1997. New York City is a walled, maximum security prison. Breaking out is impossible. Breaking in is insane.
In a world ravaged by crime, the entire island of Manhattan has been converted into a walled prison where brutal prisoners roam free. After the US president crash-lands inside, war hero Snake Plissken has 24 hours to bring him back.
Escape from New York (1981) is a action, thriller and science fiction film directed by John Carpenter, released on May 23, 1981 with a runtime of 1h 39m. It stars Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine and Donald Pleasence. Viewers rate it 7.0 out of 10 across 3,635 ratings.
Watch the official trailer for Escape from New York before you stream it.
Official trailers, teasers, clips and featurettes for Escape from New York.
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Kurt Russell
as Snake Plissken
Lee Van Cleef
as Police Commissioner Bob Hauk
Ernest Borgnine
as Cabbie
Donald Pleasence
as President of the United States
Isaac Hayes
as The Duke of New York
Season Hubley
as Girl in Chock Full O'Nuts
Harry Dean Stanton
as Harold 'Brain' Helman
Adrienne Barbeau
as Maggie
Tom Atkins
as Rehme
Charles Cyphers
as Secretary of State
Frank Doubleday
as Romero
John Strobel
as Cronenberg
Directed by John Carpenter, written by Nick Castle and John Carpenter, produced by Larry Franco and Debra Hill.
Average viewer score of 7.0/10 from 3,635 ratings.
"Too little of too much" would describe this movie well, which presented us a dystopian New York with development potential and characters whose background is shared, exposed with brief moments of characterization that made me feel like I was missing this movie's predecessor. It didn't exist, and so the end result was of an expanded universe of unknown circumstances - except for the brief introduction we got in the…
Reviewed on December 6, 2014
A Snake, a Brain, a Cabbie, a Duke and the President Of The USA. It's 1997 and Manhattan Island is a walled off prison, during the flight of Air Force One the president's plane is taken over by a terrorist and the president ejects out in the safety pod. Sadly for him he lands right in the middle of Manhattan Island. When an armed unit lands inside the walls they are told that the president has been taken hostage…
Reviewed on February 10, 2019
Nails the "post-apocalyptic except the world didn't end" vibe. _Final rating:★★★★ - Very strong appeal. A personal favourite._
Reviewed on June 8, 2020
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Escape from New York (1981) is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, Philo, Criterion Channel, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, MovieSphere+ Amazon Channel and Howdy Amazon Channel, and to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube and Fandango At Home. Streaming availability is checked against JustWatch data and can change by region.
The main cast of Escape from New York (1981) includes Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence and Isaac Hayes. The film was directed by John Carpenter. You can see the full cast and crew list, with character names, further up this page.
Escape from New York was released on May 23, 1981 and runs for 1h 39m.
Escape from New York (1981) holds an average rating of 7.0 out of 10 from 3,635 viewer votes, and is a good pick if you enjoy action, thriller and science fiction films. Read the viewer reviews on this page to decide for yourself.
Yes. The official Escape from New York trailer is embedded in the trailer section of this page and plays instantly, no download or sign-up required.
