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Escape from L.A.

Escape from L.A.

1996
Sci-fi
Suspense/Thriller
1h 41m
Snake Plissken is once again called in by the United States government to recover a potential doomsday device from Los Angeles, now an autonomous island where undesirables are deported. (imdb)
Your probable score
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Escape from L.A.

1996
Sci-fi
Suspense/Thriller
1h 41m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 34.82% from 3030 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(3030)
Compact view
Compact view
Rated 24 Oct 2021
70
53rd
Dorky as hell, it's a delight. Snake is wearing a garbage bag/gortex number after getting his clothes from the first film ripped away from him, symbolizing that lol whatever this movie is bananas - the cast is full of nuts. John Carpenter should not be allowed to have enough of a budget that gives him access to CGI.
Rated 05 Mar 2013
82
88th
This immensely underrated sequel is the most powerful political statement by the master. Here, Plissken, the hero who's always forced to be a hero, is fooled again by the authorities -- a theocratic president who runs a christian country free of drugs, whores and beer; his daughter turns into a terrorist --, but he manages to, in just one scene, rewrite American history, shut down the whole planet and send humanity back to Dark Age. Carpenter's fans just couldn't ask for more.
Rated 14 Feb 2018
4
19th
It's pretty much just a silly, campy remake of its predecessor with even worse acting and special effects. An extra point for Snake/Kurt Russel still being badass as hell.
Rated 11 Feb 2008
55
32nd
When he flies into LA, does that make him Snake on a Plane?
Rated 25 Jan 2010
80
44th
Pretty much a remake of Escape from NY but with a budget. The cameos are hilarious.
Rated 23 Sep 2008
80
65th
Carpenter is so badass!
Rated 05 Nov 2009
8
11th
Synopsis: *grunt* urgh, grr, hmmm... *silence*. Few shootings, few explosions. Snake passes out. Snake wakes up. He walks. He passes out. Time's up
Rated 04 Jul 2009
68
38th
Silly but fun sequel. It trades understatement for overstatement.
Rated 23 Aug 2023
7
61st
Kinda ridiculous... Very ridiculous but very watchable. Many wonderful side actors including the lovely Ensign Ro
Rated 08 Jul 2020
71
27th
The ending has a lot more impact than the the first film's, but the rest of it sticks so closely to the formula, it's the only part that's an improvement. Carpenter does a good job of using all of LAs biggest cultural elements to hide the sameness, but he also goes badly over the top in the humor & the social commentary's less subtle than ever. The surf scene & basketball game are both also dumb, but made me grin slightly & even feel a little suspense, respectively.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
20
6th
Horrible. Horrible. Horrible. You think it's going to be good...but it's horrible. Horrible. I'm serious. Watch it. You'll see.
Rated 14 Oct 2022
32
4th
Carpenter’s wild swings from masterpieces to heavy-handed dreck continues here; surprisingly dull and lifeless as an actioner (with Russell’s gravel-voiced Eastwood impression becoming monotonous) and thuddingly, painfully obvious as political satire, with Robertson, Keach and Forbes given free reign to ham mercilessly. Horrifically goofy (and unintentionally? funny) CGI scenes are the final nail in the coffin. Grier and Buscemi do their best with the wet matches they are handed.
Rated 14 Jun 2017
55
13th
So 90s it hurts.
Rated 11 May 2019
53
21st
A boring nothing of an action movie.
Rated 24 Sep 2010
57
22nd
Take everything original, fun or intelligent from the first movie, drop your pants and shit all over it. It only rates this high for the unintentional hilarity and it's the only Plissken we are going to get until someone makes a shitty remake.
Rated 22 Mar 2009
75
54th
Less a sequel than a transplanted remake. Rife with El Lay and industry in-jokes (along with cryptic references to an "Escape from Cleveland" caper), this hurtles along at breakneck speed as Snake slithers his way through LA's variegated human vermin. Genre buffs will especially enjoy Carpenter's culty casting: Fonda as an aging surfer waiting for the big tsunami due to crest over Melrose Avenue, and the always welcome Grier as a two-fisted transsexual(!)
Rated 02 Jan 2014
40
10th
Snake is an idiot who only survives because everyone is surprising bad at killing him.
Rated 27 Aug 2008
70
38th
A pretty fun action-comedy remake of the original. It's a commentary on LA, people, not a gritty action film like the original. As long as you view it like that, it's a nice little diversion.
