Escape From New York is one of director John Carpenter’s finest films. It’s smart, it’s set in a great location, and it introduced the world to Snake Plissken, the badass man of few words. Kurt Russell’s portrayal of Plissken has gone on to inspire several other characters, most notably Solid Snake from the Metal Gear franchise, although none have that same swagger or irritability.
If you’re a fan of the movie like I am, then you know about Plissken’s countdown watch, which was given to him after he was injected with a poison capsule. Massive and clunky, the watch has still managed to attract a cadre of people who would love to own something remotely close to that design. It turns out that some of those folk also happen to have the resources to make a design that doesn’t come close, it flat out replicates the watch and then takes it to the next level entirely!
Enter Ridgewood Watch Company, LLC, who have launched a Kickstarter for the “Lifeclock One”, “…an officially licensed, supercharged version of Snake Plissken’s countdown watch.” The crowdfunding page is looking to raise $200,000 for this project and I don’t have any worries about them getting that amount. As of this post, they’re already well over $30,000 and their “early bird special” has sold out, meaning that people will have to invest at least $399 for one of these watches.
The watch isn’t just a countdown or a replica that people will put on their shelf for others to admire. They’ve made it a smart watch that can connect to your phone via Bluetooth as well as added in time zone regions, a stopwatch, date, and more. As for the screen, they’re keeping it old school and only using the 7 segment LED that we saw in the film. Basically, it’s got the look and feel of the original prop while adding in modern features. Plus, I don’t care what anyone says regarding its size, I think it looks awesome.
Check out the video introducing the watch below and then click on the above link if you want to back the project.
