Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)
- IMDb page: Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)
- Rate: 6.3/10 total 39,646 votes
- Genre: Action | Drama | Crime | Thriller
- Release Date: 19 January 2005 (USA)
- Runtime: 109 min
- Filming Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
- Budget: $20,000,000(estimated)
- Gross: $19,976,073(USA)(20 February 2005)
- Director: Jean-François Richet
- Stars: Ethan Hawke, Laurence Fishburne and Gabriel Byrne
- Original Music By: Graeme Revell
- Soundtrack: Generique Assault
- Sound Mix: DTS | Dolby Digital
- Plot Keyword: Police | New Year's Eve | Deception | Prisoner | Police Station
Writing Credits By:
- John Carpenter (earlier film)
- James DeMonaco (screenplay)
Known Trivia
- Mark Wahlberg was originally offered the role of Jake Roenick but turned it down.
- The word “fuck” and its derivatives are spoken 127 times.
- At least 7 people get shot in the head.
- Laurence Fishburne’s character is called Bishop. This was also the last name of the protagonist of the original Assault on Precinct 13.
Goofs: Revealing mistakes: When Roenick slides in to close the blinds after the lasers come through, he hits the radiator, which moves under his weight, suggesting it's not bolted down.
Plot: 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. Full summary » »
Story: 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.Written by IMDb Editors
Synopsis
Synopsis: The film begins with Jake Roenick (Ethan Hawke), with his head shaved and body covered in tattoos, talking with a drug dealer and his accomplice. Roenick is an undercover officer. He wants to know if they have a deal, and the drug dealer’s big dog is making him a bit nervous. Roenick also has a female partner that is in the room too, pretending to be bored. Roenick says that he has a dog too, and he calls in his partner, Tony (Hugh Dillon), who is also undercover. The drug dealer’s accomplice recognizes Tony because he testified at his brother’s trial. He knows he’s a cop and shoots Roenick in the knee. The drug dealer and his guy run out of the apartment that they were in, and the three undercover officers give chase. Tony is shot to death, and his female partner is shot and killed by the drug dealer. Roenick blasts the drug dealer in the forehead and cries over his dead teammates.
Eight months later Roenick is burnt-out. Lately, he’s been drinking alot and taking painkillers to help ease the fact that he’s responsible for his teammates’ deaths. He drives to Precinct 13, and on the way we hear via his car radio that another bad storm is coming. Precinct 13 is in a nearly deserted part of Detroit and it will be shut-down shortly after New Years’ Eve, which is that night. Kevin Capra (Matt Craven) and most of the other police officers are going home. The only people working the precinct are Roenick, Jasper O’Shea (Brian Dennehy), and secretary Iris Ferry (Drea de Matteo), who has a thing for bad guys.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Detroit, Marion Bishop (Laurence Fishburne) is in church, trying to complete a cross-word puzzle. A man comes in and sits next to him. The man is finding it humorous that Bishop asked him to meet in a church and asks him if he thinks God will make him tell the truth. Bishop tells him that he’s seen too many people beg for God’s mercy before being murdered that he’s lost his faith in God. He then tells the man that his answer is "no". Bishop apparently doesn’t want to do something the man wants, so the man pulls out his gun and orders Bishop to stand up. Bishop quickly stabs the man in the neck with a knife, takes his gun, and walks outside. Outside of the church is one of Bishop’s men, but there are also two police officers there. The cops kill Bishop’s guy and Bishop walks back into the full church and fires a bullet into the ceiling (so that the rushing people can block off the cops). Bishop runs out back, but is caught by the police.
The man he killed is a part of a group lead by Marcus Duvall (Gabriel Byrne), who is head of the Police Special Forces unit. Duvall is not particularly happy about the situation. Since Bishop is caught, he plans on killing him later that night. Bishop knows this, and wants his attorney to get him moved to another precinct as soon as possible.
Back at Precinct 13, Roenick has an unexpected visitor, police psychiatrist Alex Sabian (Maria Bello). Alex has been seeing Roenick for some time now, due to his botched drug bust at the beginning. She notices that his leg is healed, but Roenick doesn’t want to talk to her. He believes that she is in love with him, but she maintains that she isn’t. While leaving, Roenick steals her report on him. Roenick, Jasper, and Iris thus begin to start the New Years’ celebration by drinking and dancing. Jaspers tells them that he plans to retire soon. They toast to him and while Jaspers dances with Iris, Roenick goes to his office and reads the report he stole.
Meanwhile, Officer Rosen (Kim Coates) herds some prisoners into a transport bus, with Bishop being the last prisoner boarded. Officer Halloway (Peter Bryant) drives the bus. The prisoners include Smiley (Ja Rule), a small time hustler; Beck (John Leguizamo), a junkie; and Anna (Aisha Hinds), a gang member who claims innocence. The roads are blocked due to a car accident, and since the storm has arrived, the officers are told that they can re-route to Precinct 13 until the storm clears. Roenick is not happy about having more people over because it means more responsibility, but he lets them in anyway. All the while, no one notices that a black car followed the transport bus.
They get the prisoners locked up, while Rosen and Halloway go and join the celebration upstairs. Also, Alex shows up again due to car troubles. She confronts Roenick for stealing her file, then she flat-out tells him that he’s not alright and that he still blames himself for the death of his partners. The countdown for the new year begins, while at the same time Smiley and Beck get into a fight. It’s officially 2005.
While Smiley and Beck struggle with each other, two masked men enter the precinct through the back. They stop fighting when they see the two guys, especially since they have silenced guns. Rosen, who heard them fighting, walks downstairs and demands what’s going on. He sees the two men, draws his gun, but is shot three times. As he falls, he fires a bullet into the wall. Everyone upstairs hear this, and they promptly rush downstairs. The prisoners are freaking out and the bloodied Rosen lays on the ground. Halloway and Roenick give chase to the guys who went out the back while Iris and Jaspers tend to Rosen. While outside, Halloway is shot in the stomach. Roenick drags him inside. When he gets inside, he finds that Rosen is dead.
