Escape from New York Quotes
In 1997, when the US President crashes into Manhattan, now a giant maximum security prison, a convicted bank robber is sent in for a rescue.
Bob Hauk: You go in, find the President, bring him out in 24 hours, and you're a free man.
Snake Plissken: 24 hours, huh?
Bob Hauk: I'm making you an offer.
Snake Plissken: Bullshit!
Bob Hauk: Straight just like I said.
Snake Plissken: I'll think about it.
Bob Hauk: No time. Give me an answer.
Snake Plissken: Get a new president!
Bob Hauk: We're still at war, Plissken. We need him alive.
Snake Plissken: I don't give a fuck about your war... or your president.
Bob Hauk: Is that your answer?
Snake Plissken: I'm thinking about it.
Bob Hauk: Think hard.
Snake Plissken: [pause] Why me?
Bob Hauk: You flew the Gullfire over Leningrad. You know how to get in quiet. You're all I got.
Snake Plissken: [pause] I guess I go in one way or the other... doesn't mean shit to me. All right... I'll do it. Give me the pardon paper.
Bob Hauk: When you come out.
Snake Plissken: Before.
Bob Hauk: I told you I wasn't a fool, Plissken.
Snake Plissken: Call me Snake.
Snake Plissken: 24 hours, huh?
Bob Hauk: I'm making you an offer.
Snake Plissken: Bullshit!
Bob Hauk: Straight just like I said.
Snake Plissken: I'll think about it.
Bob Hauk: No time. Give me an answer.
Snake Plissken: Get a new president!
Bob Hauk: We're still at war, Plissken. We need him alive.
Snake Plissken: I don't give a fuck about your war... or your president.
Bob Hauk: Is that your answer?
Snake Plissken: I'm thinking about it.
Bob Hauk: Think hard.
Snake Plissken: [pause] Why me?
Bob Hauk: You flew the Gullfire over Leningrad. You know how to get in quiet. You're all I got.
Snake Plissken: [pause] I guess I go in one way or the other... doesn't mean shit to me. All right... I'll do it. Give me the pardon paper.
Bob Hauk: When you come out.
Snake Plissken: Before.
Bob Hauk: I told you I wasn't a fool, Plissken.
Snake Plissken: Call me Snake.
Romero: You touch me... he dies. If you're not in the air in thirty seconds... he dies. You come back in... he dies.
Romero: [Romero takes a package out of his shirt and unwraps it to reveal the President's middle finger, complete with ring] Twenty seconds.
Hauk: I'm ready to talk.
Romero: Nineteen. Eighteen.
Hauk: What do you want?
Romero: Seventeen. Sixteen.
Hauk: [to his soldiers] Let's go. Let's go!
Romero: [Romero takes a package out of his shirt and unwraps it to reveal the President's middle finger, complete with ring] Twenty seconds.
Hauk: I'm ready to talk.
Romero: Nineteen. Eighteen.
Hauk: What do you want?
Romero: Seventeen. Sixteen.
Hauk: [to his soldiers] Let's go. Let's go!
Bob Hauk: [reading Plissken's file] S.D. Plissken... American, Lieutenant: Special Forces Unit "Black Light". Two Purple Hearts, Leningrad and Siberia. Youngest man to be decorated by the President. Then you robbed the Federal Reserve Depository... life sentence, New York maximum security penitentary. I'm about to kick your ass out of *the world*, war hero...
Snake Plissken: [calmly strikes a match against Hauk's desk to light his cigarette and in a bored tone of voice] Who're you?
Bob Hauk: Hauk, Police Commissioner.
Snake Plissken: Bob Hauk...
Bob Hauk: Special Forces Unit "Texas Thunder"... we heard of you too, Plissken.
Snake Plissken: [calmly strikes a match against Hauk's desk to light his cigarette and in a bored tone of voice] Who're you?
Bob Hauk: Hauk, Police Commissioner.
Snake Plissken: Bob Hauk...
Bob Hauk: Special Forces Unit "Texas Thunder"... we heard of you too, Plissken.
The Duke: [Snake's been captured after getting shot in the leg with an arrow] Who are you?
[Snake says nothing, staring defiantly; the Duke grabs the arrow in Snake's leg and twists it]
The Duke: I said, WHO ARE YOU?
[Snake... in obvious agony, still says nothing]
Brain: Snake Plissken, Duke... the Man sent him in. Somethin's goin' down, we need him...
The Duke: [releases the arrow] Snake Plissken... I've heard of you.
[strikes Snake with a tire iron, knocking him unconscious]
The Duke: I heard you were dead!
[Snake says nothing, staring defiantly; the Duke grabs the arrow in Snake's leg and twists it]
The Duke: I said, WHO ARE YOU?
[Snake... in obvious agony, still says nothing]
Brain: Snake Plissken, Duke... the Man sent him in. Somethin's goin' down, we need him...
The Duke: [releases the arrow] Snake Plissken... I've heard of you.
