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Ronin vs. Taxi (Fr. 1998)

Many comments are about the great car chasing. I have seen a better movie with car chases, that is also located in France: Taxi. (You have to see this one when you get the chance.) Taxi has ‘real French actors' and a better plot unless you like only-action-movies. Great actors though, in Ronin. The movie kept tempo all the time, was exciting and definitely not boring.As for the title, I read somewhere that the agents were named this way because of the similarity with the ronin that also had lost their master. Hence the miniature-ronin-maker in the film.

DeNiro Shines Again

Finally, Hollywood makes an action-adventure film that is worth seeing. DeNiro shine through as a true action hero. The story is believable and not over-the-top, and the car chase scenes will leave you on the edge of your seat! Do yourself a favor and watch "Ronin" to see how an action film should be done.

An exciting film with tour de force performances by De Niro & Jean Reno…

The movie begins with a bunch of international mercenaries, five to be exact, gathering in a bistro in Paris… Working only for money, their job was strictly to take intact a metal suitcase from several men—very well armed— who'll be intent on preventing them… No information was given about its contents, value or purpose… An extraordinary cast of actors forms the group:Robert De Niro, the ex-CIA agent and expert strategist; Jean Reno, the French mercenary; Stellan Skarsgard, the mysterious computer professional; Sean Bean, the ace field man; and Skipp Sudduth, the specialist in driving getaway cars… Dierdre (Natascha McElhone) is the icy Irishwoman who explains the mission, but she is not necessarily the one fully in charge… It seems that the 'handler' who pulls the strings is an Irish fugitive called Seamus (Jonathan Pryce). The film becomes tense and very exciting when one of the five members double-crosses the rest of the team, replacing the suitcase and leaving with the one they got… Here appears a mysterious man— apparently in love with Natacha Kirilova played by Katarina Witt, the East German figure skater, 4-time world champion—interested in the suitcase… "Ronin" combines exotic European locations with the most sophisticated movie car chase ever filmed on a superhighway when McElhone takes her black BMW through the wrong lanes followed by De Niro in a blue FWD Peugeot… De Niro is great to watch as the tough Sam, who remains cool regardless of the peril of the operation… Equally not susceptible to alarm are Skarsgard and Reno… Natascha McElhone brings a chilling, glacial quality to the role of the forceful woman not afraid of anything… Frankenheimer doesn't recapture the intensity he once created in movies like "The Manchurian Candidate," and the "French Connection"

yay

This is a film which exceeds all expectations, with a clever plot which improves with multiple viewings, one of the few films to do so. And the car chases are sooooo fantastic. Anyone who falls asleep in this film should rreturn to their [blah] disney films with a plot for their mental age, 'cos this is obviously too complicated for them. Even with the main characters being Irish this does not hamper the plot or decrease the viewability. Thsi is one film you MUST see.

Where's the director's commentary?

This movie is great. The lack of director's commentary is frustrating. The commentary made the DVD worth watching multiple times. Anyway, at least it isn't dubbed and at least you can take the subtitles off, unlike the In Bruges import I just bought that seems to not have working special features.

Great movie! Intense action and driving stunts.

This movie has a lot of action and mystery. Great established characters and each time you watch it you find something new about it. The Directors commentary feature of the DVD is awesome to learn how they did the stunts with the actual actors in the cars. Its a must have DVD.

Thrilling from start to finish

Ronin is not your typical CIA spy movie ala James Bond, it's actually realistic. Maybe that's what hurt this movie with some reviewers and at the box office. What we get with Ronin is a serious spy/action movie of that genre that brings together a ragtag group of mercenaries who are hired to retrieve a briefcase at any cost. What's inside the briefcase? Well, we never know. But who cares, really? It's not about that really. It's about the suspense, espionage, and double-crossing this movie brings to life in the streets of France. This is probably how hired contracts are actually drawn up and executed in the real world. When a superpower wants a piece of information, this is how they go about getting it. But who can you trust? Absolutely no one.


