John Carpenter’s long-awaited follow-up to his SF movie Escape From New York brings Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken to Los Angeles in the year 2013after an earthquake has turned the city into a postapocalyptic island of warring gangs and outcastswhere he kicks some serious ass. This time around, Russell seems uncomfortable in the parta cartoon of a cartoonbut the production design by Blade Runner’s Lawrence G. Paull is so attractive and inventive that this is probably Carpenter’s most visually impressive feature. And though the plot at times seems almost as mechanical as Russell’s performance, there are many delightful parodic episodes and details along the way. With Stacy Keach, Steve Buscemi, Valeria Golino, Bruce Campbell, Peter Fonda, Pam Grier, and Cliff Robertson. Russell and Debra Hill wrote and produced. (JR)