Assault on Precinct 13 has two versions: the 1976 original and the 2005 remake. I don’t care what people say, I like the 2005 better. The premise is the same: a group of policemen gets trapped in a police station surrounded by an infinite number of criminal and their only hope is a murderer who happens to be at the same place. But the 1976 version is just boring. It wastes all the potential to become a suspenseful movie. Nothing happens and when something happens everyone is like “err… Yeah…” and carry on with their life. Also the criminals just come out of nowhere. Basically 3 thugs try to kill a father because he tell the police about them, then the criminals just pop out just to try to get the father. What? It’s like saying “uh oh! He find us. Let’s call our friends who are also in hiding to kill him.”
The characters in the 2005 version genuinely fear for their life. Both versions are the same but they manage to make the situations in the 2005 version more life-threatening. The characters react the way they should and really get the viewers involved. Also the “criminal” has a believable reason why they are there and so strong. They are corrupted cops and they try to get the murderer because the murderer knows about their corruption. It’s a solid reason why they are so desperate to destroy the police station, unlike the 1976 version.
I don’t know why the 1976 version is considered a classic while the 2005 version considered trash. In the end they are both some action movies, but the 2005 version does it better.