They place Halloway on the couch upstairs and tend to his bullet-wound. Alex tries to call, but the phones don’t work. The cell phones don’t work either, and neither do their radios, which Jasper’s deduces that they have been jammed by the guys outside. Halloway needs a doctor or else he’s going to die. They see that other masked guys have surrounded the building. A rock is thrown through the window and has Bishop’s name on it. Jasper realizes that Bishop’s men have come to bust him out.
Roenick decides to head outside himself and get to the transport bus, to see if he can get help. He sneaks out back, but is caught when he finds a masked man already in the bus. They struggle while another masked guy has a sniper rifle and tries to get a clean shot of Roenick. The guy pins Roenick down, and since it’s so cold outside, there’s icicles already forming under the bus. Roenick grabs an icicle and shoves it into the guy’s eye, killing him. The sniper shoots but misses him. Roenick drags the dead guy’s body to where he can’t be shot and takes his wallet. He then runs back inside.
Roenick shows everyone what he took - a police officer’s badge. Alex is freaking out since police officers are coming to kill them. Roenick suggests that they move Halloway away from the window, and while Roenick and Iris do this, Alex sees a lot of red lasers coming through the windows. When everyone else sees this, they scramble and hit the floor. Roenick and Jasper then proceed to shut all the blinds so that the lasers can’t get a target. They also barricade the windows and doors. Roenick then heads downstairs to talk to Bishop and tells Jaspers to keep an eye on the front door.
Bishop tells Roenick that he is a gangster and that one of his partners-in-crime is Marcus Duvall. Duvall can’t allow Bishop to live because he will testify against Duvall and his group of corrupt officers. Roenick realizes that Duvall won’t let any of them survive because they know who’s attacking them now. Of course, Duvall arrives with another horde of guys.
Jasper comes down and asks Roenick why the hell is he talking to Bishop. Roenick asks him why he isn’t watching the front door. They lock Bishop back up and head upstairs. By this time Alex and Iris have also armed themselves.
Duvall gives the order - the snipers who are on top of all of the building around Precinct 13 fire into the building with their machine guns. Everyone inside takes cover, then returns fire. The officers outside then fire into the building with flash-bombs. All the while, down in the prisoner’s cells the window explodes. Roenick hears this, and rushes downstairs. He blasts an officer away while the cellmates tell him that there’s still another guy. Roenick kills him too. He then strips one of the dead guy’s of their weapons and ammo, along with their vest. Beck wants to be let out, saying he has rights and whatever. Smiley definitely doesn’t want to be there, while Bishop just calmly sits and hopes for the best. Roenick frees the prisoners and tells them to grab whatever weapon they can find. Anna grabs an old tommy-gun. Smiley grabs a baseball bat. Beck grabs a sword. Bishop grabs two alcohol bottles.
Some of Duvall’s men enter the building secretly. One finds Alex hiding in the locker room, but before he can kill her Smiley whacks him with the baseball bat and proceeds to beat him with it, while Beck helps out and stabs the guy with the sword many times. Upstairs, two guys walk through the front door and block off all bullets heading towards them with a riot shield. Anna helps out by wounding one of the guys and forcing them to retreat. Bishop sneaks up behind a guy and throws his molotov cocktails at him, sending him running out of the building on fire. Beck takes the machine gun from the guy he killed and heads upstairs, where he fires out the windows. Duvall’s men stop firing, and so do Roenick’s group. Duvall’s obviously not happy with how this turned out.
Everyone inside is happy that they fended them off, but Jasper kills the mood by wanting to lock up the prisoners again. He points his gun at Bishop, who points his gun right back at him. Anna points her gun at Jaspers, Roenick points one of his guns at her. Beck points his gun at Roenick, Iris points her gun at Beck. Smiley takes Alex hostage, and Roenick points his gun at Smiley. Roenick tells them that they all need to stick together if they want to survive the night. They all lower their weapons.
Duvall only has a couple of hours until sunrise, and he needs to kill Bishop by then. He tells one of his men to order a helicopter, but it will be delayed because of the storm.
Back inside, Smiley and Alex guard a window; Anna and Jaspers guard another window; Beck and Roenick guard another window and talk about drugs; Bishop and Iris guard another entrance. Iris says that she can’t stop thinking about sex. Bishop tells her that sex and death are similar. She asks him if it’s true that he ripped out someones spine, but he smiles and says that it was an adam’s apple. He then shows her how to do it. They didn’t notice that another one of Duvall’s men snuck in, but Roenick blows his brains out before he does anything.
Eventually, Capra, one of the police officers from the beginning who works at Precinct 13, drives his car to the precinct. Everyone inside tries to warn him, but he’s shot at by Duvall and his men. Capra’s forced to drive his car into a pole, and Roenick rushes outside to save him. Inside, though, Beck is highly suspicious of their new guest and thinks that Capra is working with Duvall. He thinks that he’ll kill them one by one when they least expect it. Smiley agrees with Beck. Roenick orders Beck to put down his gun, but he tells him that he’s not in charge anymore. Bishop walks up to Beck and whacks him in the throat. While Beck struggles to breathe, Bishop tells him that Roenick is still in charge of everyone. Beck agrees to follow orders, but still contemplates Roenick’s actions.
Beck and Smiley go upstairs to take guard, and Smiley tells him that they can make a run for it. Freedom is right outside for them. Downstairs, it is decided that Anna can hotwire Capra’s car and go for help. Turns out that Capra lost his keys in the snow while running inside. Jasper doesn’t trust Anna, so Alex volunteers to go with her to ensure that they get help. Roenick doesn’t want Alex to go, but he lets her anyway. He will provide a distraction while they get to the car unnoticed. Unfortunately for them, the transport bus explodes suddenly and Jaspers informs everyone that Beck and Smiley have decided to make a run for it.
Beck and Smiley run away from the precinct and hide in the snow from Duvall’s men. The group inside decides that they can use this to their benefit, so they send Alex and Anna to the car. Duvall compliments Roenick on being smart for blowing up the bus and creating a distraction. A sniper shoots Smiley in the shoulder. He says that he can still make it. He’s then shot in the head by the same sniper. Beck doesn’t know what to do now since he’s alone, so he makes a mad dash for the fence and tries to climb it, but a sniper shoots him through the back of the head and out the front. Beck falls dead.