What steals the show in this movie more than the overall plot, is by far the car chase scenes on the streets of France. I believe Ronin to have the best car chase scene to date. I haven't seen one to come close yet. Obviously the streets have been closed off and the cars are driven by stunt drivers, but you will be at the edge of your seat at a car chase that comes pretty close to 10 minutes in length. How these guys managed to pull it off is amazing. Kudos to those stuntmen. Hair-pinning turns at disastrous speeds absolutely draw you into the action. While some of the acting may lack just that, you have to remember that real-life mercs are probably just like that. Stoic, secret, and plain. That's how they get the job done. Overall an excellent thriller of a movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat. De Niro is top notch as well. He can sell any role. 4 stars

Guns, cars, guns, cars

If you are a really big fan of gun battles and really, REALLY enjoy fast car chases through European streets, look no further...this is your moobie. One warning though: The first half may render you unconscious. Just have some coffee and wait it out. The second half won't bore you.

A simply appalling waste of talent

A great cast squandered on a movie with a hair-thin script and plot line. Save yourself the trouble and watch anything else available in the video store... A Barney movie would be more entertaining.

Ronin

Worth watching for the car chases alone, good film, cracking pace, great acting, you can see where they got the ideas for the "Bourne" series watching this, another Jean Reno must see!

Robert DeNiro: International Man of Mystery?

Robert DeNiro is best known for playing simple yet significantpeople, like a knife salesman ("The Fan"), a taxi driver ("TaxiDriver", duh!), and a bus driver ("A Bronx Tale"). Hell, oldBobby even plays the nasty, gunslinging, bat-wielding gangsterso often, if seems like he's typecasted in being a mobster. Butthis time, in the new cult favorite spy movie "Ronin," DeNirotreads new ground and enters Pierce Brosnan territory as asecret agent!!Bobby plays Sam, an American spy who has to retrieve a suitcasecontaining vital, extremely top secret information. Sounds easyenough, until Sam realizes that other snoops want the case aswell. And the chase is on through the rough and tumble streetsof Paris (I'm being sarcastic, ok?!)With a fine supporting cast (esp. by Jean Reno and Sean "Sharpe"Bean) and excellent chase scenes, "Ronin" is a nifty thriller.With the fact that DeNiro playing a brand new character, thatreally boggle

Worth watching for the chases, not story

It's a sort of james-bondish story, simplistic and formulaic. However, the car chases are unreal. Shot using european formula one drivers on french roads, I would rate the car chase footage as just short of Bullitt and slightly surpassing the French Connection. Best movie of all time? nahh. Worth buying on DVD? oh, yes.

Jon Monsarrat review: a nice action flick that's safe for arty types

Ronin is an interesting, fast-paced action thriller that's worth watching purely as an action film. Speaking for myself, typically I hate dramas, because of the melodrama and because I don't have the refinement to appreciate a cruddy film because one aspect was good.But Ronin contains interesting, deep characters and clever interpersonal connections. It is everything that "The Score" should have been but wasn't. It's very much like "Reservoir Dogs" but without the extreme violence that tarnished that film for me.I think it's safe for those drama buffs who demand that any action film they see have depth.Who should see this film:-- drama buffs / arty types who occasionally dabble in action films-- action movie lovers of all sorts (but not young kids)Like most reviewers, I give this film a 7 out of 10.

Good Demo Movie

Ronin is a great movie for all you people who have a dolby digital surround sound system. The sound is great. It is real spacious and the chase scene gives your system a test. I thought the movie was good, especially if your trying to demo your surround system.

What's in the box?

This movie rocks. It has a bunch of modern day ronins trying to recover a box that has something of great value to many people. The reason I liked this movie was mainly the shootouts and the car chases. My god this movie had a great car chase. It has some of the best ones I've seen in any movie.
The actors were good and look very professional in there roles. Such as how discreetly Sam would place objects or how calmly he reacted to Dierdre's slight tap of her foot against his to tell him that he had to do something quickly about gathering intelligence on who had possession of the target.
Anyway my main response is to tell who ever hasn't seen Ronin and wants to see a good action film should definitely pick this upMy rating 9.

Greatest car chases I have ever seen

My Age: 13Ronin: Japanese word for samurai without masters. In this film, they are specialists whose services can be hired by anyone for money. They include Sam, played by Robert de Niro, Vincent, played by Jean Reno, and Spence, played by Sean Bean. They and a few others are hired for a job by Dierdre, played by Natasha McAlhone. The job is to retrieve a briefcase from several armed men. Once they have retrieved it, one of the team's members double-crosses them, seeking more money for himself.Ronin offers not one, but two, incredible and brethtaking car chases throughout Europe. They are both quite lengthy as well as exciting. The rest of the film also is top-notch. Robert de Niro and Jean Reno work well together as a team and put in tremendous acting performances. It also becomes more interesting when Seamus, Jonathan Pryce, comes into it.
Fantastic action sequences and shootouts are also quite abundant in the film, and it also features a nice music score. I would highly recommend Ronin if you like action and/or fantastic car chases.Australian Classification: M 15+: Medium Level Violence, Low Level Coarse LanguageRating: 82 out of 100

Can I have my money back please?

