Snake Plissken

"Call me Snake."

―Snake Plissken^[src]

S.D. Bob "Snake" Plissken, was an American legendary war hero turned outlaw.

Plissken was twice offered Presidential pardons for completing tasks inside cities repurposed as maximum security prisons.

Biography[]

Plissken served in the United States Army, achieving the rank of Lieutenant. He served with the Special Forces Unit Black Light and earned two Purple Hearts between Leningrad and Siberia. He was the youngest man to be decorated by the President.

Around 1993, Snake and his associates Fresno Bob and Harold Hellman embarked on a job in Kansas City. However, Hellman abandoned them and Bob was killed by the United States Police Force.

Manhattan[]

In 1997, Snake was arrested for robbing the Denver Federal Reserve Depository with his friend Bill Taylor, who was killed by the United States Police Force.

Snake was processed at Liberty Island Security Control, to be imprisoned in the New York Maximum Security Penitentiary. When President John Harker crash-landed inside the prison while carrying an important tape for the Hartford Summit, Commissioner Bob Hauk offered Snake a mission to retrieve the President within twenty-four hours in exchange for a pardon from his crimes.

Snake accepted and was briefed on the mission. To ensure that he would complete this assignment, he was then injected with capsules containing small explosives that would explode at the end of his mission's time limit, killing him.

Commencing his mission, Snake flew a Gullfire to the World Trade Center and proceeded to follow a homing beacon placed in a vital signs bracelet the President wore. His search led him through an opera house where he met the cab driver Cabbie. Outside the opera house, he fended off a few hostile prisoners and found the vital signs bracelet being worn by a drunk. Informing Hauk of the situation, Snake was told to continue his mission.

He was then pursued by a group of crazies and sought refuge in a dilapidated Chock full o'Nuts. There, he encountered a woman named Maureen who asked him to get her out of the prison with him, but she was then pulled through the floor and killed by crazies. Snake ran from the crazies until Cabbie – whilst playing a tape of "Bandstand Boogie" – found him and picked him up, telling Snake that the President had been taken by the Duke of New York.

Cabbie took Snake to Harold Hellman – now going by "Brain" – and Brain's "squeeze," Maggie. Brain worked closely with the Duke, who was planning an escape from the prison through the use of a diagram Brain had made of the mined 69th Street bridge.

Brain reluctantly agreed to help Snake. Outside, the Duke and his entourage arrived to see Brain, who hid with Snake and Maggie as Cabbie fled. Snake then commandeered a vehicle from the entourage and escaped the area with Brain and Maggie.

Brain led Snake through Broadway and to a train yard, where the Duke held the President. Snake managed sneak in and free Harker, but was subsequently ambushed.

Imprisoned, Snake was forced to fight Slag to the death, ultimately defeating him and managing to activate a tracer the USPF had given him for his mission. Snake then returned to the World Trade Center, where Brain, Maggie, and the President reached, but the Gullfire was pushed from the building by a group of prisoners. The group went back down to the ground floor, where the Duke ambushed them but managed to escape.

Outside, they were picked up by Cabbie, who had traded Romero his hat for the President's tape. They were pursued to the 69th Street bridge as Brain helped Snake navigate. However, he ran over a mine, splitting the cab in half and killing Cabbie.

They continued on foot, and Brain accidentally stepped on a mine and died. Maggie, stricken by his death, stayed behind with Snake's revolver until being run over by the Duke. As Snake sent the President over the prison containment wall, the Duke attacked. Snake managed to subdue him and begin his ascent over the wall, but the President stopped him in order to shoot the Duke to death before allowing Snake to complete his climb.

Over the wall, Hauk demanded the tape from Snake, who gave him Cabbie's "Bandstand Boogie" tape instead. The explosives in Snake's neck were then deactivated with only seconds to spare.

As the President prepared for the Hartford Summit, he offered Snake anything in return for his rescue. Snake simply asked for a moment of his time, asking how he felt about the deaths that occurred to bring him to safety. The President responded with half-hearted condolences and Snake made his way over to Hauk, who offered him a job. Snake dismissed him and walked away, destroying the President's tape and throwing it away.

Atlantic City[]

Chicago[]

Cleveland[]

Los Angeles[]

By 2013, another man named Adam took the Presidential office and declared himself president for life. President Adam instated laws based on morals and turned Los Angeles (now its own island) into a prison.

When the President's daughter Utopia stole the "Sword of Damocles" and went to Los Angeles, she helped Peruvian terrorist and member of the Shining Path Cuervo Jones. Cuervo wanted the Sword of Damocles Remote Control Unit as leverage to unite all Latin American countries to declare war on the United States of America.

Snake was again arrested gunfighting for profit in New Vegas, Thailand US territory. Snake is sent in to get the black box containing the Sword of Damocles Remote Control Unit. By the President and Commander Mac Malloy and Malloy's second-in-command Lieutenant Brazen, he was infected with a Plutoxin 7 virus that would supposedly kill him within a day.

