Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

Written and Directed by John Carpenter. Starring Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, and Laurie Zimmer.

Bottomline: Without all the backstory that I've come to expect from movies, Assault on Precinct 13 gives you a straightforward action movie but with something to chew on later.

3/4

Assault on Precinct 13, for me, has always been on that list of movies that was pretty far down the queue. I like John Carpenter. Who doesn't like The Thing or Escape from New York or Big Trouble In Little China? I know he did a bunch of other stuff but those are the first ones that come to mind.

But in the case of Assault on Precinct 13, I hadn't heard it on too many must-see lists. I think of the posters for the 2005 remake. Which, quick side note, has Ethan Hawke, John Leguizamo, and Lawrence Fishburne which sounds like a mid-2000s cast if I ever heard one. Anyway, long story short, it never really made the cut. 

I happened to turn it on cause it was a slow day at work and I thought I'd have it on in the background and, I'm glad I did.

The IMDB description reads: "A Highway Patrol Officer, two criminals and a station secretary defend a defunct Los Angeles precinct office against a siege by a bloodthirsty street gang." That's pretty much what you're going to get with this one. We're introduced to the characters efficiently - the Officer jumps into his car and gets on the radio. We quickly learn that it's his first day and that he's going to be sent to the precinct office in question. Boom. Done. It's not an extended montage or sequence. When he gets to the precinct, he is told to wait for the chief. He's got time a minute or two to get a cup of coffee and in that natural amount of time, we get a couple more solid sentences of characterization. That's all we need! We're on board with this guy and whatever comes his way.

I guess this strikes a chord with me because I recently watched Borderlands and, my goodness, is there so much backstory. You don't need it! Just have a character say a simple sentence that carries weight and we're good.

The action itself, (this is an action movie after all), is pretty solid. You've got good pacing between waves of baddies. Carpenter does a great job of making their situation feel overwhelming.

A short review but I'll leave it at that. It was good. I liked it and if you're in the mood for some good action I'd recommend it.

J Leguizamo Ethan

Laurence Fishburne John Leguizamo