I had read a majority of the reviews posted on this database and after careful consideration I decided to give the film a chance. Who am I to ignore some great car chases!After five minutes I was left wondering if the director was just fooling around, starting the film with such a pointless build-up. Naturally I thought there was a reason behind it all and gave it a chance and continued watching.My doubts were then confirmed when the great talents of Mr Sean Bean were cast aside at the start of the film. I too wondered when he would reappear to save the day or mess things up. I was left wondering. Unfortunately.To my surprise I had paid 12 DM to watch some excellent actors chase after a silver box for a very long time. Even the reason why they were bothering to continue the chase was sketchy (until it was explained in the last second of the film!)I came away feeling very surprised that these actors had been fooled into taking part in such a badly scripted movie. I agree with the comments regarding the chases, but this was drastically overshadowed by the frustration that all these clever and skilled people couldn't get hold of one little box. What a pity. At one point it all reminded me of Tom and Jerry, with poor old Tom never quite getting what is so easily in front of him.It takes more than a few car chases to make a good and watchable film. This film left me fed up with the predictable twists and completely sick with the idea that once again the Americans had saved the day in Northern Ireland. Definitely NOT RECOMMENDED!!!

Great action movie, Hollywood should watch and learn from this

Every once in a rare while comes an action movie that is also a genuinely good film. This is one of those movies. What makes these uncommon movies what they are is simple: plot. No movie can compromise that and in recent years Hollywood has been doing just that to show off it's million dollar special effects and two cent story lines. This film has both pulse pounding breakneck action scenes and developed and interesting story.The story starts when mercenaries are hired to retrieve a secret silver briefcase with mysterious contents. The mission goes awry with betrayal and we soon find out that everyone has their own motives and goals with the mysterious silver case. The cast is good and the direction is smooth and keeps the story flowing and it'll keep you guessing right up to the very end about just exactly what is going on and who everyone is. Then, there are the car chases and they are awesome. Truly awesome and even legendary by now. Just like classics like 'Bullitt' and 'The French Connection' and goofy camp films of the seventies (like the original 'Gone in 60 Seconds') this film uses no hyper-crazy CGI in its action scenes and that proves all for the better since it is an action movie, but it cannot lose all it's credibility for the sake of some cars crashing. A thrill needs to be at least partly believable, otherwise it won't be thrilling. In fact the whole film has a more realistic feel to it with the relentlessness of the action being not over the top, but still enjoyable for fans of the genre. Then there are the characters who much more real as they don't snap wise cracks while shooting bad guys square in the head one handed with a pistol at 30 yards. All in all, this is a very good entry in the action genre and Hollywood should take note. 8/10Rated R for violence

RONIN DVD REVIEW: Riveting but special features....where?

This movie is known as one of the best car-chase movies ever! I agree! This movie is known to be expensive to create and you'll be at the edge of your seat from beginning to end. It's that cool!

De Niro and the others were great in the movie. I was just really hypnotized by the action. The audio was digital 5.1 and some areas sound real good. Especially the engine rev's! The color was pretty good as well. If there was any problem with the movie, I saw some editing cut-to-scene problems like four or five times.

In the extra's department, this is where this DVD is lacking. It comes with a commentary and also an alternate ending. An ending that I'm glad was not included in the movie. But that's it....no trailer, no deleted scenes (aside the ending) and we are left with an awesome movie missing some really cool stuff that should be there...

Oh well....the movie is definitely worth getting on DVD. The color and sounds are brilliant. The store is riveting and I'm really impressed. If you want to own a movie with the best car chase scene ever (some say "Corruptor" has a great car scene chase), then check out "Ronin".

Good movie

I liked the movie. But there was one thing that I noticed that you may not have. The great car chase through the tunnel going the wrong way ended when Reno (is that his name...) shot the tire of the other car. This in turn caused the car to FLIP! I watched it several times to check. There is him shooting tire...There is car flipping. Did one cause the other? I think the movie would have us believe so. (It's bad enough that movies have cars exploding when they get dinged in the parking lot by a shopping cart, but this is just silly).