ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK : SNAKE PLISSKEN FLIGHT ON TWIN TOWERS

Hacene Benmamar · 116.5K views · 2015-09-04 · 2:55

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Overview

A scene from John Carpenter's 1981 film Escape from New York in which Snake Plissken glides in over Manhattan between the Twin Towers. It features the film's wireframe green laser-grid visuals built from miniatures.

On Hacker News

HN uses it to illustrate how the film's wireframe skyline effect was made with practical miniatures and as an example of retro computer-display aesthetics.

Discussed on HN; no positive recommendation is recorded in this export · HN mentions 2020–2023

Topics

Film & TV clips Animation & visual effects

What people said

morkalork · 2023-09 · Reference
I don't have anything to add to the argument just that I happened to watch Escape from New York this weekend and there's an epic "green laser grid" sequence as he flies in to the city! [VIDEO]
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JKCalhoun · 2020-12 · Reference
"Some sources cite [James] Cameron as the brains behind the glider navigation sequence..." [LINK] Clip from the film: [VIDEO]
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rkachowski · 2020-09 · Reference
It seems like we have come full circle, in Escape from New York (1981) it was cheaper to build a miniture New York skyline and attach fluorescent tape to the edges rather than create a CG wireframe model for the "computers" in the main characters glider.[1][2] [1] [LINK] [2] [VIDEO]
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Sources

Video by Hacene Benmamar, played through YouTube.

HN Library · Source license

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