At the top of the tattoo, you'll see that it's an illustration of a skeleton inside some traditional samurai gear. Or in other words, a ronin.
Running time121 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget$55 millionBox office$70.7 millionRonin is a 1998 American film directed by as well as written by John David Zeik and, who uses the pseudonym Richard Weisz. It stars,. The film is about a team of former special operatives that is hired to steal a mysterious, heavily guarded briefcase while navigating a maze of shifting loyalties. Ronin is noted for its realistic car chases in and, and its convoluted plot that uses the briefcase as a.Frankenheimer signed to direct Zeik's screenplay, which Mamet rewrote to expand De Niro's role and develop plot details, in 1997. The film was photographed by in his native France from November 3, 1997, to March 3, 1998. Professional racing car drivers coordinated and performed the vehicle stunts, and scored the film, his first for a major studio.Ronin was premiered at the before its general release on September 25.
Critics were generally positive about the film's action, and technical aspects, while the plot attracted criticism. The film performed moderately well at the box office, grossing $70.7 million on a budget of $55 million.
Ronin, Frankenheimer's last well-received feature film, was considered to be a return to form for the director. Film critic and historian called the film Frankenheimer's 'end-of-career masterpiece'. The car chases, which were favorably compared with those in and, were included on several media outlets' lists as the best depicted on film.
Contents.Plot At a bistro in, Irish operative Deirdre meets with American mercenaries Sam and Larry, and French mercenary Vincent. She takes them to a warehouse, where fellow mercenaries, the Englishman Spence and Gregor, a German, are waiting. Deirdre briefs them on their mission; to attack a heavily armed convoy and steal a large, metallic briefcase. As the team prepares for the task, Deirdre meets with handler Seamus O'Rourke, who says the is bidding for the case and that the team must intervene. After Sam exposes Spence as a fraud and dismisses him, the others leave for.
During a, Sam and Deirdre develop an attraction to one other. On the day of the sale, Deirdre's team ambushes the convoy at and pursues the survivors to Nice.After a gunfight, Gregor steals the case and disappears. He sells it to the Russians but his contact attempts to betray him. Gregor kills that man, then contacts Mikhi—the Russian mafioso in charge of the deal—-and makes Mikhi agree to another meeting.
The team tracks Gregor through one of Sam's contacts and corners him in the, where he is meeting two of Mikhi's men. Gregor flees and is captured by Seamus, who kills Larry and escapes with Deirdre. Sam is shot while saving Vincent's life and is taken to a villa owned by Vincent's friend, Jean-Pierre.
After removing the bullet and letting Sam recuperate, Vincent asks Jean-Pierre to help them find Gregor and the Irishmen.In, Gregor is violently interrogated and persuaded to lead Seamus and Deirdre to a post office, where they retrieve the case. Sam and Vincent pursue them. A high-speed chase ensues; Vincent shoots Deirdre's tire and sends her car under an unfinished overpass. Sam and Vincent fire at Gregor, who takes cover behind the flipped car, which is set ablaze by the gunfire. Gregor flees with the case while road workers rescue Deirdre and Seamus from the burning vehicle. Sam and Vincent decide to track down the Russians; one of Jean-Pierre's contacts tells them they are involved with figure-skater Natacha Kirilova, Mikhi's girlfriend, who is appearing at.During Natacha's performance that night, Mikhi meets with Gregor, who says a sniper in the arena will shoot Natacha if Mikhi betrays him.
Mikhi kills Gregor and leaves with the case, and the sniper kills Natacha. Sam and Vincent leave the arena in time to see Seamus shoot Mikhi and steal the case. Sam finds Deirdre waiting in the getaway car; he tells her to leave, revealing himself as a CIA agent pursuing Seamus and not the case. Deirdre drives away, forcing Seamus to return to the arena with Sam in pursuit. Seamus ambushes Sam but is shot dead by Vincent.Sam and Vincent later talk in the bistro where they first met, where a radio broadcast announces that a between and the has been reached, partially as a result of Seamus' death. Vincent convinces Sam that Deirdre will not be coming back.
Sam drives off with his CIA contact. Vincent pays the bill and leaves.Cast.
Ronin was the penultimate feature film of director John Frankenheimer ( pictured in 1995), followed by.In July 1997, reported that Frankenheimer had signed to direct Ronin, making it his fifth picture for. Frankenheimer told the magazine he chose the project because it had a 'very good script' and was 'the kind of movie I'd love to go see.
What I like is, it's a character-driven action picture, and I have done those before, with. It's not one of these pictures, it's a film about people. It's not bigger than life, which I don't relate to that much.' He also saw it as an opportunity to apply his broad knowledge and understanding of France, especially, in which he resided for many years. He added, 'I would not have been able to do the film nearly as well anywhere else'.
His films (1964), (1966), (1973), and French Connection II (1975) were shot in France.Many of Ronin 's principal crew members had worked with Frankenheimer on television films; editor on George Wallace, set designer Michael Z. Hanan on George Wallace and (1994), and costume designer May Routh on (1996). Frankenheimer chose French cinematographer to help him achieve the look and style he wanted for the film. Fraisse impressed Frankenheimer with his work on the police thriller (1995), which persuaded the director Fraisse could handle the more-than-2,000 setups he planned for Ronin.
