Ronin, the new action thriller from director John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate), opens up by helpfully informing us of the following: "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 great shame, and... were no longer referred to as samurai... Such men were called Ronin." And, although the film takes place in modern-day France, not ancient Japan, the main characters are all, in their own way, Ronin. They are munitions experts, tactical masters, and battle-hardened veterans of the Cold War who, after the systematic dismantling of the Eastern Bloc, find themselves without a master to serve. So they sell themselves to the highest bidder.

 

 

 

Personality-wise, they fit somewhere between the Magnificent Seven and the Dirty Dozen. There are, however, only five of them (six if you count the woman who's paying for their services). The most visible, and the one with the best instincts, is Sam (Robert De Niro), an ex-CIA operative who needs the money a job like this offers. Sam is joined by a Frenchman, Vincent (Jean Reno); an ex-KGB computer expert named Gregor (Stellan Skarsgard); a nervous weapons expert, Spence (Sean Bean); and an experienced driver, Larry (Skipp Sudduth). They are being paid by Deirdre (Natascha McElhone), an icy Irishwoman who is as close-mouthed about the specifics of their job as she is about Seamus (Jonathan Pryce), the man who pulls her strings. All that Sam's team knows is that they are to steal a mysterious case from its current owners before its contents are sold to a group of high-bidding Russians. However, what appears to be a straightforward ambush- and-assault operation turns ugly when betrayal and duplicity are stirred into the mix.

The trademark style of writer David Mamet is indelibly imprinted upon this script. Although the dialogue doesn't bear the staccato rhythm that Mamet brings to the movies he directs, the lines are sharp and occasionally bitingly funny. According to Frankenheimer, Mamet is responsible for almost the entire screenplay. However, since the Writer's Guild decided that he had to share credit with J.D. Zeik, who originated the story, Mamet elected to go by the pseudonym of Richard Weisz. But, even though there is no "Mamet" to be found anywhere in the credits, his fingerprints are all over Ronin.

Excerpt from James Berardinelli's review located HERE

 

The Video:

Firstly - to clear things up - this DVD is 'region A' which includes North America, Central America, South America, Japan (where this DVD is from), Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia. So it plays on North American Blu-ray plays. This film is coming to Blu-ray in the US eventually but I am unsure of the exact date as one is not yet scheduled. The only drawbacks of this DVD would be that the menus are in Japanese... but all subtitle options (Japanese and English) are removable. 

 

The image is vastly superior to the original and the two-disc CE by MGM in region 1 SD (compared HERE) - if you recall the CE actually had some interlacing. Colors are extensively more vibrant and detail is much stronger. The only slight complaint would be some minor compression artifacts that resemble grain - you can see them in some of the captures below. Frankly though this Blu-ray DVD looks quite excellent - the best I have ever seen this film and a very strong new format disc to own for your home theatre. It is very impressive.