Assault on Precinct 13

Rating:
Summary: Take the Power Back!*
Review: If the sixties convinced Middle American moms and dads that the Kids weren't alright, then the seventies transmitted an even more alarming message to all those suburban ranch-house littered subdivisions: the Kids were on the march!

Actually, maybe "on the march" is a little light when it comes to describing what's up in John Carpenter's uber-siege classic of Power to the People "Assault on Precinct 13", Carpenter's little entry describing what happens to the police officers and personnel of a decommissioned California police station on its final night of operation when the local street gang decides to take Malcolm X's suggestion to take power by "by any means necessary"---literally.

Yeah, "on the march" is an understatement. I'm thinking more like wild in the streets.

Faster than you can say "Resist Oppression" the think globally act locally Street Thunder street gang and its army of Che Guevara clones (right down to the beards and berets) has sworn a blood oath to avenge its members gunned down by the local fuzz, inaugurated its assault by a righteous campaign against ice-cream wagon patrons, and pursued a terrified citizen into the ill-fated stationhouse. And as it just so happens, the Station's last night is an auspicious one: hours before, Lieutenant Bishop (played with an extra-serving of seventies Afro-cool by Austin Stoker, who would make "Dawn of the Dead"'s Ken Foree proud) took his first new transfer assignment as the decommissioned station's night nanny. Oh, and notorious stone-cold felon Napoleon Wilson (a stone-cold Darwin Joston, foreshadowing Snake Pliskin)---who just wants a smoke---has an unscheduled stopover at the station. Good he's handy with a shotgun, huh?

The rest of this slim, trim, grindhouse classic is siege warfare and low-budget filmmaking at its finest. This was only Carpenter's second flick (the first was the uber-guerilla sci-fi comedy "Dark Star"), but the lean, mean fighting machine Carpenter put up on the screen had so many tweaks, and showed so much nerve, that it gave him the clout to wield the camera in "Halloween", which would make his career.

Douglas Knapp, Carpenter's cinematographer from "Dark Star", is strictly point and shoot: but Carpenter's vision comes through loud and clear and ups the ante from what would, in lesser hands, have been a strictly by the numbers action flick. The stationhouse itself anticipates the shadowy, utilitarian set design of "The Thing"; the unstoppably bloodthirsty Street Thunder gangmembers, with their silenced weapons and unslakable thirst for blood, suggest the future marauding of Michael Myers and his reign of terror in "Halloween".

For Carpenter, all past is prologue. In the meantime, the new remaster for the Special Edition DVD is about as good as this little flick will look. Tilt that beret back on your head at a rakish angle, hoist your Little Red Book high over your head, and hit the streets with "Assault on Precinct 13".

*Warning: If not John Carpenter fanatic, "Assault on Precinct 13" may lose two stars. But you'd have to be crazy or just no fun at all not to be a Carpenter fanatic.





Rating:
Summary: Good, but....
Review: Sometime ago, I bought this film thinking it was the special edition. (It even had the same cover as this one.) However, I soon found out that it was fairly bare boned, save for a commentary (which was actually recorded from the laserdisc edition) and the theatrical trailer. In short, I was dissapointed.

I recently found this version in a store and bought it. There is definitely more stuff in it, including info about the film and an interview with John Carpenter and Austin Stoker. However, I do have one complaint. The commentary is the same one from the other DVD. I thought Carpenter had recorded a new commentary. Guess not. I indeed prefer this version to the other one I previously bought, but the lack of a new commentary cheeses me off.

As for the film itself, I highly recommend it. Defininetly one of Carpenter's best. I suggest you buy this movie, even if all you can find it on is VHS. It's worth it.

Rating:
Summary: Before you see the Remake make sure you see the original 1st
Review: Yes it is being remade for release in 2005! But before you go out and see that you MUST see the original. Carpenter's 1st studio film!
Based on Howard Hawks Rio Bravo, it tells the story of a police precinct under siege, where Police and prisoners have to fight side by side in order to survive. Great acting by Austin Stoker and Darwin Joston. Excellent direction and music by John Carpenter. Not to be missed!

Rating:
Summary: A cult action classic from John Carpenter!
Review: A police station in L.A. called Precinct 13 has two police officers, two women and two convicts including a traumatized victim are being trapped by street gangs who are surrounding the place making it a living hell for them. They have to find a way to get out, defend themselves and make those devils go away.

An intense, exciting, gripping action drama classic from John Carpenter which happens to be his second movie after "Dark Star". This movie offers loads of action, brutal violence including a on screen child murder, gunfire, an interesting storyline and cool music by Carpenter.

