Talk:Escape from New York

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Man, that is one heck of a synopsis. So detailed, it was as if I was watching it. Good job.

Yeah, went kinda overboard with it. Hee hee. Anyone who wants to trim it down go ahead. Cyberia23 21:32, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Poster

The poster shows the head of the Statue of Liberty lying broken on the streets. I find this odd for two reasons, a) the statue remains intact in the film and b) if it had been broken, how the hell would it have ended up in Manhattan Jooler 02:38, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

Artistic license. The Statue of Liberty is probably New York City's most recognizable landmark. Besides, have you ever seen a movie poster that showed things exactly as they appeared in the film? Corky842 06:25, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Simpsons

What? SchmuckyTheCat 18:15, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] In the Mood?

I'm not 100% on my big band music, but I swear that's not In the Mood.

[edit] Budget

In the intro, it says it had a $7 million budget, but the infobox only shows $6 million. Which is it? Corky842 06:25, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Intro voiceover

The article says it's Debra Hill, but I seem to remember Jamie Lee Curtis did the whole opening voiceover...which one is it ? -- Mairosu

According to IMDb - Jamie Lee Curtis is listed as "Narrator/Computer Voice (uncredited)", BUT Debra Hill is also credited as "Computer (voice)". I thought the only "computer voice" was during the intro to the movie, but I guess there was other computer voices. Cyberia23 02:22, 7 January 2007 (UTC)
There is another use of computer voice when the computer is showing the trajectory, crash of Airforce 1, and the pod's trajectory as well. 16:57, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

The director's commentary will likely clear this up. I'll check the disc as soon as I have the time.

[edit] Escape from Earth

According to Carpenter, this was never proposed and was only a rumour...so I removed it from the trivia section. Mcflytrap 17:47, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

In the Hideo Kojima video game series Metal Gear Solid the hero's name Is Solid Snake the isperation for the name snake comes from escape from NY. In MGS2 snake fakes his death & uses the alias Pliskin, In MGS3 game Snake looks more like movie Snake (the razor stubble,the hair,& of course the eye patch). I got this info from a hideo kojima interview in Playstation magizine(and the games themselves).

[edit] Budget

Okay, so Carpenter says five mill, what sources say seven? Box Office Mojo? Geoff B 07:30, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Several articles sourced say closer to $7 mil. --Count Ringworm 14:00, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] DVD section

I'm working on expanding this. —Viriditas | Talk 05:28, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Debra Hill

Interesting bit of trivia that we may be able to work into the article: co-producer Debra Hill also produced World Trade Center (film). This is mentioned in Sight & Sound. [1]: "The writer/producer who actually set WTC in motion was Debra Hill. She read the news reports on McLoughlin and Jimeno's rescue, tracked them down, sat and cried with them and their families, and got their permission to do the film. Tragically, she died of breast cancer just prior to the start of shooting. Hill had collaborated with John Carpenter on Halloween, as writer and producer. She also wrote the screenplay for The Fog, both the original and the remake. And lest you underestimate her influence on WTC's material, she knew her action-thriller formulas too: after all, Hill co-produced the Carpenter film that was released exactly 25 years ago...Escape from New York." —Viriditas | Talk 06:17, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Anon user 70.122.25.75 's addition of Redskins?

I seen this movie 6 million times as it has always been one of my favorite cult films, and I practically had it memorized - but never once have I ever heard any gang in the movie called "The Redskins". I know the Crazies were the ones in the sewers and who lined the street and beat on the car, but who the f*** are the Redskins besides a football team from Washington? I no longer have the movie on DVD so I can't verify it myself, but unless someone else can add a verifiable reference of when in the movie the Redskins were mentioned, I don't think it should be mentioned until then. I don't trust random trivia by anon users. Cyberia23 21:43, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

