87th Precinct - Heatwave / Ice / Lightning (Box Set)

Advantages: Good action
Disadvantages: None

...The story is set on a snowy New Year's Eve in a police station somewhere in Detroit. The team were about to leave the precinct to retire it (for it was to be it's final day of operation) and celebrate the New Year. A bunch of criminals were being transported on a bus to another prison, but due to the bad weather, this bus just had to stop over at this precinct. After a couple of moments, they are under attack. They have no idea who these men are. One of the prisoners is Marion Bishop (Fishburne) - who murdered a cop. The precinct 13 team thought that it was Bishop's men trying to redeem him. But they eventually find out that they were rogue cops trying to kill him. The prisoners were only to be kept for the night. And in order to survive, they would have to defend themselves. And this meant that the prisoners had to help protect... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Tension throughout, raw low budget movie, good character definition, cool soundtrack
Disadvantages: Low budget may put people off that like well crafted Hollywood productions, some actings a bit hammy

...The best thing about "Assault on Precinct 13" (1976) is that it can be enjoyed on many levels by different people. It stands as a tense, gun-toting, hard-hitting thriller. However, there's a million movies like that so, what makes Precinct 13 different? What makes it worth watching again and again? The sense of tension is evident throughout the film. Carpenter (who made this as his second film on a shoestring budget of $100,000 and wrote, directed and provided music score) sets the tension up by starting with a girl and her father driving to visit Grandma. They get lost and as he phones for direcions, his daughter goes for an ice-cream. The fact that everythings been fine-and-dandy up until now makes this an obvious mistake. Some members of a gang callously gun down the ice-cream seller and little girl. The distraught father gives... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Scary as hell
Disadvantages: None

...This is John Carpenter's 1976 film debut. It's low budget with no names that I recognise in the cast list. It's features a typically Carpenteresque minimalist electronic score that adds to the menace of the whole thing. The film contains the most shocking scene I've witnessed in any film, the emotionless killing of a young girl asking for raspberry sauce on her ice cream. It still disturbs me. This sets the scene for the film. The girls father shoots the protagonist , and is pursued by the other gang members. He finds refuge in a police station. Here's the puchline. The station is being decomissioned, all communications have been removed as there is no need for it, because the area is so run down that they dont need a police station. We now have a very scary seige situation. The gang are totally silent as they move... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful