Arts & Entertainment
With $100K, 'Escape From New York' Kickstarter More Than Halfway To Goal
An Atlanta company is raising funds for a watch like the one worn by Kurt Russell's character, Snake Plissken.
ATLANTA, GA — Much like "Escape From New York" hero Snake Plissken, time is becoming a factor for the LifeClock One.
Created by an Atlanta startup, the watch is an officially-licensed replica of the countdown watch worn by Kurt Russell's character in the 1981 John Carpenter action film.
It's being crowdfunded on Kickstarter. And, with 12 days to go, the B-movie-inspired smartwatch has raised just over half the $200,000 goal it needs to hit to become a reality.
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On Friday morning, the campaign had raised $101,775.
Jonathan Zufi, creator and project lead of the Lifeclock One, said he's a super-fan of "Escape From New York" who had the idea for the watch after watching the film "for the millionth time" a couple of years ago.
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"I thought, if I did it right and turned it into a super-cool wearable, I could delight other fans of the film, and maybe a few other people as well," the Atlanta-based software engineer said in the watch's Kickstarter video.
The price to get a watch on Kickstarter begins at $399. Fancier versions run all the way up to $799.
In John Carpenter's 1981 film, the crime rate in the United States has skyrocketed and New York City has been turned into a maximum-security prison where the only sentence is life without parole.
When Air Force One crash-lands right in the middle of the city, Russell's Plissken is called upon to go in and get the president out.
He has 24 hours to complete the mission — a fact he's constantly reminded of by a countdown watch like the one Zufi's startup, Ridgewood Watch Company, has made.
The Lifeclock One lets the user mimic Snake Plissken with a movie-like countdown timer.
But its LED display also shows the time in multiple time zones, has a stop watch, counts your steps and has a compass and temperature readout.
It also has Bluetooth connectivity, allowing the user to link it up to an Apple or Android device and get incoming calls, texts and push notifications from their favorite apps.
Image via Kickstarter
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