Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)

It just started airing. I was wondering if anyone here has actually sat down with the 1975 original? I'd love to hear your thoughts on how the old version stacks up against this new one.
🙂

The original was absolute fire, but I honestly have no clue what to make of this new one.

The original film is a brilliant blend of horror and action. It’s been quite some time since I last sat down to watch it, which makes it somewhat difficult for me to remain entirely objective, though I certainly hope this new iteration manages to capture at least a fraction of that unique atmosphere.

directed by: Jean-François Richet
starring: Ethan Hawke, Laurence Fishbourne, Gabriel Byrne, ja Rul, Maria Bello, Drea de Matteo
genre: action/thriller/drama/horror
screenplay: James de Monaco based on a screenplay by John Carpenter
original title: Assault on Precinct 13
runtime: 109 min.
year: 2005
country: USA/France
official website: ap13movie.com

Michael Long5 said:ja Rul

🙄

The original was directed by John Carpenter. 👍
This new one isn't. 👎

I’ve gone ahead and pasted the fundamental details regarding the film. While I won't venture to comment on the caliber of the production crew involved, one can always hold out hope for the best possible outcome. 😁 😁 😁 😁

Bradley Ramos11 said:The original was a John Carpenter flick. 👍
This new one? Not even close. 👎

Look, I usually can't stand John Carpenter's stuff, but I'll give him credit for this one...

I have to admit, I can recommend a few more of his works. He really hit it out of the park with Dark Star, Halloween, and The Fog 😲 , and then there is Christine 😎 . While the rest of his filmography might not reach those heights, they are certainly watchable enough for 👍 if you're a fan of JC
.

John Carpenter is kind of a weird case, I guess. For every brilliant masterpiece he puts out, he seems to make two total disasters

I think I'll just wait for the video version of this edit 🙂

Is anyone actually watching this? 😢😢

Well, I suppose I'll just go hunt down a digital copy then.

At this point, I'm starting to seriously doubt if the movie is even worth all that effort...

Michael Long5 said:Wait, nobody actually watched it? 😢 😢

Well, guess I'll just go hunt down a digital rip then.

Honestly, now I’m starting to seriously doubt if this movie is even worth the effort...

I haven't seen the original, but this isn't really a horror flick—which is weird, since John Carpenter is basically the king of the genre.

It's pretty predictable, though it works okay as a standard thriller—you could probably even draw some parallels to the political mess we're dealing with here in the States. 😬

Oh, and Maria Bello is in it too. 🙂 😁

I haven't even seen the original, but this one’s alright.
And honestly, I don't know if you could even call this a horror movie.

To me, the blonde girl was way better than Maria Bello.😁

The original is a total classic—a modernized western at its core—but this remake isn't even a remake; it’s just a blatant, shameless theft of a title. 😠
As for the actual content, it barely bears any resemblance to the source material. They just swiped the basic premise of cops and a bunch of lowlifes being forced to work together to fight off outsiders, and that's where they stopped. The "changes" made are completely nonsensical. And the atmosphere? John Carpenter’s minimalism [not to mention that soundtrack... my god... 🙏 🙏 🙏] was perfect for building that claustrophobic, trapped feeling. This "remake," however, feels more like a slightly overlong episode of some mediocre police procedural. It’s garbage filled with mindless gunfire and Laurence Fishbourne, who honestly needs a role in a comedy just so someone can finally shake him out of that ridiculous, brooding pose 😠

So, it looks like I was right after all.....🙂
I appreciate all the feedback. 🙂

From what I've gathered, there are definitely some solid tracks on there 😁 😁

And the movie should be arriving on my screen quite soon...

The original is solid. Especially those first thirty minutes—that shot of the father and daughter buying ice cream is incredible, and the sunset photography is stunning.
Great soundtrack too.

So, it was bound to happen eventually. Fine by me. I might give it a look. Carpenter's Assault is an incredible flick. People call it horror mostly because of what he did later on, and while calling it an action movie isn't totally wrong, I’d argue it’s probably the quietest action movie ever made. If you were just describing the plot to someone, it would sound like a total B-movie actioner, and there's a real chance this remake turns out to be exactly that kind of thing. But Carpenter's version feels more like this uneasy, heavy drama. There are two specific sequences that elevate this otherwise solid film into something great: 1) the murder of the girl with the ice cream and 2) that drawn-out, repetitive gunfire seen famously from the inside.

Honestly, I haven't sat through a single bad movie directed by John Carpenter. (And yeah, that includes Ghosts of Mars.)

In my opinion, Vampires is his only weak film.

Everything else is either good or absolutely superb.

driftingeagle27 said:(That includes Ghosts of Mars, too.)

(And Vampires.)

Man, you’ve got some seriously weird taste if you think all his movies are actually good. Does that include that Village of the Damned remake disaster? Also, escape from LA is just straight up trash...

The Dude said:I mean, you’ve got some pretty weird taste if you think all his movies are actually good. Does that include that Village of the Damned remake? Because, honestly, Escape from LA is just a pretty terrible movie.

Yeah, exactly... I guess you also have to throw in Prince of Darkness and They Live. Though, man, that last one has maybe one of the most ridiculous sequences ever put on film. Just constant shouting like, "Put on the glasses!" "No!" "PUT ON THE GLASSES!!!!" "NO!!" It's kind of a mess, I suppose...