Cole’s review published on Letterboxd:
As I was drunkenly rewatching this with my brothers tonight I was trying to think of what the stylistic link between John Carpenter’s movies is and I think I was able to put my finger on what I love about this guy so much. It’s that these are pulpy B-movie plots that are told with so much care and technical expertise that I don’t even notice.
This is a seriously badass movie, with some seriously badass early computer graphics, and a seriously badass main character who’s played so on-the-nose by the grizzly Kurt Russell that the performance can’t help but work perfectly. It’s because of characters like this that my girlfriend and I stan this man. He’s basically a G.I. Joe or a stone-faced videogame protagonist. Another thought is that it’s very weird to imagine the Manhattan of today having been such a shithole during the 70’s that a plot like this would be even somewhat believable.
I also think this might be my favorite of John Carpenter’s signature, home-recorded synthesizer scores. I’ve always really appreciated the intimacy that they add to the formula and this is the most engaging one I’ve heard yet. It builds momentum, it’s ominous and most of all, it’s badass.
Watched on Amazon Prime