In a world where loyalties are easily abandoned and allegiances can be bought, a new and deadlier terrorist threat has emergedfree agent killers! Featuring "high-octane action" (Gene Shalit, "Today"), a "first-rate cast" (L.A. Daily News) and exhilarating car chases that "are nothing short of sensational" (The New York Times), Ronin is "the real deal in action fireworks" (Rolling Stone) directed by "a master of intelligent thrillers" (Roger Ebert). The Cold War may be over, but a new world order keeps a group of covert mercenaries employed by the highest bidder. These operatives, known as "Ronin," are assembled in France by a mysterious client for a seemingly routine mission: steal a top-secret briefcase. But the simple task soon proves explosive asother underworld organizations vie for the same prize...and to get the job done, the members of Ronin must do something they've never done beforetrust each other!
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
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Wait for February 24, 2009:
DO NOT BUY THIS EDITION OF RONIN. Just wait a few more weeks for February 24, 2009, the official U.S. blu-ray version of this movie is going to be release. I do not know why Amazon has not updated their website to pre-order this movie considering that you can do so online with Best Buy, Circuit City, and Frys. So just wait, do not buy this one, plus the new and official U.S. version is about half the price of what Amazon is currently selling this edition at. Again, just wait for February 24, 2009.
There are Six Good Reasons to Experience Ronin.:
Written by David Mamet (Glengarry Glen Ross) (credited in the film as "Richard Weisz") and directed by John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate), Ronin stars Robert De Niro and Jean Reno as two of five mercenaries hired an IRA liason named Deirdre (Natascha McElhone) to intercept a mysterious, heavily-guarded briefcase before it falls into the hands of Russian mobsters. The film's title is derived from the Japanese word, "rônin" ("drifting person"), a samurai without a master, who is motivated... more info
FROM JAPAN/ japan verson:
this is here because of amazon japan do not buy just wait it out. if you are into hong kong movies then wait for a brittish relese of mad detective, as most hong kong blurays are watermarked. most of the time blurays of american films not relesed here but someweres els are of low quality nuliffing the gold brick price because in the end its just a pice of plastic with code on it. all good things come to those who wait for r1
If this is the Japanese release, tread carefully.:
Judging from the specs (Japanese/English subs and language) and the cover art (English text but no BBFC rating stamp the way a UK release would have), it looks like this might be the Japanese BD release of 'Ronin,' which has been out for a little while now. I bought it myself for about the same price as this, and I've got to tell you that you may not find it worth it. It's one of Fox's earlier MPEG-2 transfers and looks like most Fox movies of that vintage--slightly gray, slightly fuzzy. It's still a leap... more info
