Escape from L.A. (1996)
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A prisoner must navigate a lawless, island-bound Los Angeles to recover a stolen superweapon remote.
The story
In a near-future 2013, the United States is ruled by a theocratic president who has turned the island of Los Angeles into a prison-like zone for those who violate his strict morality laws. When the president's daughter steals the remote to a powerful superweapon known as the 'Sword of Damocles' and flees to the L.A. island, the government recruits Snake Plissken. Plissken, facing deportation, is offered a pardon if he can successfully retrieve the remote from the lawless territory. To ensure his cooperation, he is infected with a lethal virus, giving him only a few hours to complete the mission before he dies.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 2013, the U.S. is governed by a theocratic leader who enforces strict morality laws, exiling violators to a walled-off Los Angeles. When the president's daughter, Utopia, steals the remote for the 'Sword of Damocles'—a satellite system capable of disabling electronics worldwide—and flees to L.A., Snake Plissken is sent to retrieve it. Plissken is infected with a virus that will kill him in ten hours unless he succeeds. During his journey, he encounters various allies and enemies, eventually teaming up with a woman named Hershe and a swindler named Eddie. They travel to the 'Happy Kingdom' in Anaheim to confront the revolutionary Cuervo Jones. After a chaotic battle, Snake and Utopia escape the island in a helicopter. In the final confrontation, the president believes he has captured the remote, but it is revealed that Snake was only a hologram and the virus was merely a mild illness. Realizing the extent of the world's decay, Snake triggers the superweapon, deactivating all technology on Earth and declaring, 'Welcome to the human race.'
- Original title
- John Carpenter's Escape from L.A.
- First release year
- 1996
- Runtime (minutes)
- 101
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- John Carpenter
- Writers
- John Carpenter · writer; Debra Hill · writer; Kurt Russell · writer
- Cast and characters
- Kurt Russell · Snake Plissken; Stacy Keach; Steve Buscemi; Peter Fonda; Georges Corraface; Cliff Robertson
- Genres
- post-apocalyptic; action; satirical
- Themes
- anti-technology; social decay
- Tone and mood
- anarchic; campy
- Premise and plot tags
- dystopian; post-apocalyptic; sequel
- Franchise connections
- Escape from New York
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews and was a box office failure.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 45% · scale: percentage · review count: 154
- Production trivia
- The film was in development for over 10 years.; The basketball challenge scene was filmed at the Los Angeles Coliseum.; The film's set included a shanty town constructed from over 120 structures.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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