverted, and the special features on that two-disc set really make the 2003 special edition DVD the one to own. For fans and those who don't care about special features, the visual and audio uptick is good enough to warrant a purchase, albeit at a discounted price. Of course, true fans will also be forced to pick up (or hang on to) the 2003 special edition with its terrific special features, including: a mini-graphic novel, two audio commentary tracks, a making-of doc, and (perhaps most intriguing) the original opening for the film (complete with restored audio), which consists of an eleven-minute bank robbery sequence that explains how Snake Plissken got caught (by the man!) in the first place.
I understand that MGM is in a financial rut at the moment, but releasing this obvious cash-in at a sticker price of $24.99 is poor form, no matter how you cut it. Seeing as how they just released "Kalifornia" in the exact same fashion, I'm going to think twice before making another MGM Blu-Ray purchase in the future, as I have no interest in supporting MGM's new trend of top-dollar, no-frills Blu-Ray catalog releases.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 180
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