Assault on Precinct 13 (Steelbook)

BOTTOM LINE: I really love this film and easily consider it one of John Carpenter's best films, and his absolute best non-horror entry. If you're an action movie fan then you NEED to have this terrific film in your collection. Minimalist in every way, but the film is so much better for it. Directed & edited (and written and scored) by Carpenter for maximum impact, ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 grabs you by the throat from the brutal opening scene and never lets go until the final fade out. I think everyone who loves action films but has never seen this film owes it to themselves to watch it at least once. If you're a fan then this spiffy new Blu-ray edition is an easy-to-justify purchase. If you already own it in another format and have a Blu-ray player I whole-heartedly recommend double-dipping. Don't hesitate. Buy this for yourself - NOW. 5 STARS!THE STORY: Basically a modern day, urbanized re-working of the classic John Wayne western Rio Bravo, with overtones of George Romero's Night of the Living Dead thrown in.THOUGHTS: Miles above the pathetic 2005 limpdick remake, this is one of the most high-tension action films ever made. It's one of those films I just never get tired of watching. I've owned it on VHS, 2 DVD versions and now... finally(!) on Blu-ray. I revisit this like an old friend at least once a year or so. The stars of this film are nothing short of riveting. Austin Stoker & Darwin Joston are electrifying and make an incredible on-screen duo once it all hits the fan. Something you know makes a great film truly great is that you can't get enough of the characters. You want to know more about them. I could have watched Stoker & Joston's characters just sitting in a room talking for a couple of hours and not been bored. I wanted to know what word or phrase Ethan Bishop etched into the top of that desk at the police station as a child that got him into trouble. I wanted to know the one other thing Napoleon Wilson said that a man should never do - even if it cost him his life. I wanted to know what happened to these characters after the events of this movie were over. Did Bishop stay on the force, eventually retiring? Did he testify before a judge on Napoleon Wilson's behalf, explaining how the inmate voluntarily joined forces with him during the gang's siege and risked his life to protect a total stranger AND a bunch of cops(!); perhaps getting the convict's sentence reduced from death to life in prison (or an even lesser charge)?? Even after seeing the film so many times over the years these questions and more run still through my mind. It's such a shame that neither of these lead two actors went on to greater things. Their taut performances in this movie seemed like guaranteed tickets to stardom but then perhaps that's just as well.THE BLU-RAY: How great to have this now in 1080p hi-def. Some have taken exception to the tweaking done to the film, but I think it looks fantastic. Sharp focus, no artifacting or pixelation. Thankfully there is almost no crush (video noise), which is good since most of the film takes place at night or in low light. Sound is strong and level. Bonus features selection is decent. The Carpenter/Stoker interviews and director's commentary from the Special Edition DVD are ported over. New stuff includes a criminally brief but interesting new on screen interview with star Austin Stoker, and a newly recorded interview with Nancy Loomis. Also new for this Blu-ray edition is a second audio commentary featuring frequent Carpenter collaborator (and friend) Tommy Lee Wallace. All-in-all, pretty good stuff.(While I'm thinking about it, I do have a minor complaint: John Carpenter's commentary really bothers me. As with several of his audio commentaries from his other older movies, Carpenter always seems to be apologizing for the end results of his films. Really John? Quit making excuses for things not being better than they were and be damn proud of what an amazing job you did with what little you had!!! For heaven's sake, the paltry budget for ASSAULT wouldn't even cover the catering budget on one of today's action films. Stop apologizing and take pride in what you did, instead of what you could have done! Several of your films are rightly considered classics and have earned that status as much for what they DON'T have as for what they DO. Your guerrilla film-making tactics have served as an inspiration to budding young film makers the world over - for DECADES, and they demonstrate what can be done with brains, heart and a little money instead of a bloated budget and too many fingers in the pot.)

Assault on Precinct 13, in my opinion, is a very underrated John Carpenter film as well as an underrated film in general. I feel that John Carpenter himself is a criminally underrated director and I know I am not alone in this. The only film he directed that was a big hit was Halloween, which is the first John Carpenter film I saw as well. Even The Thing was not a hit when it first came out. I admit I did not know much about John Carpenter at first and only seen a couple of his movies. However, a reviewer I am a fan of on YouTube called ramboraph4life is a fan of John Carpenter and reviewed all of his movies. This prompted me to check out his other movies, and now John Carpenter is one of my favorite directors. Some of his films I do not care for like Christine and Village of the Damned. However, most of his films I really enjoy including this one.The film stars a police officer named Bishop played by Austin Stoker. He has not done much else besides after this which is a shame because he did a good job here. He has been reassigned to this run down precinct that is about to be shut down called Precinct 13. As the film progresses he is joined by a cast of colorful characters like Wells (Tony Burton), Leigh (Laurie Zimmer), Lawson (Marin West), and Napoleon Wilson played by Darwin Joston. Darwin Joston, sadly, is another great actor that did not go on to do much after this. Together these unlikely comrades must defend Precinct 13 which is under siege by this faceless gang of fanatics.There is so much going for this film. The story is simple, but sometimes simplicity is good. The film has great atmosphere and mystery to it. Normally having a group of faceless villains with no character is boring and a huge fault against the film, but here I actually think it helps the film. These gang members go all out as well. There is a scene where they actually kill a little kid in cold blood, which was quite shocking for the 70s. The fact that these people are nameless and often faceless adds to the dread and makes the situation direr for our main characters. The action is also great also.The best aspect about the film is definitely the characters, particularly the two leads. I really love Bishop and Napoleon and their relationship they have throughout the movie. Even though one is a cop and one is a criminal, it is clear that they both respect each other. Plus they both are given clever dialogue especially Napoleon.The film does have a couple issues. First off there is a character near the beginning named Starker (Charles Cyphers) who plays a big role in the beginning, but after a certain point the movie just completely forgets about him. We are lead to believe that he died, but if that is the case it was a really stupid death. Secondly, I thought that the girl, who played Leigh, Laurie Zimmer, is not that good of an actor. For example, in the film, she gets shot and she barely has a reaction.Overall, Assault on Precinct 13 is a great action/thriller movie. I have not seen the remake so I cannot comment on that. However, as far as this film goes it is very enjoyable and I wish more people would recognize it.