45 years ago today, an unassuming, low budget movie opened in theatres. John Carpenter had made a splash with the wildly successful horror movie Halloween, and was subsequently given a two picture deal. The first, The Fog, was reasonably successful. The second, however, was a massive hit, making four times its budget. Starring Kurt Russell as the ex-military anti-hero Snake Plissken, the movie endures today as a classic sci-fi movie, and has had a massive influence on some media still being developed today. On this date in history, Escape From New York was released.

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The president of the United States is due at a meeting with other world leaders for a last ditch attempt at avoiding World War III, but when revolutionaries hijack his plane, he is forced to bail out at the most inopportune time, as he crashlands on Manhattan Island. Whilst today that would just mean ridiculously expensive groceries, in this alternate future, the city has been turned into a prison island. Apparently The Warriors really stirred things up, because crime increased 400%, and by 1997 the US government had no choice but to wall off the island, and dump the worst of the worst there to rot. Snake Plisken has a one-way ticket to the isolated island, but he is offered a lifeline; if he can get the president out within 24 hours, we’ll receive a full pardon. What ensues is a travelogue around the prison island of Manhattan, in a structure almost reminiscent of Homer’s Odyssey.

Escape From New York was released in 1981, but when you watch the movie, it has the 70’s written all over it. New York City in the 1970’s was crime-ridden, it wasn’t a tourist destination like it is now. 70’s cinema was categorised by political thrillers, paranoia, and conspiracy, and though it is ostensibly a sci-fi action movie, Escape From New York bears all those flavours. Much like fellow 70’s movies like Rollerball and Logan’s Run, Escape From New York takes a dim view of the government’s values and honesty. It’s set on a prison island, and the overt threat for Plissken is the inmates, but it’s his distrust of the powers that be that ultimately defines his actions.

On the face of it, Escape From New York shouldn’t work. The one 1980’s element that it does display is how ridiculous and over the top the whole thing is. The island of Manhattan, a centre for commerce, one of the biggest cities in the country, was written off, and used as a prison colony? Look at the hero of the story. Leather jacket, tanktop, and camo trousers. His weapon, an uzi with everything but the kitchen sink attached to it. Clint Eastwood’s voice. That eyepatch! His first name is Snake, for christ’s sake, and his surname, Plissken, even sounds like the reptile’s hiss. The ultimate villain, soul singer Isaac Hayes, playing a character named The Duke, A-Number-1, who travels around in a Cadillac with chandeliers on the bonnet. It should be laughable. Yet, somehow, it does work. Incredibly well. Snake Plissken is cool regardless, because Kurt Russell is cool. Effortlessly. He has an on-screen presence that is undeniable, and great comedic timing. Russell was 30 when Escape From New York was released, but already had almost 20 years’ acting experience under his belt. He was young and brash enough to convincingly play the tough and dangerous Snake, and the pedigree to know exactly how to do it.

The world is so convincingly painted, too. Plissken’s reputation is built up over the course of the film with snippets of smart dialogue peppered throughout the movie. We’re not specifically told about his previous exploits, but he is held in reverence by Lee Van Cleef’s Hauk, even whilst he clearly has disdain for the man Snake has become. Every step along his journey, inmates on the island recognise him, and that respect is clearly visible. And for those who don’t know him, he wins it pretty quickly. The prison island itself also looks authentically lived in. It would have been easy to paint it like some deadly asylum, but there is a society, of sorts, that has developed, as evidenced early on with that bizarre, yet weirdly understandable cabaret performance put on by some of the inhabitants of the prison island. It’s a suitably dark, grimy, crumbling city, with a cast of unique characters that all have understandable roles and motivations. Carpenter could have had the prisoners all be outlandish and threatening, but for a lot of the film, they’re actually very quiet, which is a far more effective choice for unnerving the audience. Clearly a product of Carpenter’s horror movie beginnings.

Escape From New York, an unassuming low-budget thriller, was genre defining, and highly influential. It can be argued that it is the first of its kind – quippy anti-hero, surviving against great odds based on his wit, cunning, and fighting prowess. The movie had a lot of direct imitators, but in many ways it is responsible more broadly for a lot of the action movies that came along for the next two decades. From all those star led Schwarzenegger movies, like Commando and Raw Deal, to Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo and Cobra, Escape From New York kicked off the movement.

So much of what’s good about Escape From New York is down to John Carpenter’s ability to redefine a genre. He did it for horror movies with Halloween, and then for action movies with Escape From New York. The writer director was even responsible for the movie’s fantastic synth score, which was great at the time, and still endures now in a time when synthwave is enjoying a resurgence.

Against a budget of around just $6 million, Escape From New York grossed around $25 million, making it a massive success. Not only was it a financial success, though, it is also an enduring scifi classic, revered today as a bona fide classic, and truly worthy of our celebration. Happy Birthday, Escape From New York.