Assault On Precinct 13

Ethan Hawke must defend his precinct at all cost.

Herald rating: * * *

For film buffs, this movie is like those bits in the Bible where somebody begets somebody who begets somebody else. Legendary director Howard Hawks made the story with John Wayne as Rio Bravo (1959); John Carpenter re-invented the yarn in 1976, moving the action from a surrounded sheriff's office in the Old West to a decomposing inner-city police station. Now it's French director Jean-Francois Richet's turn.

It's New Year's Eve and Precinct 13 in Detroit's urban wasteland will be closed down at midnight. On the final shift are desk sergeant Jake Fornick (Ethan Hawke), Jasper O'Shea (Brian Dennehy), who is about to retire, and the less retiring secretary, Iris (Drea de Matteo).

Everything changes in the last few hours. An accident blocks a nearby highway and the officers transporting a criminal mastermind, Bishop (Laurence Fishburne), and some lesser baddies - Beck (John Leguizamo); Anna, a rather naughty girl (Aisha Hinds); and Smiley the counterfeiter (Ja Rule) - decide to dump their prisoners at Precinct 13 for the night.

Bishop's men, led by Marcus Duvall (Gabriel Byrne), want to bust him out. With all means of communication dead, Jake must defend the surrounded station with the help of his last shift-mates; his psychiatrist, Alex Sabian (Maria Bello), who has dropped by to visit and can't get home; and the prisoners, fighting for their lives beside the cops.

Richet directs a tight gunslinger thriller, resisting the temptation to go overboard into ultra-violence. John Wayne might have approved.

On the DVD, Richet explains that growing up on a French housing estate helped him understand the background to his characters; his offsider Jeffrey Silver and screenwriter James DeMonaco talk about adapting a story filmed twice before.

The actors have their say in Caught In The Crosshairs; Plan Of Attack gives stunt co-ordinator Steve Lucescu his moment of glory; and the weapons specialist, Charles Taylor, matches guns to characters in Armed And Dangerous. For Behind Precinct Walls, production designer Paul Austerberry unpicks the set. There are five deleted scenes.

* Assault On Precinct 13 is out now on DVD and video.