Everything that was absent from Escape from NY that made it such a cool movie (cheesy action, an obnoxiously obvious score, over the top production design and effects), Escape From LA has in spades. And it is a profoundly uncool movie. This movie is the cinematic equivalent of a 48 year old dad in 1996 wearing baggy blue jeans, white tube socks, New Balance Sneakers and a Planet Hollywood Leather jacket. 

I don’t hate it or anything. It’s kind of fun in a stupid way for most of it. I love Cuervo Jones, AJ Langer’s hot pants, Stacy Keach’s ponytail, Bangkok Rules, Bruce Campbell’s surgeon general and of course the basketball scene. I don’t even have a problem with the silly Peter Fonda surfing stuff. But by the time it devolves into a big, crappy, hang glider finale, Escape From LA has really worn out its welcome. 

I’ll always love that ending, though. Snake Plissken is undoubtedly the greatest mass murderer in the history of movies for pushing that button. Think of how many hundreds of millions of babies that would starve/freeze to death, or the billions who would die from disease and lack of medical care. Not to mention the hellish, unspeakable barbarity humanity would descend into after instantaneously losing all power and technology. 

But sure. Welcome to the Human race. Badass.