★ ★ John Carpenter mounts an exciting premise, and then runs out of ideas. Perhaps given a higher budget, 'Escape From New York' might be able to overcome its non-plot with visual dazzle. As it is, the film lifelessly flops around impersonating 'Blade Runner', 'The Warriors' and 'Mad Max', sadly never managing to be as interesting as the first 15 minutes suggest that it could have been.
