Escape from L.A.

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Template:Infobox Film John Carpenter's Escape from L.A. (better known as Escape from L.A.) is a 1996 film directed by John Carpenter. The sequel to the action film Escape from New York, the film's again follows ex-war hero Snake Plissken, played by Kurt Russell. It co-stars Steve Buscemi, Stacy Keach and Pam Grier.

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Story

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

In the year 2000, a huge earthquake hits Los Angeles , causing it to be separated from the mainland and turning it into an island from Malibu, California to Anaheim. In the chaos that followed, the US Government abolishes presidential elections and the new president (Cliff Robertson), is appointed for life. This president, an out-spoken moralist, declares that all people not conforming to the high morals he sets for the country will be deported to the Los Angeles island. Like New York, which in Escape from New York (which takes place in the late 1990s) is turned into a penal colony, a wall is built around LA, guards posted to stop any escapes and if sent there you cannot return to the US. In 2013, Cuervo Jones (Georges Corraface), a terrorist on the island, seduces the President's daughter, Utopia (A.J. Langer), via the Internet. He brainwashes her into stealing the remote control to a series of satellites capable of destroying all electronics on the planet. Snake Plissken is forced to go to the island to retrieve the device by the President, who doesn't care if Utopia returns or not. To ensure his compliance he is infected with a man-made virus. Like New York, Los Angeles is now a decaying city, a hot-bed of scum and weirdos and Snake is given nine hours to find the device, kill Utopia and get out before the poison kicks in.

After finding his way across the island, meeting different characters (including those played by Buscemi, Grier, Peter Fonda,Valeria Golino, and Bruce Campbell as the Surgeon General of Beverly Hills) he gets a hold of the remote control and escapes the island with Utopia. As she is about to be executed by her own father, Plissken activates the device, returning the Earth to the dark ages.

The story inspired some aspects of the plot for the video game Metal Gear Solid: the main characters go by the codename "Snake"; both are coerced into their respective operations to stop doomsday weapons; and both are infected with man-made viruses.

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