Escape from L.A.

In the Iate 20th century,

hostile forces inside the United States grow strong.

The city of Los AngeIes

is ravaged by crime and immoraIity.

To protect and defend its citizens,

the United States Police Force is formed.

A presidential candidate predicts a millennium earthquake

will destroy L.A. in divine retribution.

Like the mighty fist of God,

Armageddon will descend upon the city of Los Angeles,

the city of sin, the city of Gomorrah, the city of Sodom,

and waters will arise and separate this sinful, sinful city from our country.

An earthquake measuring 9.6 on the Richter scale

hits at 12:59 p.m., August 22, in the year 2000.

After the devastation, the Constitution is amended

and the newly elected president accepts a lifetime term of office.

The country's capital is relocated from Washington, D.C.,

to the President's hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia.

Los Angeles lsland is declared no longer part of the United States

and becomes the deportation point for all people

found undesirable or unfit to live in the new, moral America.

The United States Police Force, like an army,

is encamped along the shoreline,

making any escape from L.A. impossible.

From the southeastern hills of Orange County

to the northwestern shore of Malibu,

the great wall excludes L.A. from the mainland.

The President's first act as permanent Commander-in-Chief is Directive 17.

Once an American loses his or her citizenship,

they are deported to this island of the damned,

and they never come back.

Attention. We are on tactical alert. Remain at battle stations.

l repeat, remain at battle stations.

This is the Police Channel and this is prime news.

ln a late-breaking story, the force has announced

the arrival of the most notorious outlaw in United States history at Firebase 7,

the Deportation Center for Los Angeles lsland.

Now this on-the-scene report.

War hero. Criminal. The force's most wanted man.

Convicted of 27 moral crimes.

Arrested two weeks ago on a charge of gun fighting for profit

in New Vegas, Thailand, U.S. Territory.

lt's been 16 years since his famous rescue in New York,

and the reports of Plissken sightings

have remained constant during that time.

Commander?

We're still getting a trace from the rescue team, sir.

-Stationary signal? -lt has not moved from this location.

That means he's hiding, captured or dead.

-So we go with Plissken? -He's all we've got.

Hello, Plissken. Welcome to L.A.

Come on. Move it.

-That's Snake Plissken? -What did you expect?

l don't know. He just looks so retro. Kind of 20th century.

Good old days. Let's get going.

The people of the United States have waited a long time

-for this criminal. -Move out!

You are now entering the Deportation Center.

You have been found guilty of moral crimes

against the United States of America

and sentenced to permanent expulsion beyond its borders.

Any failure to comply with processing instructions

will be met with use of force.

Take a look at them, Plissken. Prostitutes, atheists, runaways.

We're throwing out the trash.

"S.D. Bob Plissken, Special Forces." Two Purple Hearts.

Youngest man ever decorated by the President.

Rescued a different President in '97. So what happened to you, war hero?

You were the best we had. Now you're just like one of them.

You had it all, and you turned away from your country.

Why? The whole nation's watching,

every good and decent person who works hard and follows the rules.

Be my guest. What do you have to say, Plissken?

Call me Snake.

You are now entering the processing area.

The next scheduled departure to L.A. is in one hour.

Get over there!

You now have the option to repent of your sins

and be electrocuted on the premises.

lf you elect this option,

notify the cleric sergeant in your processing area.

How's it going, hotshot?

You know, l got to admit, l thought we had you in Cleveland.

-Come on. Tell me. How'd you do it? -Get to the deal.

-What? -You need me for something. What is it?

Show him.

At 1 030 hours, Wednesday,

a group of government officials

began a tour of the Benford Space Defense Lab.

The President's daughter Utopia was among them.

Somehow during the tour,

she came into possession of a top-secret prototype unit.

One hour later,

she boarded Air Force Three for Lynchburg.

To the American people, now is the time to rise up

and demand the surrender of the President

and his corrupt theocracy of lies and terror!

At 1 140 hours, she hijacked Air Force Three.

We scanned this onto the VR. Check it out.

Today is day one of a brand-new world.

