Escape from New York

1981 R 1h 39m Blu-ray / DVD

Escape from New York

1981 R 1h 39m Blu-ray / DVD
  • Overview
  • Details
Soaring crime rates prompt the United States to turn New York City into a maximum-security prison -- which is precisely where the U.S. president (Donald Pleasence) lands when he's forced to bail out of Air Force One in director John Carpenter's action classic. Condemned criminal and former war hero Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) rescues the commander-in-chief, but on one condition: The President must promise to grant Plissken his freedom.
Cast
Kurt Russell, Adrienne Barbeau, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Isaac Hayes, Donald Pleasence, Harry Dean Stanton
Director
John Carpenter
Format
Blu-ray• DVD
Screen
Widescreen Anamorphic 2.35:1, Full Screen 1.33:1
Subtitles
French, Spanish (Neutral)
CC
Yes
Audio
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Screen
Widescreen 1.85:1
Subtitles
English, French, Spanish (Neutral)
CC
No
Audio
English: DTS 5.1 HD
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+

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age 16+

Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that violence in this bleak vision of the future includes gunfire, crossbows, thrown knives, land mines, and gladiatorial death bouts with fists and clubs (though except for a severed head there's little explicit gore). Do-not-do-this-at-home stuff includes whiskey used as a firebomb. Swearing is at the typical R-level. The hero smokes cigarettes. There's a quick glimpse of bare breasts. An atmosphere of cynicism and darkness pervades, including a negative depiction of a US president and a police-state America.

Sexual Content

Blink-and-you'll-miss-them bare breasts, as NYC prisoners manhandle a girl. Low-cut outfits for the leading lady. Plissken makes an angry joke about "playing with myself." He has a suggestive tattoo around his crotch.

Violence

Gunfire, explosions, beat-downs, and gladiatorial death bouts with fists and clubs. A severed head. Characters stuck with arrows and knives. Implication that high-tech tiny time bombs are implanted in someone's head. A hijacked plane crashes into a Manhattan skyscraper as in 9/11, but only a radar-readout is shown.

Language

The s-word, the f-word, "a-hole," "Jesus Christ," "bastard," SOB.

Social Behavior

The rotten Big Apple here represents the worst that could happen under a harsh, uncaring government. Along with that comes a theme of mistrusting authority and "the Man." There are no real heroes; the closest thing is a commando-turned-robber, motivated entirely by self-interest (or other people coercing him). Even he is disgusted by the callous attitude of the hostage US president (and, by extension, the society that president represents).

Consumerism

Chock-Full-a-Nuts and Coca-Cola signs visible.

Drugs / Tobacco / Alcohol

Tough-guy cigarette smoking. Drunken-derelict type characters in a skid-row setting, mention of junkies.

  • 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.

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