Snake Plissken, a reputed outlaw in the US is sent to Los Angeles, recently separated from mainland US by a major earthquake and utilized as a prison, to regain the remote control for an electromagnetic pulse that could destroy all technology on Earth. Already at this level factual errors occur: no EMP can knock out batteries, as is claimed.

The factual errors, however, are not that important to the film - the crude, dark humour and the aspect of social commentary are. Very outstanding, of course, is the scene with the surgical failures and Surgeon General of Beverly Hills. The parody of modern ideas of and struggle for beauty is striking, although depressive. In the same way, the portrayal of LA as 'Dark Paradise' - truly free but also truly dangerous - is precise. The term Dark Paradise suggests, in essence, little of the undesireable qualities of anarchy, but simply that in anarchy man can sin (dark) freely (paradise). A contrast is set up with mainland US, perhaps a luminous (no sin) prison (no freedom). The crudeness of Taslima's death ("once you understand this place, it's not so bad", bang, dead), however, suggests that there is little or no hope for anarchy.

The American president becomes the anti-protagonist of the movie and is portrayed as a quasi-intellectual idiot. Upon an after-shock of the earthquake he hides under a table while everyone else remains standing, an explicit way of revealing his cowardly self. He also orders his daugther's death, claiming that he sacrifises her for the country; of course, this is not true and her death will make little difference to anyone but himself. A clear parody of the modern (especially post- 9/11), conservative American mindset.

The last line, "welcome to the human race", suggests, after all, that the movie is about mankind rarther than society. Perhaps this is true; humans not only shape, but create our society. The EMP becomes symbolic - if mankind is truly interested in surviving and preserving our scientific and cultural heritage, why do we design and build the tools to demolish it? In essence, the questions brought up are similar to those raised at the height of the Cold War and the relevance of the philosophical debates in the movie is therefore hardly praise-worthy.

When Snake lights up a cigartte, formerly illegal in mainland US, and looks at the match we remember that Malloy from the US army told him that regardless of technology, matches are always useful. In the end, the primitive matches outlive all the great technology (Snake formerly used a lighter, probably a Zippo) mankind has created. The concluding scene is therefore set in some form of a primitivistic society where life will prevail only for those courageous and strong enough.

What regards the acting and the more technical detals of the film - well, they are not too great. Neither, in the end, is the story, as it is just the same as that in 'Escape from N.Y.' from 1981. The overall impression, however, is fairly good and for mere entertainment this movie might prove a good choice. Some of the more subtle points of the movie, however, might require a second viewing and, personally, I found the second viewing of this movie the most pleasureable.