, and Russell was back in the game. But it was Escape From new York that led to a string of leading roles in such movies as Silkwood, The Mean Season, Backdraft, Captain Ron, Unlawful Entry and Carpenter's The Thing and Big Trouble In Little China. And it's the role of Snake Plissken that continues to most capture the public imagination.

Russell says the subject had been coming up constantly over the years. Then a couple of years ago, he was in Europe and thinking about his age (45) and whether he'd be able to play action roles for much longer. So he decided to conduct his own little straw poll about whether audiences would be receptive to a return of Snake.

"And everywhere I went, people said, 'Yeah we'd like to see that character again.'

"So I went to (Carpenter) and told him, 'We've got to do this thing now, because I'm getting older.' "

In the movie, Snake has gotten older, too. He has been on the run since his rescue of the U.S. president in Escape From New York, and has acquired a measure of celebrity.

In Escape From New York, the standing joke is that people meet Snake and say, "I thought you were dead."

Now, they say, "I thought you were taller."

"You know," Russell says. "if the guy's been on the crime channel for 16 years, on these great big screens ...

"It reminds me of what people say to me: 'I thought you'd be taller.'

"I say, 'You know, the screen is a lot bigger than what you're looking at.' "

Russell, like Snake, is not big on linear thought, or complete sentences. Also, like Snake -- and like his co-star Cliff Robertson -- he has an axe to grind about the establishment.

Earlier, Carpenter had mentioned that Russell was a card-carrying Libertarian, that strange, international political party dedicated to the rights of the individual and embracing ideologies running the spectrum from far-right to far-left .

When he was a Republican, Russell says, he "was always ripped apart, shunned in this town." Then he says with a strong bass note of menace, "I promise you, I know."

"At least Libertarian is confusing enough that they leave you alone. Pity the poor Republican in this town."

A Libertarian, Russell adds, is probably what Snake would be.

"Snake is the one incorruptible man. He doesn't care enough about you or me or anyone to be corruptible.

"All he cares about is what's going to happen in the next 60 seconds."

And Russell leaves no doubt that he approves of Snake's outlook.


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