RONIN [1998 / 2018] [Limited Edition SteelBook] [Blu-ray] [UK Release]
The Best Action Film Of The Year!
From director John Frankenheimer presents us with the film ‘RONIN,’ a pulse-pounding, action-packed crime thriller featuring an all-star cast headlined by Robert De Niro and Jean Reno.
On a rain-swept night in Paris, an international crack team of professional thieves assembles, summoned by a shady crime syndicate. Their mission: A freelancing former U.S. intelligence agent tries to track down a mysterious package that is wanted by both the Irish and the Russians. As their operation gets underway, several team members are found to be untrustworthy, and everyone must complete the mission with a watchful eye on everyone else.
A latter-day return to form for director John Frankenheimer, the film evokes the same gritty milieu as classic 1970s crime fare like ‘The French Connection,’ in addition to anticipating the early 21st century trend towards more grounded, realistic action movies, exemplified by the likes of the Bourne film franchise. Zavvi is proud to present ‘RONIN’ in a brand new, cinematographer-approved 4K restoration, allowing this jewel in the crown of 1990s thriller cinema to shine like never before.
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1998 International Film Music Critics Award: Nomination: Best Original Score for an Action Film for Elia Cmiral. 1999 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA: Nomination: Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film RONIN. 1999 Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA: Nomination: Golden Reel Award: Best Sound Editing – Sound Effects and Foley for Brady Schwartz (Foley Editor). 1999 Young Hollywood Awards: Win: Best Soundtrack for Elia Cmiral.
FILM FACT No.2: Film newcomer John David Zeik conceived the idea for 'RONIN' after reading James Clavell's novel, Shogun, at the age of 15. It gave him background on Japanese Ronin (masterless samurai), which he incorporated into a screenplay years later. On choosing France as the story's key location, John David Zeik said: "Many years in Nice, I stared into the sun and saw the silhouettes of five heavily-armed gendarmes crossing the Promenade des Anglais. That image made me realize that I wanted to set the film in France." According to John David Zeik's attorney, playwright David Mamet was brought in just before production to expand Robert De Niro's role and add a female love interest; although David Mamet rewrote several scenes, his contributions were only minor, however, John Frankenheimer felt David Mamet's contributions added much more significantly to the film.
Cast: Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgård, Sean Bean, Skipp Sudduth, Michael Lonsdale, Jan Tríska, Jonathan Pryce, Ron Perkins, Féodor Atkine, Katarina Witt, Bernard Bloch, Dominic Gugliametti, Alan Beckworth, Daniel Breton, Amidou Ben Messaoud, Tolsty, Gérard Moulévrier, Lionel Vitrant, Vincent Schmitt, Léopoldine Serre, Lou Maraval, Frédéric Schmalzbauer, Julia Maraval, Laurent Spielvogel, Ron Jeremy, Steve Suissa, Katia Tchenko, Dyna Gauzy, Lilly-Fleur Pointeaux, Amanda Spencer, Dimitri Rafalsky, Vladimir Tchernine, Gérard Touratier, Cyril Prentout, Henry Moati, Christophe Maratier, Pierre Forest, Nader Boussandel (uncredited), Hélène Cardona (voice) (uncredited), Lee Delong (uncredited), Norbert Ferrer (uncredited), Veronique Blanc Meyere (uncredited), Christine Musset (uncredited) and Chuck Riley (uncredited)
Director: John Frankenheimer
Producers: Ethel Winant, Frank Mancuso Jr. and Paul Kelmenson
Screenplay: J.D. Zeik (story/screenplay) and Richard Weisz (aka David Mamet) (screenplay)
Composer: Elia Cmiral
Cinematography: Robert Fraisse (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Color by DeLuxe)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audio: English: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
Italian: 5.1 DTS-HD Surround Sound
Spanish (Castillian): 5.1 DTS-HD Surround Sound
Subtitles: English SDH, Italian, Italian SDH, Spanish, Spanish SDH, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish
Running Time: 122 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / United Artists
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: As the opening credits tell us, ‘RONIN’ refers to the fact that in feudal Japan, the warrior class of Samurai were sworn to protect their liege lords with their lives. Those Samurai whose liege was killed suffered a great shame, and they were forced to wander the land, looking for work as hired swords or bandits. These masterclass warriors were no longer referred to as a Samurai, instead they were known by another name, such men were called RONIN and this is the basic scenario for this film ‘RONIN’ [1998].
With the film ‘RONIN,’ it is one that is cold, hard, steely, lethal, terse, and most especially feels totally real. This may well be the last, and truly great car-chase film, if for no other reason than the fact that almost every single bit of action was done on location, by real stunt men and women driving actual cars on actual city-streets and highways, rather than the filmmakers resorting to cheap CGI theatrics to pump up the phony adrenaline.
The first character introduced is Sam [Robert De Niro], a mysterious and thoughtful American who has clearly seen his share of clandestine missions. He meets up with Vincent [Jean Reno] and Dierdre [Natascha McElhone] and the obscure plans are laid out once they meet up with the other three hired guns. The objective is to rescue a metal case intact; the obstacles are the armoury of well-armed men guarding it.
