Assault on Precinct 13 (HD DVD)

Plot: What’s it about?

Even though Hollywood has been on a “remake kick” for the last, uh…decade it doesn’t mean that some aren’t better than their predecessors. Now this may sound a bit odd as I’ve never seen John Carpenter’s original movie of the same name; but I have seen “Rio Bravo” in which this new version borrows from heavily. Carpenter isn’t behind the camera this go around (only Alfred Hitchcock would remake his own movie), it’s Jean-Francois Richet but he’s assembled a good cast here and they seem to work well together. Ironically enough, this was the second of two movies I watched in one day that involved corrupt police (“16 Blocks” being the other)! The filmmakers waste no time in getting to the action and neither will I.

Sgt. Roenick (Ethan Hawke) now sits behind a desk, but a mere eight months prior he was heading up an undercover drug bust. Some things went wrong, his team was killed and himself shot in the leg. He now sits behind a desk, buried in a bottle at the desolate Precinct 13 on the outskirts of Detroit. It’s New Year’s Eve and the precinct is set to close as the newer Precinct 21 is set to open up. The skeleton crew of Precinct 13 gets some unexpected visitors when crimelord Bishop (Lawrence Fishburne) and some other criminals must be rerouted for the night. Bishop is a legend of crime in Detroit, even feared by the police themselves. And it’s not long that the Precinct is surrounded and it’s assumed that his henchmen are attempting to break him out of jail. Little do we know that the “henchmen” are actually Detroit police and they want him and everyone inside dead. Naturally this irony forces the criminals and the police inside to unite against their common enemy outside. Will the evil police win and kill their own or will the common goal of good and evil inside prevail?

I have to admit that I had been putting off watching this movie, but when it arrived on HD-DVD, I put it in for a spin. I actually really enjoyed it and the ensemble cast is what really makes it work. The always entertaining John Leguizamo, Maria Bello and even Matt Craven add to a good cast. Gabriel Byrne always plays a menacing bad guy and I’ve always been a fan of Ethan Hawke. For a movie that takes place in one building, there’s an abundance of action and it’s easy to get involved in the film. Director Jean-Francois Richet does a good job here as he’s crafted a high-quality action movie at the fraction of the cost of some others out there. While I’m not sure how it compares to the original, I can safely recommend this for a rental.

Video: How does it look?

About 95% of the movie takes place at night or indoors, so we don’t have many scenic outdoor shots that will fill the screen with HD glory. But the 2.35:1 HD transfer does look great and most of the elements that plague standard DVD (artifacting, grain/pixellation, etc.) aren’t an issue here. The images look crystal clear and the detail is amazing. Later in the movie, the chase moves outside and I swear that you can see every flake of snow (ok, not really) but it doesn’t look like a big white blob as most snow does on TV. Flesh tones are a bit washed out, but when you can see the pores on the actors faces – it’s a good, quality transfer.

Audio: How does it sound?

I recently changed the audio portion of my HD-DVD setup and am now using my old coaxial input as opposed to the HDMI input that’s preferred. I feel that I get a more robust sound output and until the Dolby Digital True HD comes out, this will have to suffice. The movie also comes equipped with a true DTS soundtrack (and not the fake one that some have) that sounds great as well. There is plenty of gunfire, explosions and anything else you’d imagine in a movie like this. It struck me, during one of the gunfire scenes, “Hey, my floor is shaking!” My neighbors didn’t complain, but suffice it to say that I was impressed – as you will be.

Supplements: What are the extras?

“Assault on Precinct 13” has the exact same features that were present on its DVD counterpart. There are some featurettes that are mostly fluff, but are nice to have: “Armed and Dangerous”, “Behind Precinct Walls” and “Plan of Attack” all add little substance to the movie but do focus on some of the different aspects of the movie. The audio commentary with Jean-Fracios Richet, James deMonaco and Jeff Silver is entertaining. Though at times the three men don’t say a whole lot. The cast is discussed as is the original movie and “Rio Bravo”. Several deleted scenes are included as is one last featurette “Caught in the Crosshairs”. I have to admit that I really enjoyed “Assault on Precinct 13” and it looks great and sounds awesome.