While tracking down Cuervo and Utopia. Snake meets various characters like Taslima, "Map to the Stars" Eddie, "Test Tube", "Pipeline" and Hershe Las Palmas, who was formerly an associate of Snake's, known as Carjack Malone. Malone abandoned Snake and "Texas Mike" O'Shea to die.

After succeeding in his mission, Snake used the Sword of Damocles to shut down the electronic devices all over the Earth.

Behind the Scenes[]

Casting[]

Studio executives pressured John Carpenter to cast a seasoned "tough guy" actor for the role of Snake. Their preferences included Chuck Norris, Nick Nolte, Tommy Lee Jones, Charles Bronson, and even Patrick Swayze.

Studio executives wanted Charles Bronson for the role of Snake Plissken, but John Carpenter refused, on the grounds that he was too old for the 30-year-old antihero, too typecast, or simply not right for the part. Carpenter also worried that a more experienced actor might challenge or even usurp his authority on the set.

Nick Nolte and Jeff Bridges were both approached to play Snake Plissken, but were uninterested. Bridges later worked with John Carpenter on Starman (1984), for which he was nominated for an Oscar. Kris Kristofferson was considered as a possible candidate for the lead, but was not approached, due to the failure of Heaven's Gate (1980).

Studio executives wanted Tommy Lee Jones for the role of Snake Plissken. They didn't think Kurt Russell was right for the role, based on his prior work.

At the time, 29-year-old Kurt Russell was best known for light-hearted Disney roles such as The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969) and had no experience playing gritty action roles. However, Carpenter had directed Kurt Russell in Elvis (1979) and they had had a very positive relationship working together. Producer Debra Hill agreed his youth, looks, athleticism, and freshness to the action genre made him the ideal choice for the part. So John Carpenter lobbied hard for him to take the role of Snake Plissken.

Kurt Russell apparently turned down the role of Buck Rogers in 'Buck Rogers in the 25th Century' (1978) when director John Carpenter pitched the idea of Snake Plissken to him a couple of years earlier whilst making the TV movie Elvis (1978). Russell was intrigued by the set up and that Carpenter had envisaged the character as a renegade anti-hero similar to actor Clint Eastwood. Once Carpenter was able to raise the funding he asked Russell if he was still interested and Russell jumped at the chance.

Name[]

The name Snake Plissken was actually taken from a real person. When writing the screenplay John Carpenter struggled over assigning a memorable name to his main character. A friend of a friend suggested using the name of someone he knew in high school who he described as a "sort of a tough guy" who bore a large snake tattoo on his abdomen; his last name was Plissken and went by the nickname "Snake". Said Carpenter "Anybody with a snake tattooed on them some place ... that's my kinda hero."

Kurt Russell mentions he and John Carpenter bounced back and forth on ideas of why he was called "Snake." The stomach tattoo was added as such. "I must say that after we did this I got some of my favorite fan letters from girls who saw this tattoo," said Russell, laughing all the way through. "They thought that was wonderful." Carpenter mentions he wouldn't mind reading some of those letters. Russell laughs at this. The world laughs with him.

Snake's full name is never revealed beyond "S.D. Bob Plissken." Although present in the shooting script for Escape from New York, "Bob" was not used in the completed film. It was, however, included in Escape from L.A..

Script[]

In the original script, Snake Plissken wasn't given a "reason" to destroy the tape, and did so because as he said earlier he didn't care about the war or the President. The scene where Snake asks the President how he feels about the deaths of everyone in the rescue, and is disgusted by the President's dismissive and empty words, was crafted because it made Snake's action seem completely understandable.

A scene was written but not filmed that highlighted how all incoming prisoners in NYC were sterilized before being dropped into Manhattan. Part of Snake's reluctant agreement to try and rescue the President was that he understandably didn't want to be castrated and knew he would avoid this fate one way or the other (getting a pardon, or getting killed).

Creation[]

Kurt Russell based Snake Plissken in part on Bruce Lee, Darth Vader, Clint Eastwood and the Exterminator character that Robert Ginty made famous in the title role of The Exterminator (1980).

While developing the Snake Plissken character and look, Kurt Russell and John Carpenter decided the character had previously fought a war in Siberia, hence the black and white camouflage the character wears instead of the classic green.

Kurt Russell decided to wear the eye patch at the last second before shooting. He did not tell John Carpenter beforehand; but Carpenter liked the look for the character so they kept it.

Russell found it necessary to remove the eyepatch between takes, as wearing it constantly seriously affected his depth perception.

Snake Plissken's primary weapon is a Mac-10 with a rifle scope mounted on a sound suppressor. He also uses a Smith and Wesson Model 67 with a scope mounted on it.

