Escape from New York (1981)
Kurt Russell plays antihero Snake Plissken for the first time in this classic sci-fi thriller. In 1997 Snake is sent to the walled off ruins of Manhattan island in a race against time to rescue the President - "Who's President" asks Plissken - from what is now a high security prison populated by the scum of the Earth.
John Carpenter gives this a fun but tense atmosphere in an expertly directed film well ahead of it's time so much so that it's a film that has been frequently ripped off in the years since.
The Eastwood-esq Russell is joined by Lee Van Cleef, Donald Pleasence, Adrienne Barbeau, Harry Dean Stanton, Tom Atkins, Isaac Hayes and Ernest Borgnine in what remains Carpenter's greatest cast list.
A genuine science fiction classic that to this viewer has endless re-watch value.
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