Anna and Alex get to Capra’s car. Anna hotwires it (even though she took a while). The girls drive off, happy to get away undetected. However, one of Duvall’s men was hiding in the backseat the whole time. He shoots Anna in the back of the head, causing the car to crash. Iris realizes that there is no hope for them and that they are all going to die. Turns out Alex survived the crash, and she’s dragged out to Duvall, who asks her how many people are in the building. She says 100, and he asks again. She doesn’t talk. Duvall then shoots Alex point-blank in the forehead and leaves her body in the snow. Duvall plans on pinning this whole shootout on Bishop’s gang.
Roenick is frustrated and blames himself for sending Alex and Anna out to their deaths. He goes to drink some more. Bishop comes upstairs and tells him that he still needs his gun. Roenick then goes to take another painkiller he keeps hidden in a box of matches, but he drops them all out on the floor and goes to defend his life.
Bishop went downstairs and sees that a back door was opened from the inside. He sees someones shadow and runs into Capra. He demands what Capra was doing down there. He then hits him around, demanding him to confess to being with Duvall. Roenick comes in and sees this. Instead of helping his friend, he takes out his gun and points it at Capra’s head, demanding what he told Duvall. Capra refuses to talk.
Jasper comes in and tells them that he’s found a way out of the building. Apparently, in the basement there’s an entrance to the sewer system. They can take the tunnel out of there. The cops outside fire more flash-bombs inside and Roenick tells Jaspers, Iris, and Capra to go downstairs and leave. He handcuffs Capra, though, because he still doesn’t trust him. Then they hear the helicopter.
It hovers above the roof and several guys come down ropes and land on the roof. Roenick and Bishop douse the entire building with gasoline cans. They wait until the guys are in their view, then Roenick lights the gas, which blocks them off from Duvall and his men. Roenick and Bishop leave for the tunnel, while Duvall and his men leave Precinct 13. Jasper guides them outside until they appear outside again. Bishop says goodbye and takes Iris hostage. Roenick points his gun at Bishop and suddenly finds that they are surrounded by Duvall and the surviving men of his group. It turns out that someone in Precinct 13 was with Duvall all along. It wasn’t Capra, though - it was Jasper. Jasper says that they should have just given up Bishop at the start. They could have avoided a lot of deaths. He also says that he doesn’t care about Roenick, Capra, or Iris. Bishop pisses Jasper off, and gets pistol-whipped a couple of times for it. However, we see that Bishop had a hidden flash-bomb in his coat and while he’s being beaten, he slips it into Jaspers’ belt. He tells Roenick to close his eyes. He understands and takes cover. The flash-bomb goes off, which kills Jasper, and it offers Roenick the chance to kill a lot of Duvall’s remaining men.
Iris and Capra decide to make a dash for a car, while Bishop runs off into the woods. Roenick gives chase to him, and Duvall only has two other guys left. He sends one off to kill Iris and Capra, and he takes the other with him while he chases Roenick and Bishop. The guy sent for Iris shoots the car and makes it crash. Capra dies in the car crash. Iris surprises the guy and grabs his throat, hurting his adam’s apple. She even pushes her thumb into his left eye. He gets pissed and hits her a couple of times. Iris kills him by snatching one of his knives and jamming it through his chin.
In the woods, Roenick is looking for Bishop, while Duvall is looking for both of them. Eventually, Bishop finds Roenick and points his gun at him, but tells him that the reason he stayed was because Duvall was still alive. There’s a problem - Duvall and his guy can see them because they have night-vision goggles. Roenick takes care of it, drawing the attention of Duvall’s guy. They shoot at each other. Bishop sneaks behind the guy and shoots him in the face three times. Duvall comes out and shoots Bishop in the stomach. He presses his gun into the wound and tells him to call Roenick. However, Roenick is already there, and has his gun pointed at Duvall, while he holds his gun to Bishop’s head. Duvall asks Roenick if he would kill a cop, but he says that he’s the only cop there. Roenick shoots Duvall to death, but in turn is shot in the stomach by him.
Bishop comes up and grabs his gun and tells Roenick that he’s going to make a run for it. Roenick says that he’ll find him, and it’ll be just him and no other cop. With that, Bishop heads off into the woods.
Roenick is found by Iris and some good cops and firemen who finally arrived. The good cop looks at Duvall’s body and asks Roenick if there is anyone else out there, but Roenick tells him that there isn’t. Iris and Roenick walk away and she tells him that she’s surprised what a badass Roenick turned out to be. He talks about what a hell of a way to start the new year.
FullCast & Crew
Produced By:
- Don Carmody known as executive producer
- Pascal Caucheteux known as producer
- James DeMonaco known as co-producer
- Joseph Kaufman known as executive producer
- Sebastien Lemercier known as executive producer (as Sebastien Kurt Lemercier)
- Jeffrey Silver known as producer
- Stephane Sperry known as producer
FullCast & Crew:
- Ethan Hawke known as Sgt. Jake Roenick
- Laurence Fishburne known as Marion Bishop
- Gabriel Byrne known as Capt. Marcus Duvall
- Maria Bello known as Dr. Alex Sabian
- Drea de Matteo known as Iris Ferry
- John Leguizamo known as Beck
- Brian Dennehy known as Sgt. Jasper O'Shea
- Ja Rule known as Smiley (as Jeffrey 'Ja Rule' Atkins)
- Currie Graham known as Mike Kahane
- Aisha Hinds known as Anna
- Matt Craven known as Officer Kevin Capra
- Fulvio Cecere known as Ray Portnow
- Peter Bryant known as Lt. Holloway
- Kim Coates known as Officer Rosen
- Hugh Dillon known as Tony
- Tig Fong known as Danny Barbero
- Jasmin Geljo known as Marko
- Jessica Greco known as Coral
- Dorian Harewood known as Gil
- Philip Marshall known as Hagen
- Arnold Pinnock known as Carlyle
- Edward A. Queffelec known as Bronco Gunman (as Ed Queffelec)
- Robert Hayley known as Sniper James
- Courtney Cunningham known as Cop #1
- Leford Lawes known as Precinct 21 Cop #1
- Roman Podhora known as Cop #3
- Gilson Lubin known as Mover #2
- Brian King known as Fireman #2
- Laurent Richet known as Undercover Cop
- J.C. Kenny known as Reporter #1
- Sasha Roiz known as Jason Elias
- Ray Kahnert known as Priest
- Dave Tommasini known as Pilot (as Dave Thomassini)
- Jeff Ironi known as Fireman #1
- Melissa Thomson known as Lawyer
- Darren Frost known as Mover #1
- Al Vrkljan known as Sniper Sebastien (as Alan Vrkljan)
- Titus Welliver known as Milos
- DTeflon known as Swat Officer #2 Sgt Lewis (uncredited)
..
