Ronin

The DVD was exactly as advertised - good condition, reasonably priced and delivered on time. Excellent !Misty Mountain Hop Shop did a very good job !

John Frankenheimer didn't have a lot of credibility in his last few years. His final film was the rather crap Reindeer Games, with Ben Affleck, and in 1996 he gave us the utterly terrible Island Of Doctor Moreau. However, he did do Ronin in 1998, which makes up for absolutely everything.It is a detachment from glossy, MTV-directed, Hollywood action movies. If you want trash, like Bad Boys 2, then this isn't for you. Ronin returns to the gritty, rustic and deadly serious actioners of the Seventies, much like Frankenheimer's own French Connection 2.The title refers to Samurai warriors in ancient Japan who were left with no cause, or purpose, if their master was killed. They'd roam the countryside, pretending to be thieves, beggars, even madmen and hiring their skills out to the highest bidder. Much like the lost, wandering freelancers that make up our cast of characters.Robert De Niro is Sam, an ex-CIA agent (or is he?), who bands together with a ragtag group of similar ex-spies for a "no questions asked" job with what appears to be the IRA. First we have Vincent (the wonderful Jean Reno), as a French agent who knows where to find just about anything you want. Spence (Sean Bean) is a gung-ho SAS dropout who is waaaaay out of his depth and ends up jeopardizing the whole mission. Gregor (Stellan Skarsgard), an ex-KGB spy who knows his gadgets and another American called Larry (who is rather disposable). All of these men are led by Deirdre (Natascha McElhone), a young Irish woman who answers to Seamus O'Rourke (Jonathan Price), an IRA boss who is in a lot of trouble with his superiors.Still with me? No? Well I'm gonna continue anyway. The group's mission is to steal a metallic briefcase from the Russian Mafia. The contents of this case are a mystery; all we know is that a lot of people are willing to pay mucho plento to get their hands on it.As if the set-up wasn't tenuous enough, there is immediately too much suspicion within the group to bear. And the already complicated plot is thrown into endless chaos as double-crosses, double-double-crosses, secrets and lies screw things up in a big, big way.It sounds tough going, but it's not really. I'll admit I didn't really like Ronin when I first saw it (or the second or third for that matter), but it's one of those movies that creeps back on you. Frankenheimer's direction is so flawless and masterful that every frame of every scene flows effortlessly The acting is so well rehearsed and the cast so well chosen that even in every gesture, idiosyncrasy and subtle glance you can read into the characters' hidden motives. It takes a good number of viewings to decipher Ronin, but when the story is this well done, who cares? Since its release there have been few action films that have come close to its intensity. Some, like Bourne Identity/Supremacy try to emulate its bleak tone, but don't match up. Supremacy has a car chase that was desperate to beat Ronin's, but is far too flashy.That's also the ace up it's sleeve. About 80 minutes into the film, the second car chase is a juggernaut of film-making. Never before and probably never again for a long, long time, has there been a car chase so completely mental. No Michael Bay 1000 cuts a second, no slow-motion, no stunts silhouetted against the sunset, just sheer, relentless adrenaline, as DeNiro and Reno tear up the streets of Paris. It's the centerpiece of the movie and a perfect example of what REAL action film-making is.Elia Cmiral's score is the other utterly perfect aspect of the movie. Simultaneously lonely, seductive and mysterious, it surely is one of the best themes ever and anyone with sense would go out and buy the soundtrack CD right away.Ronin is perfection from beginning to end, from Frankenheimer's strong, imposing direction to David Mamet's script, riddled with cryptic dialogue and double-meanings.No one can deny Ronin's importance as a real action picture. No one can watch crap like xXx, or 6 Fast 6 Furious, and claim Ronin to be a bad movie. It has enough, maybe too much, integrity and intelligence to shame anything that comes even halfway close. If you're sick of action flicks, or films in general, where the audience just sits there passively and is fed information, then Ronin is the cure.It may sound like a bizarre comparison, but it's on par with Lost Highway, as one of those movies you have to figure out in your own damn time.The Blu Ray looks merely okay with a 1080p transfer. The film was shot in Super 35 (the credits incorrectly claim anamorphic Panavision) and was intended to look drab and miserable, so it's hard to fault the transfer. The DTS HD-MA sound design is loud and aggressive. There are no extras, which is stupid considering they already existed. Even the 1999 DVD had a Frankenheimer commentary!

