Escape From New York Deleted Opening with John Carpenter & Kurt Russell Commentary

The deleted Bank Robbery opening sequence, with a commentary by John Carpenter and Kurt Russell recorded in 2003.

[@Aristocrat1cs]

Not even 10 secs in and Kurt is already laughing, God I love this man.

[@jacoballen3267]

The subway shot was the Omni, Georgia World Congress Center, Georgia Dome station

[@stang5755]

This video got posted before but taken down, rather missed it. Has a special significance to me being I'm from Atlanta and many times have used MARTA's rail subway featured in this sequence. Good to have it back and see/hear it again. Much obliged.

[@ConeFlower-gx2qk]

Holy shit I knew this looked familiar what the fuck.

[@eviloverlordsean]

that's pretty incredible... also funny that Kurt remembers none of it!

[@RW4X4X3006]

Imagine trying to remember a week or two down at work, 20 some years past. The gem here, is how the cast and crew work so well together in brainstorming this film and making it happen.

[@mem1701movies]

The older you get the more you’ll understand.

[@MrCarltonv]

So cool to hear the commentary.

[@thetorchchannel357]

Oh this is delicious. Escape from NY is one of my all time favorites, probably just under "The Thing" (1982 JC remake, of course) again with JC directing the K Russ !! More please !!! This vid and the one that got me here, your "Escape From New York Deleted Original Opening "Remastered" (Plus Alternate Takes)" earned my sub !!

[@efraimkent]

“it’s a good trim” couldn’t agree more

[@Lazarusart]

Excellent to see this, especially with the commentary.

[@stratfordbaby]

Cool shit. Love the movie. These deleted scenes are the best.

[@akfreed6949]

I was blown away 🤯 watching this and think it should have stayed in the film . It shows the evil of the ruling class of America . And the music is some of John Carpenter's best .

[@DenkyManner]

Now i need to watch all carpenter's films again with commentary

[@TalkernateHistory]

This is awesome, thank you so much for this

[@clifffield1]

Cool. Thanks for posting.

[@NorwichBaker]

I like the use of Peach tree plaza. And Peach Trees housing block in Dredd

[@kenamaro3942]

I'm such a huge fan of EFNY I'll take any additional unused or cut footage. This was great. If theres more out there somewhere---i'll watch !!

[@KyleNike84]

Why is this treasure "unlisted"?!

[@anthonycarlisle6184]

Scary this movie's turning out to be prophetic with how things are actually going in nyc now😞

[@marsaffe943]

"He's good, he's doing "Hulk" right now" ... That quote did not age well ;)

[@dfstarborn]

Great start to a movie and I wish they kept this in as it looks so cool. I would have preferred if Snake got away and was then caught because of a snitch. The chase could have been even longer down the tracks. Kurt is one of the best character actors every and I'll never forget Snake Plisskin, Jack Burton, Captain Ron, Cash, Sherriff Hunt, Herb Brooks, Rudy Russo, John Ruth, R.J. MacReady, Wyatt Earp, Stuntman Mike,

[@Vingul]

Good fun! To the uploader: do you know what that piece of music is that was used at the beginning, in the other clip you uploaded? That is, at about 3:25 in this one (I assume it was just muted here but was in the intended sequence, unless it was added by you). As far as I can tell it wasn't used in the film and isn't even on the expanded edition of the soundtrack.

[@ericd.7441]

I really like this scene, I wonder if it would've worked better in the middle of the movie or maybe towards the end as a flashback?

[@DavidShepheard]

I really enjoyed being able to see the deleted scene, but there are a couple of flaws in it, that would probably leave questions with the viewers. Firstly, Snake Plissken abandons his disguise, before being totally out of the bank, and is immediately spotted by the first two people he meets. So, it comes across as Snake making a mistake and revealing his identity. Especially in the real-future, where we are used to having CCTV cameras everywhere. People would be saying that the scene does not hold up well. The rest of the movie does not have this weakness,. I think it would have worked better if John Carpenter had reshot that and had Snake abandon his first disguise and adopt a second disguise (and then drop that disguise on the train). Secondly, what the heck is Snake's friend supposed to be doing? He is hacking something in a railway station. But, what is he actually doing that would allow him and Snake to evade capture by the police. I could buy that the second criminal is tricking a non-stop train into stopping. That works, but other people get on the train with them and Snake and his buddy just go where the train is going and get off. And they both think that is a valid getaway plan. Why would they not anticipate the police being sent to the station the train went to? That's a bigger flaw than Snake dropping his disguise in the bank. It makes it into their fault for walking into a police ambush. I think it would have been better if John Carpenter had reshot that and had Snake's buddy drop some dialogue to Snake that explained the plan. Like, when Snake drags him away from the panel, he should say: "Wait Snake, I need this stuff, otherwise I'm not going to be able to hack into the train and divert it to stop at the abandoned station in Boston." or something like that. Then they could have asked the railway company to let them exit the train via the driver's door, to make it look like they were sneaking out in a place the police would not expect them to get out. And they could have put a bunch of stuff onto the station platforms, like "closed" signs, or maybe "under construction" signs, to sell the idea that Snake's buddy was some sort of high speed rail expert and was doing half the work during the robbery. Even the bit where Snake runs down the escalator, after his buddy has had a bullet come out of his belly...and then turns around, does not make sense. They said it shows Shake's humanity, but he has no way to escape, except jumping onto the railway tracks and running down the tunnel (his friend is the train-hacker - not him). He knows the police are upstairs. And the police know that the guy they shot can not run away, so them gunning him down...but not also gunning down Snake, makes them look like "evil cops" that leave witnesses. So, I do think John Carpenter made the right decision to cut the scene...but I also love seeing what they were trying to do here. If they had had the opportunity to make an Escape From New York prequel, I think they could have rebooted this bank robbery, and made it into a full length heist movie, with Snake, his train-hacking buddy, and a couple of other people, who help them figure out how to break into the bank. I'd have loved to have watched that.