There is a long wait for the men in whom there are intimations of IRA and Russian involvement with the men holding the case and much speculation at what the case is holding inside. When the hit finally happens they take out all four cars and dozens of bodyguards, only to be double-crossed by the group’s information geek called Gregor, [Stellan Skarsgård] who takes the sealed container and starts shopping it around to its highest bidder. Dierdre’s position of organizing the ambush and assembling the cadre make her the target of their wrath and her murky allegiance is questioned.
‘RONIN’ dabbles with greatness, but despite some critics felt the film had underlying problems, but there are enough memorable moments in the film, and especially well-directed action sequences that keeps you feeling from not letting the moment end up slipping into tedium. I especially like the scene where Sam’s talents at spy-craft are demonstrated when he uses an unassuming tourist to take photos of the men carrying the metal case, to make out that Sam and Deirdre were posing as tourist holidaymakers enjoying their trip.
But of course what made this film look great was the handful of car chases that appeared like clockwork every half hour that was totally awe inspiring and totally jaw dropping, especially those scenes that included the high-speed car chases through the narrow streets of Paris and Nice are nothing short of being totally incredible edge of your seat action, especially of the cars racing through the tunnels of France and the car chase scenes were all shot without any digital assistance, and the actors were really inside those vehicles roaring down the narrow Parisian streets, screeching brakes, snaking their way past vehicles in the tunnels, and skidding around corners while being pursued by the French police cars and I found out that director John Frankenheimer in his younger days was an amateur racing driver, so he clearly brought some experiences to those nerve jangling car chase scenes. Also, on top of all that, there are some very memorable moments in the film between Robert De Niro and Jean Reno; and helped to make the film a slightly smarter than the average action packed film. People often describe ‘RONIN’ as “the car chase action film,” and yes, it has great and brilliant car chases ever committed to celluloid. But to only remember it for that reason is to do the rest of the film a major disservice and I definitely feel it remains one of the best action car chase film ever made.
RONIN MUSIC TRACK LIST
TIME TO SAY GOODBYE (Con te partirò) (Composed by Francesco Sartori) (Lyrics by Lucio Quarantotto) (English lyrics by Frank Peterson) [Performed by Sarah Brightman featuring Andrea Bocelli]
OUR FAVORITE SON (from "The Will Rogers Follies - Original Broadway Cast") (Composed by Cy Coleman) (Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green) [Performed by Keith Carradine, Cady Huffman and Ensemble]
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY (Ballet Suite) (Written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky) (Conducted by Hans Vonk) [Performed by The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra]
RHAPSODY ON A THEME OF PAGANNI, VARIATION 18 (Written by Sergei Rachmaninoff) [Performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra] (used during the solo figure-skating sequence)
LES ANGES DANS NOS CAMPAGNE (uncredited) (Written by Traditional) [Performed by Nice Carolers]
ADESTE FIDELES (uncredited) (Lyrics by Frederick Oakeley and music by John Reading)
Blu-ray Image Quality – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and United Artists presents us with a stunning 1080p image presentation and is enhanced with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. For this re-release upgrade, Zavvi has undertaken a new restoration based on a 4K scan of the original 35mm camera negative, with director of photography Robert Fraisse supervising the grading. Where the older 1080p presentation was a largely inconsistent affair in every regard, especially from detailing to sharpness, grain levels to colour accuracy, and this new Blu-ray release delivers a finely nuanced and entirely authentic 2.35:1 image that never looks anything less than pristine and is totally impressive. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and United Artists brings us a stunning and awesome 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio experience. For a film released in 1998, Zavvi has given us a film sound design that still dazzles when it cuts loose, especially in the big action set-pieces. Chapter 5's car ambush and Chapter 9's massive car chase through Paris provided the real standout moments in the film, and really keeps you on the edge of your seat and will really have your heart pounding and your adrenaline really pumping with excitement.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Theatrical Trailer [1998] [1080i] [2.35:1] [2:28] This is the Original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘RONIN.’ It is one of the best ever edge of your seat trailer I have seen in a very long time.
Theatrical Trailers [2006] [1080p] [2.35:1] [3:48] Here we get to view two theatrical trailers and they are
‘X-MEN: The Last Stand’ and ‘ERAGON.’ You can either view them separately or Play All.
Finally, this is a really magnificent and stunning Blu-ray disc upgrade, and especially for any home cinema film fan and one you should track it down, as director John Frankenheimer presents us with an amazing heart stopping action packed edge of your seat exciting film. Featuring astonishing, heart-in-mouth sequences of cars tearing around first Nice and then Paris, and it is no wonder that ‘RONIN’ is regularly and rightly hailed as boasting two of the greatest car chases ever committed to celluloid. But what really becomes apparent from watching ‘RONIN’ again today is that it marked the end of an era of this type of genre film. Not only was it director John Frankenheimer's penultimate film, but one starring Robert De Niro's and his last great lead-role performances. ‘RONIN’ is an action packed film aimed explicitly at an adult audience and something that Hollywood now has next to of no interest in anymore, which is a total shame. Director John Frankenheimer has been given an extensive polished script by J.D. Zeik (story/screenplay) and Richard Weisz (aka David Mamet) (screenplay). ‘RONON’ dispenses with any extraneous material in order to drill down on the personalities of the characters and especially the action seen in the film and of course the end result is a thrilling spine tingling emotional journey, and definitely a throwback to those Euro-crime capers of the 1970s, and with the sort of pedigree cast those films could only really dream of. Very Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
