It is a big, silly barrel of fun, with a delirious, tongue-in-cheek script...
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Phil Hoad
RTGuardianOct 25, 2018
The film was was responding to the start of the US rust belt and Reagan-era consumerism, but its themes of working-class subjugation and omnipresent media control have only become more pressing.
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Jason Bailey
RTFlavorwireFeb 17, 2017
Carpenter's primary objective was to make a tough action flick, which he does; it fits snugly into his filmography's subset of urban mayhem movies (alongside 'Escape from New York,' 'Assault on Precinct 13,' and parts of 'Big Trouble in Little China').
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Mike Pearson
RTDenver Rocky Mountain NewsJun 22, 2026
Keith David, Roddy Piper and Meg Foster deliver competent performances, and the story's climax is infinitely more satisfying than its sluggish beginning.
