many fan of kurt russell be extremely surprised he emerge from his year a a child actor to evolve into a believable and hard hitting and action hero . true and he be traditionally recognize to many for his whimsical and good look and high school persona . thus when movie goer saw him in this film and many stand aghast at his mature tenor . this futuristic story begin with the president plane be high jack by rebel extremist and fly into the island city of new york which have be transform into a maximum prison . the plane with the president ( donald pleasence ) on board crash into the prison and it fall to the warden or police commissioner and one and bob hauk and ( lee van cleef ) to rescue the chief executive . his plan . to send in a new convict and an experienced ex soldier and special ops veteran and name and snake plissken ( kurt russell ) with the promise of a presidential pardon if he can return him alive . to insure the clever criminal do not take the opportunity to escape and he be give a lethal injection which can only be remove by the commissioner medical staff . thus and begin a timely drama which mean life or death for the hero and the president and ultimately the world . the success of this film owes much to the film other character like the talkative cabbie ( ernest borgnine and terrific acting ) and harold brain helman ( harry dean stanton ) and his queeze maggie ( adrienne barbeau ) and isaac hayes and who play the heavy and the duke of new york . this a groundbreaking film for russell and a expect and he carry it to it rave conclusion with action to spare . .