Supporting Department
Makeup Department:- James D. Brown known as key hair stylist (as James Brown)
- Mario Cacioppo known as makeup artist: Mr. Fishburne
- Francine Francis-Lee known as hair stylist: Mr. Fishburne
- Paul Jones known as special makeup effects artist
- Fina Khan known as assistant hair stylist
- Donald Mowat known as key makeup artist (as Donald J. Mowat)
- Edelgard K. Pfluegl known as assistant makeup artist (as Edelgard Pfluegl)
Art Department:
- Theresa Buckley known as props buyer
- David G. Fremlin known as set designer
- Jennifer Heimpel known as assistant art director
- Ron Hewitt known as property master
- Michael Huschka known as assistant property master
- Henry Ilola known as carpenter
- Mayumi Konishi-Valentine known as set designer (as Mayumi Konishi)
- Matthew Lammerich known as key scenic artist
- Erin Leslie known as scenic artist
- Aeschylus Poulos known as art department coordinator
- Dawn Rivard known as set buyer
- Jeremy Simser known as storyboard artist
- Phillip Tellez known as construction coordinator
- Steve Middlebrook known as on-set dresser (uncredited)
..
Company
Production Companies:
- Rogue Pictures (presents)
- Why Not Productions (as Why Not)
- Liaison Films
- Biscayne Pictures
Other Companies:
- Hyperactive Broadcast editing equipment
- AON insurance
- Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment dollies
- Cine-Byte Imaging digital film scanning
- Cine-Byte Imaging digital opticals
- Deluxe Post-Production post-production facilities
- Deva Studios title design: main titles (as Devastudios)
- Donna Daniels Public Relations publicity
- EFilm digital intermediate
- Hand Prop props supplied by
- Internet On Set on-set satellite internet
- Movie Armaments Group weapons and tactical gear supplied by
- Now Clear This! clearance services (as Now Clear This Research)
- Pivotal Post Avid editing equipment provided by
- Rudolfinum Concert Hall score recording
- Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton production legal
- Starcraft craft service
- Urban Marketing Corporation of America (UMCA) field publicity
- Varèse Sarabande soundtrack published by
- VideoStorm UK Ltd. digital video assist
- William F. White International grip and lighting equipment
Distributors:
- Rogue Pictures (2005) (USA) (theatrical)
- Columbia TriStar Nordisk Film Distributors (2005) (Finland) (theatrical)
- Compagnia Distribuzione Internazionale (CDI) (2005) (Italy) (theatrical)
- Constantin Film (2005) (Germany) (theatrical)
- Entertainment Film Distributors (2005) (UK) (theatrical)
- Independent Films (2005) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
- Metropolitan Filmexport (2005) (France) (theatrical)
- Odeon Films (2005) (Canada) (theatrical)
- Odeon (2005) (Greece) (theatrical)
- Shaw Organisation (2005) (Singapore) (theatrical)
- United International Pictures (UIP) (2005) (Argentina) (theatrical)
- United International Pictures (UIP) (2005) (Australia) (theatrical)
- Alliance Atlantis Home Video (2005) (Canada) (DVD)
- Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
- Entertainment in Video (2005) (UK) (DVD)
- Highlight Film (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
- Hollydan Works (2007) (Serbia) (DVD)
- Nelonen (2008) (Finland) (TV)
- Nordisk Film (2005) (Finland) (DVD) (VHS)
- Nordisk Film (2005) (Sweden) (DVD)
- Universal Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
- Universal Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (VHS)
- Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD) (HD DVD)
- Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2010) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
- Veronica (2007) (Netherlands) (TV) (first national airing)
..
Other Stuff
Special Effects:
- Acme Effects (pyrotechnic special effects)
- Laird McMurray Film Service (snow effects)
- Mr. X (digital visual effects)
- Soho VFX (additional visual effects)
- Technicolor Creative Services (additional compositing and visual effects)
- Cine-Byte Imaging (digital opticals)
- Paul Jones Effects Studio (special makeup effects)
Visual Effects by:
- Rebecca Adams known as production coordinator: Soho VFX
- Douglas Aiken known as digital compositor: trailer, S4 Studios
- Brian Anderson known as 3D animator: Mr. X Inc.
- Berj Bannayan known as software engineer: SOHO VFX
- Barb Benoit known as digital compositor: Mr. X Inc.
- Dennis Berardi known as visual effects supervisor
- Kristy Blackwell known as CG supervisor: Mr. X Inc.
- Dominik Bochenski known as additional compositing: Mr. X Inc.
- Kris Brockman known as compositor: Mr. X Inc.
- Mark Chong known as technical developer: Mr. X Inc.
- Patrick Clancey known as digital opticals
- Shawney Cohen known as digital effects artist: Mr. X Inc. (as Sean Cohen)
- Drake Conrad known as scanning recording
- Donnie Creighton known as digital intermediate assistant producer
- Laurence Cymet known as digital compositor: SOHO VFX
- Julia Deakin known as additional compositing: Mr. X Inc.
- Rob Del Ciancio known as digital compositor: Mr. X Inc.
