History Film / EscapeFromLA

* BittersweetEnding: An interesting variant. The ending is ''incredibly'' bitter yet presented as a triumph nonetheless. [[spoiler:Snake shuts down the whole world's electricity, instead of turning control of the world over to the President or Cuervo[=/=]the Shining Path, all but surely causing the deaths of billions and turning the world into one big third-world country. In doing this, however, he has given humanity a second chance to rebuild itself from the CrapsackWorld it had become by leveling the playing field and destabilizing the power of corrupt leaders like the President or Cuervo.]]

* DownerEnding: In spite of the ending's attempt to come off as more [[BittersweetEnding "bittersweet"]], it really is something of a downer: [[spoiler:Snake shuts down the whole world's electricity, instead of turning control of the world over to the President or Cuervo[=/=]the Shining Path, which all but surely caused the deaths of billions and turned the world into one big third-world country.]]

* CoolGuns: The "Coreburner" assault rifle plus Snake's own [[GunsAkimbo pair]] of [[RevolversAreJustBetter revolvers]].

* BreakingTheFourthWall: At the very end of the film, [[spoiler:Snake finds a pack of American Spirit cigarettes in the forest, with one cigarette left. As he lights up the cigarette, he pauses and stares straight at the camera, blowing smoke as the screen goes black]].

* PlotIrrelevantVillain: Snake is sent into L.A. to find the President's daughter (who has the key to a DoomsdayDevice) as WorldWarIII looms in the background. Along the way, he's captured by the Surgeon General of Beverly Hills, who wants to harvest him and his female ally for their organs. Despite the threat the Surgeon General faces to Snake and Taslima, he has nothing to do with the main conflict between the PresidentEvil and the Shining Path terrorists. He's content to rule his own little corner of LA Island so he can conduct his experiments and the protagonists just happened to wander into his territory.

* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Snake [[spoiler:persists in calling the transgender Hershe her old (male) name of "Carjack" despite Hershe's insistence otherwise.]]

''"Welcome to the human race."''

----

* GenreSavvy: Malloy. He is very careful when dealing with Snake, including briefing him [[spoiler:via hologram]], predicting he would attempt to shoot him before leaving [[spoiler:and thus loading his first magazine with blanks]], and knowing to search Utopia for what is most likely the real control unit [[spoiler:though he is double bluffed here]]. In a more general sense, he also knows that pragmatic heroes like Snake aren't truly out of the game just because they've been captured.
--> ''"Don't count Plissken out yet, sir."''
--> ''"He's tanked. He's a P.O.W."''
--> ''"But he's still alive."''

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/EscapeLA_1312.jpg]]

* BadassBaritone: Hershe talks with an impressively deep and resonant voice; makes sense, considering previously she was male criminal Carjack Malone.

* HellBentForLeather: Snake's old worn out leather coat makes a return, until he trades up for a BadassLongcoat. In fact, during the opening incarceration shot, Snake's entire wardrobe makes a return since Russel informed Carpenter that he still had his original outfit from ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork'' hanging in his closet.

In 2013, America has become even more {{dystopia}}n than it was in the earlier film: A [[ChurchMilitant theocratic]] [[TheFundamentalist fundamentalist]] [[StrawCharacter Christian]] President (Cliff Robertson) has taken over control of the country, and UsefulNotes/LosAngeles has become a [[WretchedHive penal colony/no man's land/landfill/roach motel]] after breaking off of the US thanks to [[AfterTheEnd The Big One]]. As the film begins, an airplane escape pod has crash-landed in Los Angeles; this pod carried the President's daughter, Utopia (A. J. Langer), who has since sided with [[BigBad Cuervo Jones]] and taken the United States' super weapon -- a device that controls "The Sword of Damocles" satellite system, which would let the President hit any country in the world with an electromagnetic pulse -- with her. Snake Plissken (Creator/KurtRussell) is back as the President drafts Snake into entering Los Angeles, retrieving the device, and executing his daughter for treason. His reward for a successful mission will be a full pardon...as well as an antidote to a virus injected into him to ensure his compliance, of course.

Left with no options, Snake enters the fortified and barbwired city of Los Angeles; like New York before it, the city has become a prison with no guards and precious little order. As Plissken makes his way through ruins of what was once a vibrant and lively city, he both gains and loses allies and fights off loads of bad guys.

* UncannyValley: This is invoked by the plastic surgery addicts, and it is [[IntendedAudienceReaction intentional]] though. Especially creepy is the Surgeon General of Beverly Hills (a {{cameo}} by Creator/BruceCampbell).

* DownerEnding: In spite of the ending's attempt to come off as more "bittersweet", it really is something of a downer: [[spoiler:Snake shuts down the whole world's electricity, instead of turning control of the world over to the President or Cuervo[=/=]the Shining Path, which all but surely caused the deaths of billions and turned the world into one big third-world country.]]