I only know of two mentions of this. Carpenter on the DVD commentary mentions that the gang living inside of the World Trade Centre were meant to be Native Americans, called the Redskins, but the idea was dropped, and on the roof of the World Trade Centre, Brain shouts "God damn Redskins! They're savages, Mr President!". Geoff B 21:48, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
It sounds like that it was Brain just calling them that, and in that case it could have been a derogatory remark since I do believe some Native Americans consider "redskin" a racist slur. I know they were fighting to change the Washington Redskins name a few years ago. But in any case it doesn't mean that it was the gang's name does it? Cyberia23 21:53, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
Carpenter, from the commentary: "The building was originally inhabited by a tribe of um, Americans, Native Americans, but we decided to eliminate that from the show." So it was intended to be their name, but that didn't make it into the film, aside from that one line. Geoff B 22:16, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
Oh, I didn't know that Carpenter said that. Is that from the Special Edition DVD? I just had the cheap movie-only DVD with no bonus material - not even deleted scenes :( Anyway, I see now where the Indian comment comes from, but I really don't think it's necessary in mentioning that the WTC convicts were supposed to be Native Americans under the plot. I see that more as a trivia statement than anything. Cyberia23 04:54, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
Correct--that was actually my edit you undid. The point of the edit was to remove the reference to the Crazies throwing the glider off the roof. That's not true; they live in the sewers, and as Season Hubley's character tells us, they only surface at the end of the month for food. That being said, the shot following the glider tumbling down the side of the WTC clearly has Brain shouting "God damn Redskins! They're savages, Mr President!" In addition, the novelization references the group as the "redskins" in that specific line. The reference is used pejoratively, much like we assume that the Crazies don't call themselves that, but others do. BTW, if you don't have the Special Edition DVD, I'd highly recommend picking it up, if only for the inclusion of the first reel. Reckstei 20:08, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
Just re-watched it (Special Edition DVD) - three actors are listed in the final credits as "first indian," "second indian" and "third indian." I presume they were minor characters in the WTC scene, indicating that although Carpenter abandoned the idea of casting Native Americans, he probably never bothered removing the references in the script. SixFourThree (talk) 16:58, 7 February 2008 (UTC)SixFourThree

[edit] Year/Timeline

Actually, according to the opening titles, wasn't Manhattan first turned into a prison in 1988 (crime having increased by then 400%), and the events of the film set in 1997? I only just watched it last night on ITV4 in the UK! best, Sunil060902 11:30, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Plot added

I added to the plot and changed some minor errors. I added a great amount that was needed. It was empty and needed more information.Prede (talk) 23:22, 12 December 2007 (UTC) 37,396 have donated. You can help Wikipedia change the world!

Hi, according to the Wikipedia Film Project guidelines, "The plot section is made self-contained (and is a totally separate section designated by ==Plot==), so plot details and actor names already mentioned in the lead section, and/or mentioned in a cast section, are repeated here. Plot summaries should be between 400 and 700 words and should not exceed 900 words unless there is a specific reason such as a very complicated plot."Nazamo (talk) 22:32, 16 December 2007 (UTC)
I did a word count on the plot summary as of Dec 16, 2007, and it clocks in at 950 words. Since EFNY is not a complex movie (while I love it, it is an action-scifi film, not an art film with a hugely complex plot), I argue that it should be in the main length range cited (400 to 700 words). So 250 words have to be trimmed.Nazamo (talk) 22:39, 16 December 2007 (UTC)
It's down to 690 or so. Needs more trimming, but that should do it for now. It's been a while since I saw the film, so I hope I haven't left too many inaccuracies in it.
Jim Dunning | talk 01:43, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 59th/69th Street Bridge

I removed the reference to the 69th Street Transfer Bridge, as it's obviously not what the characters are referring to (not actually being a bridge). This has been reported before as a simple goof [2] - Carpenter and Castle obviously meant the 59th Street Bridge. SixFourThree (talk) 17:12, 7 February 2008 (UTC)SixFourThree

