Assault on Precinct 13
1976 Directed by John Carpenter
Synopsis
L.A.'s deadliest street gang just declared war on the cops.
The lone inhabitants of an abandoned police station are under attack by the overwhelming numbers of a seemingly unstoppable street gang.
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Dun dun-dun-dun-dun. Dun dun-dun-dun-dun. Dun dun-dun-dun-dun.
I always seem to forget just how catchy that theme tune is. In fact, I think out of all the John Carpenter themes (and soundtracks, for that matter) the one for Assault On Precinct 13 is my favourite. It's also a soundtrack that does for the atmosphere of this film at its key moments the kind of job that ALL soundtracks are supposed to do.
In fact, as I was commenting to my wife last night, when I first saw Assault On Precinct 13 as a 13 year old as part of a Moviedrome series I actually recognised the theme tune even though I had definitely never seen the film before. Not sure where…
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John Carpenter really is a great inspiration to all low budget filmmakers worldwide, and this film is a prime example of why he functions best under those circumstances.
Assault on Precinct 13 has a fantastic and catchy soundtrack and you probably might know that, it's so popularly received on that front. It fits every situation that it's used in and I don't think I'll be able to get it out of my head for a while. Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun...It took 3 days to write the score for this - a true feat considering the technology at the time.
The action is tense and gritty, there isn't too much blood either which just reinforces the belief that the…
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Days of JC:
not to shabby!
poor kid just wanted a vanilla swirl cone.....got a bullet cone instead.....
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"Got a smoke?"
-Napoleon WilsonThere's a fairly large amount of the movie viewing public that know the name John Carpenter but have never seen any of his films from the 70s or 80s. If you're like me then you're now thinking "What's the point of knowing who he is then?"
This movie is a huge example of how brilliant Carpenter is when he wants to. This film was done for something around $100,000.00. It was filmed in 20 days. He wrote the score in like 3 days. One of the leads had never done anything on camera before. The film? It's brilliant. It's part western and part horror movie but neither at the same time.
The story was influenced…
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A simple story done very well. However, I was left with wanting more. The first shootout scene was freaked awesome! Once that happened it died down too much for me. After that took place there was still 20 minutes of the film left, where nothing much happened. Aside from the gang rushing the basement, but the only thing we really saw was arms flying with bats and bars. Still really enjoyed the violence through out the movie and over all I liked it!
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Unfortunatly my range of vocabulary in English is limited.
The words I'd like to use to discribe this thrilling cult-movie are not easy for me to find...
But to make it short: Carpenter is a genius. I don't know many films which are so simple and effective at the same time.
He has chosen the right actors, composed a haunting score and did everything right to create a cult-movie.
I have to confess it was the first time I saw "Assault" (I never thought it would impress me anyway), but definitly not the last!
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Assault on Precinct 9, Division 13 just didn't have the same ring to it, I guess.
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John Carpenter really is a great inspiration to all low budget filmmakers worldwide, and this film is a prime example of why he functions best under those circumstances.
Assault on Precinct 13 has a fantastic and catchy soundtrack and you probably might know that, it's so popularly received on that front. It fits every situation that it's used in and I don't think I'll be able to get it out of my head for a while. Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun...It took 3 days to write the score for this - a true feat considering the technology at the time.
The action is tense and gritty, there isn't too much blood either which just reinforces the belief that the…
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A simple story done very well. However, I was left with wanting more. The first shootout scene was freaked awesome! Once that happened it died down too much for me. After that took place there was still 20 minutes of the film left, where nothing much happened. Aside from the gang rushing the basement, but the only thing we really saw was arms flying with bats and bars. Still really enjoyed the violence through out the movie and over all I liked it!
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Actually pretty tense. Cheesy, but not as bad as I thought it would be. Still…
“Bwahahahahaa!! Oh! The music!!! Bwahahahahaaha!! Kinda scary.”
Those are my notes from screening. It’s the only thing I wrote down.
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Cinema can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people; sometimes it can address a wide range of issues and it sometimes it can just be a shit load of fun. My only regret while watching Assault on Precinct 13 was that I didn't have a bag of popcorn to accompany me for this thrill ride. I was in the perfect mood for a film like this, an adrenaline pumping film filled with humour that doesn't relent once it kicks into fifth gear. I can see why people would argue with a five star rating, but I can't remember the last time I simply had that much old-fashioned fun while watching a film.
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I was put off quite early... the plot is almost non-existent, everything that happens in the film is random coincidence and sometimes plan stupid. The gang get scared and run when they are pursued by a 1 man but then 5 minutes lately will happily take on a building full of cops and crims? Hmm.
I know a lot of people hate it and this may be sacrileges to say, but the remake is a better film because it actually had proper villains and a proper story. It was a story that has been done to death, but at least it wasn't based around randomness. And Bryne makes a scary villain, whereas the villains in the original don't even speak…
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A zombie film without any zombies.
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You don't get much more cult, low-budget B-movie thrills and shocks than the classic 'Assault On Precinct 13'.
A very simple story that has a violent gang of criminals take revenge on a small town police station where they have been held for a spate of crimes. It's a twist on the Western, with a small band of heroes and would-be villains holding off the real bad guys whilst trying to preserve their resources and buy enough time to escape with their lives and hold off the on-slaught.
It's full of brutal violence (ice-cream, anyone?) and gritty characters who seem more real than ever, and stand out film from the 70s with a memorable finale.
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Not far off 40 years old!