- Bonnie Dickson known as compositor: Mr. X Inc.
- Mike Diltz known as compositing assistant: Mr. X Inc.
- Jeremy Dineen known as visual effects animator: Mr. X Inc.
- Sasha Dragun known as systems administrator: Mr. X Inc.
- Jason Giberson known as scanning and recording
- Shane Glading known as lighting/rendering: Mr. X Inc.
- Rob Gyorgy known as digital effects artist
- Elizabeth Holmes known as digital compositor: SOHO VFX
- Noel Hooper known as digital compositor: Mr. X Inc.
- Bryan Jones known as lead compositor: Mr. X Inc.
- Ntana Key known as digital intermediate color assistant
- Perry M. Kimura known as digital scanning and recording: EFILM
- Michael Kowalski known as producer: Soho VFX
- Jef Lonn known as digital compositor: Mr. X Inc.
- Brian Lui known as digital compositor: Mr. X Inc.
- Allan Magled known as visual effects supervisor: Soho VFX
- Chad Malbon known as producer: Technicolor
- Seth Martiniuk known as compositor: Mr. X Inc.
- Sarah McMurdo known as visual effects production manager
- Daniel Mizuguchi known as 3D animator: Mr. X Inc.
- Mike Mombourquette known as digital compositor: SOHO VFX
- Saybian Morgan known as look development technical director: Mr. X Inc
- Mike Mulock known as 3D animator: Mr. X Inc.
- Sean O'Hara known as compositor
- Marco Polsinelli known as additional compositing: Mr. X Inc.
- Vladimir Popovic known as systems administrator: Mr. X Inc.
- Aaron Pozzer known as digital artist: Mr. X Inc.
- Aaron Pozzer known as lighting/rendering: Mr. X Inc.
- Matt Ralph known as digital effects artist: Mr. X Inc.
- Eric J. Robertson known as visual effects producer: Mr. X Inc.
- Linda Rose known as in-house accountant: Mr. X Inc.
- Chris Ross known as digital effects scanning
- Steven J. Scott known as supervising digital colorist: EFilm
- Keith Sellers known as digital compositor: Soho VFX
- Vicki Silva known as digital compositor: Mr. X Inc.
- David Singer known as operations Manager: Mr. X Inc.
- Dev Singh known as coordinator: Mr. X Inc.
- Karl Sisson known as 3D animator: Mr. X Inc.
- Karl Sisson known as CG artist: Mr. X Inc.
- Jason Snea known as compositor
- Mark Stepanek known as lighting/rendering: Mr. X Inc.
- Tamara Stone known as digital artist: Mr. X Inc.
- Derek Sunderland known as digital artist
- Hoa Tran known as 3D animator: Mr. X Inc.
- Mark Tureski known as digital effects artist
- Aaron Weintraub known as digital effects supervisor: Mr. X
- Michael Wile known as lead compositor: SOHO VFX
- Sarah Wormsbecher known as visual effects project manager: Technicolor
- Kyle Yoneda known as 3D animator: Mr. X Inc.
- Motassem Younes known as digital opticals
- Thomas Mathai known as data manager (uncredited)
Release Date:
- Canada 19 January 2005
- USA 19 January 2005
- Ireland 28 January 2005
- UK 28 January 2005
- Philippines 2 February 2005
- Russia 3 February 2005
- Iceland 4 February 2005
- Greece 18 February 2005
- Kuwait 23 February 2005
- United Arab Emirates 23 February 2005
- Belgium 2 March 2005
- France 2 March 2005
- Singapore 3 March 2005
- Estonia 4 March 2005
- Finland 5 March 2005 (Night Visions Film Festival)
- Finland 18 March 2005
- Spain 18 March 2005
- Taiwan 18 March 2005
- Egypt 23 March 2005
- Croatia 24 March 2005
- Australia 31 March 2005
- Netherlands 31 March 2005
- Mexico 1 April 2005
- Sweden 1 April 2005
- Hong Kong 7 April 2005
- Portugal 7 April 2005
- Brazil 8 April 2005
- Denmark 8 April 2005
- Norway 8 April 2005
- Turkey 8 April 2005
- Argentina 14 April 2005
- Panama 15 April 2005
- Peru May 2005
- Israel 9 June 2005
- Poland 10 June 2005
- Thailand 16 June 2005
- South Korea 7 July 2005
- Germany 10 November 2005 (DVD premiere)
- Italy 9 December 2005
- Hungary 15 December 2005 (DVD premiere)
- Japan 18 February 2006
MPAA: Rated R for strong violence and language throughout, and for some drug content
..
Filmography links and data courtesy of The Internet Movie Database
15 May 2012, 5:48 am
A remake of John Carpenter’s superior film of the same title from 1976,Assault on Precinct 13 concerns a siege on a largely abandoned policestation, which is related to the presence of a notorious criminal,Marion Bishop (Laurence Fishburne). It’s left up to a ragtag group ofpolice employees and criminals to defend themselves.
I should start by noting that I absolutely love Carpenter’s originalfilm. In my view it is one of his best, perfectly capturing thesuburban desolation of 1970s Los Angeles, and exquisitely suspensefuland horrifying, even though it’s not really a horror film. Despitethat, when this remake of Assault on Precinct 13 began, I had highhopes for it. The first scene is well directed, well shot, withexcellent dialogue. It turns into an intense action scene at just theright moment, and results in some realistic, gritty deaths. The openingis as good as anything in the Carpenter film.
Unfortunately, Assault on Precinct 13′s excellence ended right there.It’s not exactly a bad film-I enjoyed it more often than not, but itdoes have more than its share of flaws. In the end, my rating averageout to a 7 out of 10. Recommendable, but with reservations.
The first problem is that director Jean-Francois Richet tries to do toomuch-too much backstory, too many characters, too many over-the-topcharacters, too many quick cuts, too much shaky hand-held camera work,too many "big action moves", too many explosions, too many settings,and it’s too dark. That the film is often so quickly edited and darkmakes it too often difficult to see what’s going on in the actionscenes. Carpenter’s film succeeded by being very taut, economical,sober and logical in its directorial style. Richet tries to one-up theoriginal by forgoing all of those qualities. By the second or thirdscene, I was fairly confused. Superfluous characters were popping inand out, people were mumbling dialogue, and there was a whole complexbackstory being hinted at and not spelled out very well.
