Assault on Precinct 13

"I know a lot about dying, Sergeant. There's two ways you can handle it: with self pity, or without it." - Bishop

release year: 2005
genre: action/drama
viewing setting: home DVD, 4/8/17 and 5/10/05

synopsis: In this remake of the 1976 original, a small group of cops, workers, and inmates are forced to band together in an isolated police station under attack by a SWAT team of dirty cops.

impressions: This was one of the more successful remakes, from the standpoint of being entertaining, basically true to the original idea, yet updated to modern times. The horde of faceless, generic gang members has been replaced by bad cops. The guns and other armament are 30 years newer. The main protagonist is a police officer with issues, and the main convict is Laurence Fishburne (who looks quite inflated since his 1970s movie appearances.) One problem I noticed: this takes place in a city, but at the end, a rather large forest is used as a setting. Huh? Still, overall, this was a good movie in its own right, and a remake that honors the original movie.

things to watch for: the main attack on the station

acting: Ethan Hawke was the good cop, who suffered from guilt over a past mission where his leadership failed. Laurence Fishburne is the bad-ass criminal mastermind. Gabriel Byrne leads the bad cops in ther must-succeed-at-all-costs attack. Drea de Matteo is a female cop with a liking for bad guys.

final word: Good action movie, and good remake.

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