MovieDome: Hawk the Slayer vs Escape From New York!

Arguably the top fantasy and sci-fi flicks of the 80s go head to head. Both with animal named heroes! Big name villains! Synth based soundtracks! Eye patches abound!

The Tale of the Tape:


Hawk the Slayer (1980)
Hero: Hawk - Stereotypical boring fantasy doo-gooder
Villain: Voltan - Stereotypical fantasy villain being related to the hero
Summary: Encapsulating all that was 80s D&D adventuring, a party of heroes (to include an elf, dwarf, and 'giant') are called on by fellow adventurer Hawk to aid an abbey against his evil brother Voltan.
Main Theme:





Escape From New York (1981)
Hero: Snake - Stereotypical dystopian anti-hero
Villain: Duke of New York - Stereotypical dystopian villian being not the actual biggest threat to the hero
Summary: Former special forces operative, turned enemy of the state, is captured and sent into NYC (now a maximum security prison) to rescue the president.
Main Theme:

Both films have their merits, but I have to go with:
ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK

1. Kurt Russell
2. John Carpenter
3. Ernest Borgnine dies
4. Kurt Russell

There is an Escape From New York boardgame, which should count for something around here.

EDIT: vote for Escape from New York, one of John Carpenter's better movies.

What the fuck is Hawk the Slayer? Never heard of it before.

Winner: The one with Lee Van Cleef.

No contest. Escape.

Gotta go with Escape from New York too.

However, Hawk the Slayer does deserve a viewing if you're at all interested in that era or genre. It holds a place in my heart alongside Beastmaster and The Sword and the Sorcerer.

I've seen neither, but did go to Escape from LA back when it was released in theaters. My friend who was a fan of EfNY said it was pretty much the same movie remade slightly worse.

No way... Escape from LA is AWFUL. Unwatchable dreck. Escape from New York is awesome.

Is this some kind of joke? Escape From New York.

Legomancer wrote: Is this some kind of joke? Escape From New York.

Agreed. Snake Plisken wins hands down.
A better fight would be had between dragonslayer and escape from new york.
That one I would actually have to give a moments thought to.

hotseatgames wrote: No way... Escape from LA is AWFUL. Unwatchable dreck. Escape from New York is awesome.

Yep, awful. The only scene that I liked was the one where Kurt, er Snake was shooting hoops for his life.

hotseatgames wrote: No way... Escape from LA is AWFUL. Unwatchable dreck. Escape from New York is awesome.

Other than the basketball court scene, EFLA was utter shite. Further marred by some REALLY bad CGI that on modern TV sets is borderline unwatchable.

As for this Trashdome, bitch please. Its all about Snake Plissken.

Legomancer wrote: Is this some kind of joke? Escape From New York.

HA! I was just about to write that exact same post.

I'm surprised Jeff isn't trying to argue that Hawk is better than The Force Awakens or something. Or that it is somehow the only movie that you really need to ever watch.

Shellhead wrote: There is an Escape From New York boardgame, which should count for something around here.

Hey! Hawk has a failed kickstarter, which should count for something around here.

Michael Barnes wrote: I'm surprised Jeff isn't trying to argue that Hawk is better than The Force Awakens or something. Or that it is somehow the only movie that you really need to ever watch.

Better than The Force Awakens goes without saying. But now that you mention it, you could watch all three LotR movies for about 9-12 hours or watch Hawk for 1.5 and get all your elf, dwarf, and sorcery action. Plus, one Hawk dvd takes up less space than three LotR dvds to boot!

Seriously, this was sort of a jest 'dome. No way do I expect people to vote Hawk over EfNY. For some reason this morning they struck me as having some odd similarities (besides, ya know, the plot) that I mentioned in the opening so thought this would be something fun for the forums.