Escape From L.A. has become eerily relevant

Submitted by s0mnambulance t3_11dgxkh in movies

I was just reflecting on this after seeing Escape From New York again recently, and putting L.A. on this morning. The original has typically been revered over the sequel, and it does still feel more its own thing (the sequel follows a lot of the same beats).

However, we're a long ways now from New York's wilder years in the 1970s. Most viewers don't even know what NY was like in the 70s.

Today, the opening exposition in Escape From L.A., which posits a 'moral' America with a lifetime conservative president (who moves the capitol from D.C. to his hometown of Lynchburg, VA, not coincidentally the home of Liberty University, lol), is eerily more of a viable future in 2023. Not to get too topical, but, watching this today immediately made me think of what a DeSantis presidency might look like.

A lot of the L.A.-specific stuff hasn't aged well, but it's wild to me how the movie hits differently/better than it even did 10-15 years ago, when it was already dated. It feels more current to me watching it today than it did then. Art ages sometimes in jagged lines...

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oco82 t1_ja8k9xg wrote

I’m down for a future where Bruce Campbell is really the surgeon general of LA , lol.

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[deleted] t1_jabr0om wrote

Never realized that was Bruce Campbell mind blown

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showerofshellfish t1_ja8jvlx wrote

I've always liked Escape from L.A. better than Escape from New York. As a kid in the 90s who discovered The Crow and Snake Plissken at roughly the same time, I was all about the aesthetic of heroes with long hair, black leather coats, and motorcycles.

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powerstride96 t1_ja98g31 wrote

I'm glad I'm not alone on this. Really for me though it's just that I saw LA first

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s0mnambulance OP t1_ja8k99v wrote

Yeah, the soundtrack is badass too. I believe I used to use "Snake's theme" as my entrance music when my friends & I borrowed camcorders and made lame pro-wrestling videos.

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badlegbill t1_ja8meom wrote

Of all the post apocalyptic movies I've seen -and the 80's had a metric shit ton of them-loved both of these gems. And yes, it's a nice variation. I always thought the Mad Max series would prove prophetic as well. Mostly the first one.

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rissie_delicious t1_ja9xhkk wrote

Honestly yeah as a kid I hated the thought of our world going back to the dark ages, but now I think it's really going to happen one day.

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dhriggs t1_ja92qxj wrote

I love to rewatch this movie from time to time. It has such a specific style and weird tone to it. I kind of love it - Snake in WonderLAnd

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MattyKatty t1_ja9cfln wrote

The United States is a no-smoking nation. No smoking, no drinking, no drugs. No women - unless of course you're married. No guns, no foul language... no red meat.

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WhereIsThatElephant t1_jaaqhsp wrote

These days it's more like Escape From SF or Escape From Portland.

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TheShittyBeatles t1_jad317j wrote

Great flick. On this same theme, Southland Tales and Predator 2 are both also great LA-based near-future movies that are eerily prescient.

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