Rated 08 Apr 2008
88
79th
This is pretty much the apex of ridiculous 90's sci-fi action
Rated 14 Jun 2011
57
46th
This may be the longest-in-development sequel since _Psycho II_ and Carpenter takes no chances by simply remaking his original _Escape from New York_ in a slightly different setting on a somewhat bigger budget. Certainly watchable and Kurt is in trim, fightin' form, but a palpable atmosphere of deja vu hangs over the film, making it seem almost as needless as Carpenter's _Village of the Damned_ remake.
Rated 12 Jul 2007
91
74th
This movie is really silly but also really entertaining.
Rated 09 Nov 2013
38
16th
2013? Where was I when this all went down?! A grade-A slice of American cheese sandwiched between two pieces of shark.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
62
23rd
This movie is what it is, a cheesy follow up to a cheesy movie. Russell basically could sleep walk through this movie and get a paycheck. THe movie had a guarunteed audience. All that being said, confidentially, I liked this movie just not as much as Escape from NY. Plus as a bonus, Peter Fonda surfs and it's got Buscemi!
Rated 26 Oct 2008
40
18th
que?
Rated 04 Dec 2009
55
15th
I like Snake Plissken too much to hate this movie.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
60
28th
Not really a Carpenter classic, but I liked the ending.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
80
83rd
Much of the charm in its predecessor is missing. However the ending is just such an awesome payoff not just to this movie but to its prequel as well. It's odd because a lot of great movies have terrible endings. This is a relatively terrible movie with an ending so good that it went back in time and made me forgive the director's deliberate effort to make the prequel seem stupid by its addition.
Rated 21 Mar 2012
70
77th
I had a lot of fun with Escape from L.A. Sure, it isn't as unique as it was when our setting was New York, but the potential that wasn't reached last time seemed to be fully realized this time around. The action scenes were just so much better, and this led to the characters -- and us, by extension -- not feeling bored. Snake Plissken gets to do a lot more in this film, and that led to it being an enjoyable experience.
Rated 02 Mar 2021
50
28th
What this seems to be is a movie length episode of the TV show 'Sliders' combined with 'Grand Theft Auto' the video game. And as my rating indicates, this is not entirely a bad thing. Did I mention that Stacy Keach wears a ponytail, Pam Grier flies a paraglider and Peter Fonda is a surf dude?
Rated 24 Jul 2012
55
28th
A glorified reenactment of the first film. It lacks the striking cinematography and pragmatic production design of its predecessor. Also, the early CGI has aged really, REALLY poorly. On the other hand, it does have Snake shooting hoops, surfing with Peter Fonda, and then hang-gliding with Pam Grier, Al Leong, and Steve Buscemi, a definite plus.
Rated 14 Nov 2020
59
27th
58.7.
Rated 04 Nov 2023
65
30th
Ridiculous film with some of the worst CGI I've ever seen. An incredible shame when the painted backdrops of burnt out LA look so great. The movie rattles along from one campy set piece to another until it reaches a pretty solid conclusion. It's a caricature of camp but there are some fun moments to be had
Rated 10 Jan 2010
41
34th
Obviously it's terrible, and if you prefer this to NY that's as close to being objectively wrong on this site as anything can be... but so much of it is so gloriously stupid that I'd still recommend it under the right circumstances. That surfing scene and Buscemi's double take is something else.
Rated 05 Nov 2010
70
4th
silly and amusing if you're from LA
Rated 14 Aug 2007
60
43rd
Russel prooved to be an action icon of the 90ies!
Rated 19 Aug 2016
46
7th
Fucking retarded. Not that I was bored, it was fun actually, but that's mainly because the movie is so ridiculous. Much better than Escape from NY though, which is just garbage
Rated 31 Aug 2016
80
37th
This opens with the destruction of LA - the freeways crumble, the boardwalks are flooded, Union Station is reduced to bits. The only way Carpenter's anti-infrastructure, anti-industry message could be made more explicit is if the Hollywood sign itself were to topple over. This is one of the goofiest movies ever made, probably because it feels like it's trying to appeal to the same sensibilities that it loathes, but for all of its mid-90s silliness, it all comes from a place of real anger.
Rated 13 Feb 2009
3
74th
Someone took the screenplay to Escape from NY and did a few search-and-replaces.
Rated 09 Jan 2013
60
10th
Amusing B-movie from John Carpenter. Great if you're in the mood for it!
Rated 04 Jan 2009
75
21st
John Carpenter rocks!!
