Assault on Precinct 13 (DVD)

One of the best surprises of the year so far for me has to be Assault on Precinct 13, which at first glance looks to be a boring shoot 'em up action film, but it certainly turned out to be much more than that thanks to an excellent cast and the large amount of relentless action.

Based on the 1976 John Carpenter film this remake gives a new spin on the old story as it takes place on a snowy New Year's Eve with Jake Roenick (Ethan Hawke), a police officer resolved to become a desk jockey at the Detroit Precinct 13 as he deals with a fatal accident that occurred during an undercover drug sting, which saw two of his partners killed.

The one thing about Precinct 13 is that it is set to close down this very night, and as final preparations are being made to lock the precinct doors word comes in that a bus of four prisoners are being re-routed to Roenick's cells for the night due to a drastic snow storm that has befallen the Detroit area.

Among these four prisoners is the cop-killing crime lord Marion Bishop (Laurence Fishburne), a man whose notoriety not only grabs headlines but the attention of a group of dirty cops in league with the man, afraid that if Bishop ever stands trial their names along with their futures will be dragged through the mud, hence our story. Once Bishop is inside the madness ensues as the group of dirty cops set siege on Precinct 13 in an attempt to make sure Bishop is never given the chance to name names.

As the bullets fly, this story takes off with a relentless amount of gunfire and blood flow as director Jean-François Richet takes full advantage of his large cast and presents the film in as much realism as possible. What this entails is holes blown in heads and knives through the jugular. Yeah, this one is violent, which is its entire appeal considering the storyline wears a bit thin.

As for the DVD we are treated to not only the standard Dolby 5.1 audio presentation but a DTS track as well, which is simply brilliant once the bullets begin to fly.

Bonus features include several featurettes looking at set design, the weapons used in the film, the stunts, the casting and the cohesiveness found between an all American cast and a French director. On top of that is a surprisingly good audio commentary with director Jean-François Richet, producer Jeffrey Silver and screenwriter James DeMonaco. My largest apprehension toward the commentary centered around the fact that Richet's French accent is extremely strong, but thanks to Silver and DeMonaco taking part everything seemed to come across, even if Richet's words weren't exactly understandable.

Finally is a group of deleted scenes that aren't exactly stellar, but you will see an additional scene with Gabriel Byrne, the leader of the cops on the wrong side of the law, as he is forced to suffocate an injured one of his own. Other than that, these are pretty much run-of-the-mill.

Assault on Precinct 13 is simply a fun action flick for those that enjoy intensely violent films that hold nothing back. Like I said before, the story does begin to wear thin, but the overwhelming amount of violence involved overshadows any flaws in the story that becomes slightly absurd as the cops begin to take their siege attempts to higher levels.

I wholeheartedly recommend this disc to action fans, but those not interested in intensely graphic violence should steer clear.