The brutal shooting near the beginning of the original film, which setsoff the whole sequence of events, was dropped-that thread wascompletely removed from the film. It was lamentable in that this newAssault loses much of the simple, sensible drive the thread provided,and it was surely a decision based on political correctness. Likewise,Bishop is not allowed to be a clear-cut bad guy here. That saps some ofthe effectiveness out of his cooperation. In this film, he might bemostly tough talk. The other criminals in the film are either leftlargely unexplained or guilty of only petty or consensual crimes. Ifind this kind of political correctness in films reprehensible,although I realize it’s primarily a studio decision.
On the positive side, the villains here were cleverly conceived, andtheir nature makes them much more menacing physically. On the negativeside, however, Richet lost the Night of the Living Dead (1968)zombie-like nature of the marauders, which saps suspense from theattacks. The logistics of the defense of the police station and detailsof their dilemma are not very clearly scripted or staged, either, whichdoesn’t help. Another flaw is that some intruders seem to inexplicablyhesitate. Another positive, though, is that Richet’s film brings back afew small details, such as the capture of the criminal at the beginningof the film, and a substance addiction in one of the heroes leading toa character transformation, found in Rio Bravo (1959), the film that inconjunction with Night of the Living Dead, was the main inspiration forCarpenter’s original film.
Also on the positive side, this Assault has a skilled (and much morewell known) cast. Even though Richter occasionally directed them to bea bit too over-the-top, the performances hit many very interestingnotes. And a few of the additions to the original film, such as aMexican standoff and a couple later scenes outside the police stationwere excellent. The increased firepower here may also be to someviewer’s liking.
A viewer less fond of the original, or even unfamiliar with theoriginal, may like Assault better than I did. I may have even liked itbetter if the original were not so fresh in my memory (I just watchedit again it recently-a review is forthcoming). There are enoughredeeming aspects for action fans to make it worth at least a rental ora viewing on cable, but approach the film with lowered expectations.
15 May 2012, 5:48 am
Rating: ** 1/2 out of ****
A lot of people will likely hate this movie by virtue of the fact thatit’s a remake. Being open-minded, I’m not offended by the thought of abeloved cult classic getting a Hollywood remake; it is, after all,quite interesting to see how the big-budget treatment affects the samepremise. In this case, the result is not too shabby at all, certainlybetter than the ads would indicate, even if this is a remake thatdoesn’t stand on its own nearly as well as Zack Snyder’s Dawn of theDead.
Assault on Precinct 13 (referred to as AP13 from here on out) starsEthan Hawke as cop Jake Roenick, a former undercover officer who’s nowstrictly on desk duty after a horrible mishap that resulted in thedeaths of two fellow officers. It’s his last day (coincidentally alsoNew Year’s Eve) in Precinct 13, and he’s simply overseeing the transferalong with another cop (Brian Dennehy) and a secretary (Drea deMatteo).
Due to the snowy conditions, a prison bus transferring dangerouscop-killer Marion Bishop (Laurence Fishburne) is forced to take refugein Precinct 13. But it becomes clear soon enough that there are a largenumber of corrupt cops surrounding the precinct, determined to killBishop and every possible witness inside. Faced with no other options,Roenick frees and arms the prisoners, using whatever means necessary tobattle against the far more numerous and better armed enemy.
John Carpenter’s 1976 cult hit was a fairly effective thriller,maintaining an atmospheric claustrophobia that balanced nicely with thewell-choreographed shootouts. Though there are many differences betweenthese versions, both plot-wise and stylistically, this remakeessentially opts for the same brand of edge-of-the-seat excitement, butas is par for this generation’s offerings, the action sequences arepumped up with a lot more firepower and a lot less plausibility.
As silly as Carpenter’s film may have seemed to the discriminatingviewer, it was a smartly plotted thriller with only a few minor holes.This remake, on the other hand, is riddled with all sorts of logicalinconsistencies. The most obvious one? In less than a day, the head ofthe corrupt team of cops (played by Gabriel Byrne) is somehow able toassemble his men on very short notice and arm them with top-notchweaponry that must have been hell to sign out from the armory (he evencalls in a chopper at one point). And as the body count significantlyrises, one has to wonder how he plans to cover up the massive bloodshed (blaming it on Bishop’s men doesn’t quite explain how his own menwere killed or what they were doing at the precinct).
The body count is almost bafflingly low considering the numbersmentioned (Byrne says he’s got 33 men, hard to believe corruption couldspread to every one of them); I could swear fewer characters werekilled than were even involved in the entire film. Other problemsinclude a scene where Byrne chooses to execute a survivor rather thanuse this person as a bargaining chip, and as the number of survivorswithin the station dwindles down, one character conveniently remembersan escape route just as the building’s about to be invaded.
The climax, a disappointingly rote cat-and-mouse chase, is set in aforest apparently right by the station, but I could have sworn anoverhead shot established the precinct in an entirely urban section ofDetroit. Along with the sagging pace in the second half, predictabilityalso hampers the suspense, it’s too easy to figure out who’s going todie and in what order. The identity of the traitor is also another easyguess, considering the very tiny list of suspects still around by thatpoint.
For all these nagging flaws, the film is still worth mildlyrecommending for one lengthy, high-octane action setpiece. The firstmajor invasion of the precinct is a thrilling sequence, every bit theequal of the similar siege in the original, though louder andfaster-paced. The action even boasts a little bit of strategy and somemild thought. Other action scenes are competently handled, but lack theclaustrophobic edge of the shootouts set within the precinct.
