Here are all the extras featured on Escape From New York's 4K Blu-ray release. Escape From New York is John Carpenter's 1981 cult action movie where Kurt Russell's convict Snake Plissken is sent to infiltrate New York, which has been turned into a walled-off prison. In addition to being a success upon release, the movie's bleak dystopian style would influence countless b-movie rip-offs in the years that followed. The character of Snake would also heavily inspire Solid Snake from the Metal Gear Solid franchise too.
Carpenter and Russell later reunited for Escape From L.A. in 1996, which received very lukewarm reviews - especially for how the story just copies key beats from the original - and underperformed. A third entry called Escape From Earth was later scrapped, while an early draft of Carpenter's Ghosts Of Mars reportedly featured Snake Plissken in the lead role, but rewrites replaced him with Ice Cube's Desolation Williams instead. An Escape From New York remake has been trapped in development hell for years, with Gerard Butler once linked to the lead. Upgrade director Leigh Whannell is currently attached to pen the next script for the project.
Escape From New York remains a beloved cult film and is one of Carpenter's best. It was given a gorgeous 4K restoration in 2019 and below is a breakdown of all the extras packaged with its Collector's Edition release, which has a mix of new and vintage features.
Commentary with John Carpenter & Kurt Russell
Carpenter and Russell's commentary tracks for The Thing and Big Trouble In Little China are famously two of the most entertaining, and this vintage Escape From New York track is no different. Carpenter leads discussions on the movie's creation, how it was shot, etc, while Russell frequently cracks up while reminiscing about its production.
Commentary With Debra Hill & Joe Alves
A slightly drier but no less interesting commentary features the movie's late producer Debra Hill and production designer Joe Alves (Jaws). They talk about the project's origins and production, and how they managed to stretch the modest budget for the movie's apocalyptic look.
Commentary With Adrienne Barbeau & Dean Cundey
Adrienne Barbeau (Creepshow) played Maggie in Escape From New York while Dean Cundey was the director of photography, with the latter providing insight into how he achieved its unique look.
Purgatory: Entering John Carpenter's Escape From New York
A chunky 50-minute documentary featuring new interviews with the likes of co-writer Nick Castle - who also played Michael Myers in Halloween - Cundey, composter Alan Howarth and many more going over its origins, filming, and legacy.
Deleted Opening "Snake's Crime"
Escape From New York originally opened with Snake committing a robbery and getting arrested after trying to make his getaway. It was later cut as test audiences felt it took too long to get to the prison and Carpenter preferred Snake's lack of backstory. The scene also comes with an optional Carpenter and Russell commentary - with the latter having no recollection of the scene being shot.
I Am Taylor Featurette
Actor Joe Unger (A Nightmare On Elm Street) recalls playing Snake's ill-fated accomplice in Escape From New York's deleted opening.
Snake Plissken: Man Of Honor
A short, 15-minute documentary where John Carpenter and Debra Hill discuss the character of Snake - revealing Tommy Lee Jones turned down the part - and also the making of the movie itself.
Big Challenges In Little Manhattan
A 15-minute doc looking at the creation of Escape From New York's visual effects from the Skotak brothers.
The Escape From New York 4K release also comes with various trailers and a photo gallery. All in all, it's a great package, collecting together the best of previous Escape From New York bonus features with new ones. It's also the best the movie has ever looked and is worth the double-dip for fans who wanted to add it to their collection.