Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)

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.

Director:

Jean-François Richet

Writers:

John Carpenter (earlier film), James DeMonaco (screenplay)

Stars:

Ethan Hawke, Laurence Fishburne, Gabriel Byrne

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

On New Year's Eve, inside a police station that's about to be closed for good, officer Jake Roenick must cobble together a force made up cops and criminals to save themselves from a mob looking to kill mobster Marion Bishop.

---

Plot Keywords:

man's best friend | police station | deception | hand to hand combat | amazing grace hymn | 

---

Taglines:

The only people more dangerous that the hardened criminals... are the cops.

---

Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and language throughout, and for some drug content

Details

Official Sites:

Metropolitan Filmexport [France]

Country:

France USA

Language:

English Serbian

Release Date:

19 January 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Masacre en la cárcel 13

Filming Locations:

St. Andrew's Church, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,502,724, 23 January 2005, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$19,976,073, 20 February 2005

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rogue Pictures,Why Not Productions,Liaison Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At least 7 people get shot in the head.

---

Goofs

During the initial sequence of lasers and shots aimed inside the station, characters close the Venetian blinds. However, in subsequent shots, the blinds are open again.

---

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 ...
[...]

---

Connections

Referenced in Orange Is the New Black: F*ck, Marry, Frieda (2017)

---

Soundtracks

Winter Wonderland
Written by Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith
Performed by Dean Martin
Courtesy of Capitol Records, Inc.
Under License from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

Generic but Enjoyable

On a snowy New Year's Eve, a police station where a bus full of convicts has been jailed comes under attack from corrupt policemen, forcing a police sergeant with a cloudy past (Ethan Hawke) to team with a ruthless mob boss (Lawrence Fishburne) to try to keep them at bay.

The original was a pretty good film so I'm still confused about the need to remake it. Yes, it was a little outdated but the film still worked fine. I was expecting the remake to be really bad since the trailer looked lackluster and Ethan Hawke isn't that good of an actor. However, this update turned out to be a decent film. It doesn't approach the original in quality but at least it doesn't insult the original either. They do change some things from the original though that didn't really bother me. Actually, it's kind of better that they tried it in a different way instead of doing it exactly the same (paging Psycho) and there was more reason to remake it.

The performances were okay, nothing special. Ethan Hawke was okay as Roenick. He would sometimes go over the top and he was a little weak at some points. Laurence Fishburne was better than Ethan but still only average. Ja Rule actually gives a good performance for a rapper though he doesn't get a lot of screen time. John Leguizamo was okay, kind of dull. Maria Bello gave the best performance out of everyone and she is a pretty underrated actress. Gabriel Byrne was just meh while Drea de Matteo was clearly there for eye candy and nothing more.

Jean-François Richet does a decent job at directing and he manages to create some suspense. However, he does keep the film simple and most of the twists are obvious. The script is generic and weak with a lot of clichés and little in the way of originality. The action sequences are slick and enjoyable but they are also kind of sparse. The movie also becomes dull from time to time even though the film isn't really that long. There is also little character development so it's hard to feel sorry for some of these people. The remake is really just a semi-enjoyable, generic action film. It fails to surpass the original in most categories but it still stands as a decent film. In the end, Assault on Precinct 13 is a decent action film and it's worth checking out. Rating 6/10