In his commentary for the film, Kurt Russell mentions a scrapped idea for a self-lighting cigarette, which John Carpenter notes was all Russell's. "Unfortunately, as I recall," says Carpenter, "you burned your fingers." He also notes the special effect wasn't feasible on the film's very limited budget.

Infamous for bad movie retitling, the German dub of the movie is known as "Die Klapperschlange" (The Rattlesnake), Snake has a cobra tattooed on his abdomen, but the Blu-ray cover of Die Klapperschlange features a pre-production early publicity photo of Kurt Russel as Snake where he is seen wearing khaki combat pants rather than his zebra urban camo, a larger eyepatch, regular black combat boots rather than his bespoke movie boots with toe cleats/shin guards, a dagger on his belt and is knelt holding a neck slung scoped rifle with bipod as opposed to his scoped and suppressed MAC-10. Most noticeable is the placement of a cobra snake tattoo on the top of his arm where it is on his torso in the movie and a less muscular physique as Russel trained to bulk up for the role after these shots were taken.

Filming[]

The film originally opened with Snake and an accomplice, Taylor, robbing the federal depository and ultimately getting captured, with Taylor being shot dead by the police. This is the crime Hauk notes Snake is being sent to New York for. Test audiences found the scene overlong and confusing, leading to its removal. It was later included as a deleted scene on the DVD. Joe Unger is still listed in the end credits as Taylor.

One night, while shooting on location in St Louis, Kurt Russell (in costume) encountered some local thugs. He had unwittingly strayed into their territory but they were suitably intimidated by his appearance not to give him any trouble.

Originally, John Carpenter wanted Snake to flick his cigarette at the President and hit him in the chest. Kurt Russell wasn't comfortable with this, though he doesn't mention if he was nervous about flicking his cigarette at Donald Pleasence or at someone portraying POTUS. He and Carpenter compromised by having Snake toss the cigarette in the President's general direction.

For the shot where Snake kills Slag, Kurt Russell had to hit Ox Baker with a real baseball bat with a real nail in it. Baker had special padding on the back of his neck to absorb the impact, but John Carpenter and Russell both mention in their commentary how nervous the pro wrestler was.

Ox Baker struck Kurt Russell very heavily with some of his blows during the boxing ring fight scene. Russell had finally had enough and asked Baker to take it easy, tapping him in the groin to let him know he was serious. Baker then calmed down.

Deleted Scene[]

Snake Plissken angrily confronts Harold "Brain" Helman inside the NYC prison about the time Brian left Snake behind on an unspecified action that led to a horrible end for their mutual friend, Fresno Bob. While a deleted sequence does show Snake and a fellow bank robber named Taylor being caught (Taylor is shot and killed and Snake is arrested, for the crime that sent him to prison), this is NOT the same incident. Snake makes it clear Brain betrayed him years ago in a different crime situation, one where he was never caught by the authorities.

Aftermath[]

Kurt Russell has stated that this is his favorite of all his films, and Snake Plissken is his favorite of his characters.

Kurt Russell kept all his costumes from the film and was very pleased 17 years later when Escape from L.A. (1996)was being made that he still managed to fit into them. (Although ultimately both he and John Carpenter decided to change the costume for the sequel.)

Appearances[]

Main article: List of Snake Plissken appearances

Novelization[]

In 1981, Bantam Books published a movie tie-in novelization written by Mike McQuay that adopts a lean, humorous style reminiscent of the film. The novel is significant because it includes scenes that were cut out of the film, such as the Federal Reserve Depository robbery that results in Snake's incarceration. The novel provides motivation and backstory to Snake and Hauk - both disillusioned war veterans - deepening their relationship that was only hinted at it in the film. The novel explains how Hauk became warden of New York, and Hauk's quest to find his crazy son who lives somewhere in the prison. The novel fleshes out the world that these characters exist in, at times presenting a future even bleaker than the one depicted in the film. The book explains that the West Coast is a no-man's land, and the country's population is gradually being driven crazy by nerve gas as a result of World War III.

Also explaining how Snake lost his eye during the Battle for Leningrad in World War III, his eye was destroyed during the time he "flew the Gullfire over Leningrad." It was part of a suicide mission that aimed to force a quick Russian defeat in WWIII. This sequence fleshed out both Snake's journey from a patriotic military man to an angry criminal, and how the U.S. and Russia had barely avoided nuclear Armageddon (they made an agreement to "only" use nerve gases, and those have apparently rendered much of the population insane or left in wastelands).

Background Information and Notes[]

Trivia[]

Kurt Russell Snake Plissken) doesn't say a word until 18 minutes into the movie.
The name "Snake Plissken" was changed to "Hyena" for the Italian release, and "Cobra" in South Korea.

Spoilers[]

Every character that says "I heard you were dead" to Snake, eventually gets killed off the movie.
Snake wears the eye patch due to extreme light sensitivity. Snake's helmet was cracked during WWIII, leaving the iris in his left eye paralyzed due to poison gas.