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Ronin
1998
David Mamet wrote this screenplay under the name Richard Weisz, as a gun for hire, much like the masterless samurai of the film's title, who roamed Japan in the 19th century, loyal only to themselves. A group of men with highly developed skills are called to a meeting in a deserted warehouse in Paris. Sam (Robert De Niro), an .. Read more
| Starring | Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Jonathan Pryce, Natascha McElhone |
|---|---|
| Director | John Frankenheimer |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, Thriller |
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Ronin
David Mamet wrote this screenplay under the name Richard Weisz, as a gun for hire, much like the masterless samurai of the film's title, who roamed Japan in the 19th century, loyal only to themselves. A group of men with highly developed skills are called to a meeting in a deserted warehouse in Paris. Sam (Robert De Niro), an American, may be ex-CIA. Vincent (Jean Reno), the terminally cool Frenchman, is a mystery. Russian computer whiz Gregor (Stellan Skarsgaard) is presumably ex-KGB, and Spence (Sean Bean), a British demolitions man, and Larry (Skipp Suddith), another American, round out the team. They've been hired by the IRA, through liaison Deirdre (Natascha McElhone), to steal a briefcase of unknown contents somewhere in Europe. As the unit races from one spectacular location on the French Riviera to another, the Tec-9 reigns, the body count mounts, some Russian gangsters get into the act, and the betrayals come fast and furious. In a rare comic moment, Sam stitches up his own bullet wound, an act of tongue-in-cheek Hemingwayism, and asks a friend to finish before he passes out. RONIN features an exceptional cast, sumptuous locations, and the kind of realistic, high-coefficient-of-adversity car chases and action scenes that one expects from a director of John Frankenheimer's skills.
| Starring | Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Jonathan Pryce, Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgard, Sean Bean, Katarina Witt, Stellan Skarsgård |
|---|---|
| Director | John Frankenheimer |
| Studio | MGM ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 2 hrs Blu-ray: 2 hrs |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, Thriller |
| Language | English |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Subtitles | English |
| Released | DVD: 01 Feb 2000 Blu-ray: 24 Dec 2007 Production year: 1998 |
| Format | DVD |
Ronin (1998)
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Critics' reviews (6)
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This deliberately retro thriller from director John Frankenheimer resembles a 1970s European espionage caper in atmosphere and style, and bounds along at a cracking pace. While the action is engrossing, there's also a sobering political slant as Robert De Niro travels to Paris to join an international gang of criminals (including the always watchable Jean Reno) who have been hired by Irish revolutionary Natascha McElhone to steal an important briefcase. No excuse is missed for a frenzied car chase in the Bullitt tradition, or the chance to add a menacing hard edge to the deliciously convoluted plot. By the way, the word “ronin” is taken from a Japanese legend about 47 samurai who avenge the killing of their master then commit mass suicide.
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"...An extraordinary cast of actors, all on the same formidable wavelength, match wits most impressively....Mr. De Niro shows off a brooding, hard-guy panache with its own brand of international appeal..."
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Most helpful member's review
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10 out of 11 people found this review helpful
Twists and turns - not only the cars!
Excellent film, I always reckon that DeNiro never makes a bad film.
Absorbing plot, incredible car chases, characters really come to life.
Great film. -
Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Va Va Vroom
Set in Paris, Ronin is an action thriller following a group of ex-government agents brought together to recover a mysterious briefcase - and the treachery and mistrust that splinters them apart.
The ensemble cast includes Robert De Niro, Jonathan Pryce, Jean Reno and Sean Bean. De Niro gives his standard quiet-on-the-surface but lots-going-on-underneath performance. His ex-CIA agent is ultra-resourceful with razor-sharp instincts - like James Bond but without the GSOH. His talents range from supervising the surgical removal of a bullet from his own abdomen to blending, chameleon-like, into the Parisian streets by sporting a beret. In contrast, Sean Bean plays against type as an odious SAS wannabe and the result is an enjoyably loathsome character.
Ronin has a string of well executed set pieces for De Niro and his dwindling group to contend with and there is always a sense that something is about to happen. Crucially, for an action film, Ronin avoids being episodic and flows easily from the first scene to the last – although the film does threaten to sag when it explains the significance of the “Ronin” in order to add a needless air of romantic tragedy to its characters.
But then there are the car chases. Conventional Hollywood wisdom states that a good car chase means hurtling along freeways causing maximum destruction. Ronin shows that it’s far more exciting to hurtle through narrow back streets causing minimum destruction with some exhilarating, millimetre-perfect driving. Why do European car chases always look more dangerous than American ones?
If you can look beyond some dubious Irish accents, Ronin is a robust, well-paced and entertaining thriller. -
News and features
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McQueen's Bullitt takes poll position on car chase movie list
- 30 Mar 2009
Steve Mcqueen's race through the streets of San Francisco, California in Bullitt has topped another poll to find the Best Car Chase Movie. The late icon's heroics at the wheel turned the 1968 film into an instant classic - and now Bullitt has beaten 1998's Ronin and the original Italian Job (1969) as the best action-packed motor movie of all time on AOL Autos new list. The top 10 also includes Cannonball Run, Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof, cult classics French Connection and Vanishing Point... Read more
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David Mamet wrote this screenplay under the name Richard Weisz, as a gun for hire, much like the masterless samurai of the film's title, who roamed Japan in the 19th century, loyal only to themselves.... -
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Ronin
David Mamet wrote this screenplay under the name Richard Weisz, as a gun for hire, much like the masterless samurai of the film's title, who roamed Japan in the 19th century, loyal only to themselves. A group of men with highly developed skills are called to a meeting in a deserted warehouse in ...
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