The days of empire are finished.

To the President, my father.

You know what's in here, and unless you open your borders,

allow all the wrongfully accused to return to their country,

l will use this on you and on the United States.

Her emergency escape pod landed somewhere in L.A.

Her ELT signal ceased immediately. After that, silence.

We sent in a five-man rescue team.

Within a few hours of landing on the island,

all but one of them was killed.

One hell of a team.

-Skip the commentary, Plissken. -Snake.

Call me Snake.

Get on with it.

Right after her sister committed suicide, Utopia began to withdraw from life

into her virtual reality simulator.

She'd punch up her own little world in cyberspace

and stay in it for days at a time.

Somebody else was in there with her.

Utopia made tapes of her VR experiences

and then tried to erase them,

but she missed one five-second image.

We ran a data scan

and found this fragment on the end of her last tape.

Cuervo Jones. Peruvian terrorist. Member of the Shining Path.

Runs the Mescalito Justice, the biggest, baddest gang in L.A.

Somehow, Cuervo Jones managed to tap into the VR master data bank.

Utopia was lonely, looking for something to believe in,

and so he used her to steal the black box.

-Sad story. You got a smoke? -This is serious, Plissken.

The black box is a matter of national security.

lt looks like it belongs to Utopia's lover-boy now.

-Yeah. We want it back. -l'll bet.

What's it do?

Top secret. Only on a need-to-know.

Evidently, l don't need to know, so fuck you. l'm going to Hollywood.

lf you go into L.A., bring back the black box,

and you will receive a full pardon for every immoral act

you have ever committed in the United States.

-Sounds familiar. -An immediate answer.

Yes or no?

-Who are you? -l'm your president.

l understand you got some domestic problems.

Put that black box in my hand, and you're a free man.

l can see you're real concerned about your daughter.

Utopia is lost to me. My daughter is gone.

-Last chance, hotshot. -For what?

-Freedom, sir. -ln America? That died a long time ago.

All right. l've heard enough of this. Explain to this foot soldier

why he's going to do what we tell him to do.

-What's he talking about? -The Plutoxin 7 virus.

Genetically engineered. 1 00% pure death.

Complete nervous system shutdown.

You crash. You bleed out like a stuck pig.

lt's not a pretty sight.

l see.

You figure you inject that shit into me and l'll do whatever you want,

just like New York?

-You got it, Snake. -One question.

Which one of you assholes gets to die trying to stick me?

You don't understand. lt's already in you.

Catches on quick, doesn't he?

Your countdown clock is now activated.

Designer viruses, Plissken. Wave of the future.

Right now you've got less than 1 0 hours to live.

lt's already moving through your bloodstream.

Go ahead. Put your hand on that touch pad.

Of course, there is an antidote

and it neutralizes the virus immediately upon injection.

Which l will personally authorize once your mission is completed.

The man is too dumb to survive L.A.

We're holograms, Plissken. Give us a little credit.

We're not that stupid.

Get this crap out of me.

l guess we've got a deal.

Nice to be working with you, hotshot.

You'd better hope l don't make it back.

All of you.

Core burner. Magnesium ammo. Five hundred extra rounds.

Oral projectile. Mouth dart. The dart is filled with urolyde.

lt will stun the enemy for several seconds.

Every member of the rescue team

had a tracking chip implanted in his arm.

l think one of them might still be alive.

Use the tracer in your watch to locate him.

This is a holocam. lt's a portable holographic camera.

lt'll project your image up to a half mile away.

1 00% audio send and receive capabilities.

lt's a prototype. Confuse and deceive the enemy.

Now, it has a mini-nuke battery good for about 8 minutes,

but you can only use it once.

So you better save it for when it counts.

Stick matches. Plain, old-fashioned stick matches.

Never know when you might need them.

-Where are my guns? -l thought you might want those.

Stealth clothing. Fire retardant, nullifies heat detection.

Put them on.

-l'll take the coat. -You'll take them all.

All right. Listen up, Plissken. L.A.'s being primed as a beachhead

for an invasion of the United States.