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: The "pills" that Roenick shows us more clearly near the end of movie are clearly Icebreakers mints. You can even see the little blue "flavor capsules" in them.

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:

You're Nobody 'til Somebody Loves you

Good remake, but no competition for Carpenter.

When they first announced there was a remake of John Carpenter's "Assault on Precinct 13" in progress, my immediate reactions were a little something like: "What?...Why?... This is blasphemy! ... This movie doesn't need to be remade!... etc etc" John Carpenter's original definitely was a revolutionary cult film. It was shocking, disturbing and politically incorrect and they simply can't make movies like that anymore nowadays, no matter how cliché that sounds. Therefore it was impossible for this remake by Jean-François Richet (never heard of him) to improve over the 1976-version. The good news, however, is that Richet never really tries to steal Carpenter's thunder and he surely delivered the best possible movie he could. Assault '05 is an A-budgeted movie that often has the charm of a B-movie and hangs together by adorable clichés, stereotypes and very explicit violence. On new years eve 2004, moments before the transfer towards a brand new police precinct, the old and abandoned precinct 13 is besieged by a gang of heavily armed and well-trained police officers. The reason? Top-gangster Marion Bishop, who was arrested earlier that night, has too much knowledge regarding the corrupt cop Marcus Duvall and his unit. In order to save their own careers, they have to eliminate Bishop before dawn, but also the innocent cops and random people who're in the precinct, because they know too much too now. The film offers quite a lot of suspense, good acting performances (by an impressive cast) and hard-boiled action. The setting (Chicago during a severe blizzard) adds to the tension. John Carpenter's original (which was, in fact, already a sort of remake of "Rio Bravo") will always remain one of the coolest, groundbreaking action movies ever (if it were only for that brutal and hugely controversial ice cream-truck sequence alone), but this film is a neat tribute.