[@jamesburke4358]

Could have used it in Escape From LA. Anything could have helped that movie.

[@mrheem]

awesome!

[@srk4044]

It *was* Atlanta! I thought that looked familiar!

[@Liquidazot]

I should be released as stand aleone trailer. Allso I am glad for this comentary it make this scene so much more power and depth and 80s flav.

[@MrZombs123]

when was this commentary filmed? :)

[@edgedeep]

Commentary was for the special edition laserdisc from the early 90s.

[@Kilroy238_]

@@edgedeep lol Laserdisc Weren't those the album size cds? I remember seeing those but they were all out of our household budget.

[@Modano1973]

@@edgedeep The audio commentary for only the deleted opening scene was not from their 1994 recording. It was recorded in 2003. Kurt Russell mentions the film Hulk when they both discuss Larry Franco, who was the first assistant director in EFNY, but was also Russell's ex brother in law. Franco was producing Hulk at the time.

[@mightisright]

@@edgedeep Wow thanks. I was wondering why these guys sound so fresh.

[@alexg1153]

@@Modano1973That explains why (even in 2003) they could not imagine Elon's Musk plans to build the Hyperloop instead of a simple underground train and why cryptocurrencies instead of credit cards were stolen from the bank. A truly prophetic opening scene!

[@McRocket]

I disagree with them. For me? Making Snake more human makes the harshness of the rest of the film more tolerable. It allows me to enjoy it more. The movie, as is, is entertaining but a bit TOO bleak for my taste. Thank you so much for posting this. I had never seen it (with commentary) before. ☮

[@danielruiz3853]

i liked the scene lol

[@RetroRockGamer]

God I wish these two would work together again.

[@dietcheese2546]

Where was this filmed

[@MrVorpalsword]

I'm taking a wild stab at the underground railway stations of Atlanta? Don't know why I think that, a hunch?

[@Vingul]

@@MrVorpalsword good intuition!

[@Kilroy238_]

@@MrVorpalsword Man you're a regular Carnak. ;)

[@qweqqweq2090]

escape from n.y. is one of my favorites. but i'm just wondering why the cops were so gung ho about shooting the one guy but decided snake was not a threat at all. he didn't even have his hands up.

[@Astralpains]

Lame that they didnt even touch on the maps inside the train..in regards to establishing a story..map literally shows the future flood maps of america

[@tomhorn1876]

If we're grading Kurt Russell "Bad Guys" on a curve, Eldon Perry from "Dark Blue" is much worse.

[@alexg1153]

It is entertaining when they ask the question "why would they use a U.S. underground train? 6:17 min Elon's Musk Hyperloop plans might provide an answer to that 2003 question.

[@n0u4n]

As scifi movies become more and more reality, one has to wonder if there is some underlying "one mind", that has past present and the future all in it that all artists and scientists just tap into, accidentally or otherwise. Creating reality from visions.

[@andrewmorke]

Good they cut it --20 minutes of Pliskin walking down the hallway was a bit of rubbish.

[@Yeomannn]

why are they laughing so much?

[@chuckscott4661]

Edibles.

[@Liquidazot]

Nowyou have underground rail system in whole US, betwen secret bases ^^ made by aliens from they live hue hue

[@BADBRYZ]

Snake with feelings? Nawwwwwww.

[@VonSnootingham]

He's too tired for feelings.

[@MrWhitewolf7]

instead of 1988, it's 2021 and crime is rising to 400%.

[@MrHEC381991]

lol they're clearly high.

[@robertmartin2867]

In another deleted scene, Snake receives probation for the bank robbery, but 20 years for bad taste. I mean Jesus Christ, those pants!

[@timoakes450]

Black light team standard issue for Urban Combat -see Leningrad op-haha!!!??