I somehow missed District B13 when it came out so I really had no idea what I was getting myself into when I popped Banlieue 13: Ultimatum (or District 13: Ultimatumas it’s known to us) in my Blu-Ray Player. Holy crap was I pleasantly surprised!
D13:U picks up three years after the events of part one. Despite the promises made by the government at the end of part one, the wall separating D13 from the rest of Paris still stands. Well, Leito (David Belle) has had enough and decides to blow it up himself; this upsets a few the drug lords who like things the way they are. Worse, Tomaso (Cyril Raffaelli) is framed for drug possession in what turns out to be even a bigger conspiracy within a very corrupt government. Walter Gassman (Daniel Duval) has a plan to wipe D13 off the map and uses all the trickery he has to convince the president (Philippe Torreton) that his way is the right way. So Leito and Tomaso must team up again, this time with the aid of all the rival gangs, to defend D13 and save it from obliteration.
It’s a pretty straightforward action movie plot for sure, but who cares? You get to see to amazing parkour action performed by two masters of the art. And what more, they are fantastic actors to boot. It’s very rare that you see this combination of talent.
Director Patrick Alessandrin might be an unknown name in the US, but with writing and producing credits both going to Luc Besson (The Transporter series, The Fifth Element, Nikita and more importantly Leon: The Professional) you know you’re in for a treat. Besson is at the top of his game with this film.
With great stunts, a fun, well written story, great acting and a solid score by Da. Octopusss and Track Invaders, D13:U is not a film to be missed!
The film is presented in 2.35:1 widescreen. Sound is in 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound. Language is French with English subtitles. This is a fantastic looking film. Alessandrin really has an eye for what works with an action film. The only annoying thing about this DVD is that when I first played the film it started out dubbed (very poorly I might add) in English. I had to go to the menu screen to turn on the French language track and English subtitles.
Making of: (26 min.) This is a solid making of that takes a good look at the actors, the main crew and of course all the amazing stunts. Most of them, it turns out, were choreographed by Belle.
Production Diary: (34 min.) A day-by-day glimpse of the production of this film. Some interesting stuff here, some repeated from the making of.
Music Video (3 min.) French rap is very amusing. This is actually a pretty enjoyable song.
Extended & Deleted Scenes (9 min.) These all expand on various fight scenes. While there are some cool moves seen, all these would have just slowed the pacing of the film down.
HDNet: A Look at D13:U (5 min.) An American made puff piece bout how great the film is. It’s certainly not wrong but seems out of place on this disc.
Trailers: Red Cliff, The Warlords, The Eclipse.
This movie really blew me away. I thought it was so amazing I watched part one right afterward thanks to Netflix watch-it-now. Loved the first one too. These are fantastic action films. Besson is fashioning himself a great franchise here. I knew very little about parkour going into this film, now I want to know a lot more.
Magnet and Magnolia Home Entertainment present District 13: Ultimatum. Directed by Patrick Alessandrin. Written by Luc Besson. Starring Cyril Raffaelli, David Belle, Philippe Torreton and Daniel Duval. 101 minutes. Rated R for some violence, language and drug material. Released on DVD: April 27, 2010. Available at Amazon.com.
