Assault on Precinct 13
From The Deuce
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Also Known As
- Napad na policijsku stanicu 13 (Croatia - DVD title) / Serbia
- A 13. Rendörörs ostroma (Hungary)
- Asalto en la comisaría del distrito 13 (Spain)
- Assalto à 13ª DP (Brazil)
- Assalto à 13.ª Esquadra (Portugal)
- Assault - Anschlag bei Nacht (Germany)
- Assaut (France)
- Atak na posterunek 13 (Poland)
- Attack mot polisstation 13 (Sweden)
- Attack på polisstation 13 (Sweden)
- Distretto 13: le brigate della morte (Italy)
- Das Ende (Germany)
- Epithesi sto stathmo 13 (Greece - TV title)
- Hyökkäys poliisiasemalle (Finland)
- John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13
- Sidste nat på station 13 (Denmark)
- O Stathmos 13 dehetai epithesi (Greece)
- The Anderson Alamo (USA - working title)
- The Siege (USA - working title)
- Trovão das Ruas (Brazil)
Taglines
- L.A.'s deadliest street gang just declared war on the cops.
- The gang swore a blood oath to destroy Precinct 13... and every cop in it!
- John Carpenter's Award Winning Film
- A cop with a war on his hands. His enemy... an army of street killers. His only ally... a convicted murderer.
- A White Hot Night of Hate!
Main Details
- Released in 1976
- Color
- Running Time: 91 Min.
- Production Companies: The CKK Corporation, Overseas FilmGroup, Turtle
- Distributors: Turtle Releasing (1976) (USA) (theatrical), Astral Films (Canada) (theatrical), Filmwelt (1979) (West Germany) (theatrical)
- Written and Directed by John Carpenter
- Produced by Steve Fine, J. Stein Kaplan, Joseph Kaufman
- Original Music by John Carpenter
- Cinematography by Douglas Knapp
- Film Editing by John Carpenter (as John T. Chance)
Synopsis
Assault on Precinct 13 is a 1976 American action-thriller film written and directed by John Carpenter. It stars Austin Stoker as a law-enforcement officer who defends a police precinct against an attack by a criminal gang, along with Darwin Joston as a convicted murderer who helps him. The story was inspired by the Howard Hawks western film Rio Bravo and the George A. Romero horror film Night of the Living Dead. The film received mixed reviews with an unimpressive box-office return in the US, but it won critical and popular acclaim in Europe. A remake appeared in 2005, directed by Jean-Francois Richet and starring Ethan Hawke and Laurence Fishburne.
Film Review
John Carpenter is one of my all-time favorite directors. I love The Thing, They Live, Escape From New York and Halloween. What makes him distinctive from other director is the fact that he always brings a stark realism to his work even if it's a slasher film or has the in-your-face message like They Live, an anti-capitalist film. Recently, I watched one of the most realistic action films of all time, Assault On Precinct 13.
The plot is pretty hard to explain because there are many things happening at the same time, but I'll try. The story takes place in a dystopian Los Angeles. A large number of weapons were stolen by a gang called Street Thunder and they begin killing people randomly. The film begins with six gangsters who get killed so the rest want to get revenge on the police. They kill an ice cream man and a young girl, so the girl's father takes revenge by killing one of them. Then they find out he is hiding in a nearly abandoned police station. So, a small group of police and prisoners inside has to fight against the psychotic gang with no help.
I said this is one of the most realistic action films of all time for many reasons. First, the pacing: modern audiences might be upset at how slow this film is but I think it builds a lot of tension, much more than the Michael Bay style (which is bullsh*t). Second, the location: a simple rule to make your film thrilling is it should take place in one location. Take Die Hard for example. It happened in one building and no one helps John McClane to fight the criminals until 57 minutes in. Assault On Precinct 13 uses this same tactic by letting the characters fight against TONS of gang members with no help. In fact, they can't use a telephone and all power is out at the station.
A great thing about this film is the fact that the police and prisoners are on the same side. Yes, it tells us that criminals and police could work with each other in some situations. Another aspect is the violence, it shows no mercy on the audience. There's a scene where a girl is shot right on camera! It shocks the viewer because usually when a child is killed they just show a corpse or have the body disappear, but here we can see just how brutal and violent these gangsters are.
Weapons are not a good way to stop war. It's not going to make peace, but Assault On Precinct 13 has the balls to ask us: "If you happened to be in the same situation, what would you do?".
Reviewed by Nuttawut Permphithak - 5/20/13