Assault on Precinct 13

Film

Action and adventure

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<strong>Rating: </strong>3/5
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Time Out says

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

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Release details

UK release:

1976

Duration:

91 mins

Cast and crew

Director:

John Carpenter

Cast:

Charles Cyphers, Tony Burton, Martin West, Laurie Zimmer, Darwin Joston, Austin Stoker, Nancy Loomis

Music:

John Carpenter

Art Director:

Tommy Lee Wallace

Editor:

John Carpenter

Cinematography:

Douglas Knapp

Screenwriter:

John Carpenter

Producer:

JS Kaplan

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Comments & ratings

Rated as: 3/5 (1 rating)

  • In spite of the fact that I did not like how this movie began, after reading some of the glowing recommendations on this site, I decided to give it another shot and watched the rest of it. I will have to admit it finished better than it started.

    Bob Myhan Tue Aug 14 2012
    Rated as: 3/5
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  • This was one of the worst movies I have ever tried to watch. I gave up after half an hour. If I had seen it at the theater I would have walked out. Halloween has it beat hands down!

    Bob Myhan Thu Apr 5 2012
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  • Carpenter's best work (although Dark Star, Halloween and The Thing deserve a nod), with Darwin Joston in a compelling portrayal as Napoleon Wilson. Real street gangs employed by Carpenter who practically did everything in this film, even going as far to credit himself as John T Chance in a nod to his hero Howard Hawks. One of the finest films of the 1970's, of that there is no doubt!

    Ghidera Tue Mar 20 2012
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  • 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.

    mike barrett Sun Jun 8 2008
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