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Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

Director: John Carpenter

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From Time Out Film Guide

Just as Dark Star undercut the solemnity of space movies like 2001 with hilarious astronaut situation comedy, Carpenter's second feature borrows the conventions of protagonists in jeopardy from Night of the Living Dead to produce one of the most effective exploitation movies of the decade. The gimmick is cops and cons besieged in an abandoned LA police station by a group of kamikaze urban guerillas. Carpenter scrupulously avoids any overt socio-political pretensions, playing it instead for laughs and suspense in perfectly balanced proportions. The result is a thriller inspired by a buff's admiration for Ford and Hawks (particularly Rio Bravo), with action sequences comparable to anything in Siegel or Fuller. It's sheer delight from beginning to end.

Author: RM 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

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User reviews of this film

mike barrett said...

Posted on Jun 08 2008 02:39 the film, as defined by the leading men , was brilliantly acted , on a par with dog day afternoon, made some years earlier, the closeness of the set, and the tightness of the the two leads Stker and Joston, made it compelling viewing, also the steamy potrarayal of the lady copy, with an innuendo a minute , was compelling, as was her bouncing of joston in almost a bogart mcall send up.
compared to violence in movies of today, it is almost disneyesque , but none the less effective.

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