Movies: Escape from L.A. | Sandkings

Snake Plissken is back, and L.A.'s got him!

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• Escape from L.A.
• Rated R
• Starring Kurt Russell, Cliff Robertson
• 105 minutes

n 1998 an earthquake separated Los Angeles from the North American continent, creating a new island. By 2013 L.A. has become the perfect place to dump undesirables from the U.S. mainland, where it's illegal to smoke, drink, eat red meat or practice the wrong religion. In fact, it's illegal to do anything considered unsavory by the U.S. president-for-life (Robertson). Unfortunately for the president, his daughter Utopia (A.J. Langer) runs off with a top secret black box and straight into the arms of L.A.'s rebel leader, Cuervo Jones (George Corraface).

Having just been captured by the authorities, the notorious hero/criminal/legend/psychopath Snake Plissken (Russell) is pressed into service to get the black box and get rid of the president's daughter. Sixteen years earlier Snake was similarly forced by the government to rescue the then president from Manhattan, which had been turned into a prison. With a deadly virus pumping through his veins as motivation, Snake has eight hours to get to L.A., find the black box and get back in time to receive the antidote.

Escape from L.A. is the long-in-coming sequel to the 1981 cult classic, Escape from New York. Directed by John Carpenter and written by Carpenter, Debra Hill and Russell, Escape from L.A. is true to the original. Snake is back in full form, with an eye patch, a snarl in his voice and some new black leather duds to show he's serious.

While the original plot of Escape from New York wasn't unique, the film itself was a blast with an attitude back in '81. Escape from L.A. uses virtually the same story, but without the edge the first movie had. Because the stories are so similar, this film seems more like a remake than a sequel.

Carpenter is intent on having fun with his subject matter, making the film practically a send up of the original, but with an L.A. backdrop. While there are a few truly inspired moments -- especially the takeoff on Hollywood's obsession with plastic surgery -- there are just as many moments that don't work at all (especially the surfing scene).

Escape from L.A. owes its limited success to the talented Russell, who gives his anti-hero Snake (30K .JPG) the proper attitude to bring off the role. Much like Escape from New York, this film is also peopled with a variety of fun characters portrayed by solid actors. Of special note are Bruce Campbell as the Surgeon General of Beverly Hills and Steve Buscemi as Map to the Stars Eddie.

While only a mediocre film, Escape from L.A. is still an enjoyable ride, and fans of the original should find it entertaining.

If Carpenter happens to get another chance, let's hope he puts Snake in a different story. -- Kathie

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Beau Bridges has discovered life on Mars...

Our pick:
1 2 3 4 5

• Sandkings
• Rated PG
• Starring Beau Bridges, Lloyd Bridges, Dylan Bridges
• 93 minutes
• MSRP $14.95
• Available August 27

n the trek from print anthology to television to mass-market video release, George R.R. Martin's classic short story Sandkings has mutated quite a bit. Presented earlier this year on Showtime as an Outer Limits pilot, this month it will be released to video as a 93-minute made-for-TV film. But the medium's not the only thing that's changed.

This version of the story takes place on Earth after a Martian lander has brought back an unpleasant surprise hidden in its soil samples. Government scientist Simon Kress has spent five years pawing through the extraterrestrial dirt, trying to nurse its bounty of dried-up eggs back to life. But just as he persuades the first batch to hatch, his superiors get cold feet. When one tiny insectoid creature briefly evades the installation's security system, the president himself orders the project shut down and the Martian dirt put on ice. Kress is fired, and he and his findings are about to be quietly shoved under the carpet.

But Kress is certain his alien discoveries are more than just nasty little bugs. He's convinced that they're social, sentient and far more important than anyone else realizes. With visions of a Nobel Prize dancing in his head, he steals some of the precious, egg-laden soil and starts raising an alien brood in his backyard barn, without so much as a lid on their aquarium. It's no particular surprise that things quickly get out of hand.

The biggest disappointment about this adaptation is Kress' transformation from all-out villain to nice-guy family man. Beau Bridges plays Kress as sardonic and obsessive, but generally good-hearted, which makes it a tad difficult to believe when he later turns violently on his creations.

Not that this is the only evidence of Kress' split personality -- he's also a scientist who's patiently spent five years on a fruitless project but can't conduct an experiment for three days without pointlessly torturing his subjects. Screenwriter Melinda Snodgrass tosses some intriguing elements into the story, including Kress' cold-hearted father (real-life dad Lloyd Bridges) and hero-worshipping son (real-life son Dylan Bridges). But overall, she habitually pushes too hard to get the plot moving, which comes at the expense of the characters.

Director Stuart Gillard also pushes a little too hard, mixing ominous music with unnecessary close-ups in an attempt to create suspense between already suspenseful scenes. It's all a bit heavy-handed for a story that's exciting enough in its own regard. Despite the scaled-back setting and decidedly cheap TV-style special effects, Sandkings still contains a spooky story about a man's simultaneous struggle with his own ego and an unsettlingly alien intelligence. As television movies go, this one's reasonably solid -- but it's still not quite up to its source material.

It's difficult to watch a favorite story adapted anything but perfectly and still be objective about it. If nothing else, I hope this movie will prompt a few people to check out Martin's excellent short fiction. -- Tasha

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