Escape from L.A.

1996 R 1h 41m Blu-ray / DVD

Escape from L.A.

1996 R 1h 41m Blu-ray / DVD
  • Overview
  • Details
Kurt Russell reprises his role as antihero Snake Plissken. This time, a cataclysmic temblor hits Los Angeles, turning it into an island. The president (Cliff Robertson) views the quake as a sign from above, expels Los Angeles from the country and makes it a penal colony for those found guilty of moral crimes. When his daughter, part of a resistance movement, steals the control unit for a doomsday weapon, Snake again gets tapped to save the day.
Cast
Kurt Russell, Steve Buscemi, Peter Fonda, Cliff Robertson, Valeria Golino, Stacy Keach, Pam Grier, Bruce Campbell, Georges Corraface, Michelle Forbes
Director
John Carpenter
Format
Blu-ray DVD
Screen
Widescreen 2.35:1
Subtitles
Spanish (Neutral)
CC
Yes
Audio
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, French: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Screen
Widescreen Anamorphic 2.39:1
Subtitles
English, English SDH, French, Spanish (Neutral), Portuguese
CC
Yes
Audio
English: Dolby True HD, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish (Neutral): Dolby Digital 5.1
Rating
R - Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. Contains some adult material. Parents are urged to learn more about the film before taking their young children with them. R - Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. Contains some adult material. Parents are urged to learn more about the film before taking their young children with them.
age 16+
Common Sense rating OK for kids 16+
age 16+

Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that violence here includes gunfire, thrown knives, electrocutions, and rocket launches. Do-not-do-this-at-home stuff includes reckless motorcycle stunts. Swearing is at a typical R-level. The main character smokes cigarettes in a no-smoking country, the act upheld as the last vestige of the American spirit, literally. Negative stereotypes include Left-leaning Latino gangster-warlords and a thoroughly despicable, Right-wing Christian president who orders his own daughter executed.

Sexual Content

Glamorous LA street girls, gang molls, and prostitutes in skimpy leather and fetish-type outfits. One such character is a transsexual. Mention that sex outside of marriage has been rendered illegal.

Violence

Much shooting, with fatalities. Hand-to-hand combat, knife fighting, earthquake damage explosions and fireballs, and one gore scene in which human body parts lay around in a mad-science lab milieu. None of it is very realistic.

Language

The s-word, the f-word, "Godamnit," "ass" and "asshole."

Social Behavior

The worst-case-scenario script tells us that while freaks, terrorists, and gun-crazed Latino-Leftist gangs and warlords may be nasty, puritanical Christians and cops and US government authorities are worse, maybe. Or, as Plissken puts it, "America died a long time ago." Conclusion proposes that this simply isn't a world worth preserving.

Consumerism

Universal Pictures logo and a euphemistic cameo by a deformed Disneyland (the "Happy Kingdom").

Drugs / Tobacco / Alcohol

Cigarettes (one brand labeled "American Spirit") are equated broadly, literally with strength and manliness -- and they're banned (along with drugs) by the fascist USA of tomorrow. The Che Guevera-lookalike villain smokes cigars.

  • Age appropriate
  • Not an issue
  • Depends on your child and your family
  • Parents strongly cautioned
  • Not appropriate for kids of the age

This information for parents is provided by Common Sense Media, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving kids' media lives.

How it works

  • 1

    Create your list

    Browse from thousands of movies and shows.

  • 2

    Free delivery

    We send out your disc the next business day.

  • 3

    Watch and repeat

    Free returns, plus no due dates or late fees.

Unlimited movies sent to your door, starting at $9.99 a month.