Snake Plisskin’s another one of those movie characters who might as well have started in comics. He’s starred in titles from Marvel, Crossgen and Hurricane, and really, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK was the closest thing 80's movie-goers got to a comics-based flick between the SUPERMAN's. I bring that up because Geek Tyrant’s got choice words (some by way of Countingdown) from CRAZIES director Breck Eisner, the latest dude attached to remake ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK.
“ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK... was a comment on the urban decay and the suburban flight coming out of the '70s and early '80s. Conceptually, it's an idea that's not true today because of the world we live in. So, how the prison is created is going to be different than in Carpenter's version. The anxiety of the world and anxiety of our existence post-9/11 is there... That's why it'll be interesting... to have a slightly different take but with the same results which is Manhattan is turned into a walled prison.”
Doing ESCAPE FROM NY post 9/11 would be doozy - - no doubt about that. I think one of the re-issue DVDs was even re-edited to downplay the Twin Towers and the president’s pod flying around the city. == TEASER ==
Anyway, Eisner’s also talking about having Timothy Olyphant play Snake - - which I think would definitely work. He was a badass in A PERFECT GETAWAY and he’s a badass on JUSTIFY. I think he's a better fit than Gerard Butler, anyway, who was going to play the role when Len Wiseman was still attached to direct.
You know, as much as I love John Carpenter, I’m going to say that ESCAPE FROM NY might actually need a remake (and lord knows many of his movie have already been remade - - THE FOG, ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, HALLOWEEN, etc.) I’ve always felt like it had a great set-up and a great ending, but the middle wasn’t as realized as it ought to have been (and maybe that had to do with the level of effects available at the time, further justifying a remake.) It also seemed like everybody kept saying how bad Snake was, but we never actually got to see him do much that was cool. He just kept getting beat-up and captured, and then he'd say, “Call me, Snake.”
Am I being too contrarian here, or do any of you Comic Vine maniacs agree with me? Would you want to see a remake of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, or maybe just more Snake Plissken comics?
-- Tom Pinchuk is the writer of UNIMAGINABLE for Arcana Studios and HYBRID BASTARDS! for Archaia. HYBRID BASTARDS! is available here and UNIMAGINABLE is available here for pre-order on Amazon.com.