District B13 (2004)

Set in the ghettos of Paris in 2010, an undercover cop and ex-thug try to infiltrate a gang in order to defuse a neutron bomb.

Director:

Pierre Morel

Writers:

Luc Besson, Bibi Naceri

Stars:

Cyril Raffaelli, David Belle, Tony D'Amario

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cyril Raffaelli	...	Capt. Damien Tomaso
David Belle	...	Leïto
Tony D'Amario	...	K2
Bibi Naceri	...	Taha Bemamud (as Larbi Naceri)
Dany Verissimo-Petit	...	Lola (as Dany Verissimo)
François Chattot	...	Krüger
Nicolas Woirion	...	Corsini
Patrick Olivier	...	Le colonel
Samir Guesmi	...	Jamel
Jérôme Gadner	...	K2 boy 1
Tarik Boucekhine	...	Yoyo (para 1)
Grégory Jean	...	Para 2
Warren Zavatta	...	Para 3
Dominique Dorol	...	Cerbère Taha
Ludovic Berthillot	...	Le gros mercenaire

Storyline

In the near future, the worst ghettos of Paris, France are literally walled off and among the worst is District B13. Controlled by the ruthless crime lord, Taha, a young righteous punk named Leïto is determined to bring him down. When the boss retaliates by kidnapping his sister, Lola, a rescue attempt by Leïto is destroyed by betrayal that gets him arrested and Lola kept in the clutches in Taha. Six months later, a crackerjack undercover cop named Damien is given a urgent mission: a neutron bomb has been stolen by Taha in District B13 which has an automatic timer function engaged and set to detonate in less than 24 hours. Now with time running out, Damien and Leïto must work together to find and stop the bomb, but there is far more to this crisis than any of the field players realize.

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Plot Keywords:

time bomb | paris | france | near future | bomb | 

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Taglines:

Welcome to District B13 Welcome to the future

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, some drug content and language

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French Spanish

Release Date:

2 June 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

District 13

Filming Locations:

Romania

Box Office

Budget:

€12,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,324,693 (France), 19 November 2004

Opening Weekend USA:

$411,544, 4 June 2006, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,197,786, 27 August 2006

Company Credits

Production Co:

EuropaCorp,TF1 Films Production,Canal+

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

David Belle nailed the stunt where he jumps up and smashes through the tiny window above a door in just two takes.

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Goofs

The keypad on the bomb is inconsistent between views. In most close-ups it shows, top to bottom: '1 2 3 a' '4 5 6 b' '7 8 9 0', but when Damien tries to enter the last digit, the key 3 is in the bottom right corner.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Title Card: Paris, 2010 / As crime spirals out of control, the government constructs a wall around highest risk housing projects.

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Crazy Credits

The Europacorp logo turns into a writing on a stone wall at the beginning of the movie.

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Connections

References Escape from New York (1981)

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Soundtracks

Heroes and Champagne
Written by Aymeric Béguin and Cécile Chaduteau
Performed by Aymeric Béguin and Eric Melville (as Éric Melville)
©2004 EuropaCorp

User Reviews

The Perfect Action Movie

This film takes everything that has been learned in the last 100 years about how to make an action movie and distills it into a perfect 85 minutes.

The stars are true athletes, including David Belle, the co-founder of the sport of Parkour. He has spent 18 years perfecting his skills, which means that most of the spectacular stunts are real, not done with special effects.

The plot is action-movie perfect as well: A criminal kingpin, a damsel in distress, an honest cop, a noble criminal, corrupt officials, double crosses, nearly superhuman enemies. And at stake: honor, truth and the lives of millions.

There are hardly any extraneous elements, few scenes that don't make sense, no characters that do something really stupid when they should have known better. Every loose end is wrapped up in a very satisfying way. And there's even meaningful social commentary. All (though I said it before) in 85 minutes.

Why do other action movies drag on for two or even three hours and have long slow spots? Why do other action movies have plot holes big enough to walk through? Why do some of them lack drama, get silly and end up feeling like a waste of time? Why can't they all be as taut and tightly written as this one?

Because it's hard. It's hard to reach this level of perfection. It's hard to make a movie in which every scene counts. It's hard to get the plot, the acting, the action and the emotions right.

It's so hard it took 100 years. But here it is. Don't miss it.