You know where you stand in a hell hole. Folks lend a hand in a hell hole.
You know where you stand in a hell hole. Folks lend a hand in a hell hole.
Member since:03.09.2003
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Assault On Precinct 13 is a remake of John Carpenter's film of the same name from the mid-seventies
THE STORY
It's New Year's Eve in Detroit, and the titular Precinct 13 is about to close down and be demolished. For Sergeant Roenik and his team, this should be an easy shift; the phones have been diverted, the cells are empty, it's simply a case of hanging out and seeing in the new year. There's a blizzard blowing outside, but Roenik and co. don't care. Unfortunately, the adverse weather conditions mean that a bus load of criminals, including the notorious Marion Bishop, has been re-routed to Precinct 13 for the night. Soon the cops find themselves under siege, outnumbered and outgunned by the masked men outside.
THE CAST
Ethan Hawke as Sergeant Jake Roenik Laurence Fishburne as Marion Bishop Gabriel Byrne as Duvall John Leguizamo as Beck Ja Rule as Smiley Brian Dennehy as Jasper
Directed by Jean-Francois Richet
Ethan Hawke was in Reality Bites, Great Expectations and Training Day. In Assault On Precinct 13 he plays a burned-out-on-the-edge-cop-with-issues character. He acts well, but I've seen this type of character too many times in films such as Lethal Weapon, Die Hard and SWAT.
Laurence Fishburne is most famous for his role in The Matrix. Fishburne carries this film. Without him and John Leguizamo, the film wouldn't be worth watching. As Marion Bishop, Fishburne oozes evil criminality. Great stuff. There's only one problem; can you really be scared of a guy called Marion?
I always think of Ghost Ship when I see Gabriel Byrne. I think he usually plays the devil.
John Leguizamo is superb as Beck the drug addict, and is almost unrecognizable from his roles in Romeo and Juliet and Moulin Rouge.
Jean-Francois Richet has made a stylish film in Assault On Precinct 13. The pace is just right, with no overly violent scenes, and no boring, drawn out soul searching by any characters. For many of the action scenes, Richet opts to use only a couple of cameras, which pan to follow the action. At times I find this irritating. It's quite disorientating and makes me a little sea-sick. Richet also manipulates the plot so that the two female characters end up in skimpy outfits. I found this crass, and in this day and age it's unforgivable.
GUNS AND SWEARING
Assault On Precinct 13 is a 15 certificate. There's a lot of violence and some blood. Swearing is abundant. I have no problem with this - if I was under siege by masked gunmen, I'd swear too!
THE DVD
I watched a rental DVD. The extras were scene selection and language selection. Pretty poor.
The retail DVD has the following extras:
Armed and Dangerous Behind Precinct Walls Plan Of Attack Deleted Scenes
However as they weren't on the rental copy, I can't tell you if they're any good, sorry.
AVAILABILITY
You can buy this from Amazon for £9.97 new or from £2.50 used or from HMV for £9.99.
OVERALL
This film's OK. It's riddled with cop-movie cliché, and the plot's a bit of a no brainer. It's all been done before. There's no real tension in the siege, and I was able to second guess what was going to happen all the way through. It's a bit like Night Of The Living Dead meets Die Hard 1 and 2; although you'd be better off watching any of those three films. Overall, this is an average cops and robbers film.
Pictures of Assault On Precinct 13 (DVD)
Burn, baby, burn!
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I saw this at the cinema and I loved it. I've not seen it since but I wouldn't mind having the DVD.
lindsayjayne 28.06.2006 17:39
I've bought this but haven't yet got around to watching it. Based on your review (which is great, by the way) I won't rush to make time for it. x
tom1clare 17.05.2006 11:38
Shame - I really liked the original, which they showed on BBC1 last year late at night when no one would be watching lol - except me. There are so many of these remakes doing the rounds these days but few seem to be any good - The Italian Job was a good example of why they should never remake the golden oldies ;) tom
Action buffs will have a fine time with the spray of bullets, shattering glass, and ... more
pyrotechnic silliness that makes up the bulk ofAssault on Precinct 13. Updated from the little-known cops-and-robbers classic John Carpenter made in 1976 (two years bef...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Ethan Hawke and Laurence Fishburne lead an all-star cast, including John Leguizamo, Ja ... more
Rule and Drea de Matteo, in the explosive, action-packed thriller, Assault on Precinct 13. Run-down Precinct 13 is about to close its doors forever. But everything c...
John Carpenter'sAssault On Precinct 13is a riveting low-budget thriller from 1976, in ... more
which a nearly abandoned police station is held under siege by a heavily armed gang called Street Thunder. Inside the station, cut off from contact and isolated, conv...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Action buffs will have a fine time with the spray of bullets, shattering glass, and ... more
pyrotechnic silliness that makes up the bulk ofAssault on Precinct 13. Updated from the little-known cops-and-robbers classic John Carpenter made in 1976 (two years bef...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
![Assault On Precinct 13 [DVD] [2004]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/79182318.jpg "Assault On Precinct 13 [DVD] [2004]")
![Assault On Precinct 13 [2005]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/103548203.jpg "Assault On Precinct 13 [2005]")
May 1st, 2006
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![Assault On Precinct 13 [DVD] [1976]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/70482373.jpg)
