Assault on Precinct 13 [HD]

A genre film with style and substance.
Going in I was expecting an Action film with two-dimensional characters and loads of gunfire caught on film with shaky camera shots to make them seem more violent than they already are. Instead of adhering to conventional 'Action' film nonsense and one-liners, however, the makers of this film have created a story where the characters are either likeable or interesting to watch and the violence is both realistic and often incredibly brutal. There are some cliche' plot twists that appear at the expected times, but to the credit of these storytellers they do not dwell on them as if the audience should somehow be wowed or shocked by the revelation(s). Thus any predictability is overshadowed by quicksilver action sequences or character-driven moments that are equally intense. This film has a strong cast of actors led by a very capable director and a fantastic production staff that give this film more style and substance than is typical of the genre. The photography is excellent and...

But, there was so much potential!
I'll cut to the chase. It's a decent flick with a few really kick a$$ scenes that COULD have been MUCH better, but as it is, it's only barely worth a rental. Certainly its not worth a purchase. Why? Read on.

1. Apparently, many people in the flick are AMAZING shots. During the flick, not less than people get killed with perfect headshots ranging in distances from 150+ feet away to point-blank range. Every one winds up with their eyes wide open and a neat little hole in their head (even when some of the ammunition used would have made their heads explode like melons if they took a shot like that). From .50 cals to .9mm, it doesn't matter.

2. Alternatively, the same people who get amazing headshots in once scene are the same people who couldn't hit the side of a barn with a shotgun in the next scene. In one part, there are four people, standing perfectly still firing full automatics at one another from a distance of about 12 feet, and not only does no one...

lost track of what it should be about.
This movie is a travesty that only proves that sometimes a great movie can be remade so badly that it loses all reasonable resemblance to the original. This movie is so bad that it takes the premise of a group of cops and convicts under attack from a killer gang (and most real gangs are organized drug dealing killers) in a closing precinct building into a idiotic story about bad cops attacking the station instead. It's badly written and in spite of some good actors it's just a nasty movie without much merit. How many times in history have gangs surrounded and attacked someplace and murdered kids even to get what they want? many times... how many times has this happened with a group of bad cops? and even worse cops who act like untrained idiots! oh well. they lost the premise and real menace that a true evil gang can deliver because they (in some cities) are already shooting up and killing innocent people routinely , including kids who get in their way. Sure there
are some...

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