The cast is mostly first-rate, even Ethan Hawke, who usually doeslittle more than coast by on his best Tom Cruise impersonation.Laurence Fishburne, channeling a darker version of Morpheus, does wellwith what little material he has to work with, and it’s fun to seeBrian Dennehy barking up a storm again. Of the two female leads, MariaBello is the one with more "depth," but she’s almost fatally annoyingas the whiny psychologist. Drea de Matteo, on the other hand, is one ofthose rare women who somehow still looks sexy even when she’s dressedas a hooker (or is she sexy because she’s dressed that way?). GabrielByrne makes a solid impression despite the limited screen time, and JaRule and John Leguizamo are apparently only on hand to provide sometruly lame comic relief and take equal turns participating in one verygruesome beating.
AP13 came very close to getting a two-star rating from me, but in thisday and age when action films need sci-fi, fantasy or horror elementsto succeed, there’s no denying this film is better than the usual lotchurned from Hollywood. This remake is an earnest attempt in craftingan edge-of-the-seat thriller and even if it only gets halfway there,that’s still better than most pure action movies these days.
15 May 2012, 5:48 am
On a snowy New Year's Eve, a police station where a bus full ofconvicts has been jailed comes under attack from corrupt policemen,forcing a police sergeant with a cloudy past (Ethan Hawke) to team witha 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 theneed to remake it. Yes, it was a little outdated but the film stillworked fine. I was expecting the remake to be really bad since thetrailer looked lackluster and Ethan Hawke isn't that good of an actor.However, this update turned out to be a decent film. It doesn'tapproach the original in quality but at least it doesn't insult theoriginal either. They do change some things from the original thoughthat didn't really bother me. Actually, it's kind of better that theytried 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 asRoenick. He would sometimes go over the top and he was a little weak atsome points. Laurence Fishburne was better than Ethan but still onlyaverage. Ja Rule actually gives a good performance for a rapper thoughhe doesn't get a lot of screen time. John Leguizamo was okay, kind ofdull. Maria Bello gave the best performance out of everyone and she isa pretty underrated actress. Gabriel Byrne was just meh while Drea deMatteo was clearly there for eye candy and nothing more.
Jean-François Richet does a decent job at directing and he manages tocreate some suspense. However, he does keep the film simple and most ofthe twists are obvious. The script is generic and weak with a lot ofclichés and little in the way of originality. The action sequences areslick and enjoyable but they are also kind of sparse. The movie alsobecomes dull from time to time even though the film isn't really thatlong. There is also little character development so it's hard to feelsorry for some of these people. The remake is really just asemi-enjoyable, generic action film. It fails to surpass the originalin 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 checkingout. Rating 6/10
15 May 2012, 5:48 am
Now, before you criticize me, I have never seen the original JohnCarpenter version of this film. Being a huge fan, I really should seeit, and after seeing this remake, I will definitely track down theoriginal to see if it is as good as this film. I had a blast!
New Years in Detroit, a cold winter’s morning as Precinct 13 preparesto close it’s doors and move to a new building. There are only threepeople in the building on New Year’s Eve, and as a storm draws closer,a criminal being transported to a maximum security center is re-routedto the deserted precinct. Only, there are some other people that wouldlike to get closer to the villain.
Very exciting story and excellent acting by both Ethan Hawke andLaurence Fishbourne take this action over the edge. Some people mayfind the film ultra violent, but violence on the big screen neverbothered me, so I enjoyed it quite a lot! Definitely worth a look foraction fans, and fans of the original who are curious. However, thosethat are disturbed by violent images, would like to steer clear of thisfilm.
15 May 2012, 5:48 am
I did not think I was going to like this remake of the 1976 cultfavorite. I was, however, pleasantly surprised. The movie was fun. Thecharacters were likable. The action was well paced. The sets andbackgrounds were excellent, giving the viewer a feeling of desolationand dread that the original movie had in abundance. I originally heardthat Ethan Hawke’s character was the same as his character in "TrainingDay", but I totally disagree. Oddly enough, both characters were namedJake. So, they were both young police officers named Jake who weregoing through a rough period, but Ethan Hawke played both differently.This is not a movie to bring your kids to; too much violence. Thismight be a good date movie, but not a first date movie. All in all, Igive "Assault on Precinct 13" (2005) an A-. If you want to have fun,watch it. - JFLY
15 May 2012, 5:48 am
Keeping watch over a rundown Police Precinct on an icy New Year’s Evenight sure sounds simple enough. What could possibly go wrong? Welp,check your Action Movie Clichés Dictionary and you’ll find the answer.Problems arise when a van transporting Laurence Fishburne and otherhardened criminals to the city jail finds itself unable to traverseDetroit’s icy streets. What are the viable options? I’ll give you aclue - there is only one … DING DING DING … Take up residence atthe nearby Precinct 13 for the night.
OK, no big deal. The night might not be as quiet as hoped for, but howhard can it be to baby-sit this group of punks? There’s John Lequizamoas the drugged out Puerto Rican. Then there’s Ja Rule as the "gangsta"who refers to himself in the 3rd person. And then there’s some chickwho is cursed to forever be recognized as "the black, manly-lookingchick who guest-starred on (fill in name of cop/forensics show)." Oh,wait. Then there’s Laurence Fishburne. The only intimidating guy in thebunch. He could be a big problem because he’s one of the most notoriousmobsters/gangsters in town.
As expected, Fishburne does indeed become the key to everything. Itdoesn’t take long for a few masked invaders to storm the Precinct. Theywant Fishburne. The cops originally assume that it’s Fishburne’s mentrying to help him escape, but we all know that’s not the case. Roguecops haven’t been invoked yet, and rogue cops always make an appearancein an action film like this, so who’s after Fishburne? ROGUE COPS! Yousee, they’ve had some dirty dealings with Fishburne, and they feartheir corruption might be exposed if he talks. They have no choice butto eliminate him. I’m sure it was a big moral dilemma for them, but achoice had to be made.
This is where the fun begins. Because he and his men are badlyoutnumbered, Roenick decides to arm the four prisoners. That’s cute andall, but what happens if the siege is diverted? Roenick tells theprisoners they’ll remain under arrest, and they’ll "figure it all outlater," but I’m thinking a group of armed thugs will take exception tothat, especially after helping cops survive an attack by other cops.
