Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) (Collector's Edition)

[Akijama]

Assault on Precinct 13 Blu-ray

[Show spoiler]Just announced at Comic Con. Source, ShockTillYouDropNews.

Isolated, cut off. Inside an abandoned police station, a handful of cops and some convicts on their way to Death Row must join forces and defend themselves against the gang called Street Thunder, who have taken a bloody oath to destroy.

From the director or Halloween and The Thing, Assault on Precinct 13 combines elements of classic western and modern thrill to create a cult favorite, one of John Carpenter's very best films.

Assault on Precinct 13 | Trailer | 1976 - YouTube

[RiFiFi1955]

Originally Posted by Akijama

Just announced at Comic Con.

????????????

[Scottie]

Isn't it already out?

[RiFiFi1955]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Isn't it already out?

Yeah, won't catch me doubling dipping here, even for Scream...which brings up another point....this is a Shout title not Scream

[tylergfoster]

I sold the US Image release because the German release was better. Now I don't have to import. Some people online are saying Shout's remaster of this will be new, too.

[Abdrewes]

If nithing else, I bet the shadows will look better.

[Retroj23]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

If nithing else, I bet the shadows will look better.

Very true. The blu by Image has horrible compression issues that are very distracting during dark scenes. The German blu is based off the same master but with the contrast dialed up a notch.

This film is in need of a remaster. I hope Shout gives it the treatment it deserves.

[P-Rock]

terranova & tricky - bombing bastards - YouTube

[Vlad Draculi]

I really love this movie despite its bad acting (mostly from the one copy lady who barely shows any emotion) because it's all about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Man it is awesome.

[The Great Owl]

Assault on Precinct 13 is still my favorite Scream Factory title. (...or at least it will be until the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is released in a few months)

Assault on Precinct 13 freaked me out when I stumbled across it on television back in 1983, when I was 11 years old and in fifth grade.

I mean... It really freaked. me. out.

I had trouble falling asleep for days after I saw the movie, and I kept getting nervous whenever I heard the slightest sound outside my window.

This film, along with Fort Apache the Bronx, which I saw around the same time, was my first foray into real actual violent cinema that involved people instead of aliens or wild animals. These films gave me a scary sense of what was possible out there in the great big world. I think that the scene with the little girl getting killed was what really knocked me on my tail back then, but I also got scared at the scenes that showed the street gang running in the shadows across the street from the police station.

Great, great, great movie.

[Pondosinatra]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

...I think that the scene with the little girl getting killed was what really knocked me on my tail back then...

Great, great, great movie.

Well that's the thing. You'd never see that in a movie today. Ah, the 70's, that golden age of movies when they got away with all kinds of stuff.

[tylerc904]

Originally Posted by Vlad Draculi

I really love this movie despite its bad acting (mostly from the one copy lady who barely shows any emotion) because it's all about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Man it is awesome.

Yeah that lead actress is very stiff... I guess it could have been intentional but it does bug me. I find Nancy Keyes/Loomis to be the real underrated performance as the receptionist. Very believable/convincing performance.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by tylerc904

Yeah that lead actress is very stiff... I guess it could have been intentional but it does bug me.

Laurie Zimmer as Leigh is fairly unemotional, but I like how her presence lends sort of an old-school film noir vibe to the movie, with her mannerisms and her scene where she gives the cigarette to Napoleon.

[balthazar_bee]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Great, great, great movie.

It really is. I bought the soundtrack a few weeks ago, and in the liner notes Carpenter describes the music as "truly minimalist" -- I think that could apply to the film itself, which is incredibly efficient at establishing characters, the story fundamentals and atmosphere without any unnecessary to do or superfluous busyness.

Originally Posted by tylerc904

I find Nancy Keyes/Loomis to be the real underrated performance as the receptionist. Very believable/convincing performance.

I've always loved Loomis in the original Halloween. She takes a lot of heat these days on boards like this, but for me she gives the most convincing performance in the movie. At turns unflappable and exasperated, it seems more like real teen behaviour than the commanding Curtis or the OTT ditzy P.J. Soles (though they're plenty good enough).

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Laurie Zimmer as Leigh is fairly unemotional, but I like how her presence lends sort of an old-school film noir vibe to the movie, with her mannerisms and her scene where she gives the cigarette to Napoleon.

There's a pretty simple way to determine whether a person will appreciate Zimmer's performance: Have they seen a Howard Hawks movie, and did they like it?

But then, who doesn't like Howard Hawks movies?

[Vlad Draculi]

Originally Posted by tylerc904

Yeah that lead actress is very stiff... I guess it could have been intentional but it does bug me. I find Nancy Keyes/Loomis to be the real underrated performance as the receptionist. Very believable/convincing performance.

So why is she sometimes listed as Keyes and other times as Loomis? Did she get married and then divorced just as quickly?

[Ruemorgue10]

Originally Posted by tylerc904

Yeah that lead actress is very stiff... I guess it could have been intentional but it does bug me.

I think it was intentional. The film borrows heavily from themes found in the films of Howard Hawks, including the portrayal of the Hawksian woman (a tough, intelligent female character). Think of Lauren Bacall in that same role and you'll see what Carpenter was getting at.

[Markgway]

There's no bad acting in AOP13.

[PuppetMasterBlu]

So the German version is better?

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by PuppetMasterBlu

So the German version is better?

Not in my opinion. It comes with a lot of waffle about how much work went into it, but to my eyes the sharpening really highlights the frozen grain that's baked in to the source, the boosted contrast makes it look very bright and harsh and there's a lot more banding than the Image disc. Not impressed at all.

The Image is still the best version out there for PQ. Shout used the same master so it's a good runner-up but it comes via their own, ah, 'unique' encoding.

[jlk5844]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Not in my opinion. It comes with a lot of waffle about how much work went into it, but to my eyes the sharpening really highlights the frozen grain that's baked in to the source, the boosted contrast makes it look very bright and harsh and there's a lot more banding than the Image disc. Not impressed at all.

The Image is still the best version out there for PQ. Shout used the same master so it's a good runner-up but it comes via their own, ah, 'unique' encoding.

I used to think the Capelight was superior until I checked the comparison again a week or two ago, and found the Image/Shout to be more natural.