Escape From N.Y. - The Failed Predictions of a John Carpenter Classic

Released in the summer of 1981, Escape from New York, is one of writer director John Carpenter’s most beloved films, and for good reason. Carpenter, who wrote the script in the 1970s, in the wake of the Watergate scandal, makes many predictions. All of them prove to be false.
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[@RandomNPC001]

People are literally escaping NY and it`s "sequel" LA in droves for better pastures, he predicted the authoritarian regimes and that only the degenerate would live in them. He was spot on, on all accounts!

[@MrEab2010]

I liked the plot as an intriguing fantasy but even in 1981 I knew there was no way the rich would willingly give up the most valuable real estate on the planet.

[@darthkek1953]

The rich are moving out of NYC, the tax loss is huge. Escape isn't wrong, just early.

[@MrEab2010]

@@darthkek1953 I have to disagree with you on that one. The rich briefly left NYC during the pandemic in 2020 but they came back starting in late. 2021. Today tax revenue is at record levels and climbing. Wealthy foreigners are paying for empty condos just to park their money here. The only people leaving are the middle-class, who have been priced out of the city, sadly. The astronomical crime rate that EFNY predicted never happened; quite the opposite, it dropped dramatically. (I know all this in large part because I have been selling real estate in NYC since 1996.)

[@darthkek1953]

@@MrEab2010 wages are rising fast due to inflation - but any aggregate rise of wages means more tax revenue. Fine and dandy. But the trouble is what you can GET from that money is less than in pervious years due to... inflation, interest, etc. So it doesn't matter what the GROSS taxes revenues rise is, what matters is the "REAL TERMS" tax rises. That is, how much % tax did NYC get _above the rate of inflation?_ If inflation is 10% and your tax base rises 11% that's a 1% "real terms" increase. If inflation is 10% and you get a "record setting 9% addition tax revenue" then the "record setting rise" is a 1% decrease in real terms. So I ask, what's the REAL TERMS rise?

[@MrEab2010]

@@darthkek1953 you're right that wages have not kept pace with inflation, especially went it comes to rent and house purchases in places like NYC. Why? It's the greedy landlords. To rent an average studio apartment in the NY/NJ metro area (about $3000), you need an annual income of $120,000. For a 1-bedroom ($3800), it's $152,000. No wonder young people either room with friends or go back home to mom and dad. 25 years ago it was less than half that amount - on roughly the same salary! (Luckily I live in a rent-controlled apartment or I'd have to move too.) Why do the landlords do it? Because they can!

[@darthkek1953]

@@MrEab2010 I didn't way wages hadn't risen with inflation. I mean, they haven't, but that was not my point. Wages HAVE risen. Not as much as inflation or rent, but they have risen. That means taxes will rise JUST because of wage rises (about 5%). So one would expect a near 5% tax rise from that alone. But it's not a win if the taxes go up 5% but the costs go up 8%.

[@jonathancro]

Wasn't supposed to be a prediction, it's satire.

[@cadetsparklez3300]

the military is literally policing the subway rn lol! just had to wait a couple months

[@johnwalsh4857]

well when I watched it back in 81 I already knew it was satire, and far fetched, yes the crime rates in US cities were very high at the tie, but nope I did not think things would come to this. in the future.

[@MrPaulcoster94]

His best film 💯 film score was really good in this

[@thebronzetoo]

But it did, though...

[@darthkek1953]

Not QUITE yet but it IS getting there.

[@bobmccall4462]

This was done a month ago. Well, it looks like his prediction will come true after all. It took a Republican to rescue the city last time but that was the left locked them up. Nobody coming to the rescue now. The sequel "Escape from LA" is also in production.

[@thenaturalmidsouth9536]

Carpenter was making an apocalyptic Sci fi movie. He wasn't making real life predictions. This is a completely juvenile and stupid reading of the film.

[@_GoGo_]

Great video

[@thedarkfantasticnetwork]

Thanks so much for watching.

[@ericdulaney116]

This is a really silly critique of John Carpenter's predictions of what society might look like in the future. Every movie producer makes predictions regarding of what the society looks like in the future for their science fiction movies. Some are fairly accurate, some not so much. That being said a lot of their predictions are based on the current events going on at the time. In the late 1970's violent crime was on the rise, and continued to increase through the 1980's.

[@mikecotto1167]

It’s science fiction. You’re reading way too much into it.

[@justingarner3129]

little did he know his own far left would destroy the city and nation....

[@the1tigglet]

The maker of this video should be ashamed of themselves for calling Carpenter's ideologies problematic.

[@Trev794]

you're completely missing the point.

[@the1tigglet]

Typical of Woke Cultists like the person who made this video. Cringe when he called John's concepts as problematic. That's like calling George Orwell unfounded.

[@Trev794]

@@the1tigglet i mean he glossed right through his own pont about new York needing massive investment to stem the criminal tide .

[@cadetsparklez3300]

@@Trev794 yes thats absolutely true i was so confused when he thought it was a false prediction