''Assault on Precinct 13'' is a 2005

action thriller The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

film directed by

Jean-François Richet Jean-François Richet (born 2 July 1966) is a French screenwriter, film director, and film producer. He grew up in Meaux, a suburb east of Paris. Select filmography * ''Inner City (1995 film), Inner City'' (1995) – nominated at the 21st Césa ...

and starring

Ethan Hawke Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor, author, and film director. He made his film debut in ''Explorers (film), Explorers'' (1985), before making a breakthrough performance in ''Dead Poets Society'' (1989). Hawke starr ...

and

Laurence Fishburne Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor. Throughout his career, he has gained recognition for his roles on stage and screen as militant and authoritative characters. List of awards and nominations received by Laur ...

John Leguizamo John Alberto Leguizamo Peláez (, ; ; born July 22, 1960 or 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and film producer. He has appeared in more than 100 films, produced more than 20 films and documentaries, made more than 30 televisio ...

, Maria Bello,

Ja Rule Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. Born and raised in New York City, Ja Rule became known for blending gangsta rap with pop rap, pop and contempo ...

Drea de Matteo Andrea Donna de Matteo (born January 19, 1972) is an American actress who is best known for her role as Adriana La Cerva on the television drama ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2006), for which she received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Sup ...

, Brian Dennehy, and

Gabriel Byrne Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor. He has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for a Grammy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards. Byrne was awarded the Irish Film and Television Academy L ...

released to mixed or average critic reviews. It is a

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, composer, and actor. Most commonly associated with horror film, horror, action film, action, and science fiction film, science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s, he is ...

's 1976 film of the same name.

Plot

Following a failed sting operation in which two fellow undercover officers are killed months prior, Detroit Police Department Sergeant Jake Roenick begins to regularly abuse alcohol and painkillers while clinging to his unambitious assignment as a desk sergeant at Precinct 13, which is due to be decommissioned. On New Year's Eve, Roenick, Officer Jasper O'Shea, and secretary Iris Ferry maintain a skeleton shift. Psychiatrist Alexandra Sabian arrives to evaluate Roenick's fitness for duty. Crime boss Marion Bishop is arrested after killing an undercover policeman and is set to be transferred to prison with three other criminals: Beck, Anna, and Smiley. When a snowstorm shuts down the roads, the prison transport is diverted to Precinct 13, where an unprepared Roenick places the prisoners in cells. Masked gunmen cut off the precinct's communications and electricity, and attack the station, killing the deputies before demanding that Bishop be handed over. Roenick kills one of the attackers and finds he is an undercover cop working under Captain Marcus Duvall of Precinct 21. Bishop explains that Duvall and his team are corrupt and were formerly his business partners. They now plan to eliminate him to preserve their secret. The precinct staff and criminals form an uneasy truce. Heavily outnumbered and outgunned, Roenick releases the prisoners and arms them to help defend the precinct. Their combined efforts repel several more attacks, eventually leading to a stalemate. Another officer, Capra, arrives and is shot at by the corrupt officers, but makes it inside, but Bishop suspects him of being sent by Duvall when he discovers an unlocked back entrance. Beck and Smiley meanwhile secretly conspire to escape; simultaneously, the rest of the defenders plan for Anna and Sabian to escape in Capra's SUV. When Beck and Smiley sneak out, they are killed by Duvall's men, providing the distraction which allows Anna and Sabian to drive off but they are ambushed by Duvall’s right-hand man Kahane; who kills Anna, having been hiding in the back seat, whilst Duvall kills Sabian after she refuses to cooperate. When the snowfall subsides, Duvall calls in a corrupt

SWAT A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...

team who land on the roof of the precinct. The defenders flee through a utility tunnel underneath the building. Emerging from the tunnel, they find themselves surrounded by Duvall's men. The traitor is revealed to be O'Shea and not Capra. As Duvall prepares to kill the others, Bishop secretly plants a flash-bang grenade on O'Shea, mortally wounding him. In the confusion, Iris and Capra flee in Duvall's SUV. Kahane shoots out the tires, causing the vehicle to crash and knock Capra unconscious, but Iris manages to kill Kahane after a struggle. Duvall chases Roenick and Bishop into a nearby forest where they ambush and kill the remaining forces, however, Duvall shoots and wounds Bishop before being killed by Roenick, who is himself injured in the process. Following this, an injured Bishop takes Roenick's gun and flees, and Roenick promises to personally arrest him in the future. When Iris arrives with police and firemen, Roenick claims that only he and Duvall's gang are present, knowing that Bishop can't go too far but wanting to give him the illusion of liberty. As the authorities secure the area, Roenick and Iris leave the forest as the sun rises.

Cast

as Sergeant Jake Roenick *

as Marion Bishop *

as Beck * Maria Bello as Dr. Alex Sabian * Jeffrey "Ja Rule" Atkins as "Smiley" *

as Iris Ferry * Matt Craven as Officer Kevin Capra * Brian Dennehy as Officer Jasper O'Shea *

as Captain Marcus Duvall *

Kim Coates Kim Frederick Coates (born February 21, 1958) is a Canadian-American actor who has worked in both Canadian and American films and television series. He has worked on Broadway portraying Stanley Kowalski in ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' and in th ...

as Deputy Rosen *

Dorian Harewood Dorian Harewood (born August 6, 1950) is an American actor, best known for playing Jesse Owens in '' The Jesse Owens Story'' (1984), Det. Paul Strobber on '' Strike Force'' (1981–1982), and Rev. Morgan Hamilton in '' 7th Heaven'' (1996–2003 ...

as Deputy Gil * Currie Graham as Lieutenant Mike Kahane * Fulvio Cecere as Officer Ray Portnell * Titus Welliver as Milos * Hugh Dillon as Tony * Aisha Hinds as Anna

Production

In June 2003, it was announced

Focus Features Focus Features LLC is an American independent film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as a unit of Universal Pictures, which is itself a unit of Comcast's division NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and fore ...

would be teaming with Why Not Productions and Liaison Films to produce a remake of the 1976 film '' Assault on Precinct 13'' to be written by James DeMonaco that would be set in contemporary times. In March 2004, it was reported that Focus would be releasing the film through the revived '' Rogue Pictures'' label specializing in commercial genre films. ''Assault on Precinct 13'' was mostly filmed on location in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, as well as in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada (

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

Reception

Box office

''Assault on Precinct 13'' grossed $35.3 million worldwide on a budget of $30 million. Upon release on home video, the film sold through two million copies on its first week of release.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, it has a 60% rating based on reviews from 163 critics. The site's critical consensus being "This remake has been praised by some as an expertly made

B-movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

, and dismissed by others as formulaic". On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

it has a score of 54 out of 100, based on reviews from 39 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Assault On Precinct 13 2000s American films 2000s English-language films 2000s French films 2005 action thriller films 2005 films American action thriller films English-language French films Fictional portrayals of the Detroit Police Department Films directed by Jean-François Richet Films scored by Graeme Revell Films set around New Year Films set in 2004 Films set in 2005 Films set in Detroit Films shot in Detroit Films shot in Hamilton, Ontario Films shot in Toronto Films with screenplays by James DeMonaco Foreign films set in the United States French action thriller films Remakes of American films Rogue (company) films Siege films English-language action thriller films Films based on works by John Carpenter