On this day in 1996, John Carpenter finally directed a sequel to one of his films. While it may be seen as a historical failure, Escape From L.A. is a genuinely enjoyable follow-up to 1981's Escape From New York that deserves a little more respect.
Escape from LA
Kurt Russell returns as Snake Plissken, who is once again tasked with a deadly mission on behalf of the government. This time, he must infiltrate Los Angeles, which has become an island full of the worst. Once inside, he must retrieve the control unit for a doomsday unit in order to prevent nuclear annihilation. Of course, it’s not as easy as it could be.
In addition to Russell, the cast included Steve Buscemi as the slimy agent Map to the Stars Eddie, Pam Grier as Hershe Las Palmas, Peter Fonda as Pipeline and Bruce Campbell as the deranged Surgeon General of L.A.
John Carpenter has worked on sequels to his films before, like Halloween 2, but Escape From LA is still the only sequel he has directed himself. For many reasons, that would be an unfortunate statistic.
