The Return of Snake Plissken?

Here is the headline, “Breck Eisner directing 'Escape From New York'”. See for yourself here at: http://www.heatvisionblog.com/2010/04/breck-eisner-directing-escape-from-new-york.html.

Now that that is out of the way please allow me a moment to vent my mixed feelings at this announcement. You see, Gentle Reader, John Carpenter’s “Escape from New York” is near and dear to my heart and to hear such talk upsets the ole’ apple cart, so to speak. I faced this a couple of months ago when Gerard Butler was up for the roll that Kurt Russell owns.

Please give me a moment…



Deep breathe. Exhale.



Good. That’s better…

These days one has to look at remakes and “re-imaginings” of beloved projects as par for the course. The directors that loved this stuff growing up are fans and geeks just like me. Of course they are going to want to play in the sandbox of some of their favorite characters. Who wouldn’t? When Ronald Moore announced that he was given the reins to a new “Battlestar Galactica” I was initially up in arms. After seeing what he shaped it into and the shear love of the story that he poured into the project I find it hard to see a Cylon without the stamp of Ronald Moore upon it. Yes I love the original but the remake / re-imagining is so much more engrossing; so much… (dare I say) BETTER.

The same thing happened back in 1982 when a young filmmaker decided that he was going to remake the science fiction classic, “The Thing”. Just who did this guy think he was messing with a classic that generations of movie geeks had grown to love? What could he do that the original filmmakers couldn’t? As it turns out that young filmmaker knew what he was doing. He pulled the best remake EVER out of his hat, “John Carpenter’s The Thing”. It is one of my all time favorite films.

I love John Carpenter. I love his films. I miss him. Horribly. I wish that he had started a school or had taken some pupils under his wing like Roger Corman did for him. Carpenter HAS something to say. What kills me is that he is keeping it to himself these days. The cinematic world is the poorer for it.

In a perfect world I would love to see a John Carpenter directed and Kurt Russell staring part three to the saga of Snake Plissken. One where Snake turns the world back on (since he shut it down in part two) where the powers that be decide that he is more a risk than an asset and where Plissken makes the escape that we never expected.

Since this is not a perfect cinematic world I am no longer inclined to write off a remake / re-imagining of one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE FILMS. Yeah, I know, it’s kooky but what can I say, Snake Plissken is one of my ALL TIME favorite Anti-Heroes. He packs way too much angst and memory to resist. I truly wish it would be Kurt in the role but “remakes” do not lend themselves to “trilogies”.

Come what may, I’ll see you at the multiplex – eye patch in hand.