Oh well, what can you do? It’s at this point that the bullets and theclichés start raining down on us harder that Ike Turner’s fists on anex-wife. You’re not gonna walk out of this movie soused withoriginality, but who cares? This is just solid, action movie fun.You’ll ooh, you’ll ahh, you’ll grimace, and you’ll make fun of thecheese. Allow me to share some of my favorite ridicule-worthy clichésfrom the movie:
* Rogue cops magically block everybody’s cell phone signals. We’re notreally given a reasonable explanation. I guess the director thoughtthey needed to answer the "why can’t they use their cell phones to callfor help" question but neglected to realize people might wander how thesignals were blocked. It’s called movie magic.
* Professional snipers apparently can’t hit the broadside of RosieO’Donnell’s monolithic buttocks from a few feet away. Oh, they hit allaround their targets; they just can’t hit the actual target. Myfavorite example is when a couple of the prisoners are outside hidingbehind a snow bank. The sniper can see the prisoners behind the snow,but he responds with, "I don’t have a shot." THEY’RE BEHIND SNOW! When,in the history of the world, has soft, fluffy snow ever stopped abullet? * Bad guys "monologue-ing" instead of shooting. Why do bad guysinsist on giving long speeches before killing their adversary? Thespeech is always juuuuuuust long enough to allow the adversary toescape the desperate situation he faces. Do movie bad guys not watchmovies? You’d think they’d learn.
* A completely unsurprising plot "twist." Stevie Wonder called; he saidhe saw it coming a few miles away.
But again, who cares? If you can buy the 5’9" 150 lb Ethan Hawke as atough guy cop, then everything else should be easy to swallow.
One thing that I appreciated, a facet that will probably be lost on theaverage soccer mom, is the movie’s "show no mercy" attitude in regardto who gets killed and how. In movie land, the rules clearly state thatall innocent people should survive, all actors who are somewhatrecognizable should survive, and no animals are to be harmed. Clearly,Assault on Precinct 13 wasn’t made aware of these rules. I warn younow, don’t get too attached to any particular character. Everybody isfair game for a graphic bullet to the head. And if you’re squeamishwhen it comes to violence towards animals, well, keep in mind that adog actually gets punched in the face.
I just wish there had been a better lead actor for me to cheer for.Hawke is serviceable as the head cop, but I’ve just never been a hugefan. The fact that Fishburne could obviously snap him over his knee,and I would have had no problem with that, doesn’t help. I think thebiggest thing hurting Hawke is that records confirm that the name onhis birth certificate is NOT "Tom Cruise." Someone needs to alert himof this fact and tell him to drop the impersonation.
THE GIST Assault on Precinct 13 is an action movie for the Grand TheftAuto video game crowd. It’s loud, it’s fast-paced, it’s profane, andit’s in your face. It doesn’t pretend to aspire to be great art. Thegoal is to entertain, and the goal is achieved. If you’re squeamishwith violence, or if you’re looking for intellectual enlightenment,then I recommend looking elsewhere.
Rating: 3.5 (out of 5)
15 May 2012, 5:48 am
Why remake the original "Assault"? To my mind "Assault" was Carpenter'strue masterpiece. It had all the elements good Carpenter moviescontain. External threat on a small group of individuals. People takingthe challenge because they are forced to do so. Isolation! Justremember, the guns in Carpenter's original made no sound, being thus alot more threatening than conventional devices. And now this remake.Concentrating on "main character I"s psychology and on his relation tomain character II (the evil but honorable). The anonymous threat in theCarpenter movie replaced by a rather conventional conspiracy/corruptionbackground. The "remakers" just didn't understand the main plot of theoriginal. And thus produced something pretty ordinary.
15 May 2012, 5:48 am
This is a remake of a remake and yet still packs a punch. I’ve seen theoriginal "Rio Bravo" several times, including when it first came out.It was masterfully done and was one of the Duke’s best movies from the1950′s. I saw John Carpenter’s "Assault on Precinct 13" when it firstcame out in 1976 and remember it as being one of Carpenter’s bestmovies. Now we have another version with basically the same charactersincluding the drunk, originally played by Dean Martin, who is tested bythe struggle for survival and eventually passes with flying colors.When I first heard the Christmas music in the movie, it took me amoment to grasp the reason for the Dean Martin selection until Irealized it was the producer’s way of paying homage to the crooner’sperformance in "Rio Bravo." This would be more entertaining for thosewho have not seen the originals. This remake follows the originals tothe point of spoiling some of the surprises intended. I won’t go intodetail on this since it would then spoil the surprises for those whohave not seen the originals. The story is there; the action is there;and the entertainment is there, especially for those who are seeing itfor the first time.
15 May 2012, 5:48 am
Potential spoilers…if you’ve never seen a bad cop movie before.
The guilt ridden hero cop abusing drugs and alcohol, dirty cops(ethically and physically), cops who dramatically rack the slides ontheir guns before they go of to do something (nobody keeps a loadedgun??), shooters with full automatic weapons who can’t hit each otherfrom 20 feet away, people who die instantly from non-lethal stabwounds, etc…
Hawke shows up in uniform with something on his face. What is it?? Fiveo’clock shadow? A goatee?? I spent more time trying to figure this outthan paying attention to the movie. No self respecting police officerwould show up in uniform like that or allow another to do so. He lookslike some kid who walked in off the street.
Stylishly shot and a great cast, but its failure to be anchored insomething close to reality turns it into an unintentional spoof.
15 May 2012, 5:48 am
I haven’t seen Carpenter’s original version but the remake seems like avery solid modern action crime/thriller with an interesting cast. EthanHawke may never be recognized as a great young actor by the vastmajority of moviegoers but in my opinion he hasn’t made a serious flopin his career so far.
The rest of the cast did equally well if not better at times. A specialpraise goes to Laurence Fishburne who gave the best performance in themovie.Overall the film has enough to offer to be considered worthy of asecond view but it still lacks a few factors that could boost itfurther from the mass of similar movies.
…… 3/5 ……