Sorry, this movie sucks

Good concept, poorly executed.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Assault on Precint 13 is a great film. Independent in quality and execution but better than many studio films. Young John Carpentar had already made Dark Star which is a comedy sci-fi better known for being the source for Ridley Scott's Alien in many ways and yet had Halloween ahead. This is great direction- there isn't much dialogue and the sequence of attack on the police station is very good.All actors are character types which only add to the atmosphere and realism.

Initially controversial for its then uncompromising violence and flashes of unrelenting sadism, this expertly set-up action-flick makes good on its promise of an explosive finale but spends just as much time building its fantastic characters so that its tension is true and palpable. 'Assault On Precinct 13 (1976)' is fantastically well-realised and brings a relatively realistic grit to all of its sequences, painting a picture of a near inescapable situation and putting your smack-dab in the centre of it, and it is gripping pretty much right from the off. 7/10

In Los Angeles, police have raided and killed some deadly gang members. The gang called Street Thunder have taken a blood oath as they have sworn to avenge the death of some of their members who were killed and are loaded with silencers. While Lieutenant Ethan Bishop (Austin Stoker) who is leading a prison bus has 3 prisoners named Napoleon Wilson (Darwin Jotson), Caudelle (Peter Frankland) and Wells (Tony Burton) on their way to a new prison driven by bus- driver Starker (Charles Cypher) as one of the prisoners is sick and needs a place to stay for the night at the nearly closing down police station known as Precinct 13 for medical help. However, the gang is surrounding the area and now everyone inside the building might survive the night to fight for their lives and go get help from other officers.One of the greatest and most influential action movies of all time! writer-director John Carpenter has crafted one of the most thrilling and action packed thrillers ever and one of his most underrated films. Following the release of Dark Star, Assault and a second script entitled Eyes were supposed to be two ultra-low-budget films written and directed by John Carpenter, with financing by J. Stein Kaplan and Joseph Kaufman. After reviewing the first draft of Assault and following the sale of the script Eyes to Barbra Streisand and Jon Peters, later renamed Eyes of Laura Mars, Kaplan and Kaufman concentrated on just Assault. "J. Stein Kaplan was a friend of mine from USC," said Carpenter. "He knew Joseph Kaufman from his days in Philadelphia … Basically their fathers were funding Assault on Precinct 13". The two families of the producers formed The CKK Corporation to finance the film. He wanted to make a movie that was a modern version of Rio Bravo in aspects combined with Night of the Living Dead with humans rather than zombies and was shot on production started in November 1975 and was shot in only 20 days.Writer/director Carpenter was approached by J. Stein Kaplan to make a low-budget exploitation film for under $100,000 but with total creative control. Carpenter wrote The Anderson Alamo, inspired by the Howard Hawks Western film Rio Bravo and the George A. Romero horror film Night of the Living Dead. Despite controversy with the MPAA over the explicitly violent and infamous "ice cream" gunshot scene murder of a child named Julie who was played by Nancy Loomis would later be in Halloween as the scene was harsh as it gave the film nearly an X rating. the film received an R rating and opened in the United States on November 3, 1976.It didn't do well at the box-office but overseas it did good and later became a cult favorite and influenced many actions especially Die Hard and more. It got mixed reviews then later critical re- appraisal and is now one of the greatest action films of all time and even got a remake in 2005.The performances by Austin Stoker and Charles Cypher and there is lots of action galore. That ice cream child murder scene is quite horrifying no doubt and Carpenter stated he should had never wrote that scene or shot it as he was horrified by it. The score by Carpenter is fantastic and quite influential to many albums and some video games, it also draws on emotions with some humor and thrills.Not to be missed.

The picture quality was variable with the darker scenes looking especially bad. The music was occasionally annoying and the sound effects felt a little empty but that kinda worked in its favour to some extent. The pace of the film was very good. It kept moving and I was never bored. The action was entertaining and it was a bit different to watch. I liked the fast ending. Scary because of the feeling of gritty helplessness.