Assault on Precinct 13 DVD Review (Ethan Hawke) Empire Movies

ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 DVD REVIEW

Assault on Precinct 13
(Universal Studios Home Entertainment)

The Movie

The Extras

Reviewed by

7.5/10

7/10

Liam

I think you can have one of three views on Assault on Precinct 13. Either you've seen the original and you're constantly comparing this remake. Or you haven't seen the original and everything here is fresh. Or, you couldn't care less either way. I haven't seen the original. Yes, I know some would consider that heretical, but it's just one of those I've yet to get around to. However, I will say this. After seeing this version, I'm certainly a lot more interested.

In Assault on Precinct 13, Ethan Hawke plays Jake Roenick, a burnt out cop who's closing up shop at a Detroit Police Station on New Years Eve - the same night the precinct will be shut down before moving to fancier, more high-tech digs. To top it of, the city has pretty much come to a halt due to a huge snow storm. So you'd think he'd be in for an easy night? Not quite. Instead Marion Bishop (Laurence Fishburne), one of the city's more powerful (and recently caught) criminals, is brought to the precinct for an overnight stay when the prison bus he's on is diverted due to the storm. Soon after, heavily armed men in masks come looking for Bishop and it's up to Roenick to lead a rag tag group of cops and criminals to hold the fort and protect Bishop until sunrise.

This movie worked for me - and I didn't really expect it to. In some respects, I think not having seen the original helped. There were no comparisons to be made. Plus, the movie had a few surprises that I didn't really see coming. - namely the deaths of certain characters. Sure, overall it could've been a little better, but for what it was the movie was a decent way to spend a couple of hours.

Besides the movie, we get a few special features. First, an audio commentary by director Jean-Francois Richet, writer James DeMonaco and producer Jeffrey Silver. When this one first started I wasn't too keen on it. I found myself distracted by the director's heavy French accent and I couldn't figure out some of the things he was trying to say. However, as the commentary went along, I found he was strongly supported by the other two participants, and they made the commentary a worthwhile listen, pointing out along the way a lot of the homages to the original - as well as some other films.

Next, we get a series of our featurettes. They include "Armed and Dangerous" which features interview footage with the film's weapons specialist about the weapons used in the movie. In "Behind Precinct Walls" we hear from the film's production designer about what the precinct looked like behind-the-scenes. "Plan of Attack" features interview footage with the movie's stunt coordinator. We also get "The Assault Team" which looks at the people behind the movie - namely the director, writer and producer. The final featurette is titled "Caught in the Crosshairs" and is your standard "Making-of" featurette.

Finally, we get 5 deleted scenes with optional director's commentary. Here we get some nice scenes that are worth checking out.

In the end, I felt this movie could've been a lot bigger had it been released as a summer blockbuster. Although it will probably never become the classic the original is considered to be, hopefully now on DVD, the movie can find the bigger audience it deserves.

Features
Featurettes (Armed and Dangerous, Behind Precinct Walls, Plan of Attack, The Assault Team), Audio Commentary with Director Jean-Francois Richet, Writer James DeMonaco and Producer Jeffrey Silver, Deleted Scenes, Caught in the Crosshairs Featurette

Video
Widescreen (2.40:1)

Audio
English DTS 5.1 Digital Surround Sound, English Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles
French, Spanish, English Closed-Captioned

Release Date
May 10, 2005

Rating
R

Length
109 mins.

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