[strikes Snake with a tire iron, knocking him unconscious]
The Duke: I heard you were dead!
Snake Plissken: Where's the President?
Cabbie: The Duke got him. Everybody knows the Duke's got him. You don't have to put a gun to my head. I'll tell you.
Snake Plissken: Who's the Duke?
Cabbie: The Duke? The Duke of New York, A-Number-1, the Big Man, that's who!
Snake Plissken: I wanna meet this Duke.
Cabbie: You can't meet the Duke! Are you crazy? Nobody gets to meet the Duke. You meet him once and then you're dead!
Cabbie: The Duke got him. Everybody knows the Duke's got him. You don't have to put a gun to my head. I'll tell you.
Snake Plissken: Who's the Duke?
Cabbie: The Duke? The Duke of New York, A-Number-1, the Big Man, that's who!
Snake Plissken: I wanna meet this Duke.
Cabbie: You can't meet the Duke! Are you crazy? Nobody gets to meet the Duke. You meet him once and then you're dead!
Stewardess: [Air Force One has been hijacked by a lone terrorist] Tell this to the workers when they ask where their leader went. We, the soldiers of The National Liberation Front of America, in the name of the workers and all the oppressed of this imperialist country, have struck a fatal blow to the fascist police state. What better revolutionary example than to let their president perish in the inhuman dungeon of his own imperialist prison.
[first lines]
Narrator: In 1988, the crime rate in the United States rises four hundred percent. The once great city of New York becomes the one maximum security prison for the entire country. A fifty-foot containment wall is erected along the New Jersey shoreline, across the Harlem River, and down along the Brooklyn shoreline. It completely surrounds Manhattan Island. All bridges and waterways are mined. The United States Police Force, like an army, is encamped around the island. There are no guards inside the prison, only prisoners and the worlds they have made. The rules are simple: once you go in, you don't come out.
Narrator: In 1988, the crime rate in the United States rises four hundred percent. The once great city of New York becomes the one maximum security prison for the entire country. A fifty-foot containment wall is erected along the New Jersey shoreline, across the Harlem River, and down along the Brooklyn shoreline. It completely surrounds Manhattan Island. All bridges and waterways are mined. The United States Police Force, like an army, is encamped around the island. There are no guards inside the prison, only prisoners and the worlds they have made. The rules are simple: once you go in, you don't come out.
Cabbie: Brain? Brain, I brought somebody to see you.
Snake Plissken: [recognizes Brain] Harold Helman...
Brain: Snake?
Maggie: [curious] Harold?
Snake Plissken: How you been, Harold? It's been a long time.
Maggie: You never told me you knew Snake Plissken, Brain.
Cabbie: Isn't that great? Hey, Brain, I could use some gas if you could spare some.
Snake Plissken: I'm glad you remember me. Yeah, a man should remember his past. Kansas City, four years ago, you ran out on me... You left me sittin' there.
Brain: You were late.
Snake Plissken: [bitterly] We were buddies, Harold. You, me, and Fresno Bob. You know what they did to Bob, huh?
Snake Plissken: [recognizes Brain] Harold Helman...
Brain: Snake?
Maggie: [curious] Harold?
Snake Plissken: How you been, Harold? It's been a long time.
Maggie: You never told me you knew Snake Plissken, Brain.
Cabbie: Isn't that great? Hey, Brain, I could use some gas if you could spare some.
Snake Plissken: I'm glad you remember me. Yeah, a man should remember his past. Kansas City, four years ago, you ran out on me... You left me sittin' there.
Brain: You were late.
Snake Plissken: [bitterly] We were buddies, Harold. You, me, and Fresno Bob. You know what they did to Bob, huh?
Bob Hauk: In 22 hours, the Hartford Summit Meeting will be over. China and the Soviet Union will go back home. Now, the President was on his way to the summit when his plane went down. He has a briefcase attached to his wrist. The tape recording inside has to reach Hartford in 22 hours.
Snake Plissken: What's on it?
Bob Hauk: You know anything about nuclear fusion?
Snake Plissken: No.
Bob Hauk: The survival of the human race, Plissken. Something you don't give a shit about.
Cronenberg: [Cronenberg approaches Snake with two injection guns] I'm going to inject you. It will sting for a second.
[Cronenberg places both guns on the side of Snake's neck and injects him, producing a loud bang]
Bob Hauk: That's it, Plissken.
Cronenberg: Tell him.
Snake Plissken: Tell me what?
Bob Hauk: That idea you had about turning the Gullfire around 180 degrees and flying off to Canada.
Snake Plissken: What did you do to me, asshole?
Bob Hauk: My idea, Plissken. Something we've been fooling around with. Two microscopic capsules lodged in your arteries. They're already starting to dissolve. In 22 hours, the cores will completely dissolve. Inside the cores are a heat-sensing charge. Not a large explosion, about the size of a pinhead, just big enough to open up both of your arteries. I'd say you'd be dead in 10-15 seconds...
