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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

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Released 8-Jun-2004

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Action None
Rating Rated R
Year Of Production 1976
Running Time 87:11 (Case: 91)
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Programme
Region Coding 4 Directed By John Carpenter
Studio
Distributor

Universal Pictures Home Video
Starring Austin Stoker
Darwin Joston
Laurie Zimmer
Martin West
Tony Burton
Charles Cyphers
Nancy Kyes
Peter Bruni
John J. Fox
Marc Ross
Alan Koss
Henry Brandon
Kim Richards
Case ?
RPI $19.95 Music John Carpenter


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    A group of gang members are killed in Los Angeles. Their remaining cohorts swear revenge, and incidentally have acquired a cache of automatic weapons with silencers. Cruising around the streets of the less salubrious suburb around the soon-to-be-closed Precinct 9 (not 13 for some reason) they kill a couple of people, but when the father of one of their victims shoots the leader of the gang, the rest of the gang follow the distraught father to the nearby police station.

    There a young cop is on night assignment from another area, together with a desk sergeant and a couple of secretaries. A prison bus carrying some high security prisoners is forced to stop at the station when one of them takes sick. There they are trapped when the seemingly endless stream of gang members attack.

    This highly suspenseful low budget film was director John Carpenter's second feature, and still remains one of his best. A straight theft of the storyline of Rio Bravo, this film has a mostly unknown cast but makes a virtue of any disadvantages. The deserted streets around the station heighten the sense of menace, and the apparent lack of people in the area other than the protagonists makes the prospect of rescue seem remote. Carpenter keeps the film flowing and cranks up the suspense, while still keeping part of his tongue in his cheek. The performance of the cast is uniformly excellent. A fine and exciting film worthy of a decent DVD release. Unfortunately, it is being remade for release in 2005 with Ethan Hawke and Laurence Fishburne, and the action relocated to Cleveland.

    Anyone who was annoyed by the child actress Kim Richards in the TV series Nanny And The Professor will enjoy what happens to her character in this film. Incidentally, in real life she is the aunt of model Paris Hilton!

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The film is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. This is not the correct aspect ratio, which is 2.35:1, and the film has been released in the correct aspect ratio in the US.

    The video quality is reasonably sharp and clear, with a good level of detail. Shadow detail however is fairly poor, and as the second half of the film takes place at night this is a drawback.

    Colours are muted and unimpressive. Due to the quality of the source material, or perhaps the original photography, black levels are poor, with a haze over dark areas of the image. Flesh tones are reasonably accurate most of the time, though occasionally they look a little too dark.

    Some low level noise is apparent. There are some minor instances of aliasing present as well. Some telecine wobble occurs throughout the film. The video is also fairly grainy, though this is not really an issue for enjoyment of the film.

    The print was in adequate condition, with some minor film artefacts noticeable, but nothing in the way of substantial damage.

    No subtitles are provided on this single-layered disc.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The sole audio track is Dolby Digital 2.0 but seems to be mono. There is no surround encoding.

    Dialogue is clear and distinct and I had no trouble understanding any of the actors' lines. The audio generally is adequate without being either brilliant or terrible, just somewhere in between. Audio sync is fine.

    The music score is by John Carpenter. This is an excellent score, adding just the right level of creepiness and foreboding to the proceedings. It comes across okay on this disc.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

    This release certainly fits the criteria for a bare-bones release. In fact, it only contains the film. There is no menu, so there is no chapter selection available either (though there are 17 chapters on the disc). No subtitles, no commentaries, no trailer. Just the film, which begins playing immediately after the usual warnings of eternal damnation if you make illegal copies.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    The film has been released on DVD in the US and the UK. In the US there is both a Region 0 release and a Region 1 Special Edition.

    In comparison to the US Region 0 version, the Region 4 misses out on

    In comparison to the Region 4, the Region 0 misses out on:

    In comparison to the US Region 1 Special Edition, the Region 4 misses out on

    In comparison to the Region 4, the Region 1 Special Edition misses out on

    In comparison to the Region 2, the Region 4 misses out on

    In comparison to the Region 4, the Region 2 misses out on

    A clear case of the Region 1 Special Edition being the preferred release.

Summary

    An excellent suspense thriller, the Region 4 release is compromised by having the wrong aspect ratio.

    The video quality is not too bad.

    The audio quality is average.

    Extras? There are no extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Philip Sawyer (Bio available.)
Sunday, May 30, 2004
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-S733A, using Component output
DisplaySony 86CM Trinitron Wega KVHR36M31. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to DVD player, Dolby Digital, dts and DVD-Audio. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationYamaha RX-V596 for surround channels; Yamaha AX-590 as power amp for mains
SpeakersMain: Tannoy Revolution R3; Centre: Richter Harlequin; Rear: Pioneer S-R9; Subwoofer: JBL SUB175

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