For one thing, it's silly. For another, it's not always silly enough to be diverting.
Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)
Tomatometer
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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
Reviews for Assault on Precinct 13
Jean-François Richet - by the way, could there possibly be a first name that's more French than "Jean-François?" - pounds out the tense tale with vigor and finesse.
...[a] disjointed but jolting jailhouse shoot-‘em-up showcase...a frenetic and formulaic action-drama guaranteed to get the adrenaline pumping.
The fluidity of relationships as loyalties shift gives this story extra energy and sizzle that takes it beyond the usual shoot-out and explosion-movie standard.
Assault on Precinct 13 is sporadically effective but far too incoherent to warrant a full-blown recommendation.
Despite a fine frenetic prologue and the engrossing centerpiece assault, the third act comes apart by trying to get too complicated
It’s a joy to see a gritty, take-few-prisoners film like Assault, and a relief to see it come together so magnificently.
[Assault on Precinct 13] is a surprise at a time when the studios usually dump their dreck on the poor, film-starved winter movie-goer.
...a solid genre picture of gritty mayhem and spirited characterizations
Plays more like Die Hard 2 on a budget than a remake in spirit of Carpenter's scrappy original....When the remake is so flavorless...it's time to hit the video shelves.
[A] tenth-generation Xerox of Die Hard... blurry, fuzzy, just faintly hinting at far superior movies it’s trying to ape...
Amazingly, the film arrives not as a pale copy but in an adrenaline rush, an exciting and violent action film that's very much an original.
For what it is, it works well enough -- as a thriller and suspense machine, at least, it is serviceable, and technically proficient.
It provides some escapist entertainment, insofar as seeing people try to kill each other constitutes 'escapism.' (What would you be escaping from? Pleasantness?)
It's not great art, but, for B-movie fans and those looking for a mid-winter jolt of energy, it's good fun.
Latest News for Assault on Precinct 13
May 14, 2007:
Maria Bello to Replace Rachel Weisz in "Mummy 3"
A few weeks back I expressed some skepticism that Universal would re-cast Rachel Weisz's "Mummy" role with a new actress. Looks like I was wrong. More...
May 17, 2005:
Julie Delpy to Make Her Directorial Debut with "Bathory"
Actress/screenwriter Julie Delpy ("Before Sunset") will make her debut behind the camera with "Bathory," in which she'll be re-joining frequent co-star Ethan... More...
January 31, 2005:
Hide and Seek Scared Up $22M
The versatile Robert Deniro scored another hit with this weekend's horror release Hide and Seek, which scared up an estimated $22M over the weekend. Along with Meet The Fockers,... More...
January 29, 2005:
Friday Estimates: Hide and Seek $8.1M
According to Showbizdata, the versatile Robert Deniro scored another hit with this weekend's horror release Hide and Seek, which grossed $8.1M on Friday. It will likely gross... More...
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