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Ronin [Blu-ray] [1998]


RRP: £22.99
Our Price: £14.08 (subject to change)

Editorial
Product Description

Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, Sean Bean, Jonathan Pryce

Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Robert De Niro stars as an American intelligence operative adrift in irrelevance since the end of the Cold War--much like a masterless samurai, aka "ronin". With his services for sale, he joins a renegade, international team of fellow covert warriors with nothing but time on their hands. Their mission, as defined by the woman who hires them (Natascha McElhone), is to get hold of a particular suitcase that is equally coveted by the Russian mafia and Irish terrorists. As the scheme gets underway, De Niro's lone wolf strikes up a rare friendship with his French counterpart (Jean Reno), gets into a more-or-less romantic frame of mind with McElhone and asserts his experience on the planning and execution of the job--going so far as to publicly humiliate one team member (Sean Bean) who is clearly out of his league. The story is largely unremarkable--there's an obligatory twist midway through that changes the nature of the team's business--but legendary filmmaker John Frankenheimer (Seconds, The Manchurian Candidate) leaps at the material, bringing to it an honest tension and seasoned, breathtaking skill with precision-action direction. The centrepiece of the movie is an honest-to-God car chase that is the real thing: not the how-can-we-top-the-last-stunt cartoon nonsense of Richard Donner (Lethal Weapon) but a pulse-quickening, kinetic dance of superb montage and timing. In a sense, Ronin is almost Frankenheimer's self-quoting version of a John Frankenheimer film.There isn't anything here he hasn't done before but it's sure great to see it all again. --Tom Keogh
Editorial
Synopsis

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.

Lies, Cons And The Case
Review date: 2008-03-13 Rating: 8 out of 10

Ronin is, in my opinion, is John Frankenheimer's best film - even picked up a few awards along the way. Robert De Nero's take on Sam is excellent, and even Sean Bean does well in this, as the crazy gun toting Spence. The star of the movie has to be Natascha McElhone as Deirdre; desperate to get that case no matter what. Was really pleased to see Jean Reno in this, his French flair being a centrepiece.

If you don't know what Ronin is about then prepare for a whirlwind plot, dodgy plans and wasted opportunities (by the gang, not direction), oh and probably the best car chases I've seen in the 90s. The best one being in Paris, closely followed by the one in Nice.

The film has a lot of twists and turns, and is a pleasure to watch, with De Nero, Reno and Bean this is an all star cast, with a great landscape and storyline.

The blu-ray is a total let down, only the film and the trailer is included. This is a joke as the Definitive Edition has an alternative ending, so why can't this BD? After all, it's only a 2hr film, and it's in MPEG-2 running at a steady 20Mbps - AVC would have been so much better. The uncompressed PCM is a blessing though, and it's commendable of Fox to use it. I would have liked MORE extras though, they should have included them no matter what definition they were in. The alternative ending is as good as the original, some have even argued better, so why oh why did they omit it?

Not a very good BD, if you have a passion for this film, then get it, it's all you could ask for movie wise. Otherwise if you want extras, and are not fussed about HD then do get the Definitive Edition, which is nearly a tenner cheaper and richer in content. The difference between the two transfer wise is noticeable, but only to the avid eye, and the sound is obviously better on blu-ray.

4/5 for the film, 2/5 for the blu-ray extras, 4/5 for HD transfer.

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Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Jonathan Pryce
Jean Reno
Robert De Niro
Natascha McElhone
Stellan Skarsgard

Creators:
Robert De Niro (Primary Contributor)
Jean Reno (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: MGM Entertainment
Manufacturer: MGM Entertainment
EAN: 5039036033718
Binding: Blu-ray
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, PAL,
Release date: 2007-12-24
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Running time: 120 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1998
Language: English (Original Language)

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