Escape From New York Behind The Scenes

Both Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson were considered for the Role of Snake Plissken, and Avco Embassy, the Production Company, wanted Tommy Lee Jones for the Role, but Carpenter only wanted Russell, with whom he'd worked in 1979, on the Biopic 'Elvis, the Movie'.

Film director James Cameron was part of the film crew, assisting with special effects and helped build most of the models used.

The opening 10 minutes of the original cut, where it shows Snake and his crime partner robbing the fed bank, was cut because Carpenter decided the sequence was too long and distracted from the story too much.

John Carpenter provides the voice for the helicopter pilot who warns the prisoners to start back towards the island in the opening scene.

The 3D 'computer' displays of the city in the cockpit of the glider were created by flying a camera over a model of the city painted with flourescent paint

Dean Cundey and production designer Joe Alves were responsible for the look of the film, they had previously worked on Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".

Carpenter employs his favourite 'Wet Look' technique (spraying streets with water before shooting), to create the required look of the city.

The voice of the Narration at the beginning of the film (and the sequel Escape from L.A.) is Jamie Lee Curtis, star of Carpenter's 'Halloween'.

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