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Amazon.co.uk Review
Action buffs will have a fine time with the spray of bullets, shattering glass, and pyrotechnic silliness that makes up the bulk of Assault on Precinct 13. Updated from the little-known cops-and-robbers classic John Carpenter made in 1976 (two years before he made his name with Halloween), this high-concept thriller is mostly a lowbrow kill-fest, and is very happy with itself for being so efficient in both categories. A decrepit police station on its last night before retirement--New Year's Eve, no less--plays unexpected home to a gang of criminals who become snowbound in the basement lockup. Another mysterious gang of people who stealthily gather in the blizzard outside want one of the particularly nasty criminals (Laurence Fishburne) dead, and they'll take the rest of the precinct down too, by golly. The odd lot of characters trapped inside include a burned-out sergeant (Ethan Hawke), a sexpot secretary (post-Sopranos Drea de Matteo), an even sexier police psychologist (Maria Bello), and various other good guys and bad guys who variously go down in blazes of guts, glory, bullets, and fire. Hawke and Fishburne are opposite sides of the coin: the law, and the bathroom scale. Their need to partner in order to survive the guns outside is the movie's moral conflict, and both actors chew on Precinct 13's peeling walls and scuffed floors to drive the point home every chance they get. Obvious filmmaking fakery abounds in everything from the irksome snowstorm, frequent gunshots to the head, and a shadowy forest that conveniently presents itself in an industrial section of Detroit for the climactic showdown. No matter, this Assault is for non-thinkers who want blood and gunpowder, with no messy slowdowns for logic, please.--Ted Fry
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A worthy remake,
By
This review is from: Assault on Precinct 13 [2005] [DVD] (DVD)
I loved the original AP13 directed, written, scored, edited and lord knows what else by John Carpenter. When I first heard about the remake of this and Ethan Hawke was going to be in it I was quite excited because Hawke had done such an amazing job in Training Day. He makes a great leader of the police and criminals. The storyline though is a lot more complex than the original film but it is still as good as. There are some real shocks and "wow didn't see that coming" moments. Plus the occasional laughing moment. Try and spot the guy who played the cop in the original, he's in there somewhere. A must buy if you liked the original.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining enough remake,
By Mr. Jonathon T. Beckett "vampire lover" (Dracula's Crypt) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Assault on Precinct 13 [2005] [DVD] (DVD)
!!!WARNING-MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!
In 1976, John Carpenter made the original version of this film. It was a masterpiece in sustained tension, a modern day western with brilliant performances from a largely unknown cast. This remake does contain enough original elements to make it an entertaing film in its own right. For example its the cops trying to get in the Precinct this time in order to silence suave crime lord Marion Bishop(Laurence Fishburne, before he testifies against them. The performances are generally good. I wasnt sure of Ethan Hawke as the hero cop, but he won me over in the end. The film really belongs to Fishburne who is excellent as the urbane Bishop. What is missing is the clinging claustrophobic mood of the original, and its really just a seies of elaborately staged set pieces. A decent enough effort, doesnt hold a candle to the original. 3 out of 5
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
More Die Hard 2 than Carpenter, but not bad at all,
By
This review is from: Assault on Precinct 13 [2005] [DVD] (DVD)
The 2005 Assault on Precinct 13 is an above-average remake, an efficient Saturday Night Special that never quite gets the adrenaline pumping in the action scenes as much as it could but doesn't trash memories of Carpenter's no-budget classic as much as expected. If anything, the template here is more a scaled down Die Hard 2 minus the planes, even going so far as to borrow both central plot twist and one of the more memorable killings. Ethan Hawke is in Tom Cruise-lite mode - all the focused self-righteous concentration with none of the Scientology - and Laurence Fishbourne offers a smooth update of Darwin Joston's cool criminal but Maria Bello is wasted in a nothing role that exists solely to serve Hawke's redemption backstory. There are a couple of neat new plot twists and one unexpected killing, but mostly this delivers familiar genre thrills with a comforting lack of originality. It's certainly more effective than the French near-remake Nid De Guepes/The Nest.
The DVD extras, like the film, are satisfying without being particularly outstanding, though it's a shame the trailer isn't included.
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