District 13 / District 13 Ultimatum [DVD]

In both films you find amazing action, I was never left bored, and I was captivated throughout by the action. The plots are run well and the film doesn't miss anything to make it greater, its that good.
It has moved straight into my list of top films and I would definitely recommend it if you like action.
If you are a fan of Parkour or practice Parkour or martial arts, I shouldn't have to tell you to buy this film.

I was expecting the worst after the disappointment of the earlier Bresson-produced Yamakasi, which stalls on the action front to save on the budget, but was very pleasantly surprised with French free running action movie Banlieue 13 aka District 13. A pretty shameless ripoff of Escape From New York that improves on the original with a relentless pace and superior action scenes even if it lacks the iconic characters or Adrienne Barbeau's epic curves, there's some social criticism in there that doesn't feel grafted on, but mostly this is about the gravity-defying no-nets, no-stuntmen action scenes, and on that level it certainly delivers.

Banlieue 13: Ultimatum (or District 13: Ultimatum if you see the English-language version) takes its modern day Escape from New York with added parkour stunts and a soupcon of political commentary premise a little bit further than the original without letting it get in the way of the action. It's three years after the first film and nothing has changed - well, not for the better. The budget's noticeably bigger this time round and has been employed to create a vividly realised but under-utilised ghetto for Paris' ethnic population that's part Lebanon, part Hong Kong, part white supremacist and all powderkeg. Which is convenient for crooked developer `Harriburton' (see what they did there?) who want to flatten it to redevelop as a middle-class area and are bribing the French security chief to provoke a war that will see all the inhabitants moved out, the district destroyed (rather melodramatically by fighter bombers with the Philippe Torreton's President himself pressing the button) and lucrative vote-winning reconstruction contracts all round. "Just like in Iraq - but these guys are French!"

It's not always big on logic: despite having a key videotape that could blow the whole conspiracy wide open, no-one thinks to download it on the internet. More problematic, the two stars are kept apart for most of the first hour, though are at least given big setpieces to show off their stuff - Cyril Raffaelli a fight in a boobytrapped Chinese nightclub where a priceless Van Gogh becomes a deadly weapon in a scene reminiscent of vintage Jackie Chan and David Belle in a rooftop chase. Along the way it has a sense of fun and energy to offset the way it exploits the constant tensions between the French underclass and the police, and it even has a sense of humor - one drug dealer is so high on his own supply he's immune to repeated tranquilliser darts - but it ultimately lacks the momentum or imagination of the first film: the plot is really just a rehash of the first film on a bigger scale and there are too few stunts that make you go wow. Worse, there seems to be a lot less action this time round and the action scenes aren't always as well directed as the could be, with director Patrick Alessandrin lacking the panache of Pierre Morel's original and not always resisting the temptation to cut mid-stunt rather than playing the stunt in one continuous take, which is a bit pointless when you have stars who can do their own stunts. It's telling that the nine minutes of deleted scenes on the disc are all action sequences that didn't quite work this time, most derivative stuff from the film's finale. But while it never lives up to its promise, it's still entertaining brain-off entertainment that's ideal undemandingly outrageous Summer fare.

2 discs also packed with extra features. The first episode seemed to be Region free. The sequel Ultimatum (Region B disc) is even better than the first episode. Excellent HD picture quality.