Hacker Cinema
Assault on Precinct 13
1976 · Film · 91 min
Directed by John Carpenter
A highway patrol officer, two criminals, and a station secretary form an unlikely alliance to defend a defunct Los Angeles precinct against a siege by a bloodthirsty street gang.
2 positive2 neutralfrom 4 commenters
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5 comments on Hacker News
> "I'm so proud that I got to play a strong female character who isn't a sexualised or a damsel in distress, or the opposite of that".
The Hawksian woman:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawksian_woman
I cannot recommend Ball of Fire and His Girl Friday highly enough. For a more modern Hawksian woman, there is Leigh in:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assault_on_Precinct_13_(1976_film)
I also really enjoy Johnny Guitar where two strong women essentially lead the movie. I still don't know how it was ever made in its time.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/johnny-guitar-one-of-the-greatest-westerns-and-the-furthest-extreme-of-the-hollywood-system
You can’t go wrong with any of Howard Hawks’s films. I really like His Girl Friday.
John Carpenter was a big fan of the Hawksian woman archetype. You can see it on display in Assault on Precinct 13.
I watched the movie "Warriors" and thought it was silly. Felt more like a campy musical
I recommend John Carpenter's "assault on precinct 13" if you want a movie about gang culture. A movie that is still relevant today with the current police violence and counter violence in American streets.
The best movie I've (finally) seen in recent months was El Mariachi. He made that for like $8K. Assault on Precinct 13 (the original one): $150,000. The list goes on and on. The Way of the Gun, a more recent favorite of mine with a bunch of big actors in it: $8.5M.
Another factor might be exorbitant star salaries. However, I think that's a symptom, not the disease. The real problem is that Hollywood is greedy. They won't touch a $10M film with no big stars in it because it's not likely to make an 8-figure profit.
Let's not forget Assault on Precinct 13 (www.imdb.com/title/tt0074156/) and Christine (www.imdb.com/title/tt0085333/) :)