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Escape from L.A. 4K Review

Review Copy Provided By Paramount.

Snake Plissken is a cinematic icon, he inspired one of gaming’s biggest icons Solid Snake. So, it only feels fitting that Escape from L.A. has jumped onto the 4K platform just like its predecessor. The plot is simple, Snake is sent into an isolated L.A. to retrieve a black box that was stolen by the US President’s Daughter. The plot is simple and to be honest is very effective, in the opening 10 minutes the world building effectively sets up a world that is ripe for exploration. The world is probably the strongest aspect of the film behind Kurt Russell who is still excellent as Snake. John Carpenters direction and soundtrack is still as great as always so it’s a shame that aspects of the film really hold it back. The CGI has been criticised before for looking bad but the aspect that truly held the film back is that everyone around Snake just is nowhere near as interesting as Snake. The supporting cast is just there and doesn’t really add to the film. The only side character that has an interesting interaction with Snake is Hershe Las Palmas who is introduced late into the film. However, it’s only interesting as it deals with dead naming in a way that while at times problematic still feels like a decent attempt to tackle a delicate issue. Overall, my thoughts of Escape from L.A. are that it’s a fun time and at a 1 hour and 40 minutes long it doesn’t overstay it’s welcome.

Quality of the film aside, Escape from L.A looks amazing on 4K, the film has a nice level of grain to it which to the film grain lovers is going to be a nice small detail. Speaking of detail, the level of detail this film has is simply great. I could probably count the number of crinkles on Snake’s leather outfit, or the number of facial hairs Snake has. Explosions pop with colour that make your eyes squint. It’s simply a great transfer.

The films DTS-HD 5.1 master audio is also excellent, while it would have been a nice bonus to get a new Dolby Atmos track. The audio track we get is still great. All the dialog is clear. The Soundtrack is present in a way the boosts the overall sound stage. While watching the film I never had to mess with the volume which to me is a good sign.

This 4K release of Escape to L.A. is great. The picture and audio quality make it worth the upgrade for fans of this film or physical media collectors.

Written By Robert Drever

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