Ronin

Since time immemorial--Memorial Day 1996, to be precise--movie-goers the world over have wondered what Mission: Impossible might have looked like if someone had shown the slightest interest in telling a coherent story. The answer is Ronin, an international espionage thriller fueled as much by brain power as by adrenaline. The story involves a multi-national band of mercenaries (including Robert DeNiro, Jean Reno and Stellan Skarsgaard) hired by Irish nationalists to obtain a certain silver case by any means necessary, with ever-shifting allegiances. That notion drives the film and provides its title, the Japanese term for a masterless samurai in feudal Japan. The mercenaries in Ronin, all former government agents or soldiers, are now down-sized Cold Warriors without a patriotic purpose. The characters are sketched in only the most basic terms, in keeping with their secretive natures, but they are given presence by the superb actors who portray them. Their chilly isolation actually makes it easier to become emotionally invested--the emptiness of their lives and actions is the hook. And for a fairly introspective film, Ronin is also a very exciting one, full of real white-knuckle action. It's all the more impressive because the action serves the story; every subsequent violent act raises the stakes in a world where the combatants neither know nor care what they're fighting for. It has a few jagged edges, half-completed characters and overlong chases, but it has all the raw effectiveness you could hope for in an action film, coupled with a real sense of consequence. For once, evil in an espionage thriller isn't just what people do, but why they do it. Recommended. (S. Renshaw)[DVD Review—May 16, 2006—MGM, 2 discs, 121 min., R, $24.98—Making its second appearance on DVD, 1998's Ronin (Collector's Edition) boasts an excellent transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. DVD extras include audio commentary by director John Frankenheimer, Venice Film Festival interviews with costars Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, and Natascha McElhone (21 min.), the “In the Cutting Room” featurette with editor Tony Gibbs (19 min.), the 18-minute “making-of” featurette “Filming in the Fast Lane,” “The Driving of Ronin” (16 min.), “Natascha McElhone: An Actor's Process” (14 min.), “Composing the Ronin Score” (12 min.), a photo gallery montage (4 min.), an alternate ending (2 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a solid thriller.][Blu-ray Review—Mar. 3, 2009—MGM, 121 min., R, $34.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1998's Ronin sports an unexceptional transfer with DTS 5.1 Master Lossless Audio, but no extras beyond trailers. Bottom line: no reason to replace the extras-laden 2006 standard DVD release with this inferior extra-less Blu-ray version.][Blu-ray Review—Aug. 22, 2017—Arrow, 122 min., R, Blu-ray: $39.95—Making its latest appearance on Blu-ray, 1998's Ronin features a great transfer and DTS-HD 5.1 and PCM stereo soundtracks on the Blu-ray release. Extras new to this release include an interview with cinematographer Robert Fraisse (32 min.) and an appreciation of star Robert De Niro with Quentin Tarantino (27 min.). Also included are earlier DVD extras: audio commentary by director John Frankenheimer, archival Venice Film Festival interviews with costars De Niro, Jean Reno and Natascha McElhone (21 min.), the production segments “In the Cutting Room” (19 min.), “Filming in the Fast Lane” (18 min.), “Through the Lens” with Fraisse (18 min.), “The Driving” (16 min.), “Natascha McElhone: An Actor s Process” (14 min.), and “Composing the Ronin Score” (12 min.), an alternate ending (2 min.), a gallery, and a collector's booklet. Bottom line: a fine Blu-ray edition of this smart thriller.]