John Carpenter's Escape from LA - Page 2

The script 'used' to be online...try 'Drew's', though it's REALLY not much better than the final film; the script STILL follows 'New York's beats...I DID enjoy the submersible traversing 'Universal' (complete with 'Bruce')...

The camp-factor just got royally ramped.

This movie sucks ass. It's so bad it almost throws a shadow of shit over other Russell/Carpenter works. Thankfully I am able to still push that aside and love the shit out of their other collaborations. You can't even chalk this up as an entertaining B-movie. That is a disgrace to other B-movies.

Sucks.

I liked this movie better than "Escape From New York", "Big Trouble in Little China", AND "The Thing". There, I said it. GO AHEAD AND THROW YOUR TOMATOES AT ME.

It's not my favourite Carpenter flick, but I sure dig it more than some of his more popular ones. I think his best are "Halloween", "Starman", and "They Live".

Tomatoes, no, a fucking psychiatrist, yes.

Or the knife which finished off Lo-pen.

LA has problems, but I feel like a lot of the hate is similar to the "Boba Fett went out like a chump" problems some have with JEDI. I feel like the film was partly made because Carpenter felt people took the first film too seriously.

EFNY is great schlock. I don't see why it is viewed as more. It's great for what it is.

I don't hate it, it's more disappointing and cheap looking than anything else, but it's biggest sin is that it's a retread.

8 bucks on half.com. LIKE NEW! ONLY VIEWED ONCE! EFLA is an acquired taste, so I believed the guy.
And sure enough, the disc was pristine.

Also, it's hard to believe they were going to drop 75 million on EFLA. I wonder what led to all that money being taken away. Again, I demand a Carpenter/Russell commentary!

I would buy it today if it had one.

I just ventured on there and found a copy that was viewed once and mint for $9.90. Snatched that copy up quickly. I'll be seeing Snake's visit to L.A. in HD soon.

You'll love it!

You dicks are going to make me buy this thing used, I know it.

man I want to buy it but I know that right when fucking Fonda shows up surfing I'll wish they packaged it with a loaded pistol

And a flickering Snake hologram giving you the finger.

Escape from LA is okay, but I much prefer Escape from New York. EFNY has Isaac Hayes as the bad guy and Adrienne Barbeau's lovely cleavage, which beats the crap out of anything in EFLA.

I like Escape From LA. But I've always been troubled by the "vato" line. Because I'm a stickler for authenticity. If he's formerly of Shining Path, as the movie states, that would make him Peruvian.

They don't say "vato" in Peru.

That's a distinctly Mexican expression.

You guys can complain about the cheesy CGI or Peter Fonda surfing against an awful green screen.

For me, the film's big flaw is the "vato" line.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_E9ebt1a_s

How do you take this seriously? Seperate the films and take them for what they are. It's like Alien and Aliens. One is horror while the other is action. One is a good sci-fi action film/thriller while the other is a completely silly action film. There are two different tones. EFLA works for what it is.

The films greatest crime as stated is that it is basically a remake of the first one.

Valeria Golino has lovely cleavage in Escape From L.A.

I like the Tsunami scene but I think the scene where Snake reveals his supreme Ballin' skills is my favorite outrageous moment.

Also, that clip led me to another clip that really showcases Carpenter's soundtrack. I like the variety of music JC gave us in this movie. The music in the first minute of this clip goes from Escape from NY to THE GRAND ARENA! to Western.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu1Ng_Pyezg

I always thought Escape From LA was a couple cgi passes and one harmonica removal away from being decent. I was incorrect, but I would still like to see that movie.

Ihatemyselffortypingthis, but are we sure he is Peruvian? I know Shining Path is. However, if I recall correctly, its later stated that Cuervo was leading a coalition of Latin American countries in war against the States. Considering the bananas fundamentalism of that theocratic America and their willingness to use the movie's mcguffin on other countries, one could assume the Path spread further in their alternate history.

I guess you have a point Francis... Though it's kind of a hard sell that Mexico would be involved in this in any way. They rarely get directly involved in any politics beyond Central America.

Then again, I suppose it is possible that Cuervo is actually Mexican and got personally involved with Shining Path in much the same way that Ernersto "Che" Guevarra (an Argentinean doctor) became very involved in the Cuban revolution and later tried to spread that revolution to South America, starting with Bolivia.

If this were the case, I suppose the "vato" line is authentic.

But, frankly, I doubt the filmmakers thought about this as much as we have.

It'd be quite troubling if they had thought deeply about the possible evolution of real world terrorist groups in a science fiction environment and then left the rest of the movie as it is.

That said, if somehow all Latin America decided to unite (!) leaded by a Maoist peruvian organization (!!) and invade the States (!!!), they'd have to go through Mexico. Ihatemyselfsometimes.

I was underwhelmed by this film too, but I kind of loved the score! It's like the precursor to the goofy Starcraft music.

Like Phil said early on, it starts out well, then quickly goes to shit. I don't know how anyone can defend it other than a couple bits here and there(Bruce's Surgeon General, the very end), unless they're just laughing at/with the absurdity of it all.

 

I haven't seen it since around the time it came out on video, and can't imagine liking it any more now. Sadly, it's been almost that long since I've seen the original as well. I really need to track down the OOP disc with the commentary for that one(no Blu player here). LA is probably my least favorite Carperter flick that I've seen. Yes, moreso than Ghosts of Mars, which is also awful(and I own. Yes, it was free). At least Vampires has Woods, and Prince of Darkness has a unexplainable creepy vibe without being scary(similar to the one I get from Day of the Dead, for some reason).

This is on Netflix so I checked it out, and was prepared for something massively shitty. I was pleasantly surprised -- it's not good by any stretch, but it's a lot of fun. Even exciting at times, despite all the silliness. I would recommend it to anybody who dug the first film, although they are pretty wildly divergent in tone from what I remember of NY -- it might be more accurate to say that it's more of a cousin to They Live than the original film, despite ripping it off wholesale. I guess this shows that there is significant entertainment to be had in constructing a movie specifically to be a huge joke (although it does show how much Carpenter seems to resent his craft, which I suppose has ballooned into something even worse going by the reactions to The Ward).