A thoroughly obvious riff on Rio Bravo, Carpenter's Assault ratchets up the tension and creates, more or less, the template for all action movies. It's unfortunate too few films designed to thrill and excite follow the pattern.
This very lean urban western tells the tale of several Los Angelinos of various colors trapped in a police station under siege by a faceless, ethnically mixed street gang that practices, I think, a form of nihilism. Except that isn't the whole story, which is precisely why this film is terrific. The actual siege doesn't begin until at least halfway through the movie, and, up until that point, Carpenter spends his time establishing his characters and building suspense. Until, as I said, the halfway point, Carpenter tells three separate stories--Bishop and Leigh babysit a vacant precinct; Wilson and Wells are being transported; and a man and his daughter are trying to find grandma. Ultimately, of course, these tales merge into the siege, but it is a wonder to watch it all come together. As I said, Carpenter is taking quite a bit from Rio Bravo, but the editing--the way in which he mixes the stories together--is incredible and leaves you breathless from start to finish. It is an incredibly paced film--one to which others should look for inspiration.
Aside from the actual story telling, the framing and photography of the film is really superb. John Carpenter does not get the credit he deserves, I think, in these areas. He receives praise from all corners for his atmosphere and thrill-inducing direction, but no one comments on how amazing his films look (watch Escape from New York and tell me it's not gorgeously shot). Take, for instance, this film's shots of the gang members standing guard between two Do Not Enter signs or the framing of the scenes inside the precinct--they're so tight you cannot help but feel claustrophobic.
Most importantly, Assault on Precinct 13 shows Carpenter at his most Romero-esquire. This means that, though dealing with a very conventional genre, he infuses it with social criticism and concern. Like Romero's first two Living Dead flicks, the protagonists from the start are black and female and the most sympathetic white characters are either a sniveling wreck of a man who not only lost his daughter but became a murderer or a hardened criminal. There is definitely an us versus them theme going on in this film as well,but, notably, it's not black versus white or good versus bad. The good guys have a criminal among their ranks, for instance, and they're busy protecting a man, who, though justified, committed a crime. Given the post-Watergate/Vietnam era in which Carpenter filmed Assault, the moral ambiguity should not surprise anyone. Furthermore, that he doesn't proselytize and explain what's right and wrong--that he acknowledges that right and wrong can sometimes appear to be the same thing simultaneously--is to Carpenter's credit. Very few films are willing to reside, thematically, in such a grey area. It's a pleasure to see one that does.
Assault on Precinct 13--intelligent and exciting--is a high watermark for American adventure film-making. Find it, watch it, and behold its brilliance.
This very lean urban western tells the tale of several Los Angelinos of various colors trapped in a police station under siege by a faceless, ethnically mixed street gang that practices, I think, a form of nihilism. Except that isn't the whole story, which is precisely why this film is terrific. The actual siege doesn't begin until at least halfway through the movie, and, up until that point, Carpenter spends his time establishing his characters and building suspense. Until, as I said, the halfway point, Carpenter tells three separate stories--Bishop and Leigh babysit a vacant precinct; Wilson and Wells are being transported; and a man and his daughter are trying to find grandma. Ultimately, of course, these tales merge into the siege, but it is a wonder to watch it all come together. As I said, Carpenter is taking quite a bit from Rio Bravo, but the editing--the way in which he mixes the stories together--is incredible and leaves you breathless from start to finish. It is an incredibly paced film--one to which others should look for inspiration.
Aside from the actual story telling, the framing and photography of the film is really superb. John Carpenter does not get the credit he deserves, I think, in these areas. He receives praise from all corners for his atmosphere and thrill-inducing direction, but no one comments on how amazing his films look (watch Escape from New York and tell me it's not gorgeously shot). Take, for instance, this film's shots of the gang members standing guard between two Do Not Enter signs or the framing of the scenes inside the precinct--they're so tight you cannot help but feel claustrophobic.
Most importantly, Assault on Precinct 13 shows Carpenter at his most Romero-esquire. This means that, though dealing with a very conventional genre, he infuses it with social criticism and concern. Like Romero's first two Living Dead flicks, the protagonists from the start are black and female and the most sympathetic white characters are either a sniveling wreck of a man who not only lost his daughter but became a murderer or a hardened criminal. There is definitely an us versus them theme going on in this film as well,but, notably, it's not black versus white or good versus bad. The good guys have a criminal among their ranks, for instance, and they're busy protecting a man, who, though justified, committed a crime. Given the post-Watergate/Vietnam era in which Carpenter filmed Assault, the moral ambiguity should not surprise anyone. Furthermore, that he doesn't proselytize and explain what's right and wrong--that he acknowledges that right and wrong can sometimes appear to be the same thing simultaneously--is to Carpenter's credit. Very few films are willing to reside, thematically, in such a grey area. It's a pleasure to see one that does.
Assault on Precinct 13--intelligent and exciting--is a high watermark for American adventure film-making. Find it, watch it, and behold its brilliance.