Rated 09 Dec 2008
90
92nd
SNAAAAAAAAAAKE
Rated 15 Aug 2016
50
17th
The special effects are so bad I laughed hysterically. Borrows too much from the original, and doesn't even copy it competently.
Rated 09 May 2016
70
52nd
It's a really fun ride with a few bad scenes.
Rated 14 Jan 2014
30
8th
What happened to you, John Carpenter?
Rated 06 Oct 2009
60
41st
Much maligned. Like a lot of 90s movies it suffers from the advent of CGI and terrible nu metal music - but not as much as some. It has a couple of unintentionally hilarious moments as a consequence but it just adds to the fun really.
Rated 21 May 2018
75
21st
It's Escape from New York but in L.A.! That's basically all you need to know!
Rated 24 Dec 2015
70
71st
Escape From L.A is not a great film by any means, but it's more complicated than generally acknowledged. It's a direct sequel, a quasi-remake, a knowing self parody and a sly quasi-libertarian style commentary on contemporary culture. Produced on a much grander scale than the low budget original, the CGI effects are surprisingly poor---they didn't look good in 1996 either--but it's brimming with style, attitude and amusing performances, and the ending is a subversive knockout.
Rated 07 Mar 2017
70
53rd
2015/09/03
Rated 09 Mar 2008
50
19th
Disappointing
Rated 29 May 2008
80
74th
Snake Plissken is back, and still the most bad ass person ever to live. WARNING: this movie may cause uncontrollable explosions, and/or sheer aswesomeness.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
12
8th
Not even the Bruce Campbell cameo captured my interest. This was just a bad idea, and an overpromoted eyesore in American cinema.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
25
40th
first time i watched this i was 13, thought it was genious, a decade later, it is crap, wish i would have known that then
Rated 28 Jan 2010
68
10th
Not nearly as good as NYC.
Rated 17 Oct 2007
5
2nd
This is so crap it's good!!
Rated 11 Feb 2014
4
22nd
Escape From L.A. is something of a guilty pleasure. Bizarrely John Carpenter just seems to have made a carbon copy of his own creation. And it feels more like a remake as apposed to a sequel. There's certainly a lack of fresh ideas, the supporting characters are painfully annoying and the majority of the set pieces are unintentionally amusing. In particular the ridiculous basketball and surfing scenes. But regardless of how bad this film is, it's just great to see Kurt Russell return as Snake.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
50
29th
Definitely not as good as Escape From New York, but still decent. Worth a watch.
Rated 19 Jan 2015
65
12th
I used to love this movie as a kid and sort of dislike Escape from New York, but my opinions on the two have basically flipped. This is, by far, the worse movie. That said, it's still watchable, it's still got Kurt Russell as Snake, and it's a perfectly watchable big dumb action movie- which basically sums up the problem right there, given that Escape from NY was more akin to Blade Runner than Blade: Trinity.
Rated 27 Dec 2014
30
5th
I really like Escape From New York for some reason, perhaps because I was much younger, but this one was awful
Rated 14 Aug 2007
80
32nd
I liked most of it - but it fails as a whole.
Rated 20 Mar 2007
40
26th
Straight to cable quality action film. What keeps it from being truly bad, at least in my mind, was the scene with the plastic surgery zombies.
Rated 21 Oct 2009
50
21st
It's just a bad carpon copy, with lots of VERY BAD CGI, of its predecessor, same kind of situation, same kind of deal etc. Makes you wonder how Metal Gear Solid, the infamous Playstation video game series, was inspired by this flick. Watch it if you're turned on by extreme cheesiness. Pam Grier plays a transvestite though. (All in all doesn't that make this into a Tarantino flick?)
Rated 19 Jul 2008
60
22nd
Decent action movie.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
62
49th
Really stupid, and a TON more camp than the first, but so what? It's Snake Plissken. Yeah, Stacy Keach gets a little annoying, and the basketball shoot-out was lame, but it's still a good watch.
Rated 13 Jun 2007
60
47th
Better than the first one but still no worldbeater. Another victim of the "Evil Dead Sequel Syndrome" wherein the sequel looks an awful lot like a remake
Rated 21 Feb 2017
41
16th
Action Moives: THE MOVIE!
Rated 14 Aug 2007
20
2nd
Pretty much scene-for-scene remake in which every scene is remade much worse. Except for the Tsunami-surfing. That was an entirely new piece of shit.
