The Kurt Russell Sci-Fi Sequel That’s Secretly Better Than The Original

Despite Escape from L.A.’s glaring flaws, John Carpenter stands behind his work, and asserts that the film was simply ahead of its time.

What’s more, Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, praising the film for expertly treading the line between satire and serious science-fiction, which is high praise. Retroactive reviews express similar sentiments, and the sequel’s legacy is here to stay.

At the end of the day, Escape from L.A. fails as a sequel, but works as a stand-alone film. In other words, if you watch both films back-to-back, you’ll probably prefer Escape from New York.

But if you view Escape from L.A. as a soft reboot rather than a follow-up film, it’s worthy of your attention because it has everything that its 1981 counter part has, and so much more.