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Ronin

Score: 80%
Rating: R
Publisher: Sony Pictures Home
                  Entertainment

Region: 1
Media: DVD/2
Running Time: 121 min.
Genre: Action/Caper
Audio: English 5.1 and French 5.1 Dolby
           Digital, Spanish Dolby
           Surround
English, French and
           Spanish subtitles


Features:

  • Disc 1
    • Audio Commentary with Director John Frankenheimer
    • Alternate Ending
  • Disc 2
    • Original Venice Film Festival Interviews with Robert De Niro, Jean Reno and Natascha McElhone
    • Through the Lens with Director of Photography Robert Fraisse
    • Ronin: Filming in The Fast Lane making-of documentary
    • Natascha McElhone: An Actors Process Featurette
    • In the Cutting Room With Tony Gibbs Featurette
    • Composing The Ronin Score Featurette
    • The Driving of Ronin Featurette
    • Animated Photo Gallery

With actors like Robert De Nero and Jean Reno (from Luc Besson's classic The Professional ) driving the action of Ronin, you would expect it to be a great flick that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Unfortunately, the magic just wasn't there and the movie comes off lacking something.

When Robert De Niro is summoned to France to help steal a top secret briefcase, he must team up with several highly trained underhanded characters. But when the heist goes wrong and the team is betrayed, De Niro and Reno (one of the other thieves), must use all of their tricks to not only retrieve their target, but also stay alive so they can collect their paycheck.

De Niro's travels take him from France to Rome and everywhere in between looking for the briefcase and his betrayer. Along the way, there will be everything from cast car chases to city-street shoot-outs, but like I said above -- ultimately, the movie just feels uninspired. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this type of movie, but in general, I found the action sequences to be less than stellar and I really didn't like many of the characters (which, of course, made it hard for me to care whether they lived, died or succeeded in their mission).

Thankfully, this 2-disc edition comes with a ton of special features, from a commentary to a half-a-dozen featurettes. You will be able to learn everything from how actress Natascha McElhone (De Niro and Reno's employer) tackles acting to choreographing the car chases. With this assortment of features, there is something for everyone. Unfortunately, the features aren't really worth the price of the movie. Unless you really like the film and don't already have it (or still have it on VHS), Ronin isn't really worth it.



-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications
AKA Chris Meyer

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