Snake Plissken: [chokes Hauk] Take them out, now!
Cronenberg: They're protected by the cores. Fifteen minutes before the last hour is up, we can neutralize the charge with X-rays.
[Pushes Snake away from Hauk]
Bob Hauk: We'll burn out the charges IF you have the President.
Snake Plissken: What if I'm a little late?
Bob Hauk: No more Hartford Summit. And no more Snake Plissken.
Snake Plissken: When I get back, I'm going to kill you.
Bob Hauk: The Gullfire's waiting.
Snake Plissken: What's on it?
Bob Hauk: You know anything about nuclear fusion?
Snake Plissken: No.
Bob Hauk: The survival of the human race, Plissken. Something you don't give a shit about.
Cronenberg: [Cronenberg approaches Snake with two injection guns] I'm going to inject you. It will sting for a second.
[Cronenberg places both guns on the side of Snake's neck and injects him, producing a loud bang]
Bob Hauk: That's it, Plissken.
Cronenberg: Tell him.
Snake Plissken: Tell me what?
Bob Hauk: That idea you had about turning the Gullfire around 180 degrees and flying off to Canada.
Snake Plissken: What did you do to me, asshole?
Bob Hauk: My idea, Plissken. Something we've been fooling around with. Two microscopic capsules lodged in your arteries. They're already starting to dissolve. In 22 hours, the cores will completely dissolve. Inside the cores are a heat-sensing charge. Not a large explosion, about the size of a pinhead, just big enough to open up both of your arteries. I'd say you'd be dead in 10-15 seconds...
Snake Plissken: [chokes Hauk] Take them out, now!
Cronenberg: They're protected by the cores. Fifteen minutes before the last hour is up, we can neutralize the charge with X-rays.
[Pushes Snake away from Hauk]
Bob Hauk: We'll burn out the charges IF you have the President.
Snake Plissken: What if I'm a little late?
Bob Hauk: No more Hartford Summit. And no more Snake Plissken.
Snake Plissken: When I get back, I'm going to kill you.
Bob Hauk: The Gullfire's waiting.
President: Oh... listen, I want to thank you back there for saving my life. If there's anything you want... anything at all...
Snake Plissken: Just a moment of your time.
President: Of course... Yes?
Snake Plissken: We did get you out. But a lot of people died in the process. I just wondered how you felt about it.
President: [cocky, distant tone] Well, I... I wanna thank them. This nation appreciates their sacrifice.
[pause]
President: Look, I'm on in... two minutes?
[shaking his head with disgust, Snake walks away]
Snake Plissken: Just a moment of your time.
President: Of course... Yes?
Snake Plissken: We did get you out. But a lot of people died in the process. I just wondered how you felt about it.
President: [cocky, distant tone] Well, I... I wanna thank them. This nation appreciates their sacrifice.
[pause]
President: Look, I'm on in... two minutes?
[shaking his head with disgust, Snake walks away]
Computer Voice: Attention. You are now entering the Debarkation Area. No talking. No smoking. Follow the orange line to the Processing Area. The next scheduled departure to the prison is in two hours. You now have the option to terminate and be cremated on the premises. If you elect this option, notify the Duty Sergeant in your Processing Area.
Cabbie: [Snake runs into Cabbie's taxi cab while being chased by the Crazies] Bad neighborhood, Snake! You don't want to be walking from the Bowery to 42nd Street at night. I've been driving a cab here for 30 years and I'm telling you: you don't walk around here at night! Yes, sir! Those Crazies'll kill you and strip you in ten seconds flat! Usually I'm not down around here myself, but I wanted to catch that show. That stuff is like gold around here, you know.
[Cabbie casually lights a Molotov cocktail and throws it at approaching Crazies, which explodes in front of them, stopping them... and Cabbie speeds away with Snake in his taxi]
[Cabbie casually lights a Molotov cocktail and throws it at approaching Crazies, which explodes in front of them, stopping them... and Cabbie speeds away with Snake in his taxi]
Snake Plissken: [radioing a pullout request] All right, get your machine ready, I'm coming out.
Bob Hauk: 18 hours left, Plissken!
Snake Plissken: Listen to me, Hauk. The President is dead, you got that? Somebody's had him for dinner!
Bob Hauk: Plissken, if you get back in that glider and fly back here without the tape or the President, I'll shoot you down myself! You try to climb out, I'll burn you off the wall! Do you understand that, Plissken?
Snake Plissken: [beat] A little human compassion.
Bob Hauk: 18 hours left, Plissken!
Snake Plissken: Listen to me, Hauk. The President is dead, you got that? Somebody's had him for dinner!
Bob Hauk: Plissken, if you get back in that glider and fly back here without the tape or the President, I'll shoot you down myself! You try to climb out, I'll burn you off the wall! Do you understand that, Plissken?
Snake Plissken: [beat] A little human compassion.
