Friday Filibuster: Escape from LA

[Boba Fett]

You can add me as one of the people who actually enjoys Escape from LA. I think Steve Power is also a big fan of the film.

Personally I didn't mind the fact that the film was essentially a remake of Escape from NY; Russell was still a badass, the supporting cast was very entertaining, and surfing aside, there were some very memorable set pieces.

[Dan Mancini]

You can add me as one of the people who actually enjoys Escape from LA. I think Steve Power is also a big fan of the film.

I'm a fan, too. The movie was a parody of Escape from New York, not a sequel or remake. EfLA is utterly ridiculous, but perfectly entertaining if consumed in the spirit it was intended.

[cdouglas]

I really like Escape from L.A.. The basketball scene cracks me up every time.

[Steve T Power]

You can add me as one of the people who actually enjoys Escape from LA. I think Steve Power is also a big fan of the film.

I'm a fan, too. The movie was a parody of Escape from New York, not a sequel or remake. EfLA is utterly ridiculous, but perfectly entertaining if consumed in the spirit it was intended.

Beyond Ridiculous, into ridonkulous territory - but i actually enjoy it even more than Escape from New York. It's the Evil Dead II to New York's Evil Dead.

[Bryan Pope]

You can add me as one of the people who actually enjoys Escape from LA. I think Steve Power is also a big fan of the film.

I'm a fan, too. The movie was a parody of Escape from New York, not a sequel or remake. EfLA is utterly ridiculous, but perfectly entertaining if consumed in the spirit it was intended.

Beyond Ridiculous, into ridonkulous territory - but i actually enjoy it even more than Escape from New York. It's the Evil Dead II to New York's Evil Dead.

That's an apt comparison. I enjoy it, too. I watch the first Escape for the mood, the second for the laughs.

[Erick Harper]

I actually was introduced to EfLA first, and EfNY later on - kept expecting NY to be funnier than it was.

[BrettCullum]

It affirmed what happened to Carpenter. As a director he seemed to drift towards parody, and ESCAPE FROM LA was self-parody (something he seemed to engage in way too much later for my taste). I can see it being viewed in a certain light, and I love anything with Pam Grier in it. Kurt Russell certainly makes it a much easier pill to swallow. I wonder whatever happened to the planned ESCAPE FROM EARTH. And where's the remake of NEW YORK? I file it under guilty pleasure - fun after several beers with the right audience.

[Boba Fett]

And where's the remake of NEW YORK?

Gerald Butler quit a few months after Kurt Russell's tirade about them remaking it; since then the project has been up in the air. Last I heard though Brett 'I'm An Authority on Martial Arts Movies Because I Made Rush Hour' Ratner was looking to direct.

[BrettCullum]

And where's the remake of NEW YORK?

Gerald Butler quit a few months after Kurt Russell's tirade about them remaking it; since then the project has been up in the air. Last I heard though Brett 'I'm An Authority on Martial Arts Movies Because I Made Rush Hour' Ratner was looking to direct.

I shudder with fear!

You know what actually might be okay and due for a remake? A film that reminded me far too much of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK... THE RUNNING MAN. Please someone send Ratner that script instead.

[Boba Fett]

And where's the remake of NEW YORK?

Gerald Butler quit a few months after Kurt Russell's tirade about them remaking it; since then the project has been up in the air. Last I heard though Brett 'I'm An Authority on Martial Arts Movies Because I Made Rush Hour' Ratner was looking to direct.

I shudder with fear!

You know what actually might be okay and due for a remake? A film that reminded me far too much of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK... THE RUNNING MAN. Please someone send Ratner that script instead.

Only if Bob Barker takes over Richard Dawson's role.

[BrettCullum]

Only if Bob Barker takes over Richard Dawson's role.

LOL!!! I was thinking Drew Carey. Or even worse, Howie Mandell. But Barker would be like a cranky mean skeleton, and that could work.

Seriously though, the movie version deviated from the book so far as to be almost unrecognizable. I think it could work better if they did the whole "you have the whole planet to run in" scenario and add back the subplot that Richards is doing it to save his daughter. The written version reads like a film. No need to make changes.