Rated 17 Aug 2022
50
9th
mostlymissedthekindacoolintroloreaboutearthquakes+virusthistime+gottakillpresdaughtercuztrynafreethem+theykepttrickinghimshoothologramssohedoesittothemandshutsdownearthsocivrestartetc-nowhecansmokeetclol
Rated 13 Jan 2010
100
88th
This is an excellent cyber-punk action thriller, better and way more badass than Escape from New York, and Snake looks way cooler. The action and effects are great, and the supporting cast does a superb job. The plot, along with some of the scenes and dialogue, is so similar to the first movie that this is almost a remake, but it's a lot of fun and also has a great soundtrack.
Rated 23 Aug 2007
50
49th
Good
Rated 26 Mar 2007
49
14th
It's not Escape from New York. It is Snake Plissken, though.
Rated 04 Jun 2010
30
13th
This sequel is so close to the original, that it's a borderline remake - with paragliders and Bruce Campbell.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
60
46th
A pale imitation of "Escape from New York". It still has a few good elements, but they're drowned out by cheese.
Rated 10 Jan 2011
5
45th
it's funnyish, but maybe it's just too much camp.
Rated 26 May 2007
1
0th
Worst movie ever made.
Rated 09 Jul 2009
70
37th
didn't care for the story or the "actors" (as if anybody knew how to act) or for anything else, still kept watching it till the end-quite an achievement-extra 20 points just for this
Rated 14 Aug 2007
70
40th
A fun, campy movie that could only come from John Carpenter. It's a bit over-the-top, but I enjoyed it.
Rated 10 Oct 2013
54
14th
54.000
Rated 14 Aug 2007
70
21st
A guilty pleasure I guess.
Rated 17 Jun 2014
54
32nd
A lackluster sequel. The characters are still cool, the ending is actually fantastic and there is one very cool action scene that stands out, but all the connecting bits aren't up to snuff. Some eye rolling humor and horribly dated CG effects lower the film quite a bit. The surfing/basketball BS is kind of a slap in the face for this character
Rated 17 Nov 2014
55
20th
Highly entertaining, but contains (SPOILER): - super awkward basketball action scene - unexplainable surfing scene - EXACTLY the same plot as Escape from NY
Rated 24 May 2017
55
28th
Escaping from Los Angeles is just not as entertaining to watch as escaping from New York.
Rated 14 Sep 2009
69
26th
Still a watchable Snake Plissken.
Rated 21 Jan 2010
63
70th
ger; [Flucht aus L. A.]; snake soll eine blackbox von der gefängnisinsel LA zurückhohlen, die des präsidenten tochter "utopia" von ihrem vater gestohlen hat um den dortigen chef-gerilliero zur macht zu helfen.;
Rated 16 Nov 2007
50
56th
totally stupid ~ i loved it!
Rated 26 Oct 2008
45
35th
One sequel too many.
Rated 12 Jun 2013
77
75th
We all know Snake Plissken can shoot bad guys with little to no problems... But when his life is at risk, CAN HE SHOOT HOOPS?
Rated 14 Aug 2007
85
71st
Way better than the original.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
80
27th
Escape from New York was better.
Rated 02 Dec 2015
3
38th
Frankly much better than Escape from New York, so I'm not sure why the consensus is the other way around. LA makes a way more interesting dystopia, and the cast is much more fun.
Rated 08 Dec 2009
50
21st
Lame and disappointing sequel to what was a really original first movie.
Rated 04 Mar 2011
74
39th
It's no Escape From New York, but it is still good fun.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
68
29th
Woohoo, surfing post-apocalyptic style
Rated 14 Aug 2007
30
17th
lame lame lame
Rated 01 Aug 2009
35
24th
Takes the concepts and ethics of the fun and silly first movie and stretches and pulls them too far and too thin.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
20
7th
This was one of the bummer-of-the-summer movies where i'm all hyped thinking it's going to be great & instead am treated to boring trash.
Rated 07 Apr 2012
56
31st
I find these movies to be accurately scaled in cleverness to the cities they take place in.
Rated 28 Jun 2010
100
92nd
100 Metal Gear Solid
Rated 03 Mar 2011
70
72nd
More or less a remake of the first movie, with some added (hopefully intentional) silliness.
Rated 03 Oct 2012
70
14th
Piss-poor imitation of Carpenter's earlier work
Rated 16 Oct 2013
40
8th
Russell exudes charisma and I'm a huge fan of both Van Cleef and Stanton, but it is overlong and poorly paced.

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