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Although this two DVD set has a bit of unnecessary padding, Escape from New York The Special Edition is a huge improvement on the original DVD release from a couple of years ago. It's 1997 Manhattan Island is now a prison with no guards and prisoners left to fend for themselves. Air Force One ( which is en route to an important conference with the Soviet Union and Chinese Government )is hijacked by a group of political terrorists. The President, who was set to present important information at the conference, and the rest of the crew go down inside the walls of the prison. ***

Snake Plissken is a decorated war veteran who has become a notorious outlaw. When captured Plissken is sentenced to the Island prison. Hauk (Lee Van Cleef) recognizes Plissken and hatches a plan to get the president and the vital info out; send in Plissken to retreive both. Hauk has two microscopic explosives planted in Plsseken's head to make him do his end of the bargain in return Hauk has arranged a pardon. Escape is one of Carpenter's best known films and a cult classic. It's also one of his most visually dazzling films as well. Despite working with a budget of around $6 million, Carpenter works wonders using real locations, sets and outstanding miniature work to bring Escape to life. As Carpenter himself notes, Escape From New York like most science fiction films is as much about the present as it is about the future. Carpenter's satire is often sharp and pointed. Escape operates as a broad social satire as well and, while there's little subtle about it, that's part of the film's charm. ***

Any film is only as good as its central performance and Kurt Russell's irony etched performance as Snake echo's Clint Eastwood's The Man With No Name or even Dirty Hairy without apeing them. He still manages to bring the character to life using the popular anti-heroes Eastwood embodied to sketch the character. He brings flesh and bone to the performance. Lee Van Cleef is perfect as Snake's foil (as he was for Eastwood in two of the films in the Dollars trilogy). Rounded out by an excellent cast (Ernest Borgnine, Adriene Barbeau, Harry Dean Stanton as Brain (a k a Harold),Issac Hayes as the Duke of New York and, of course, Donald Pleasance as the President) Escape from New York manages to out perform its modest origin. ---

This deluxe edition is a marked improvement over the previous edition. The high definition transfer isn't marred with a lot of analog or digital compression problems (although there are a few minor compression issues evident)and the remastered sound is generally very good. It compares favorably to the laserdisc edition that was put out about a decade ago. The picture is sharp and the colors rich. Since it was shot on a grainy stock to begin with Escape has a couple of handicaps coming to DVD. If Carpenter has chosen to soften the picture, it would have lost much of it's sharpness. Luckily, Carpenter has chosen to stay true to the original look and feel of the film. In some respects, the latest edition of Escape is like a spiffed up version of the laserdisc edition. That's a good thing as that laserdisc edition was one of the best produced outside of the many Criterion editions put out from the same time frame. ***

The imaging in this new 5.1 remaster is very good although it can't possibly take full advantage of the format as it was originally mixed for mono. The dialogue and music is crisp and sharp sounding with few DVD compression problems. On the other hand, keep in mind that the film originally sounded flat and one dimensional. This remaster isn't a remix that I can tell but sounds significantly better than the previous DVD edition and even the ultimate laserdisc edition of the film. ---

Disc two features the complete bank robbery sequence cut from the opening of the original film by Carpenter (he's right--it wasn't really necessary and the film works much better without it). Carpenter has also composed a new score for this sequence (as either the original was never completed or is missing). It's very much in keeping with the spirit and style of the original score that Carpenter wrote with Alan Holdworth. There's a fine new featurette discussing the film's origin and impact featuring new interviews with Russell, Hill, Carpenter and others from the production crew. ***

The second feaurette focuses on the creation and final production of a new comic book based on the character. An issue of the final product is included in miniature form. While it isn't relevent to the film directly, it's interesting. There's the usual theatrical trailers and an odd feaurette that focuses on key scenes of Russell and music cues from the film. You probably won't watch the latter more than once. The photo gallery provides a nice glimpse behind the scenes. Although the packaging makes a big deal out some new liner notes penned by Carpenter, they're only a couple of paragraphs commenting on the new musical score for the bank robbery scene and a brief comment about how pleased he is about the high definition transfer. ---

The two commentary tracks sound like they are the originals from the laserdisc.. There's nothing wrong with that as both commentaries were pretty definitive to begin with. The first audio track features actor Kurt Russell and director John Carpenter and, while it isn't always the most informative from a production stand point, it's a lot more fun to listen to. Russell and Carpenter banter like an old comedy team and it's clear that they enjoy each other's company. ***

There are some unique insights from Russell for example, there's one sequence where he rounds a street corner. Since the crew was on the other side of the building, he was quite nervous as he waited to hear "action". Evidently, one time as Russell was waiting he ran into two people out for a walk in run down St. Louis (where much of the exteriors were shot). They see Russell and do a 180 back the way they came when they see the prop weapons he has in his hand. ***

The commentary track provided during the deleted bank robbery is clearly new as evidenced by the fact that Russell makes a comment about producer Larry Franco working on Ang Lee's The Hulk. Carpenter's original instinct was correct about the bank robbery sequence; while it looks impressive it doesn't add anything significant to the film and, in fact, it bleeds the actual opening of the film of much of its dramatic tension. Sure, it's interesting and yes it does humanize Snake but, as Russell accurately points out, it also removes much of the mystery of the character in the process diminishing him to a degree. ***

Producer Debra Hill and Production Designer Joe Alves (Close Encounters and Jaws) provide a much more nuts and bolts commentary on the second track. As a result, the two commentaries are completely complimentary and essential. From a technical stand point both commentaries provide interesting info but Russell and Carpenter sound like they're having a private party and we've been invited it. ---

I'm not a big fan of accordion packaging and that's the single flaw with this package. Otherwise, the design of the packaging is top notch and attractive. The cardboard packaging will probably not stand up to wear and tear well, so I'd suggest getting a couple of snap cases to put the film in and storing the packaging if you're a collector. Regardless of how one feels about the layout, the production stills and artwork that decorate the accordion style packaging is very classy looking. ***

One of Carpenter's finest films finally gets the respect it deserves and the deluxe treatment on DVD. The transfer is exceptional with a few minor flaws and the extras are only icing on the cake. The inclusion of the Snake Plessken comic book is a nice extra as well that will probably disappear with later reissues. I'm a bit surprised that MGM has chosen to spread this over two discs. While this deluxe edition is packed with some nice extras, most of them could have easily fit on the first disc. Overall, MGM and Studio Canal have done an outstanding job in presenting Carpenter's film the way it deserves to be seen.