Ronin [Blu-ray]

Ronin [Blu-ray]
by John Frankenheimer

Ronin [Blu-ray]
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Blu-ray details

Actor: Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, Robert De Niro, Sean Bean, Stellan Skarsgård
Director: John Frankenheimer
Brand: Sony
Blu-ray: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); Cantonese (Subtitled); Korean (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language); French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 121 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: 2009-02-24
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Product features:
  • Condition: New
  • Format: Blu-ray
  • AC-3; Color; Dolby; DTS Surround Sound; Dubbed; Subtitled; Widescreen

Blu-ray Reviews of Ronin [Blu-ray]

Blu-ray Review: "...If You Don't Mind...I'm Gonna Pass Out Now..."
Summary: 4 Stars

*** BLU RAY REVIEW ***

For the first 20 minutes of John Frankenheimer's 1998 brilliant chase movie, you look at the BLU RAY box and wonder where the hell is the improvement? At the time they made it, they weren't of course thinking about future formats and their picture quality exposing limitations - they were just thinking about getting the mood right and setting up the plot. Filmed in a dark alley and then a dim French cafe at night, and staying there for quite a while - the opening clarity isn't great and I find that the BLU RAY format only accentuates this - the deficiencies of indoor lighting. But once you get to the daytime scenes that follow, then the fabulous city locations after that and especially to the close-up shots of the actor's faces, things improve dramatically.

And like that other genius caper movie of the Nineties "The Usual Suspects", not only could you not pay for such a stunning and diverse cast now - "Ronin" has admirably stood the test of time. It bears repeated viewing which of course makes it ideal BLU RAY replacement-fodder.

For the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed the picture improvements - Nastasha McElhone's gorgeously huge eyes - De Niro's mole - Jean Reno's stubble - Sean Bean's sweaty brow - it's all there and amplified. And those fantastic car-chases that "Bourne" surely aped... There's even an unintentionally funny moment when Stellan Skarsgard is in his car with a gun and silencer about to trade the silver case to some dodgy type - you can see the lipstick accentuating his lips - its looks comical. And then that famous De Niro scene where he instructs Michael Lonsdale and Jean Reno to surgically remove a Teflon-laced bullet from his stomach without anaesthetic so he can remain conscious throughout and direct them properly - is just priceless (the title of this review is the dialogue De Niro speaks after the operation is over).

But as other reviewers have noted, the big let down is the lack of extras - and especially the absence of the startling brutal alternative ending where Natasha McElhone's Belfast character 'Deirdre' is involved - it's missing - and many thought it a better ending than the one used in cinema's.

And worse than that - there's no insights? I mean if ever a film deserved commentaries and a more than a few making-of features - then it's "Ronin".

Still - a great film - now visually improved - and as wicked a movie as you remember it.

Despite its bare-bones presentation - it's recommended.
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Description of Ronin [Blu-ray]

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
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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