Assault On Precinct 13 (1976/Image Entertainment Blu-ray)
Picture: B-
Sound: C+ Extras: B- Film: B-
After suffering through the remake and endless
explanations to many of how the original film was made in 1974 and by John
Carpenter, the new Blu-ray releases of his original Assault On Precinct 13
has finally arrived and easily looking better than it ever has (after many
mixed versions on low def VHS, LaserDisc and DVD) likely since its theatrical
release, fans and the curious can finally see how good a film it is and how it
also shows the rise of a director who was on the cutting edge into the late
1980s.
In it (as described elsewhere on this site), an army of
revolutionaries with street roots and connections are on the attack, with
nothing to loose and everything to gain.
They are from the working class at best, but no longer integrated in the
system if they ever were, and are going for broke. There is much suspense in their reign of
terror and the class division aspect (from Carpenter’s script) and the
counterculture of the time only add to the suspense and work their way slowly
all the way to the final battle. Though
it can be uneven at times, it is a much stronger film, especially when you can
see and hear it this clearly.
Though most of the cast is with unknown actors, that
actually adds to the tension, though you may recognize character actor Austin
Stoker, character actor Charles Cyphers who worked in more Carpenter films
and/or child actor Kim Richards (Nanny
& The Professor, the Witch
Mountain franchise, the infamous failure Hello, Larry) as the film progresses. The cast and acting work.
This is Carpenter’s first full-fledged thriller and if you
wanted to trace the filmmaker beginning at the peak of his powers, this is
where that run begins. Carpenter came
out of B-movie work and had directed the now Cult Classic Science Fiction
Comedy Dark Star (1974, reviewed
elsewhere on this site and due on Blu-ray) and his next film would be the first
(and only) Halloween two years
later. If you have not seen the film
ever or only on previous low def video formats, you’ll want to see this Blu-ray
to really appreciate what Carpenter accomplished here.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image is dubbed a “restored collector’s
edition” and though there are problems with some of the darker scenes, this
actually looks very good for its age considering its low budget. Some more expensive work will be needed on
the original elements down the line, but this fares well against other films of
its time we have seen on Blu-ray. This
has the advantage of being shot in real anamorphic Panavision by Douglas A.
Knapp, who teamed with Carpenter on Dark
Star and makes fine use of the scope frame.
The color
was by MetroColor and unlike a dye-transfer Technicolor print (a process no
longer available at that time) these colors can tend to fade and not be as
vibrant. There is not much fading of
color here, though some shots look duller than others, but this is on the
consistent side overall for its age and will offer a few surprises for true
film fans.
The DTS HD
Master Audio (MA) lossless 5.1 mix does what it can to redirectionalize the
sound, but this is a low budget monophonic film, so there is not much of a
soundfield and the dialogue recording in particular shows its age. Carpenter did his own score and that has
survived best sonically, being the highlight of the mix. It is also here as an isolated Dolby Digital
2.0 Stereo track as one of the extras.
Other extras include Carpenter’s really good audio commentary, the
original theatrical trailer, on camera interviews with Stokes & Carpenter,
stills and two radio spots.
- Nicholas Sheffo
