10 Things You Didn’t Know About Escape from New York
Escape from New York opened in theaters on July 10, 1981 and it would go on to become a sci-fi action classic.
In honor of the 40th Anniversary, I finally cracked open my Escape from New York Collector’s Edition Blu-ray from Scream Factory and checked out the special bonus features. Among the bonus features on the release are interviews with the special effects team, a deleted scene, a featurette and three commentary tracks.
Scream Factory’s release featured one new commentary track with actress Adrienne Barbeau and Director of Photography Dean Cundey and two archival commentary tracks, one with Producer Debra Hill and Production Designer Joe Alves and one with Director John Carpenter and the star of the film, Kurt Russell.
Courtesy of those commentary tracks, I now present to you 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Escape from New York…
1. Escape from New York was obviously set in New York City, but the crew only shot in New York City for two days. St. Louis and Los Angeles substituted for New York for the majority of the film. For example… the exterior of Brain’s hideout was the Civil Courts Building in St. Louis, while the interior was shot at the library of the University of Southern California (USC for those in the know).
2. The tall blonde Secret Service Agent that is seen on board Air Force One was played by Steven Ford, the son of the 38th President of the United States, Gerald Ford.
3. The helicopters used for the United States Police Force were on loan from the National Guard. Two side notes about the helicopters… first, Lee Van Cleef was not a fan of helicopters and second, shooting Escape from New York is when Director John Carpenter first fell in love with helicopters. Carpenter would eventually go on to become a licensed helicopter pilot.
4. Shooting in St. Louis would take place between 6pm and 6am. Every morning they would bring bulldozers in to push all the junk and debris used to dress the sets so the streets were clear for the morning commute.
5. Some of the debris used in the movie made the front page of the local newspaper. Airplane parts were purchased in Arizona and trucked in to simulate the Air Force One crash site… the local paper reported that an actual plane had crashed in downtown St. Louis, complete with eyewitness accounts of the crash.
6. The woman that Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) encounters at the Chock Full of Nuts was played by Season Hubley, Kurt Russell’s wife at the time. The was Hubley’s first acting gig following the birth of Boston, her son with Kurt Russell.
7. It was Isaac Hayes’ idea to give his character, The Duke, an eye twitch whenever The Duke was in the presence of Snake Plissken.
8. Carpenter and Russell shared some Ox Baker stories. Carpenter recalled Ox cutting his leg at one point during the shooting of the fight scene between Slag (Ox Baker) and Snake Plissken. Carpenter asked if Ox wanted the medic to take a look, but Ox, a professional wrestler by trade, was no stranger to a little blood and acted like there was nothing wrong. However Ox was not as cavalier about the finish of the fight, since Russell had to hit Ox with an actual baseball bat with an actual nail in it on the back of Ox’s neck. Ox was wearing a collar with a piece of wood on the back for the nail to go into, but there was little margin for error.
9. It was Donald Pleasence’s idea for Duke’s minions to place a wig on top of his bald head while they have him captive. Pleasence had also come up with a whole backstory about how a man of British origins became the President of the United States, none of which was used in the actual movie.
10. The shot of Maggie (Adrienne Barbeau, Carpenter’s wife at the time) dead on the bridge was shot after principal photography had been completed. The pick up shot was done on the floor of John Carpenter’s garage.
