Comments on: My Life as an Escape From L.A. Fan (or Why Fans of Grindhouse Should Appreciate Escape From L.A.)

By: Marney

Marney — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 11:25:31 +0000

Jay C , your spot on amigo, i also think John Carpenter films are excellent, sometimes they fall a little short like Vampires or Village of the damned, but there is always just enough ‘Carpenterness’ to keep you happy.I never had a problem with Escape from LA and really cant understand why people give it such a hard time, its bit like Big Trouble in Little China in the way that people either love it or hate it.I think the humour of the film sometimes just goes over peoples heads.The film is entertaining enough that it doesnt matter if the effects arent perfect, i mean Jason and the Argonauts still rocks right? I cant stand when people watch a great movie like this and then say ‘oh man, that looks so fake’, the point is..IT DOESNT MATTER! If you had to pick the best film JC made though, i would have to say The Thing, its a perfect movie!

By: John Carpenter’s LA Gothic - Film Junk

John Carpenter’s LA Gothic - Film Junk — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 17:00:13 +0000

[...] They Live, Prince of Darkness, Big Trouble in Little China (San Fransisco), and of course…Escape From LA!!! The second sign of good news; ‘vengeful ex-priest’. ‘Nuff said. The last piece [...]

By: Jay C.

Jay C. — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 05:34:19 +0000

Well DUde, I suppose if you only watch films for the special effects, it might not be your cup of tea.

By: DUde

DUde — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 06:02:03 +0000

The main difference between Escape from LA and Grindhouse is that Grindhouse is a well done tribute while Escape from LA is a poorly poorly poorly tribute, Grindhouse uses low tech FX that works and Escape from LA uses Hi tech FX that looks like shit… So long Sucker

By: Goon

Goon — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 03:02:27 +0000

Watched Big Trouble in Little China the second time too. Some parts are better in repeat viewings, some parts are not. Good commentary track though. Kurt Russel is a much weirder guy than I imagined, his opinions arent really so strange but the way he talks with people is.

By: Jay C.

Jay C. — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 00:48:47 +0000

*nervously pulls collar and says ‘YYYYIIIIIII’*

By: Goon

Goon — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 00:39:11 +0000

i finally bought a copy today to rewatch. hope it stands up as much as you think it does ;P

By: Goon

Goon — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 22:47:22 +0000

I was kinda holding off on posting until i saw ‘grindhouse’ to see if Rodriguez/Tarantino’s idea of this sort of film held up or surpassed Carpenter’s.

Rodriguez certainly brought the awesome, but Tarantino? man, so disappointing. He did some of the style and quirks at first but its like he gave up on it partway through, and OH GOD its full of annoying bitches just TALKING and TALKING about NOTHING forfuckingever, and the merits of the film are short and few. I sat there actually thinking about this post and I came to realize you were absolutely right, I wished instead I was watching Escape from LA. You’ve been completely vindicated by Tarantino’s failure here, and yet I’m sure people will find reasons to try and say that “death proof” is good yet “escape from la” is still a joke.

By: Jay C.

Jay C. — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 14:05:58 +0000

I didn’t think the effects in Star Trek 5 were unusually bad. Either way, Scotty made up for it. I could watch him hit his head on parts of the ship all day long.

By: Pacifistofury

Pacifistofury — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 23:55:55 +0000

Jay, when the next Star Trek movie comes out, would you write a feature article on William Shatner’s directorial style and discuss the merits of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, please? Everyone also rags on the special effects in that movie.

BTW, I heard that when Christopher Reeve was thrown off the horse after the horse had hit the fence, he screamed, “Damn that Carpenter.”

By: Marina

Marina — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 20:10:30 +0000

Jay, excellent post. Escape from LA is a little flick that is always fun to pop in. Good to hear I’m not alone in the fight and now, when people say it’s ’stupid’ or ‘cheesy’, I can just point them over here for the great read.

By: Jay C.

Jay C. — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 14:41:30 +0000

Thanks for reading Jeff!