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:

New Year's Eve | Police | Police Station | Prisoner | Deception

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

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:

English | Serbian

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:16 | Brazil:16 | Malaysia:18SG | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:18 | 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:

Laurence Fishburne's character is called Bishop. This was also the last name of the protagonist of the original Assault on Precinct 13 (1976).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: After the first flash grenade is shot into the precinct, Ethan's gun shows no slide action while firing out the window.

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:

Features New Year's Rockin' Eve 2005 (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Winter Wonderland

A solid action thriller

I haven't seen Carpenter's original version but the remake seems like a very solid modern action crime/thriller with an interesting cast. Ethan Hawke may never be recognized as a great young actor by the vast majority of moviegoers but in my opinion he hasn't made a serious flop in his career so far.

The rest of the cast did equally well if not better at times. A special praise goes to Laurence Fishburne who gave the best performance in the movie.Overall the film has enough to offer to be considered worthy of a second view but it still lacks a few factors that could boost it further from the mass of similar movies.

...... 3/5 ......