Ronin is to spy thrillers what Heat is to crime thrillers. John Frankenheimer's last great movie before his death. This is a wonderfully constructed film with amazing car chases. I can't praise the film enough.

"Whenever there is any doubt, there is no doubt. That's the first thing they teach you.""Who taught you?""I don't remember. That's the second thing they teach you."Ronin is undoubtedly John Frankenheimer's final masterpiece. Here is a film that stands out from the majority of the other large-scale productions that surrounded it in its day. Looking back on it now, a decade has passed since I saw this at the theatre although it sure doesn't feel like it at all. 1998 was a high-water mark year for film, unfortunately this film wasn't recognized at all during its release because of the heavy competition. But there was an initial buzz generated about the level of skill concerning the car chase scenes and was another vehicle for the much loved Jean Reno.Ronin has an old world, classic film feel to it. It hits you from the first moments with the headshakingly unnecessary on-screen text of the story of the 47 Ronin, to the slowly fading in of the music, the gothic titles, the low lit café and sullen look on Robert DeNiro's face that seems to be locked in place. Leading the viewer to believe that the protagonist Sam, is sizing up the French Café when the films begins so he can either gun everyone down, or select a target, is the first of a thousand twists to the plot that get unwound, one by one, as the film progresses. David Mamet, who ghost wrote the screenplay and probably thought that it would be a clever idea to go left - each and every time you thought he was about to go right. A lot of negative things can be said about Ronin, but being predictable is not one of them.The dialogue and the interplay between DeNiro and Reno is absolutely believable and the best part the film. Cigarette smoke seems to rise into the air from almost every surface, unshaved faces are peering out from every corner and middle-aged, out-of-work Intelligence Operatives chew on the meager remains of base and amateur criminal activity. DeNiro sleeps in his clothes, Jean Reno chain smokes and looks like he hasn't had a sober day in a lustrum. Ambushing Sean Bean (a guy with probably the most annoying name ever, playing one of the most annoying characters ever) with a cup of coffee is one of my favourite scenes."What's the colour of the boathouse at Hereford?"The downfall of Ronin is the downfall that is seen in other movies. The same is attempted in Untamed Heart and also fails just as badly. When any film introduces important characters way-too late in the game, works out the final resolution at a sports event, or employ thuggish looking Russians wearing matching tracksuits and gold chains is usually just too much. Frankenheimer jumped the shark tank here when he introduced the figure-skating angle. Maybe they thought: "Hey, this is cool. It's like the terror at the Munich Games in 1972." The problem with that is, is that most people don't remember "the terror", or they just don't remember the situation at all, so the suspense is completely lost and the scene is too jarring and comes across as out of place. For this portion of the film, it becomes the perfect candidate for a fan edit at faneditdotcom and a deletion of the last twenty-five minutes.As a short aside that might only be important to die hard U2 fans, such as myself, on the album Pop, which came out the year previous, track eight is a song titled "Miami". This song, according to Bono, was written while he was hanging around on set of Ronin. The lyric "What's he got inside the case?" is a direct reference to this film and not Pulp Fiction as previously suggested in a few other reviews of the album on Amazon. Just a piece of trivia, that's all.Below I've made a short list of some of the films that came out in 1998. 98 was definitely a good year in cinema, and for the movies that I listed, I probably could've listed several more.The Big LebowskiDark CityFear and Loathing in Las VegasThere's Something About MarySaving Private RyanJohn Carpenter's VampiresWaking Ned DevineShakespeare in LoveRushmore"You think you can stitch me up on your own?If you don't mind, I'm gonna pass out."

A classic in my book the cast the story telling the Score.The 4K looks beautifulSound quality is great highly recommend it

Item as described, no issues. Fast delivery!

De Niro at his best! This movie is well paced, plenty of action and one of the best car chases in cinematic history! Highly recommended!