District B13
District B13
R | 10 November 2004 (USA)
District B13 Trailers

Set in the ghettos of Paris in 2010, an undercover cop and ex-thug try to infiltrate a gang in order to defuse a neutron bomb.

Reviews
Morten_5

French Adrenalin. With incredible Parkour stunts and one of the main characters played by David Belle, considered by many the founder and leading pioneer of Parkour, "District B13" delivers what you can ask from a good action-thriller - and more. This is the film that brought French director Pierre Morel to Hollywood (he later directed the very successful and popular "Taken"). "District B13" is warmly recommended to everyone who wants to enjoy some nice action with a fresh touch.

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CousinBagunca

Banlieue 13 is a thrilling straightforward action movie.I debated with myself if a 10/10 score would be giving it too much credit, but no, this movie deserves it. This movie is awesome.The stunts are believable and outstanding to watch. It has that thrilling effect where everything is on the edge.The plot was OK to me. It's simple and it's done in a great manner. For a 84 minutes movie, everything looks fine. Though I think IMDb's description about the movie is kinda off: Leito is not a thug by any means. I'd describe him as a punisher; or just a good guy who got tired of all that cr** -- not a thug by any means, though I get what they were thinking!Action at its best!

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First Name Last Name

I would advise my fellow action fans to watch this. I gave this movie 8 out of 10. While the plot and characters honestly felt slightly lame, the action and fast paced editing carries the movie to a higher level. There is no possible world in which this movie isn't entertaining as hell. Any viewer who enjoy impressive stunt-work will be engaged from start to finish.Some of the scenes involving parkour and martial arts were quite impressive. The opening sequence involving Leito's thrilling free running adventure was probably one of the most well executed action scenes in history. Seriously! The music and stunts work so well together that I instantly wanted to re-watch that scene. The very way it was put together was so splendid. And several other action scenes were quite worth the watch, albeit not as impressive as the opening action sequence. In short: watch it for that scene, at least. The cinematography is quite spectacular and delicious throughout, the soundtrack fresh, the actors comfortable with their clichés.Sure, one could find reasons to hate it; the plot is lame; the characters are pretty flat; the villain is a little sleazy and evil-for-the-sake-of-evil; the plot with the bomb and girl on top of the building was dumb. Those are usually big problems in most movies – but in this one it can be forgiven. The action is too impressive, simply. The editing is so sharp and on-point that I can't put a finger on it. It is dynamic, sleek and intense.I was positively surprised! I am glad to see a good European action movie that seriously tops anything America can deliver. I would encourage you to watch this!

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ma-cortes

Thrilling and violent movie with a phenomenal starring pair and in which Cyril Raffaelli and David Belle cast all the Stuntmen themselves . Set in the rundown ghettos of Paris in 2010, an undercover cop and ex-thug try to infiltrate a gang in order to defuse a neutron bomb . When the government learns that local kingpin (Larbi or Bibi Narceri , Sami Narceri's brother ; even though Bibi Naceri co-wrote the script, he still had to audition for the part of Taha along with other actors) has acquired a nuclear weapon , Damien (Cyril Raffaelli) and Leito (David Belle , the originator of Le Parkour ) are called upon to avoid an atomic bomb on destroying the blocks at the heart of District 13 with tactical precision and as save the city . With acrobatic skillfulness and adrenaline pumping belief in their own abilities, they throw themselves out from incredible heights, and jump from roof to roof ; locked doors and 'No Trespassing' signs become irresistible challenges . They confront their enemies in order to find out location the bomb (the bomb code is: 9293709B13) and his sister (Dany Verissimo who spent two whole days on a roof in the freezing cold in ripped clothes, handcuffed to a bomb and Luc Besson wrote the part of Lola specifically for her) who was formerly kidnapped , but someone is still after them and are forced to once again take up violent means to survive .¨13th District¨ is an exciting film that contains suspense , thrills, noisy action , shootouts and violent fights . The main couple is unabashed in its dedication to fanboy stunt work . From the beginning to the final the noisy action and fast movement is unstopped , including breathtaking scenes in which bounds and leaps through apartments blocks and at moments give the impression that they are flying . Cyril Raffaelli as a hard-rock , two-fisted agent is top-notch . This is a frantic rehash of ¨Escape from NY¨ , rightly realized in French style . The highlights of the movie are The Parkour , also known in USA as Free Running whose origin was in ¨Yamasaki¨ film directed by Ariel Zeitoun , Julien Seri and also produced by Luc Besson with his production company called ¨EuropaCorps¨ . Duo protagonist more than make up for in an skill to soar across a rolling medley highrise flats blocks . The way in which the actors prove this abilities , is in fact an activity called Parkour and was invented by David Belle himself , influenced by his father Raymond Belle . Cyril Raffaelli and David Belle had three months to prepare all their Parkour stunts for the film . There weren't any special effects , wire-work, computer graphics... used in 90% of the Parkour scenes . Good cinematography by cameraman Manuel Teran using Steadicam and zooms with numerous locations from Paris slums . The musician Da Octopuss creates a stirring, moving soundtrack fitting to frantic action . Lavishly produced by the successful French producer and director Luc Besson . The flick was stunningly realized by the habitual cameraman, Pierre Morel in his first film, -the second was the successful ¨Taken¨- , though Alexandre Aja was originally hired to direct the movie the first . Filmmaker Pierre gives the action a dance-like quality and the whole movie took 10 months for production , idea, script, casting, filming, etc , as from January 2004 to October 2004 . Followed by "District 13: Ultimatum" by Patrick Alessandrin again with Cyril Raffaelli as Capt. Damien Tomaso , David Belle as Leïto , Philippe Torreton as Le Président De la République and as well as starring in the film, Cyril Raffaelli also choreographed all the fight sequences ; however David Belle didn't practice all his Parkour stunts , most of the ones that you see in the film were of him performing the stunt for the first time . Rating: Better than average, well worth seeing , this is a highly agreeable action movie . The picture will appeal to explosive action fans

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