Escape From New York 80's Soundtrack Escape from New York is a 1981 science fiction/action film directed and scored by John Carpenter. The film is set in the near future in a crime-ridden United States that has converted Manhattan Island in New York City into a maximum security prison. Ex-soldier and legendary fugitive "Snake" Plissken (Kurt Russell) is given 24 hours to find the President of the United States, who has been captured by inmates after Air Force One crashed on the island. Kurt Russell....Snake Pliskin Lee Van Cleef....Hauk Ernest Borgnine....Cabbie Donald Pleasence....President Isaac Hayes....The Duke Harry Dean Stanton....Brain Adrienne Barbeau....Maggie