Actually, it doesn't matter whether you think it's a "goof" or not (that would be WP:OR. If the characters say "Sixty-Ninth Street", then that's what goes in the Plot description (if it needs to be referenced at all). We cannot say "obviously" that's what Carpenter and Castle intended unless a credible source supporting that assertion can be cited.
Jim Dunning | talk 19:40, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
That's why I started this conversation. What was previously in the article (a link to a structure that isn't a bridge) was clearly wrong, and that it was an error is not my determination but that of the New York Times (the difference between OR and a legitimate edit, as I understand it). So should we remove the name of the bridge entirely? SixFourThree (talk) 19:45, 7 February 2008 (UTC)SixFourThree
Removing the link in this case is correct, since the 69th Street Bridge in the film is fictional. The New York Times article appears to be about the artistic license writers use in screenplays: "Besides, a lot of the untruths aren't really goofs. They're consciously allowed into the film in the service of fiction." Therefore, we don't have to do anything with the reference, since it accurately and objectively describes what is said in the film. In fact, I'm going to remove the quotes from the name, since, in the fictional context there's no need to call attention to it.
Jim Dunning | talk 20:14, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
Slightly off-topic, but in the graphic of the prison that appears at the beginning of the film, only "real-life" bridges are shown. There's at least one additional (small geography error), but relatively minor compared with getting a famous bridge's name wrong. Besides, that one really is OR, since I've never seen a reference to the mistake anywhere. SixFourThree (talk) 21:26, 7 February 2008 (UTC)SixFourThree

[edit] Missouri or Illinois

The opening paragraph says the film was shot mostly in St. Louis, Missouri. The extensive production section later in the article avows it was actually shot across the river in East St. Louis, Illinois. So, which is right. Which entry needs to be changed? Sir Rhosis (talk) 11:44, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

According to IMDB[3], many scenes were indeed shot in St. Louis, Missouri, but interestingly enough, IMDB doesn't mention East St. Louis at all! MFNickster (talk) 18:19, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

The article says there was a massive fire in East St. Louis in 1976. I can't seem to find any information about such a fire in East St. Louis, but I did find some news articles about a massive multi-block fire in St. Louis on April 2, 1976. "A general-alarm fire damaged most of the buildings in a six block area just northwest - of downtown St.Louis Friday afternoon, police said." from Damage Widespread In St. Louis Blaze. The Edwardsville Intelligencer. Edwardsville, Illinois. Saturday, April 03, 1976. From the article "...Almost lost St.Louis" Daily Capital News, Jefferson City, Missouri, Tuesday, April 06, 1976. Page 8, Acting deputy chief Lou Stauss said, "People don't realize it, but we almost lost the City of St. Louis." 6 large commercial building were destroyed, and at one point, according to that article, "Fire Chief Charles R. Kamprad brought up the possibility of having to dynamite some buildings in the path of the blaze and thus create a firebreak." 200 firefighters and 51 fire trucks were involved, one fire truck was destroyed in the process. That sounds like a massive urban fire as described in this article. I have no doubt that there were / are many abandoned / burned out buildings in East St. Louis, but it seems that the massive fire in 1976 may refer to a fire in St. Louis, not East St. Louis. --Dual Freq (talk) 21:06, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

At least two recognizable St. Louis MO locations are used and can be seen in the film. The drag chorus line shortly after Snake lands in the film is established at the Fox Theatre (Grand and Olive, St. Louis) and several sources (including IMDB) report that Snake's capture and the president's captivity were shot in the unrenovated Union Station, on downtown Market. I've also heard around town that the 1976 "massive multi-block fire" referenced above took several buildings in the 21st and Laclede area of St. Louis, but the only source for that is the Schlafly webpage (on the right hand sidebar) [4]. Interestingly enough, all three of those locations have now been renovated and are in regular use. The Fox still exists as a theater with touring stage shows and the St. Louis Opera, Union Station now houses a mall and a hotel, and the old Swift Printing buildings have been combined into the Schlafly Taproom (the first Missouri brewpub). Phyrkrakr (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 01:32, 5 June 2008 (UTC)