Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)

Director:

Jean-François Richet

Writers (WGA):

John Carpenter (earlier film)
James DeMonaco (screenplay)

Release Date:

19 January 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Unite and fight.

Plot:

A police sergeant must rally the cops and prisoners together to protect themselves on New Year's Eve, just as corrupt policeman surround the station with the intent of killing all to keep their deception in the ranks.

Plot Keywords:

One Night | Policewoman Killing | Remake | Convict | Detroit Michigan

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Wed. July 16	5:30 PM	FX
Thur. July 17	10:00 AM	FX

Cast

Ethan Hawke	...	Sgt. Jake Roenick
Laurence Fishburne	...	Marion Bishop
Gabriel Byrne	...	Capt. Marcus Duvall
Maria Bello	...	Dr. Alex Sabian
Drea de Matteo	...	Iris Ferry
John Leguizamo	...	Beck
Brian Dennehy	...	Sgt. Jasper O'Shea
Ja Rule	...	Smiley (as Jeffrey 'Ja Rule' Atkins)
Currie Graham	...	Mike Kahane
Aisha Hinds	...	Anna
Matt Craven	...	Officer Kevin Capra
Fulvio Cecere	...	Ray Portnow
Peter Bryant	...	Lt. Holloway
Kim Coates	...	Officer Rosen
Hugh Dillon	...	Tony

Also Known As:

Assaut sur le central 13 (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and language throughout, and for some drug content.

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA | France

Language:

Serbo-Croatian | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Malaysia:18SG | Germany:16 | Brazil:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Iceland:16 | Ireland:16 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:R-13 | Singapore:M18 | Singapore:NC-16 (cut) | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #41325) | Ireland:18 (video rating) | South Korea:18

Filming Locations:

Detroit, Michigan, USA

Company:

Rogue Pictures

Trivia:

The word "fuck" and its derivatives are spoken 127 times.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the closing scene there are no tire tracks in the fresh snow for the ambulance.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Jake Roenick: Listen to me. What are we talking about, really? Getting high? No. We're talking about a journey, man. A subconscious safari. A mental expedition, OK, a mind trek. This planet has been raped, pillaged and fucked! And the mind is the only uncharted territory
[picks up cocaine]
Jake Roenick: And this shit is the ship. It's the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria and you... are fuckin' Magellan.
[spills a little bit of cocaine]
Jake Roenick: Oh fuck... I spilled some.
[laughs hysterically]
Jake Roenick: So what do you say my Serbian motherfucking friend? Do you want to take a trip or do you want to sit on your ass?
Marko: Yeah, OK, Napoleon... let's see what you got.

Movie Connections:

References Die Hard 2 (1990)

Soundtrack:

Nothing But the Best

Generic but Enjoyable

On a snowy New Year's Eve, a police station where a bus full of convicts has been jailed comes under attack from corrupt policemen, forcing a police sergeant with a cloudy past (Ethan Hawke) to team with a ruthless mob boss (Lawrence Fishburne) to try to keep them at bay.

The original was a pretty good film so I'm still confused about the need to remake it. Yes, it was a little outdated but the film still worked fine. I was expecting the remake to be really bad since the trailer looked lackluster and Ethan Hawke isn't that good of an actor. However, this update turned out to be a decent film. It doesn't approach the original in quality but at least it doesn't insult the original either. They do change some things from the original though that didn't really bother me. Actually, it's kind of better that they tried it in a different way instead of doing it exactly the same (paging Psycho) and there was more reason to remake it.

The performances were okay, nothing special. Ethan Hawke was okay as Roenick. He would sometimes go over the top and he was a little weak at some points. Laurence Fishburne was better than Ethan but still only average. Ja Rule actually gives a good performance for a rapper though he doesn't get a lot of screen time. John Leguizamo was okay, kind of dull. Maria Bello gave the best performance out of everyone and she is a pretty underrated actress. Gabriel Byrne was just meh while Drea de Matteo was clearly there for eye candy and nothing more.

Jean-François Richet does a decent job at directing and he manages to create some suspense. However, he does keep the film simple and most of the twists are obvious. The script is generic and weak with a lot of clichés and little in the way of originality. The action sequences are slick and enjoyable but they are also kind of sparse. The movie also becomes dull from time to time even though the film isn't really that long. There is also little character development so it's hard to feel sorry for some of these people. The remake is really just a semi-enjoyable, generic action film. It fails to surpass the original in most categories but it still stands as a decent film. In the end, Assault on Precinct 13 is a decent action film and it's worth checking out. Rating 6/10