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65
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64
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
63
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, The
62
Burn After Reading
60
Traitor
58
Express, The
58
City of Ember
58
Body of Lies
57
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
57
Flash of Genius
55
House Bunny, The
54
Quarantine
54
Get Smart
53
Rocker, The
53
Lucky Ones, The
52
Longshots, The
51
Mamma Mia!
49
Family That Preys, The
47
Swing Vote
47
X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
46
Lakeview Terrace
45
Blindness
43
Meet Dave
43
Death Race
43
Eagle Eye
41
Beverly Hills Chihuahua
39
Nights in Rodanthe
37
Miracle at St. Anna
36
Space Chimps
36
Righteous Kill
36
Fly Me to the Moon
35
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
35
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
35
Mirrors
34
My Best Friend's Girl
27
Women, The
26
Babylon A.D.
24
Bangkok Dangerous
20
American Carol, An
15
Disaster Movie
15
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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

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82
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82
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82
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81
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80
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80
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79
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78
Last Mistress, The
76
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73
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73
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73
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
72
Secret, A
72
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72
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71
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68
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68
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66
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66
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65
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64
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57
Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela, The
57
Sixty Six
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53
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Lower Learning
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
District B13
Magnolia Pictures
MPAA RATING: R for strong violence, some drug content and language
Starring
Cyril Raffaelli,
David Belle,
Tony D'Amario,
Bibi Naceri,
Dany Verissimo,
François Chattot,
Nicolas Woirion,
and
Patrick Olivier
Paris, 2010. An isolation wall surrounds the ghetto cities. Without effective law enforcement, with these walls, gang rule is absolute. (Magnolia Pictures)
| GENRE(S): |
Action
|
Comedy
|
Foreign
|
Sci-fi
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Luc Besson
Bibi Naceri
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Pierre Morel
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: September 5, 2006
Theatrical: June 2, 2006
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
85 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
France |
| LANGUAGE(S): |
French (with English subtitles) |
Original title "Banlieue 13"

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
91
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
It's great to see action stars cast for their moves -- their grace in motion is thrilling -- but they also have the charisma to pull off the characters.

90
Time
Richard Schickel
Makes everything Hollywood has lately done in the action genre look clumsy, dull and stale. It is a short, nonstop stuntfest that, by going back to basics and placing them on the screen with simple, breathless stylishness, turns what is essentially a lowlife movie form into something one is not embarrassed to call "pure" cinema--all energy, movement and high kinetic wit.

90
Film Threat
KJ Doughton
Think of "Escape from New York" starring two French Spidermen on speed, and you've got District B13, a snazzy, sensational action ride from big-bang guru Luc Besson.

88
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
Like its stunt work, the movie is both ridiculously hyperactive and a muscular feat of absolute confidence. I don't expect to have a more adrenalizing time at the movies this summer.

83
Christian Science Monitor
Peter Rainer
It may be subtitled, and the faces may be unfamiliar, but District B13 is the best buddy action movie around.

80
The New York Times
Nathan Lee
With backing from the film's producer and co-writer, Luc Besson, the director, Pierre Morel, mounts a breakneck B movie inspired by Hong Kong action extravaganzas, the gritty genre classics of John Carpenter and the Thai neo-kung fu parable "Ong Bak." He hasn't reinvented this particular wheel, but he gets it spinning with delirious savoir-faire.

80
Village Voice
Jim Ridley
Spread the word: This delirious import is the most (maybe the only) fun action movie of the summer.

78
Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten
This French import is a worthy entrant into the adrenalized cadre of action films like "Run Lola Run" and "Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior" (which Besson produced). What District B13 lacks in story development it compensates for with stunningly realistic action.

75
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
For better and worse, the entire film goes by like a theme-park cyclone ride. It makes as much sense as it needs to when you're on it. All it leaves in its wake is a residue of vertigo and speed.

75
Premiere
Ethan Alter
If you've been disappointed by the recent rash of mediocre blockbusters, District B13 may provide some of the mindless fun you're looking for.

75
New York Daily News
Elizabeth Weitzman
Besson takes a few clumsy stabs at political relevance, but it's clear that grand themes are not his priority. That's okay: His charismatic leads are martial-arts masters, and their breathtaking stunts smoothly lift the movie every time it stumbles.

75
Entertainment Weekly
Marc Bernardin
The big innovation here is that the two nimble leads, stuntmen-turned-stars, are devotees of parkour, a fancy French word for the fluid use of urban environments as jungle gyms.

75
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
What you're seeing isn't wire work or CGI -- it's stunt choreography, beautifully executed, flawlessly cut together and brainlessly thrilling.

70
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
Real-life events have overtaken District B13, and they give this feverish, yet oddly flat French action adventure a whiff of substance to go along with its spectacular stunts.
70
Variety
Lisa Nesselson
Fast, dumb fun.

70
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
This is every bit as silly and adolescent as you'd expect from Besson, and about as contemporary as "The Perils of Pauline." But I was delighted by the balletic and acrobatic stunts, some of which evoke Tarzan.

70
LA Weekly
Ernest Hardy
Go for the dazzling, if repetitive, human stunt work. Endure the appallingly simplistic politics.

70
The Hollywood Reporter
Frank Scheck
By most standards, District B13 is a fairly routine summer action movie, albeit one in French. But what makes it unique are the truly amazing and kinetic action scenes featuring Parkour pioneer Belle and co-star Cyril Raffaelli.

67
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Scott Tobias
Morel tries to keep the energy up for 85 minutes straight, but the film never manages to top itself, and in spite of the political overtones, it doesn't provide much thematic sustenance.

67
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
As a brief introduction to Belle and his amazing gifts, District B 13 is a treat. But as a movie its feet are dully planted on the ground.

63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Liam Lacey
Flashy camera work, a clattering techno soundtrack and impressive synchronized stunt work fill where the plot goes AWOL.

63
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
A ridiculous but exciting action movie.

63
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
District B13 is action porn. It's a series of amazingly choreographed, kinetic action sequences tied together by a laughably bad script and worse acting.

60
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Crust
More athletes than actors, Raffaelli and Belle are terrific when their bodies are in motion but the movie grinds to a halt when they open their mouths.

60
Empire
Staff (Not credited)
The cast hurls itself into the comic-book violence, while the stunt choreography and razor-sharp editing are exhilarating.

50
San Francisco Chronicle
Ruthe Stein
If you can still be entertained by a thriller that unabashedly borrows from others of its ilk and don't mind reading subtitles, you could do worse than District B13. It's over so fast, in a quick 85 minutes, there's scarcely time to get bored by the silly plot.

50
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
District B13 looks great, but don't let those subtitles fool you. At heart, it's every bit as proudly dumb as its American counterparts.

50
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
Its hackneyed themes prevent the sci-fi flick from feeling like anything more than well-directed mediocrity.


The average user rating for this movie is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 30 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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