Escape from L.A. Review

Messages: The worst-case-scenario script tells us that while freaks, terrorists, and gun-crazed Latino-Leftist gangs and warlords may be nasty, puritanical Christians and cops and US government authorities are worse, maybe. Or, as Plissken puts it, "America died a long time ago." Conclusion proposes that this simply isn't a world worth preserving.

Role models: Plissken is a hard-bitten, surly guy throughout, though not wantonly cruel. US police-military forces are fascistic types commanded by a Nazi-like Christian dictator. Los Angeles villains are stereotypical gun- and car-crazed Latinos. One sympathetic type surprisingly reveals herself to be a Muslim.

Violence: Much shooting, with fatalities. Hand-to-hand combat, knife fighting, earthquake damage explosions and fireballs, and one gore scene in which human body parts lay around in a mad-science lab milieu. None of it is very realistic.

Sex: Glamorous LA street girls, gang molls, and prostitutes in skimpy leather and fetish-type outfits. One such character is a transsexual. Mention that sex outside of marriage has been rendered illegal.

Language: The s-word, the f-word, "Godamnit," "ass" and "asshole."

Consumerism: Universal Pictures logo and a euphemistic cameo by a deformed Disneyland (the "Happy Kingdom").

Drinking, drugs and smoking: Cigarettes (one brand labeled "American Spirit") are equated broadly, literally with strength and manliness -- and they're banned (along with drugs) by the fascist USA of tomorrow. The Che Guevera-lookalike villain smokes cigars.