I read with abject horror that Hollywood is planning a remake of the legendary Escape From New York. The cult movie, starring Kurt Russell and Donald Pleasance, tells the futuristic story of one-eyed Rambo Snake Plissken going in to Manhattan (now used as a prison) to recover the US President whose plane has crashed on the island. Full of crims and nutcases, this John Carpenter movie is every bit daft as it is fantastic, and it also features a superb soundtrack by Carpenter himself.
Rumour has it that Gerard Butler will be filling Russell’s shoes. Quite frankly I don’t know why they are bothering. The original is a classic but the remake is hardly going to break the box office - even if it is superb it’s not going to make much money, unless they turn it from a downbeat futuristic thriller in to an all out action movie, so why not leave well alone?
I suppose the saving grace is that John Carpenter isn’t directing it. He seems to have had his good directing organs surgically removed many years ago, and is quite happy to hand over his scripts for remake and simply coin in the money.
I would like to point out at this time that if they decide to remake Blade Runner then I am leaving this planet for good.
