With War Of The Worlds, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and King Kong all on the horizon, Hollywood remake chic has never been sharper. But the thought of a modernised Assault On Precinct 13 always felt like a rework too far. No way could John Carpenter’s 1976 low-budget, cult classic siege flick be updated without losing the unsentimental, relentless essence of kill-or-be-killed that seeped from the original.

Surprisingly, though, even switching the action from the sticky heat of LA to the snowy wasteland of Detroit on New Year’s Eve doesn’t cause a significant temperature drop. Sure, the Ethan Hawke/Laurence Fishburne actioner does lack the brooding atmosphere of its forerunner – the skeleton-crewed Precinct encircled by crooked cops rather than probed by kamikaze gang-bangers – but French director Jean-François Richet doesn’t wince from retaining the original’s remorse-free rawness.

DVD Extras:

A formulaic Making Of, half-a-dozen deleted scenes and a quad of MTV-style featurettes, boasting about the movie's stunts, production design and weapons. The chat-track from screenwriter, producer and director is better fun, despite the director's barely penetrable Gallic accent. Richet's account of making his Hollywood debut feature is intriguing for fellow outsiders unaware of the etiquette of US studio filmmaking. ("Never say no to your actors' requests," he was advised by one of his cast. "Always say `maybe'.") There's also plenty of acknowledgement for the original - with the trio identifying their reverential moments - as well as the original's inspiration, Rio Bravo. Although Richet's, "This movie is more like Rio Bravo, because John Carpenter is more ghosts than characters" doesn't quite cut the Dijon.