Served as the film's producer.According to Frankenheimer, French authorities helped him circumvent a strict Paris ordinance that prohibited film productions from firing guns in the city. This was enacted because many civilians had been complaining about the gunfire noise produced by film shoots. Additional factors influenced the decision; officials' desire for an American action film like Ronin, few of which had been filmed there since the law was passed, to be filmed in Paris and the desire to boost France's reputation as a filming location. Screenplay Writer John David Zeik, a newcomer to film, conceived the idea for Ronin after reading 's novel at age 15. It gave him background information on (masterless samurai), which he incorporated into a screenplay years later. On choosing France as the story's key location, Zeik said: 'Many years later in Nice, the location of one of the key set pieces of the story, I stared into the sun and saw the silhouettes of five heavily armed crossing the. That image made me realize that I wanted to set the film in France.'
According to Zeik's attorney, just before production began, playwright was brought in to expand De Niro's role and add a female love interest; although Mamet rewrote several scenes, his contributions were minor. Frankenheimer, however, called Mamet's contributions more significant; 'The credits should read: 'Story by J.D. Zeik, screenplay by David Mamet'. We didn't shoot a line of Zeik's script.' Frankenheimer later said in an to Variety in September 1998, the story of his denial of shared screenwriting credit to Zeik was false.
Frankenheimer wrote, 'J.D. Zeik is unequivocally entitled to the first position screenwriting credit as well as the sole story credit he was awarded by the. He deserves recognition for his significant contribution to this film, and I am proud to have worked with him'. When he learned he would have to share credit with Zeik, Mamet insisted on being credited with the pseudonym Richard Weisz because he had earlier decided to attach his name only to projects for which he was the sole writer. Filming and cinematography.
The 18th-century Japanese revenge of the forty-seven rōnin was the film's central metaphor.The film's title was derived from the Japanese legend of, samurai whose was killed and left them with no one to serve, and roamed the countryside as mercenaries and bandits to regain a sense of purpose. In Frankenheimer's film, the rōnin are former intelligence operatives who are unemployed at the end of the Cold War; devoid of purpose, they become highly-paid mercenaries. 's character elaborates on the analogy in an anecdote about the told with, comparing the film's characters to the 18th-century rōnin of Japan. In his essay, 'Action and Abstraction in Ronin', wrote that the rōnin metaphor explores themes of 'service, honor, and obligation to complex ways by showing that service may entail betrayal and that honor may be measured according to disparate terms'. According to Stephen B. Armstrong, 'Arguably Frankenheimer uses this story to highlight and contrast the moral and social weakness that characterize the band of rōnin in his film'.The film features a plot device in the form of a briefcase, the contents of which are important but unknown.
Chicago Sun-Times critic wrote that its content is identical to that of the equally-mysterious case in 's (1994), which itself is a MacGuffin. Michael Wilmington of the called Ronin an homage to (1971), (1974), and (1975); thriller films known for their lack of visual effects. Of also compared the film to (1973) and noted similarities between Ronin 's opening scene and that of Tarantino's (1992), in which a group of professional killers who have not met before assemble.
According to Armstrong, the film's plot observes the conventions of.Frankenheimer employed a aesthetic in his films 'to make them look realer than real, because reality by itself can be very boring', and saw them as having a tinge of. He credited 's (1966), a film he considered flawless and more influential than any other he had seen, with inspiring this style. According to Prince, 'Frankenheimer's success at working in this realist style, avoiding special effects trickery, places the car chase in Ronin in the same rarefied class as the celebrated chase in (1968)'.
The director credited the Russian film (1957) with inspiring in Ronin. On the film's DVD audio commentary, Frankenheimer notes a during the opening scenes made by two extras walking across the frame, which becomes a of Jean Reno entering the bistro. His intention for the cut was to conceal the fact that the bistro's interior was a set; its exterior was filmed on location. Legacy Modern reception The review-aggregation website gives the film a score of 68%, with an average rating of 6.25/10, based on 65 reviews. The website's consensus reads that the film 'earns comparisons to The French Connection with strong action, dynamic road chase scenes, and solid performances'.
Rotten Tomatoes also ranked Ronin No. 101 on its list of the '140 Essential Action Movies To Watch Now'. On the film received 'Generally favorable reviews', with an overall weighted average of 67 out of 100, based on 23 reviews. Audiences polled by during Ronin 's opening weekend gave the film an average grade of C+ on scale of A+ to F.Ronin 's car chases were included on several media outlets' lists as the best depicted on film, including (No. Some critics have said the chase scenes in (2018) were influenced by those in Ronin. Screen Rant ranked Ronin No.
1 on its list of the '12 Best Action Movies You've Never Heard Of'. In 2014, polled several film critics, directors, actors, and stunt actors about their top action films; Ronin was 72nd on the list. Magazine ranked the film at No. 10 on its list of the '25 Best Movies of 1998'.
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