Assault on Precinct 13 – Blu-ray Disc Review

August 22, 2009 – 11:28 PM - Posted by: James Segars

Tags: Austin Stoker, Charles Cyphers, Darwin Joston, DVD vs. Blu-ray Screenshot Comparison, Image Entertainment, John Carpenter, Laurie Zimmer, Martin West, Nancy Kyes, Tony Burton

has an average rating of 7.4 on IMDb
1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on a 25gb disc
DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio
fairly slim, but worth your time.
–
– 1976
– 91 minutes
– Image Entertainment
–
This uses 19.0GB for the movie out of 21.1GB total.

Overall Verdict – Outstanding Film/Excellent Presentation

Buy it for $17.99 @ Amazon.com

— Review written by: James Segars —

Trailer:

The Movie Itself is directed by John Carpenter (“Halloween“, “The Thing“, “Starman“).

On his first night out as a newly appointed Highway Patrolman, Ethan Bishop (Austin Stoker) is tasked with watching over a soon-to-be-relocated Police Station, a task that would be — under most circumstances — an easy job. Unfortunately for him, and the employees of the station, their choice to play host and guardian to a speechless, frightened man makes all of them targets of a vicious gang, Street Thunder. Outnumbered and outgunned, their best hope for survival is to seek the help of the death row inmates currently residing in their holding cells.

Two years before John Carpenter introduced everyone to “The Shape” — aka Michael Myers — he shocked audiences with a raw, and aggressively exciting film, entitled Assault on Precinct 13. The film established and capitalizes on some of Carpenter’s strongest talents as a director — weaving a thoroughly engaging, relatable tale set within an isolated physical space — and it represents Carpenter at his finest, and most basic.

The film is a convincing and engaging survival story that maintains a suspenseful air throughout, and like Halloween, it remains just as effective and exciting today as it did years ago. Sure, the dialog exchanges can be a little hokey at times but it’s Carpenter through and through, and frankly I wouldn’t have it any other way. Contributing to the thriller aspect, the violence depicted in the film is frightening at times and feels very realistic. Take for example, the ice cream truck scene. It is one of the more memorable and cold-hearted scenes in the film, or any film for that matter. It is that way because there is no rhyme or reason behind the gang’s murderous actions, they simply want to incite fear and avenge their fallen friends. It’s this chaotic, loose motive that makes them such a formidable foe — they don’t care who they hurt and they don’t fear death. In this way you can draw a lot of parallels between Michael Myers and the gang depicted in this film. They are tireless, crafty, ruthless and altogether enigmatic. The characters that are targeted by each force aren’t sure why they’re marked for death, they just know they’re going to have to fight for their lives.

Whether you’re a Carpenter fan or not, you should add this film to your list of classic, must-see movies. It is one of the more unique suspense thrillers to have come out of the 70′s or any other decade, and it’s also one of Carpenter’s finest films. I can’t recommend it enough.

Video Quality on this release is in full 1080p using the AVC MPEG-4 codec on a BD-25 (25 gigabyte dual-layered Blu-ray Disc) in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio.

DVD vs. Blu-ray Screenshot Comparisons

Enthralled and inspired by the outstanding presentation on the recent Blu-ray release for Carpenter’s Starman, I felt compelled to throw down the money and buy myself a copy of Assault on Blu-ray. I hadn’t until now because my expectations were quite low for the Blu-ray, despite reports to the contrary. I simply didn’t think that the presentation would be able to compete with some of the best catalog restorations, but I was wrong. The restorative effort that went into this film must have been immense because it looks incredible. Thumb through the included screenshots below and see for yourself just how revealing this presentation can be, and while you’re at it, be sure to check out the dvd/bd comparison included above. The results speak for themselves.

