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Escape from New York (1981)
Obligatory movie for gamers. No, seriously. Watch it!
Most people know that Solid Snake from Metal Gear franchise, as well as Naked Snake, later known as Big Boss, are both based on Snake Plissken. Even when picking a fake name in MGS2, Dave calls himself "Iroquois Pliskin". His voice, mannerisms, and even being lied about the purpose of injection are ALL a homage to this movie... but that's far from all influences:
What I didn't know before watching Escape from New York, was that Twisted Metal was ALSO heavily based on it, specifically Cabbie with his taxi car (Yellow Jacket) and the main villain, the Duke, with his ridiculous pimpmobile (Thumper), but also the jester-like sidekick Romero is dead ringer for Sweet Tooth, except his hair being lacquered into spikes instead of being literally on fire.
The film by itself is amazing, it has great characters, setting, soundtrack and practical effects, but many people already said a lot about it in isolation, I just want to add that if you played any videogames, especially from PlayStation 1 era, "Escape" becomes even more relevant, as you get to know what people who made things YOU grew up with were influenced by... even the dark, empty streets themselves with damaged buildings around, you recognize those in Racoon City from Resident Evil, which is another franchise that takes a lot from John Carpenter's work (its logo eye is just taken from the Thing), watch his stuff and you'll start recognizing a lot of elements you've seen in 3D on the big screen.
This flick also makes some good guesses (I hate the term "predictions") with terrorists hijacking the plane and rushing it into Twin Towers... seriously. Except here they're kind of a Marxist ideological group, as the filmmakers missed what every other old movie did: having Soviet Union existing in 1997. The only completely unrealistic part of Escape from N. Y.
It also comes off more like a horror movie, with characters just trying to make it, instead of an action movie that you might think it to be if you haven't watched Escape from New York and just see the poster and expect 80s action... It has tense and suspenseful atmosphere, very far cry from Rambos and Commandos with their invulnerable hero: if an injury happens, there are consequences to the end... at the same time, actors are also really funny between the scary scenes:
Everyone is chewing the scenery, tons of good dialogue as well as one-liners, and the unexpectedly best parts for me were highlights of the comical President's character, played by Donald Pleasence, Blofeld himself from 007 You Only Live Twice... he really contrasts the gritty and serious hero. And the "Colonel" type is played by Lee Van Cleef, the famous squint below that hat from Spaghetti Westerns in one of his last roles, OH AND THE BIG BAD GUY IS SOUTH PARK'S CHEF. "Chocolate Salty Balls..." xD
For all the destruction surrounding New York, this film also gives a great tour of the landmarks, you get the World Trade Center, Statue of Liberty and its island, Central Park, and even Broadway, I'd say it's a love letter to the city, if it wasn't turned into a dystopian nightmare, but hey, it still looks classy! 11/10. It's just THAT good.