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Ronin | Year: 1998 Classification: Action Directed: - John Frankenheimer Actors/Actresses: - Robert De Niro - Jean Reno - Natascha McElhone - Sean Bean Should have been better...but worth seeing once You'd think the combination of Robert DeNiro and action/thriller director John Frankenheimer ("Grand Prix," "Seven Days in May," "The Manchurian Candidate") would give audiences a thrill ride to remember. Unfortunately, that's not the case. A potentially intriguing idea falls short of real satisfaction. In the post Cold War era, former agents, smugglers, spies, mercenaries and the like stay in business by selling their services to anyone who needs a job done discreetly and quietly-with no questions asked. Like the masterless samurai of old (hence the title), these individuals are men and women without a country, with no ties and often no loyalties. A loose group of mercenaries--American, Irish, French, etc--is offered substantial money to transport a briefcase--contents unknown--to a client. But other seek to capture the briefcase, and there may be treachery in the group's midst. There's really no character development, mostly short snippets of personal information that's supposed to pass for substance and motivation (although money motivates them all), and there's not much story to fill the spaces between some truly hair-raising and dynamic car chases (a Frankenheimer specialty; see "Grand Prix"). The performances aren't bad, with DeNiro making his character moderately interesting. The always welcome (and often underused and underrated) French actor Jean Reno provides the best performance, giving his character a certain cocky confidence. A few other action segments may hold a viewer's interest, and there are a couple of twists near the end. (Sharp observors may see them coming, though.) But there's so little else to hold the film together that one may become bored waiting for the next chase or shootout. Ultimately, "Ronin" disappoints, though there's enough Good action movie, but there is almost no plot! Ronin, directed by John Frankenheimer, may not be his best movie, but it still delivers the action that most people today would want in a movie like this. Ronin's plot is very simple. It's basically about a group of mercenaries that are being paid to find a case. That's about it. There are many plot twists and turns as the loyalty of some of the mercenaries turns from good to bad. The action is well filmed. There are 2 very exciting car chases and numerous shootouts throughout the movie. There is also a lot of different cities and towns (all in France) that the mercenaries travel to. So by the end of the movie, it'll feel like you've just watched a huge 3-hour epic when you've only watched a 2-hour movie. The acting is great. Robert DeNiro, Jean Reno, Jonathan Pryce, Stellan Skarsgard, and Sean Bean all give outstanding performances. The DVD is OK. It has a nice commentary by John Frankenheimer, an alternate ending, (which isn't that different from the original ending.) and a little booklet that chronicles the making of the film. It also comes in widescreen AND fullscreen formats. All in all, it's a pretty good action movie with great action sequences/car chases and breathtaking cinematography, but the plot falls short. Even the pretty good acting can't save that. 1998; 121 minutes; Rated R for intense scenes of action/violence and strong language. 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. Buy Ronin at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Ronin Search with the Priority Search Engine on Ronin This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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