Exclusive Interview >
John Carpenter [Director/Co-Writer/Co-Composer: Escape From New York
& Escape From L.A.]
Were there any
scenes or material in Escape From New York or Escape From L.A. you
were disappointed to see go from your original drafts due to
budget restraints?
No.
Did you ever read or glanced through the movie tie-in
novel of Escape From New York by Mike McQuay and do you have any comments
on it?
I liked it.
You originally wanted Escape From L.A. to be a
prequel to Escape From New York. Why is that and what did you think of
Coleman Luck's Escape From L.A. screenplay like the clone thing involving
Snake Plissken [Kurt Russell] [Snake Plissken/Producer/Co-Writer]
for instance?
I didn't think Coleman Luck's screenplay was
the kind of story we wanted to tell. And originally I had wanted Escape From
L.A. to be an origins story.
There's a rumor
that the black guard Snake Plissken has a brief eye contact with at the Los Angeles
Memorial Coliseum in Escape From L.A. is Isaac Hayes [The Duke] doing an uncredited
cameo. Is this true or not?
Not true.
Do you have any theories why Escape From L.A. was such a
disappointment for some? What kind of problems do you think
some people had or have with it?
I can't answer for why some films sink and others
swim.
What do you like the most about Escape From New York
and Escape From L.A. respectively? Also, feel free to tell us your favorite
memory or memories from making these movies.
I really enjoyed the dystopian futures both movies present.
Additionally, any time I can make a movie with Kurt Russell is a happy
experience for me.
Which scene or
scenes from Escape From New York and Escape From L.A. are you the most proud of or like the most?
It isn't a scene or sequence in the
Escape movies that I'm proud of. It's the whole.
A lot of Snake Plissken projects such as comic books, a TV series,
an anime movie, a video game, novels have either been cancelled or canned during
the years. Escape From Earth was also a potential project. Is there
anything left you'd like to have done or witnessed to have been done more with
Snake Plissken in terms of setting, story or anything else via these mediums, Escape
From Earth in particular?
In this business I've learned "never say
never" is how things go.
Do you have any fond memories of
working with Ernest Borgnine [Cabbie] you'd like to share with us?
HE was a wonderful man. He demonstrated to me that an actor could say his
lines with his back to the camera.
Do you have
any fond memories on working with Ox Baker [Slag] you'd
like to share for us and is it true that
your first choice for the part was Bruiser Brody?
No, my first choice was always Ox Baker. Getting into the ring
which was made of barbed wire Ox cut himself. I asked Ox, "Are you alright?" He
said, "It's nothing. I didn't even feel it." That was Ox in a nutshell.
Thank you for your time, John.
More about John Carpenter here:
theofficialjohncarpenter.com
[Interview Date: 2013/Email]