Ronin

1998 "Anyone is an enemy for a price."
7.2| 2h2m| R| en| More Info
Released: 25 September 1998 Released
Producted By: United Artists
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

A briefcase with undisclosed contents – sought by Irish terrorists and the Russian mob – makes its way into criminals' hands. An Irish liaison assembles a squad of mercenaries, or 'ronin', and gives them the thorny task of recovering the case.

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grantss Better than your average action-thriller. Stylish, though plot is unnecessarily complicated. Action is overdone towards the end. Entertaining, nevertheless.
paid in full This movie is solid. The actors, especially Deniro, Reno, Natasha and Sean all play their role to perfection. A well written action movie in France. You will have to pay close attention to the dialogue and its subtext to fully understand the movie. Of course it is not perfect and yet I have watched it several times.
Predrag Ronin is well in compliance with this statute. It features two breathtaking car chases (one in Nice, the other in Paris) that demonstrate good old-fashioned stunt driving at its best. The one with two cars going the wrong way down a busy freeway has to be seen to be believed. One of my favorite moments occurs at this point, when a passenger in one of the cars nonchalantly decides it's well past time to buckle up the old seat belt. Ronin is something of a throw-back to spy thrillers that used to take themselves seriously and didn't wink at the audience or indulge in comic book style action. The story unfolds at a good pace with some interesting twists and turns along the way. The action may be occasional and brief, but as with the rest of the film is well done. It also features one of the classic car chases in film through the streets of Paris.However, it quickly hits 6th gear for the finale featuring a thoroughly menacing Jonathan Pryce. Special mention to a great supporting cast: Stellan Skarsgard, Natasha McElhone and even Sean Bean, who plays the fool of the piece for the brief time he's in the film very well indeed. All in all, Ronin's a solid action thriller. It loses something in the plot and a few details seem to be skipped over quickly but this makes the film fast paced and action packed. The 2 hours will pass all too quickly..Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
NateWatchesCoolMovies John Frankenheimer's Ronin is a sleek, smashing good spy flick from the mid 90's that features a killer cast of actors, a terse, palm sweating narrative and one of my favourite, and best car chase sequences ever put on celluloid. The setting: post cold war Europe, the paranoia dying into a dull roar, and previously employed spooks from various backgrounds now find themselves outcasts with no direction to turn in, no higher power to guide their every clandestine move. Several of these individuals work as mercenaries, stealing.g whatever they can for whoever will hire them at whatever price. They include vague, enigmatic Sam (Robert Deniro), Vincente (Jean Reno), feisty Irish Deidre (ever gorgeous and underrated Natasha Macelhone), slightly sinister Gregor (excellent Stellan Skarsgard) and Spence (a twitchy Sean Bean). "You ever kill anybody?" Spence naively asks Sam. "I hurt someone's feelings once", Sam dryly intones. Such is the blanket of deception the characters are steeped in, each one not knowing the history of their peers, who will be allies and who will slit their throat first chance they get. They are tasked with stealing a mysterious briefcase, the contents of which we never see, a plot twist which any thriller with class benefits from choosing. Off they go, on a merry chase across Europe, double crossing, killing and dodging each other to advance one step ahead towards an empty goal that they themselves may not have a clue about. The cast also displays nice work from Jonathan Pryce, Skipp Sudduth and Michael Lonsdale in asly turn, reminding us that he appeared in another excellent spy flick the generation before, The Day Of The Jackal. The title ties into the forty seven Ronin of ancient Japan, exiled warriors who share the fate of the lost combatants we see here. It's a fine tuned exercise in suspense, espionage and intelligent entertainment that sees the troupe careening through the narrow streets of picturesque French city Nice in compact cars that could quickly become coffins, navigating a clinical assassination attempt in a Russian ice rink, and all kinds of intrigue in between. The actors all inhabit their roles with a weary, going through the motions quality that amps up the realism by being laid back, a nice touch which makes the high octane aspects pop all the more. Low key goes a long way in ratcheting up tension, as demonstrated nicely by this classic cloak and dagger entry that many thrillers these days could learn a thing or two from.