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Movies / On DVD / Assault on Precinct 13
Assault on Precinct 13

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Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)

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Reviews Counted:160

Fresh:97

Rotten:63

Average Rating:5.9/10

Consensus: This remake has been praised by some as an expertly made B-movie, and dismissed by others as formulaic.

Runtime: 1 hr 49 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

Synopsis: To survive the night, cops and criminals alike will have to unite and fight. A classic head-to-head showdown ignites in Assault on Precinct 13, an all-new update of the 1976 action thriller of the... To survive the night, cops and criminals alike will have to unite and fight. A classic head-to-head showdown ignites in Assault on Precinct 13, an all-new update of the 1976 action thriller of the same name. With only a few hours left in the calendar year, Precinct 13, one of Detroit's oldest precinct houses, is closing. Amid heavy snowfall and unsafe road conditions, only a few lawmen remain on duty for New Year's Eve. They are headed by Sergeant Jake Roenick (Ethan Hawke), a good cop wrestling with bad memories of a fatal undercover op from the previous spring. Roenick and Precinct 13 have both seen better days. Early on December 31st, deep in the city, formidable crime lord Marion Bishop (Laurence Fishburne), is cornered by an undercover cop. Their ensuing struggle leaves the cop dead - and Bishop captured, by the Organized Crime and Racketeering squad that Marcus Duvall (Gabriel Byrne) runs. Bishop is handcuffed and herded onto a prison bus with several criminals: junkie Beck (John Leguizamo), hustler Smiley (Jeffrey "Ja Rule" Atkins), and gang member Anna (Aisha Hinds). But the battering snowstorm stops the bus well short of its high-security destination and strands it at the remote Precinct 13 - where, as night falls, the prisoners are temporarily incarcerated. This influx of prisoners irks Roenick, almost as much as visiting police psychologist Alex Sabian (Maria Bello) does. But Precinct 13's provocative secretary Iris Ferry (Drea de Matteo) and salty veteran cop Jasper "Old School" O'Shea (Brian Dennehy) won't let the increasing workload deter them from celebrating... ...until two masked gunmen break in and attack the guards from the bus. The gunmen are just barely beaten back, and everyone inside Precinct 13 realizes that more will come - to extract crime lord Bishop, but also armed and ready to shoot anyone and everyone else. The cops, looking to the reluctant Roenick for leadership, and the cons, looking to the steely Bishop for an angle, must join forces to live. Fortifying themselves with minimal weaponry and maximum courage, they will not go gently into the bad night. As they fight to the death, the thin lines between good and bad bleed together. Rogue Pictures presents A Why Not/Liaison Films/Biscayne Pictures Production. Ethan Hawke, Laurence Fishburne. Assault on Precinct 13. John Leguizamo, Maria Bello, Jeffrey "Ja Rule" Atkins, Drea de Matteo, Matt Craven. With Brian Dennehy and Gabriel Byrne. Visual Effects Supervisor, Dennis Berardi. Casting by Billy Hopkins, Suzanne Smith, Kerry Barden. Costume Designers, Vicki Graef, Georgina Yarhi. Music Supervisor, John Houlihan. Music by Graeme Revell. Editor, Bill Pankow, A.C.E. Production Designer, Paul Denham Austerberry. Director of Photography, Robert Gantz. Co-Producer, James DeMonaco. Executive Producers, Don Carmody, Sebastien Kurt Lemercier, Joseph Kaufman. Produced by Pascal Caucheteux, Stephane Sperry, Jeffrey Silver. Based on the film written by John Carpenter. Screenplay by James DeMonaco. Directed by Jean-Francois Richet. A Rogue Pictures Release. -- © Rogue Pictures [More]

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Laurence Fishburne, Maria Bello, Drea de Matteo

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Laurence Fishburne, Maria Bello, Drea de Matteo, John Leguizamo, Aisha Hinds, Gabriel Byrne, Brian Dennehy, Currie Graham

Director: Jean-Francois Richet

Director: Jean-Francois Richet
Screenwriter: James DeMonaco
Producer: Pascal Caucheteux, Jeffrey Silver, Stephane Sperry
Composer: Graham Revell
Studio: Focus Features

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for Assault on Precinct 13

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101 - 120 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
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Just duck, shoot or be shot, a bloody race to see who can be the last man standing, and maybe manage a wisecrack or two.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
01/19/05
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel

Making a B-movie out of an old A-movie -- which is what Carpenter did -- is smart and fun. Making an A-movie out of an old B-movie -- which is what director Jean-Francois Richet tries to do here -- is just sort of silly.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
01/19/05
Stephen Whitty
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger

A thriller that actually thrills.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
01/19/05
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post

Hawke and Fishburne make it work, supported by a mostly strong cast.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
01/19/05
Jami Bernard
Jami Bernard
New York Daily News

The sort of remake that inspires faith in second chances.

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment Comment
01/19/05
Connie Ogle
Connie Ogle
Miami Herald

The violence eventually overwhelms the new film's ideas -- and that's something Hawks, and even Carpenter, never let their movies get away with.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
01/19/05
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News

My advice is to ignore such questions and go with the flow.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
01/19/05
Robert W. Butler
Robert W. Butler
Kansas City Star

A smartly assembled noir package.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
01/19/05
Stephen Cole
Stephen Cole
Globe and Mail

This is hardly the golden age of endings anyway (most are chosen by surveys), but this ending really is an assault -- on the brain.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
01/19/05
Jim Slotek
Jim Slotek
Jam! Movies

Richet and DeMonaco respect the original movie while adding depth to the characters and complications to the situation.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
01/19/05
Terry Lawson
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press

Gleefully filled with corruption, violence, paranoia, thug-speak and mayhem. It's mad, it's bad and it's bloody. Yep, it's a bonafide blast.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
01/19/05
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News

For those who can stand the ultra-violent content, there's something almost enthralling about the film -- until it falls apart in the final 20 minutes.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/19/05
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Assault can't be called great, but it has the guts to throw all its hard-core chips into the pot, which makes it almost as much of a butt-kicking novelty as Carpenter's original.

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
01/19/05
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News

One of the few good things to be said about Assault on Precinct 13 is that, early in the new season, we get one of the year's worst movies over and done with.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
01/19/05
Michael Booth
Michael Booth
Denver Post

What starts out as a slightly above average action movie sinks to a merely mediocre one as the eye rolls and head shakes build.

Full Review Source: IGN Movies | comment Comment
01/19/05
Jeff Otto
Jeff Otto
IGN Movies

Give Assault on Precinct 13 points for originality, if nothing else. It's the only thriller in which corrupt cops chase their victims through the woods of downtown Detroit.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Observer | comment Comment
01/19/05
Lawrence Toppman
Lawrence Toppman
Charlotte Observer

Though Richet stretches believability near the end, action-movie fans should assault theaters for an entertaining stay at Precinct 13.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
01/19/05
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic

A movie whose greatest intent seems to be indulging in as much brutality as the MPAA will allow.

Full Review Source: Contra Costa Times | comment Comment
01/19/05
Mary F. Pols
Mary F. Pols
Contra Costa Times

Jean-François Ríchet, the director of the new Assault, is working from a script, by James DeMonaco, that creates a handful of zingy one-note lowlifes but that hasn't updated the isolated-precinct premise in a timely or thoughtful way.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
01/19/05
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly

The premise may be outlandish, the action unrealistic and sometimes silly and the characters formulaic. But the movie rips and roars.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
01/19/05
Michael Wilmington
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
 
 
101 - 120 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
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