Alarm bells rang at the notion of remaking a remake, but action thriller Assault On Precinct 13 "bristles with tension". Most critics agreed that French helmer Jean-François Richet did justice to John Carpenter's 1976 B-movie, which was itself inspired by Howard Hawks' 1959 western Rio Bravo. It was no blockbuster, but the teaming of Ethan Hawke and Laurence Fishburne (as a jaded cop and a prisoner marked for death) proved intriguing for fans of the indie scene.

Fire At Will

"My background helped me understand violence," explains Richet in The Assault Team featurette, "Kill them before they kill you". Apparently, growing up on a French housing estate is a brutal experience and one that probably stood Richet in good stead for dealing with Hollywood producers. Jeffrey Silver seems like a decent enough bloke though, as is screenwriter James DeMonaco who each offer their thoughts on adapting a story that's already been filmed twice.

The actors get their say in Caught In The Crosshairs where Ethan Hawke reckons, "This is the best action script I've ever read." Meanwhile snippets of behind-the-scenes footage catch them doing what they do best. Perhaps the greatest challenge that faced Laurence Fishburne was holding a Molotov cocktail inches from his face, but in Plan Of Attack stunt coordinator Steve Lucescu assures us that safety was his number one priority. (Tell it to the guy who's on fire.)

Weapons specialist Charles Taylor talks about matching guns to characters in Armed And Dangerous, which proves to be an apt description for a man who affectionately refers to his .45 Tommy Gun as Bruce. Last of the featurettes is Behind Precinct Walls where production designer Paul Austerberry walks you through the carefully constructed set while referencing key scenes. It's sort of like Through The Keyhole with intervals of extreme and sudden violence.

Assaulting The Senses

Richet gives optional commentary for five deleted scenes, which, as he explains, were mostly cut for the sake of pace and rhythm. Among them is a startlingly emotional scene for Duval. Actor Gabriel Byrne takes us inside the mind of this fanatical villain in what is meant to be a rare moment of compassion. Unfortunately test audiences thought it proved that Duval was "crazy".

There's more on what didn't make it into the final cut in the feature commentary, which Richet shares with DeMonaco and Silver. Interestingly DeMonaco was present every day on set and collaborated closely with the actors. He mentions that John Leguizamo (who plays the fast-talking Beck) "did a lot of research into drugs" which translated into "a lot of crazy ideas". These eventually found their way into the script, even down to the ratty hair.

Overall the commentary offers the most in-depth look at the making of the film with the bulk of featurettes only running at around five minutes each. Still, along with the deleted scenes, this DVD edition of Assault On Precinct 13 stands pretty solid.

EXTRA FEATURES