Escape from New York (1981)

It’s 1997 and Manhattan has been turned into a maximum-security prison because crime has risen by 400%. A convict named Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) is recruited by Lee Van Cleef to rescue the US President (Donald Pleasence), who is trapped there by a gangland boss (Isaac Hayes). 

It’s an exciting romp, blending action-thriller and sci- fi. The “futuristic” sets are generally impressive and the pace never lets up. Script-wise it’s fairly underwhelming, but then you probably wouldn’t watch it for the dialogue. 

Ernest Borgnine plays an irritating cabbie, while Harry Dean Stanton plays an engineer nicknamed "Brain".

Director John Carpenter provides the music himself, and it’s pretty good.