An underrated action thriller movie is airing on TV tonight

Stephen Porzio

The film is a remake of an absolute classic.

Our TV movie pick for tonight (Wednesday, 11 September) is the 2005 remake of legendary ’70s action thriller Assault on Precinct 13.

The remake centres around a Detroit cop named Jake Roenick (Ethan Hawke) who is haunted by a failed sting operation in his past which left two undercover officers dead.

Now clinging to his unambitious assignment as a desk sergeant at a soon to be decommissioned precinct, he and his small crew of colleagues maintain a skeleton shift on New Year’s Eve.

However, when a prison bus carrying criminals – including the notorious Marion Bishop (Laurence Fishburne) – is rerouted to Roenick’s precinct due to a snowstorm, what was meant to be a quiet night turns deadly.

This is as a group of attackers (led by Gabriel Byrne) determined to eliminate Bishop for a secret he knows attempt to besiege the building.

As such, Roenick and Bishop are forced to form an uneasy alliance to protect the precinct and survive.

With its more complicated story and longer runtime, this remake of the John Carpenter classic lacks the mean-and-lean punch of the original.

That said, you have to praise writer James DeMonaco (The Purge franchise) and director Jean-Francois Richet (Blood Father, Plane) for putting their own spin on the material as opposed to just doing a rehash.

And in fact, the remake’s taut action set-pieces, its atmospheric wintry setting and its great cast – also including Brian Dennehy, Drea da Matteo, John Leguizamo, Kim Coates and Maria Bello – make it worth seeking out.

The 2005 Assault on Precinct 13 is airing on ITV4 tonight at 11.45pm. It is also available to rent on Apple TV.