John Carpenter’s cult classic “Escape From New York” (MGM, 1981, 99 minutes, R) isn’t a movie about time travel, but it may as well be.
Though set in the late ’90s, Carpenter actually started writing the movie in the early ’70s, and the film was finally made and released in the early ’80s.
“When I wrote the film in the middle of the ’70s, it was kind of inspired by two things,” recalls Carpenter from Los Angeles.
“One was a movie called `Death Wish,’ with Charles Bronson, which showed New York as kind of a bad place. Then I had read a couple of science fiction novels by Harry Harrison that I thought were interesting. They were about sending the world’s toughest guy into sort of the world’s toughest place. I wrote it, but no one wanted to make it.
“By the late ’70s, I was beginning to make some films of my own,” continues Carpenter, who by then was riding high on the success of his hit “Halloween.”
“I had a two-picture deal, and when it came time for the second film, I brought the `New York’ screenplay out and said I’d like to do it next. So I had to change all the dates. I wanted it to be the near future, but I never should have put a date on it at all. I should have just said `the day after tomorrow.'”
“Escape from New York” hinges on the premise that, following a mammoth jump in the crime rate, the entire island of Manhattan is turned into a maximum security prison.
Needless to say, Carpenter miscalculated the fate of the Big Apple.
“It went the opposite way,” he concedes with a dry chuckle. “But in the ’70s, we didn’t know — New York was in such bad shape, in terms of crime and such. Then later [Mayor Rudy] Giuliani came and cleaned it up. Now it’s Disneyland.”
New and recent
“Seabiscuit” (Universal, 2003, 141 minutes, PG-13): Formulaic but frequently beautiful, “Seabiscuit” benefits from the good taste, intelligence and detail-minded approach of director Gary Ross. Not surprisingly, the DVD’s commentary track — which the astute Ross shares with friend and fellow smart filmmaker Steven Soderbergh — is great.
The pair even regularly pause the film to offer little audio footnotes, further thoughts on certain scenes that delve deeper into the film’s psychology as much as the tricks of the shoot itself. In another feature, star Jeff Bridges gets to show off his fine on-set photography, while Ross dissects a single scene’s voyage from page to screen.
“South Park: The Complete Third Season”(Paramount, 1999-2000, 374 minutes, NR): A CD of commentary tracks for the first season of “South Park” had to be purchased separately. The second season didn’t include commentaries at all. Season Three compromises with four-minute “mini commentaries” from creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who make the most of their short stays with rapid fire anecdotes and show trivia.
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