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Ronin (Widescreen/Full Screen)
 
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Ronin (Widescreen/Full Screen)

Robert De Niro (Actor), Jean Reno (Actor), John Frankenheimer (Director) | Rated: R (Restricted) | Format: DVD
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (262 customer reviews)

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Product Description

Amazon.com Essential Video

Robert De Niro stars as an American intelligence operative adrift in irrelevance since the end of the Cold War--much like a masterless samurai, a.k.a. "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 centerpiece 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

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Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
Great action, great dialogue Sep 12 2003
Format:DVD
I'm still not quite sure why David Mamet used a pseudonym in the credits, but the movie absolutely drips with his rhythms of speech. It complements the action well, otherwise the movie would be a bore outside of the car chases. The unique element is the band of mercenaries who cannot trust each other long enough to complete their mission. The cast is great: De Niro and Jonathan Pryce are Mamet veterans. Jean Reno is quite at home playing the Jean Reno character. Natasha McElhone is painfully beautiful, and one of the most capable actresses working today. She more than holds her own with the boys. But the movie's greatest strength isn't the actors or Mamet's hypnotic chit-chat, but Frankenheimer's car chases, which are "au natural". Nobody working with digital effects has generated the same level of excitement and realism, no matter what genre. The European locations are great, the cars are great, and the characters are well-rounded. Oh, and we've got a suitcase filled with who-knows-what, a la "Pulp Fiction."
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Post Cold War Samurai Soldiers Jan 6 2003
Format:DVD
"Ronin", is for everyone who enjoys Robert DeNiro, a great spy tale, a host of great supporting actors, and some of the more amazing car chases filmed on Europe's very narrow, pre-automotive designed streets. The word Ronin describes a Samurai who has lost his master, and in this film, the word serves as a metaphor for cold warriors that no longer have the same Cold War to fight. The threats are not gone only changed, so the great games that have played host to a variety of films and movies are still available to talented writers and directors who can adapt.

A great deal of the action takes place at high speed on either very narrow urban roads, or wildly twisting mountain stretches that lack the same manner of safety barriers we are accustomed to in The USA, that make the chase scenes all the more amazing. The director and other key players who made the film have racing backgrounds which allowed them to bring a type of realism that goes beyond the typical Hollywood chase.

Jean Reno, Natascha Mcelhone, Stellan Skarsgard, Sean Bean, and Jonathan Pryce all make for a wonderful ensemble cast. The chase is for a case, and the cast that is assembled are allegedly a team in the hunt for a box that no one knows the contents of. The traditional players like the Russians are involved, the CIA, and then the new Russians along with the Irish, and members of agencies that either are active or are not, you never know until the film ends. And even when it does, the DVD offers an alternate ending that changes in a very dramatic manner how the film you just watched concluded.

"Ronin", is a very good film, a definite cut above the average, and well worth the one minute and two hours of your time it will occupy.

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Ronin Mar 12 2001
Format:DVD
Intelligent well-crafted espionage adventure about several ex-cold-war operatives hired as mercenaries to steal a mysterious package for an unidentified terrorist faction. The international cast is top-notch with Robert DeNiro, Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgard, Sean Bean and Jonathan Pryce. The story takes place in France and provides a nice departure from most action movies that are dominated by American locations.

The mercenary team is DeNiro, Reno, Skarsgard and Bean, ex-military or government employees who have been assembled though secret contacts to acquire the package for an organization with ties to the IRA. The job is dangerous in that they must take the item from an organized crime element. They are successful, but in the midst of the ambush operation, Skarsguard as the ex-KGB agent, suddenly makes off with the prize. Several double-dealing events unfold and DeNiro and Reno soon find themselves alone as the only trusting partners in the ordeal, and begin digging up old government contacts to find their betrayers. It's high adventure with plenty of fireworks and car chases, particularly the chase in Paris that's a white-knuckle ride when the pursuit goes against traffic on one of the major expressways.

An excellent action thriller that doesn't insult your intelligence.

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Most recent customer reviews
A Very Underrated Movie
Bobby DeNiro, enough said. This a great, yet underrated heist movie with one heck of a char chase scene.
Published on Feb 27 2006 by Keith Friesen
meh
this was kind of dissapointing, but i had pretty high expectations. it didn't really do anything wrong, but dispite a lot of action, it wasn't the most interesting movie.
Published on July 12 2004 by "thmnshw4"
Gorilla of a Thrilla'
Spy flick, GREAT CAR CHASE... I think Car and Driver rated the chase scene as an all time best.
Published on Jun 5 2004 by Jorge Barbarosa
On solitude, camaraderie, and good moviemaking.
A mystery man summons a group of mercenaries, mostly has-beens of the grand spy game. What follows? Naturally: lead is flying, the tires are burned by former Formula 1 drivers, and... Read more
Published on April 15 2004 by "barocco44"
Life at the Red Line
Forget about deep philosophical elaborations: this movie is mostly about car chases. This is not a criticism, because these are the best car chases in any movie. Read more
Published on Mar 10 2004 by Filippo Neri
The Warrior Code.
There's a centuries-old unwritten code shared by all members of the "warrior" class; soldiers, policemen, secret service operatives and other members of security forces old and new... Read more
Published on Feb 22 2004 by Themis-Athena
Scenic intelligent action movie--very underrated
This is one of the smartest, most exciting action movies I've seen in years. The car chases are amazing, the plot is very interesting, and the acting is first-rate. Read more
Published on Feb 5 2004
A samurai without a master
Robert De Niro plays the ronin (a masterless samurai), a US spy who feels superfluous with the end of the Cold War. Read more
Published on Feb 1 2004 by Peggy Vincent
So, what's in the case?
"Ronin" is an incredibly rare film these days, a white-knuckle action ride that makes you think, and doesn't insult your intelligence. Read more
Published on Jan 19 2004 by Paul Fogarty
best driving scenes ever
This film has the best ultra high speed pursuits I've ever seen on film. Bullit, Vaninshing Point, French Connection all taken exponentially higher. Read more
Published on Dec 12 2003
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