Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)

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General		Extras
Category	Action	Main Menu Audio & Animation Menu Audio Audio Commentary-Filmmakers' Featurette-Armed And Dangerous Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Behind Precinct Walls Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Plan Of Attack Featurette-The Assault Team Deleted Scenes-With Optional Director's Commentary Featurette-Behind The Scenes-HBO First Look: Caught In The Crosshairs Trailer-Friday Night Lights, Miami Vice-Series 1
Rating
Year Of Production	2005
Running Time	104:17 (Case: 109)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (61:15)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Jean-François Richet
Studio Distributor	Rogue Pictures Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Ja Rule Maria Bello Peter Bryant Gabriel Byrne Fulvio Cecere Kim Coates Matt Craven Courtney Cunningham Drea de Matteo Brian Dennehy Hugh Dillon Laurence Fishburne Tig Fong
Case	?
RPI	$39.95	Music	Graeme Revell

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English Spanish English Audio Commentary Spanish Audio Commentary	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Assault on Precinct 13 is the gripping and exciting remake of John Carpenter's low-budget 1970s siege thriller.

    In some ways, Assault on Precinct 13 seems to cleverly pick up the story of Training Day some years later. Guilt-ridden former undercover narc Jake Roenick (Ethan Hawke) has been reduced to a disillusioned desk sergeant in charge of a dilapidated, inner-city Detroit police precinct that's about to be abandoned in the new year.

    It's New Year's Eve, and Roenick is manning the precinct with a skeleton staff consisting of saucy receptionist Iris (Drea de Matteo), and soon-to-retire grumpy police veteran Jasper (Brian Dennehy).

    However, a howling snow storm paralyses Detroit, and a prison bus is diverted to the station for the night. Its handful of prison detainees includes recently arrested organized crime kingpin Bishop (Laurence Fishburne).

    Isolated by the blizzard, and cut off from communication with the outside world, the precinct is soon encircled by well-armed hostile forces. The burned-out Roenick will have to dig deep for his long-lost heroism and pride to hold the fort until dawn.

    This remake makes a number of changes to the original 1970s film, and for once all the changes are for the better. The story is now far more grounded in a gritty reality, and the isolated, snowbound setting and new set of motivations for the characters have vastly improved the story.

    Dark, disturbing, and very well paced, this Assault on Precinct 13 honours Carpenter's style and sense of isolationism, not in copying his original Assault on Precinct 13 (reviewed here), but rather in its homage to Carpenter's The Thing.

    In the lead role, Hawke looks sickly and thinly drawn, and he's very believable. Meanwhile, Fishburne's softly spoken gangster provides a lot of power and menace with the slightest gesture or glance. There are also a decent collection of actors in the supporting roles, including Gabriel Byrne and Brian Dennehy.

    French director Jean-Francois Richet does an excellent job of keeping the suspense taut and action relentless while adding some depth to the story and characters.

Video

    Overall the transfer is excellent, and looked great both with a projector and on my widescreen television.

    The widescreen transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, 16x9 Enhanced.

    The sharpness is excellent, as can be seen with the detailed church interior at 9:39. The black level and shadow detail are also excellent. For example consider the dimly lit scene inside the gaol cell at 23:25.

    The original photography is great, with extensive use of coloured lens to achieve images of cold, bleakness, or warmth. The colour is excellent throughout, and well saturated. The skin tones are accurate.

    While there are a few excessively grainy segments, where I assume a different film stock has been used, there are no problems with MPEG, film-to-video, or film artefacts.

    English, Spanish, English Audio Commentary, and Spanish Audio Commentary subtitles are present. The English subtitles are accurate.

    This is a single-sided, dual-layered disc, with the layer change occurring at 61:15. The change was not disruptive.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There are three audio options on this DVD: English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s), Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s), and English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s). Sadly, the dts audio available on the R1 and R2 (UK) DVDs is not provided on the R4 release.

    The dialogue quality and audio sync are excellent on the default English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track.

    The musical score is credited to Graeme Revell and it is suitably dramatic, underlining the film's tension and emotion.

    The surround presence and activity are excellent, and this is a fairly aggressive and immersive sound mix. The rear speakers are used overtly in the many gun battles, such as at 3:16 and 11:45, and for more subtle ambience, such as the snow storm at 31:42. There are plenty of rear directional effects, and some panning between speakers, for example the helicopter at 80:28.

    There is a great LFE signal in support, and the subwoofer is utilised very effectively throughout, for example the deep ominous rumbles at 19:44 and 57:35.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    There are quite a few extras, but apart from the commentary, nothing too meaty.

Menu

    An animated menu with audio.

Audio Commentary

    Presented in Dolby Digital Stereo Surround (192Kb/s), the film's director Jean-Francois Richet, writer James DeMonaco, and producer Jeffrey Silver provide a casual but interesting screen-specific commentary.

Featurettes

• Armed And Dangerous (4:55) Weapons Specialist Charles Taylor guides us through the main weapons used in the film
• Behind Precinct Walls (7:30) The Production Designer Paul Asterland discusses some of the sets and set design
• Plan Of Attack (4:27) Stunt co-ordinator Steve Lescescu discusses some of the many varied stunts in the film.
• The Assault Team (5:17) A brief introduction to the film's director Jean-Francois Richet, writer James DeMonaco, and producer Jeffrey Silver.

Deleted Scenes-With Optional Director's Commentary (6:11)

    Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, with Dolby Digital stereo audio.

Featurette-Behind The Scenes-HBO First Look: Caught In The Crosshairs (12:34)

    Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, with Dolby Digital stereo audio, this is mainly marketing fluff, containing some interview snippets and some behind-the-scenes footage.

Theatrical Trailers

• Friday Night Lights Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced, with Dolby Digital stereo audio
• Miami Vice-Series 1 Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, with Dolby Digital stereo audio

    Assault on Precinct 13 has been released on DVD in Region 1.

    The Region 4 DVD misses out on:

• English dts 5.1 and French Dolby Digital 5.1
• Forced trailers for Unleashed, White Noise, and Seed of Chucky

    The Region 1 DVD misses out on:

• Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1

    The option of dts audio would make me favour the R1 over the R4. But, the R2 (UK) version also offers English dts 5.1 audio, and a superior PAL image.

    Assault on Precinct 13, grounded in isolationism, delivers the goods with relentless tension, action, and uncompromising blood, sweat, and tears.

    The video quality is excellent.

    The audio quality is also excellent.

    The extras are light but entertaining.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall