Scream Factory has a fever, and the only cure for it, is putting out more John Carpenter films. Seriously, the label has pretty much put out every John Carpenter film on Blu-ray and with Twilight Time going under I feel like the rights to Christine will be going up soon, VCI might one day be willing to be willing to negotiate for Dark Star, they might be able to finish up the maestros out put. Luckily for Scream it seems UHD has finally become an affordable option for boutique labels so they can just get that Carpenter well all over again!
OK, now that I’m done with that aside, the latest John Carpenter release from Scream Factory is his 1996 sequel Escape From L.A. At the time of the release the film was considered a pale shadow of the original Escape from N.Y., this never occurred to me. I was 14, it was on cable CONSTANTLY, and I must have watched Escape from L.A. 40 time in one summer, making it like my FAVORITE MOVIE EVER, for about 3 months. Of course, watching it so often as I did, I had zero urge to watch it again.
Until now.
Escape From L.A. Takes place roughly 15 years after the original film. Snake Plissken is again arrested, and is taken to a federal facility and is to be shipped off to L.A., which is now an island off the coast of the U.S. Mainland where harden criminals are now punished by being forced to live an anarchic lifestyle permanently. The President’s daughter has recently escape to L.A. With a device that will give the power of the whole world to a terrorist on the island. Plissken has been tasked to get over their and get the device back within a short period of time or die of an extreme virus.
Escape from L.A. Is over the top and ridiculous. In many ways it remakes a lot of elements of the original film (instead of wrestling we get basketball as one example), but it never stops being fun throughout its running time. I know it’s been pointed out in every John Carpenter and George Romero film since the start of the internet, but Carpenter’s biting satire and social subtext has always been quite strong and people will especially go to films like They Live for an example of films that “got it right” as far as film’s that reflect our culture still to this day. I couldn’t help, but feel when watching Escape from L.A. That this film really felt like it worked as a social satire, not just for late 90’s culture, but worked as an effective statement for our current times.
Scream Factory presents Escape from L.A. In a new 4k transfer in a 2:35:1 1080p encode. Everything here looks pretty marvelous, black levels are inky and deep, flesh tones are accurate, detail is excellent. Of course, knowing the scan was 4k I can’t help but wondering what this might look like on UHD, but I digress. Audio is handled by a DTS-HD MA 5.1 and DTS-HD 2.0 track. Both sound fantastic, and come through without issue. Extras include 6 on-camera interviews with the cast and crew, a theatrical trailer, TV spots, and a gallery. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.