Review of Ronin

Introduction

I first came across Ronin in a magazine article about the top ten car chase sequences in movies. Given that the film starred Robert De Niro and Jean Reno, two of my favourite actors, I decided to get hold of the DVD and see what it was like. I`m just going through a spell of watching all of my Robert De Niro movies on DVD again, so I thought it was time to refresh my acquaintance with Ronin as well.

Ronin is a movie about terrorism and espionage, which features an Irish woman hiring a team of mercenaries to get hold of a mysterious suitcase (which is a bit of a McGuffin as we never get to find out what is actually in it). The Problem is that the Russians also want the case, and both sides will stop at nothing to get their hands on it.

Video

The video is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and is of a good standard throughout the film. The image is crisp and stable, with no sign of dirt, grain or compression problems.

The film is shot on location in France, and the car chases were filmed in the streets of Nice and Paris at high speed - with the result that this movie is without doubt the definitive car chase movie. The high-speed chases are wonderful and will have you on the edge of your seat. The making-of explains that in order to make the chases look real, the stars were actually in the cars during the chases - the drivers either sat in the boot and drove, or next to the actor.

There are two big chase sequences - the first is set in and around Nice and features a great scene where De Niro blows up a car in front with a bazooka and it flips over on the narrow cliff-top road as the pursuing De Niro and Reno drive past. This chase then heads into the middle of Nice, up streets barely wide enough for a car as the entertainment continues. The biggest chase is the second one, with De Niro and Reno chasing their adversaries through the French capital at very high speed, including through tunnels and the wrong way up dual carriageways, weaving in and out of traffic. This chase has to be seen to be believed and is streets ahead of anything else I`ve seen.

Audio

The car chases are spectacular enough visually, but when you add an excellent Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mix into the equation, they become even better. Music and effects combine with the visuals to provide a great home cinema experience - with excellent use made of all channels, particularly for engine noise, tyre squealing, crashes, horns and incidental effects.

For the most part, the dialogue is easy to understand, although Sean Bean`s lines are difficult to pick up at times.

Features

The extras consist of a director`s commentary track, an alternative ending, the trailer and a featurette "Filming in the Fast Lane".

The featurette runs for just over 20 minutes and although containing a lot of film footage, gives some very interesting information about how the film was made - particularly the car chase sequences. This also features interviews with the cast and crew.

The disc is packaged in a black Amaray case, which contains an eight page booklet detailing the 32 chapter breaks and includes extensive production notes.

Conclusion

The best car chases ever committed to film, a cast including Robert De Niro and Jean Reno and a plot that contains numerous twists and maintains suspense right until the end make Ronin a winner.

De Niro and Reno produce the usual extremely high standard of performance, and the supporting cast is also excellent, with Natascha McElhone exceptionally good as the Irish woman leading the team. The real draw of this movie however are the car chases, and they certainly lived up to, and exceeded, the expectations that I had.

Good video and sound plus reasonable extras make this a recommended DVD.