For a old independent film in the 70′s, Assault looks absolutely fantastic here on Blu-ray. Chalk it up to the folks at Image for a job well done and the restorationists for spending countless hours ensuring a stellar, unmatched presentation. I never would have thought there to be so much detail in this film, but sure enough, its here now. Look to the skin textures that once lacked definition or the clothing that didn’t quite pop like it does now. Better still, it seems as if the natural grain structure remains intact, and while the film might be a bit noisier than most films made today, it’s comforting to know that the original picture wasn’t scrubbed to all hell with DNR filters. Also worth noting is that the shadow delineation is on point, with fine details still visible in the shadows which indicates that there was no tampering with the black level of the film. Some viewers might be wishing that the black level were deeper or inkier, but its simply not the way the film is intended to look, and so I’m glad that the black levels weren’t crushed here to appease a select few.

Regrettably, while nearly every aspect of this transfer is outstanding, there is one glaring deficiency and that can be seen in the included screenshots (# 14). From 54:48 – 55:42 in the film, there is a section of film that is not HD quality by any means. I’m not sure whether or not this was filmed with a lower quality film stock (16MM?) or if this small segment of film was damaged on the master print and they needed to strike the restoration from a third generation duplicate. Whatever the reason, it remains as a blemish on an otherwise perfect restoration. I realize that if the footage is lost/damaged then the restorationists did the best they could with what they had, but that doesn’t change the fact that the presentation isn’t perfect in its current state. Thankfully it only lasts for less than a minute, otherwise this film would have received a marking far lower than the near-perfect “4.5 Star Rating” it received. With the minor complaint aside, this represents another outstanding Carpenter restoration, and dare I say, one of the best catalog restorations to date. Fans of this film should be mightily impressed with the work that’s been done here.

Audio Quality on this release is presented in DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio.

Where the lossless mix on Starman didn’t impress me all that much, I was absolutely floored by the lossless track provided here. Right out the gate, as the opening title sequence plays out, Carpenter’s score sounds fan-fucking-tastic. I’ve listened to it countless times before, and I’ve never heard it quite like this. The low notes demand your attention for the first time ever, resonating throughout the room and the eerie synthesized highs leave you feeling the slightest bit uneasy in a way I never thought possible. This newly mixed lossless track took the score places I never knew it could go, especially considering its simplicity and repetitive nature. Aside from the impeccable rendering of Carpenter’s score, the rest of the film’s presentation is relatively tame. Gunshots and bullet hits aren’t going to attack your ears like the current sound effects might, but they sound as good as they ever will here on Blu-ray. Taking into consideration that much of the film was shot on a soundstage, dialog recording should be flawless, and thankfully I have nothing but good things to say about its reproduction here. None of the lines sound distant, muffled or buried and that makes a huge difference with a tense thriller such as this.

When all is said and done, Assault on Precinct 13 boasts a faithful and revealing audio presentation. The new lossless mix takes the score to new heights and ensures that the rest of the auditory elements are delivered accurately and precisely. Therefore it easily takes home a “4.5 Star Rating” for overall audio quality. I doubt that anyone will be reaching for this disc to show their friends the benefits of lossless audio, but I can see countless fans popping in the disc to take advantage of the isolated score provided here — also in DTS-HD MA 5.1. The bottom line? It sounds damn good.

Bonus Materials are presented in 480i SD with 2.0 surround sound.

• Commentary by Director John Carpenter – A great commentary track from John Carpenter here. Surely a must-listen for fans of the film, and of course, Carpenter’s.
• Isolated Score – As a big fan of the film’s score, I’m thrilled to see this feature. It would be nice to see this on more releases, but I imagine that few viewers would ever actually make use of it.
• “Interview with John Carpenter and Austin Stoker” (23 minutes) – The best feature on this disc outside of Carpenter’s commentary. It might not be in-depth, but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Carpenter and Stoker field questions about the film, and reflect on the monumental picture. I’d love to see a retrospective documentary at some point.
• “Trailer” (2 minutes) – Original theatrical trailer. It’s crazy to see how far promotional trailers have come.
• “Radio Spots” (1 minute) – Included are two original radio spots (30sec. each) that were used to advertise the film during its original theatrical run.
• “Production Gallery” (17 minutes) – A video that flips through a number of production photos. Most are black and white, but there are some color photos in the mix. I always love seeing the cast/crew interacting, so this is a welcome inclusion in my book.
• “Acknowledgments” – Disc production credits.

Blu-ray Disc packaging:

Screenshots:

NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Bare with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.

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