Ronin [VHS]
![Ronin [VHS]](/images/Ronin-VHS-079284209X-L.jpg)
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VHS Movie Reviews of Ronin [VHS]
Movie Review: If this is the Japanese release, tread carefully.
Summary: 4 Stars
Judging from the specs (Japanese/English subs and language) and the cover art (English text but no BBFC rating stamp the way a UK release would have), it looks like this might be the Japanese BD release of 'Ronin,' which has been out for a little while now. I bought it myself for about the same price as this, and I've got to tell you that you may not find it worth it. It's one of Fox's earlier MPEG-2 transfers and looks like most Fox movies of that vintage--slightly gray, slightly fuzzy. It's still a leap above both DVD editions and it certainly doesn't look outright bad by any means...but unless the $45 pricetag means nothing to you, you might want to just wait to see if the eventual U.S. release gets a better treatment.
Edit: Oh, and--again, if this is indeed the Japanese release--no features except for the theatrical trailer (and a few trailers for other Fox releases).
Movie Review: Foreign Copy from UK
Summary: 5 Stars
The price on this is high because it is, in fact, an imported release from the UK.
For those who are interested, it is region free and WILL play on US Blu-ray players.
MGM has yet to give a date on when this will be released in the US, but apparently that date is pending.
Movie Review: Will they take a brick of gold in exchange?
Summary: 1 Stars
This price is beyond belief! I'd be interested in meeting the person who buys the first one on here!Movie Review: yawnin.
Summary: 2 Stars
If you love nonstop car chases through the streets of europe, shootouts, and backstabbing this is your movie. There's not much depth here, very little plot. Very long, and actually quite boring. You wait for the payoff and never get it. Watch Italian Job instead.Movie Review: You trying to save your own skin? ... Yeah, it covers my body ...
Summary: 4 Stars
"Whenever there is any doubt, there is no doubt. That's the first thing they teach you."
"Who taught you?"
"I don't remember. That's the second thing they teach you."
Ronin is undoubtedly John Frankenheimer's final masterpiece. Here is a film that stands out from the majority of the other large-scale productions that surrounded it in its day. Looking back on it now, a decade has passed since I saw this at the theatre although it sure doesn't feel like it at all. 1998 was a high-water mark year for film, unfortunately this film wasn't recognized at all during its release because of the heavy competition. But there was an initial buzz generated about the level of skill concerning the car chase scenes and was another vehicle for the much loved Jean Reno.
Ronin has an old world, classic film feel to it. It hits you from the first moments with the headshakingly unnecessary on-screen text of the story of the 47 Ronin, to the slowly fading in of the music, the gothic titles, the low lit café and sullen look on Robert DeNiro's face that seems to be locked in place. Leading the viewer to believe that the protagonist Sam, is sizing up the French Café when the films begins so he can either gun everyone down, or select a target, is the first of a thousand twists to the plot that get unwound, one by one, as the film progresses. David Mamet, who ghost wrote the screenplay and probably thought that it would be a clever idea to go left - each and every time you thought he was about to go right. A lot of negative things can be said about Ronin, but being predictable is not one of them.
The dialogue and the interplay between DeNiro and Reno is absolutely believable and the best part the film. Cigarette smoke seems to rise into the air from almost every surface, unshaved faces are peering out from every corner and middle-aged, out-of-work Intelligence Operatives chew on the meager remains of base and amateur criminal activity. DeNiro sleeps in his clothes, Jean Reno chain smokes and looks like he hasn't had a sober day in a lustrum. Ambushing Sean Bean (a guy with probably the most annoying name ever, playing one of the most annoying characters ever) with a cup of coffee is one of my favourite scenes.
"What's the colour of the boathouse at Hereford?"
The downfall of Ronin is the downfall that is seen in other movies. The same is attempted in Untamed Heart and also fails just as badly. When any film introduces important characters way-too late in the game, works out the final resolution at a sports event, or employ thuggish looking Russians wearing matching tracksuits and gold chains is usually just too much. Frankenheimer jumped the shark tank here when he introduced the figure-skating angle. Maybe they thought: "Hey, this is cool. It's like the terror at the Munich Games in 1972." The problem with that is, is that most people don't remember "the terror", or they just don't remember the situation at all, so the suspense is completely lost and the scene is too jarring and comes across as out of place. For this portion of the film, it becomes the perfect candidate for a fan edit at faneditdotcom and a deletion of the last twenty-five minutes.
As a short aside that might only be important to die hard U2 fans, such as myself, on the album Pop, which came out the year previous, track eight is a song titled "Miami". This song, according to Bono, was written while he was hanging around on set of Ronin. The lyric "What's he got inside the case?" is a direct reference to this film and not Pulp Fiction as previously suggested in a few other reviews of the album on Amazon. Just a piece of trivia, that's all.
Below I've made a short list of some of the films that came out in 1998. 98 was definitely a good year in cinema, and for the movies that I listed, I probably could've listed several more.
The Big Lebowski
Dark City
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
There's Something About Mary
Saving Private Ryan
John Carpenter's Vampires
Waking Ned Devine
Shakespeare in Love
Rushmore
"You think you can stitch me up on your own?
If you don't mind, I'm gonna pass out."