This movie became a cult classic over the years yet still has a strong following including being one of the greatest action movies in movie history. The DVD here is a nice special edition with great transfer, and cool extras like Poster-and-still gallery, trailer, radio spots and interviews, if you love John Carpenter and action movies then add this to your collection.

There is going to be a big budget remake due out next year with Ethan Hawke, Ja Rule, Lawrence Fishburne, Brian Deheney and John Leguizomo.

Also recommended: Die Hard, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, From Dusk Till Dawn, The Rock, Con Air, Shaft, The Siege, The Peacemaker, Lethal Weapon, Scarface, Commmando, Passenger 57.

Rating:
Summary: Killer movie, but even better, AWESOME music soundtrack
Review: after everything's been said or written about this movie, that's the one part I felt I must highlight; the music for this movie was credited to Carpenter, and in the DVD format, it just rocks, just gives the speakers a serious workout. For a 1970s movie, or for any decade, for that matter, it's awesome.

Rating:
Summary: Spot the Reference Time!
Review: John Carpenter, like Spielberg, is aware of the history of cinema, and often references earlier films (and other pop-culture material) in his work.

As many have pointed out, "Assault" is essentially a modern-setting remake of "Rio Bravo", and quite well done, with horror-type elements reminiscent of films like "Night of the Living Dead".

Carpenter seems enamoured of the "unstoppable-mysterious-thing that wants to eat your face" plot; all of his best films seem to use some variation on it. In this case, the Nasty Thing is the uber-gang "Street Thunder", who have declared war on straight society in general, and on the cops in particular.

A point that not a lot of people seem to have noticed is that there is/are strong influences from Sergio Leone's brilliant Western, "Once Upon a Time in the West" (my unequivocal choice for The Greatest Western Ever Made (currently #2 on the IMDB user's list of 50 Greatest Westerns, second only to Leone's own "The Good the Bad and the Ugly"):

Both films set up the major action with acts of on-screen violence that were virtually unthinkable at the time -- here, it's the casualness and the identity of the victim, in "Once Upon a Time in the West", it was that plus the shock of recognition of the actor playing the killer.

When first i saw this film, i believed that Darwin Josten's character, Really Bad convict Napoleon Wilson, was played in emulation of Robert Mitchum -- more recently, i realised that the character is basically inspired by (and Josten is emulating) Charles Bronson's "Harmonica" in "Once Upon a Time in the West"; both are mysterious, laconic and Very Dangerous men who will reveal their backgrounds and intentions "...only at the point of diein'..."

In the Leone film, another character says of Harmonica that something is driving him, "...somethin' to do with death..."; that applies, i think, equally well to both Leone and Carpenter -- their best works are films that overtly have "something to do with death" in their basic structure.

Now, i'm not saying that this film is the equal of the Leone -- very few if any are. What i am saying is that this film definitely resonates -- both deliberately and, i am sure, because of Carpenter's own quirks and obsessions -- with the Leone.

TRIVIA ALERT:

Watch for Carpenter's cameo as a gang member who *almost* makes it in through a window,

and,

Science Fiction fans who have read the novel "The Price of the Stars" by Doyle and MacDonald may feel a bit of deja vu; an important chapter in that book, involving an assault on an isolated Space Force medical station, is admittedly based on this film.

Rating:
Summary: Da Da Da Da Da! Da Da Da Da Da!
Review: John Carpenter's reworking of the Rio Bravo concept is one of the best action films of the 70s. It's an action film, but it has the feel of a horror film, most obviously Night Of The Living Dead. Personally, I see this film as a sort of prequel to Escape From New York. It almost feels like the last few years before the whole New York prison deal. As in that film, the gang members attack in a silent, zombie-like swarm. Basically, a group of people stuck in an almost abandoned police station band together, putting all differences aside, to fight back against a siege on the station. Why this gang is attacking this prison is anyone's guess, but they hint early in the film that it's revenge for a gang massacre at the hands of the police. Still, why are they going after these particular people in a station obviously abandoned? And why blast an ice cream man to kingdom come(not to mention a little girl)? Who really cares why they're doing it coz it's fun all the way! Yeah, there's quite a bit of dated lines that make the film seem pretty corny; But bear in mind, these macheezmo lines are used in this film before they were a common action movie cliche. At one point our two criminal heroes decide who's gonna make an escape attempt by playing a game called "Potatoes". It's a wacky combination of Rock, Paper, Scissors and PaddyCake that's hilarious to watch. I only hope Carpenter intended that to be funny. In the interview section of the dvd, someone asks John Carpenter how you win this game. As many times as I watch it, I still can't figure out how he won("I told you I'd lose! Dammit, we're gonna do it again!"). Watching Assault On Precinct 13 is a very satisfying experience and makes you long for the days of good tough guy action flicks.