The Film: Welcome to the grimy, futuristic world of Snake Plisskin (Kurt Russell), a hard-as-nails mercenary charged with rescuing the President when his plane crashes on the prison island of Manhattan.

It's a real ride of a movie with a grungy edge and plenty of crowd-pleasing bone-crunching moments. And it helped make Russell into something more than a Disney film star or an Elvis impersonator.
 
Carpenter Chats: Despite problems a little while before the shoot, New York's officials gave him permission for a location shoot that would be a dream these days.

"They read the script and apparently didn't find anything wrong - although they may regret it when they see it. But I hope not.

"It really isn't a slam, although it does portray New York City as having become a violently inhumane place.

"The city officials not only gave permission but were very helpful. We were the first film company in history allowed to shoot on Liberty Island, at the Statue of Liberty, at night. They let us have the whole island to ourselves.

"We were lucky. It wasn't easy to get that initial permission. They'd had a bombing three months earlier, and were worried about trouble. But we were good tenants. We were extremely careful, and cleaned up our messes afterward."

Remade? Not yet, though not for want of trying. A new film has been in development for ages, with Gerard Butler attached, but nothing has yet come of it.