Ronin Blu-ray Edition
Robert De Niro plays Sam, a man with a past who is hired to steal a case from some men and get away clean for a really good pay check.
Film making 20/25
Cinematography 20/25
Audio 18/25
Bonus Features 2/25
Total 60/100
Ronin is a classic tale of crooks double crossing other crooks for a case, that mystical literary plot device called a MacGuffin. No one knows what’s in the case, the literary device is called a MacGuffin, and it really is not important to the story to even know what is.
Ronin has all kinds of cryptic literary devices which is why I started off my review in such a less than pointed way. I really enjoyed watching Ronin and think it is a great film with really good performances and great action sequences even though it does have a slightly vague plot at times.
Robert De Niro plays Sam, an ex CIA agent, but we never are really told this either, who is hired to help steal the case by Deidre and her unknown bosses. There are lots of unknowns in this movie but it adds to the suspense and style of the movie but it also gets a little annoying.
The film progresses quickly with several others also being hired with a few notable actors such as Jean Reno and Sean Bean. When the group of men find out very little about the case and the job they are told all they need and are finding the money is well worth it.
Sam works with the others but shows he knows more about the work than expected such as knowing a gun buy is going to go bad. When they do get some of the guns and without having to pay for them Sean Bean gets sick and ends up quitting the job due to his lack of skill that Sam also figures out.
The rest of the group set up a grab for the case in the streets of a couple of towns in France by taking out a car in the group of four that are transporting the case to a drop off point then chasing down the others. One by one they get rid of the two guard cars and a backup is close on their heels when they stop the car with the case and gun down the men guarding it.
The backup car comes in right when they are shooting the last of the guards and they have a firefight while their electronics expert is cutting the case off the hand of the one guard it is attached to. This man, Gregor, is a double agent and switches the case with one he painted, then yells at Sam to get the case because he was shot. Sam grabs the case while Gregor runs the other way as soon as Sam has turned his back and Sam runs up the alley with the rest of their group.
Sam looks at his hand after tossing the case to an accomplice and sees his hand has scuffed paint on it, the case has recently been painted and not allowed enough time to dry. Sam yells at Vincent, Jean Reno, to throw the case away then grabs the case from Vincent when he hesitates and throws it behind him under a car.
The resulting explosion allows the men to escape while Gregor escapes with the real case and we follow a chase through the rest of the movie to get the case back. There is a lot of back stabbing and trying to figure out if the Russians, or the obvious Irish are the ones behind stealing the case or trying to buy it back.
It turns out in the end that Sam is actually an agent of the CIA and out to get Deidre’s boss who is an Irish terrorist. Sam was told to leave the CIA and infiltrate the group that would pull off a heist for the Irish terrorist.
Ronin is a pretty good film but a little heavy on the vague storyline and a bit hard to keep up with at times, it does get a bit confusing with so many things you are never told outright but it is also fun. The film uses a lot of literary devices and it works pretty well for the most part but can be a bit confusing as well which is why I think it did not do better as an action thriller in the theatres or with critics.
The action is pretty intense at times and Robert De Niro, Jean Reno and others all put in very good performances for their parts. The film was very good and well worth watching on its own but I am not sure you are going to want the Blu-ray version.
There are no extras on the Blu-ray edition except some trailers for a few films and that is all, kind of sad really. You do get the great high definition video and plenty of selections for audio such as DTS and Dolby Digital in English and French as well as plenty of subtitle choices.
Ronin is a great movie and very good in high definition audio and video that is well worth the purchase for a DVD but I am not sure it is worth it for the Blu-ray edition. If you have a Blu-ray collection you might as well complete it with Ronin as it is that good a movie but the 2-disc DVD does have more bonus content.