Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)

The original was great, but the remake is even better

On New Year's Eve, the few remaining police officers at a police precinct that is set to close the next day, and their prisoners, find themselves cut off from the outside world and under siege. Their attackers outnumber them considerably and will not stop until everyone inside the precinct is dead.

I am probably committing a sacrilege by saying this, but even though the original John Carpenter version of "Assault on Precinct 13" is a really great film, the remake is even better. Screenwriter James DeMonaco has taken Carpenter's original idea, kept all of the things that worked and fixed all of the things that didn't. For example, in the original film, the people attacking the precinct were essentially zombies: they never spoke; they had no personality; and they kept on coming at the precinct with no fear of death and with only the flimsiest of motives. In the remake, the attackers are humanized (in the form of Gabriel Byrne) and given a motive that is strong enough to make me believe that they would lay siege on a police precinct and keep going to the death. DeMonaco also gives more humanity to the people inside the precinct. These people, particularly Sgt Jake Roenick (Ethan Hawke) and gangster Marion Bishop (Laurence Fishburn), are real people with real flaws, whereas in the original, I always felt that criminal Napoleon Wilson (Marion Bishop's counterpart) was a bit too honourable to be a gangster. These changes made this film a lot more satisfying for me and convinced me that this is the better of the two films. Having said that, the original is also thoroughly worth watching and I recommend that anyone who is interested in seeing this film see both versions, back to back, and make up their own mind about which is the better of the two.
October 27, 2008

An Action-Packed Remake!!!

I think I like this version better than the original! It has more action, it's New Year's Eve, it's snowing! At a rundown precinct, four prisoners are dropped because of weather conditions, after the New Year's ball drops, the sh#t hits the fan. Crooked cops are coming to kill Bishop, a cop-killer. The crooked cops will kill anyone who gets in their way. The good cops must receive help from the prisoners if they want to make it out alive! If you love action, you'll love ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13!!! September 9, 2008

Better Than the Original

As much as I love John Carpenter, his first film was a low budget affair that barely scraped by. No explanation was given as to why the psycho gang kept trying to kill the police, or why they didn't die from all the gunshots. This version actually has a story to back up all the action, and pulls it off surprisingly well. Lawrence Fishburne's character embodies the American gangster like no one else could. The reveal that cops are actually attacking them is one well conceived and well executed. The main leads are well cast, although you eventually want to scream, "don't do that" when they each meet their downfall. Overall, a fun action movie that is actually better than the original, and for a John Carpenter movie, that's saying a lot. July 4, 2008

STAND AND DELIVER

Fans of director John Carpenter are in turmoil. First off, they saw the franchise he began, HALLOWEEN, turned over to various directors who made some decent and some not so decent films. Now they are preparing for a remake of his horror film THE FOG. And somewhere in between this movie, ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, became a remake. And we all know what fans of original films think of remakes.

As a fan of Carpenter, I decided never to be this way. I always approach a movie with an open mind. Granted, many remakes omit every single shred of story that make an original work, relying more on their "own interpretation" which is Hollywood speak for yeah we kept the name to cash in on it but made a totally different movie. But you have to give someone credit for at least trying to get it right. And that happens here.

Original? A precinct house is closing, staffed by few people, no phones or radios, when suddenly a gang who has recently acquired assault weapons attacks. In the midst of this, a prison bus shows up with a sick prisoner and a mass murderer on board. While under attack, cops and crooks join forces to stay alive. More or less a remake itself of RIO BRAVO in some eyes.

This time around the basis is kept intact but the loose threads are rewoven. Rather than taking place in LA in the summer, this movie takes place in Detroit in the midst of one of the worst blizzards of recent memory. Does this affect the story? Simply put, no. The mass murderer is replaced with a cool and calculating killer in the form of Marion Bishop (Laurence Fishburne), a street gangster with blood on his hands who has been captured after killing an undercover policeman and is not on his way to jail.

Along the way, the blizzard forces the prison bus to reroute to Precinct 13, a precinct closing down to make way for the new stationhouse. Staffed by flirtatious secretary Iris (Drea de Matteo) and retiring grizzled old cop Jasper O'Shea (Brian Dennehy). The precinct is headed up by Sgt. Jake Roenick (Ethan Hawke), an ex undercover cop who we watched lose his team at the films beginning. Stuck in a desk job while recuperating from wounds gained in that battle, Roenick has more psychological than physical wounds.

Into the station comes Roenick's department ordered shrink, Alex Sabain (Maria Bello). The two banter about, he lifts his file and she leaves only to return a short time later, stranded due to the blizzard. And then it happens.

This misplaced group finds itself under attack from outside forces that sneak in with the intent of killing Bishop. Along with his co-prisoners Smiley (Ja Rule), Anna (Aisha Hinds), and strung out Beck (John Leguizamo), Bishop sits stranded in his cell while the killers walk the halls. Stopped by one of the guards, who is then killed, the assassins regroup and begin their siege of the precinct.

Who is this group out to stop Bishop? Is it his gang like Jasper claims? Or someone else? If you've seen the previews on this one then you already know that the killers are a group of special forces cops who were in league with Bishop and need to silence him before he has the chance to talk and sink them all. Led by Marcus Duvall (Gabriel Byrne), they will stop at nothing until Bishop and all witnesses are dead.

As the night moves on, the attacks continue and the defenders inside the precinct unite to ward off their assailants. One by one, and in a fashion that actually surprises in its choices, this band is whittled down until it seems that no one will survive and there will be no escape. But hey, this is a movie and things like that never happen.

The movie is filled with tons of action, the sort that most fans of the genre are looking for in films like these. But for those fans, they get more than they bargained for in the performances of the lead AND supporting actors. And the story all makes sense and ties every loose end together leaving nothing hanging (save for the ending in a good way).

This movie may not be John Carpenter's ASSAULT. But it turns out to be a fast paced, well made action film in its own right. And if that's what you're looking for, then you won't do better than this one. March 13, 2008

good for a plane ride

This is not a review of the movie per se , but more so for the umd product. I got a new copy through Amazon for $10 , which included the shipping costs. The movie is not enhanced for the 16 x 9 format so you get the original 2.4 : 1 aspect ratio. This means the black bars at top and bottom of screen. On the medium or wide shots the details are hard to see as the action takes place at night and the movie uses a blue color palette. Otherwise , sound and video are very good. Disc includes previews , deleted scenes and three making of featurettes.

Overall , it was worth the 10 bucks March 2, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...