Ronin (film)
Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox film Ronin is a 1998 American action thriller film directed by John Frankenheimer and written by John David Zeik and David Mamet, under the pseudonym Richard Weisz. It stars an ensemble cast consisting of Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgård, Sean Bean, and Jonathan Pryce. The film is about a team of former special operatives hired to steal a mysterious, heavily guarded briefcase while navigating a maze of shifting loyalties. The film was praised for its realistic car chases in Nice and Paris.
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 Robert Fraisse in his native France from November 3, 1997, to March 3, 1998. Professional racing car drivers coordinated and performed the vehicle stunts, and Elia Cmiral scored the film, his first for a major studio.
Ronin premiered at the 1998 Venice Film Festival before its general release on September 25. Critics were generally positive about the film's action, casting, and technical aspects, while the plot attracted criticism. The film underperformed at the box office, grossing $70.7 million on a $55 million budget. Ronin, Frankenheimer's last well-received feature film,<ref name="tcm"/> was considered to be a return to form for the director. Film critic and historian Stephen Prince called the film Frankenheimer's "end-of-career masterpiece".Template:Sfn The car chases, which were favorably compared with those in Bullitt and The French Connection,<ref name="keeling">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="magid">Template:Cite magazine
</ref> were included on several media outlets' lists as among the best depicted on film.
Plot
[edit]At a bistro in Montmartre, IRA operative Deirdre meets with two Americans, Sam and Larry, and a Frenchman, Vincent. She takes them to a warehouse where the Englishman Spence and the German Gregor are waiting. Conversations between the men show that they are all ex-government agents or ex-military-turned-mercenary. Deirdre briefs the group on their mission: to attack a heavily armed convoy and steal a large, metallic briefcase. Its contents are never revealed. The team's first task before the main mission is to acquire weapons; this turns into a setup. Although the team survives and they get the weapons, Spence is exposed as a fraud by Sam. He is dismissed by Deirdre and the others continue the mission. As the team prepares, Deirdre meets with her handler, Seamus O'Rourke, who tells her that the Russian mafia is bidding for the case and that the team must intervene so that they don't get it. During a stakeout, Sam and Deirdre act on their mutual attraction.
Deirdre's team successfully ambushes the convoy at La Turbie and pursues the survivors to Nice. During the gunfight, Gregor steals the case and disappears. He negotiates selling it to the Russians, but his contact attempts to betray him. Gregor kills the contact, then has Mikhi — the Russian Mafioso in charge of the deal — agree to another meeting. The team tracks Gregor through one of Sam's old CIA contacts and corners him in the Arles Amphitheatre during his meeting with two of Mikhi's men. Sam chases Gregor; Gregor flees but is caught by Seamus. Deirdre and Vincent confront the two Russian hoods, causing a shootout. Sam arrives to help, killing one, but catches a ricochet from the other when Vincent knocks away the henchman's gun in order to kill him. Seamus kills Larry and escapes with a reluctant Deirdre and the captured Gregor. Vincent takes Sam to a villa owned by his friend, Jean-Pierre. After removing the bullet and letting Sam recuperate, Jean-Pierre compares Sam's situation to the tale of the 47 Ronin. Vincent asks Jean-Pierre to help them find Gregor and the Irish operatives.
In Paris, Gregor is persuaded through violent interrogation to give the case back to Seamus and Deirdre. After retrieving it from a post office, they are pursued by Sam and Vincent in a high-speed chase. Vincent shoots out their tire, sending their car off an overpass which is under construction. Gregor escapes with the case while road workers rescue Deirdre and Seamus from the burning vehicle. Doubtful of where to go next, Sam and Vincent decide to track down the Russians after discovering that the decoy case Gregor used in his theft of the original is used for carrying ice skates; one of Jean-Pierre's contacts informs them that the Russians are involved with figure-skater (and Mikhi's girlfriend) Natacha Kirilova, who is appearing at Le Zénith.
During Natacha's performance, Mikhi meets with Gregor, who says a sniper in the arena will shoot Natacha if Mikhi betrays him. Mikhi surprises Gregor by letting Natacha be killed by the sniper after Mikhi kills Gregor and takes the case. Amid the ensuing chaos from Natacha's shooting, Sam and Vincent leave the arena just in time to see Seamus kill Mikhi and steal the case. Sam and Vincent split up; Vincent pursues Seamus, but is wounded in a gunfight. Sam finds Deirdre waiting in a getaway car; he convinces her to leave after explaining that he is after Seamus, not the case. As she drives away, Seamus is forced to return to the arena as Sam gives chase. Seamus ambushes Sam, but is shot dead by Vincent before Seamus can kill Sam.
Sam and Vincent have coffee in the bistro where they first met. A radio broadcast announces that a peace agreement between Sinn Féin and the British government has been reached, partially as a result of Seamus's death. Sam keeps glancing at the door as patrons enter, but Vincent convinces Sam that Deirdre will not be coming back. They shake hands and part ways, but not before Vincent asks what was in the case. Sam replies that he doesn't remember. Sam drives off with his CIA contact as Vincent pays the bill and leaves.
Cast
[edit]
In addition, Féodor Atkine plays Mikhi, the Russian who is buying the case, while East German Olympic and World Champion figure skater Katarina Witt has an extended cameo as Natacha Kirilova, a Russian Olympic and World Champion figure skater.
Production
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In July 1997, Variety reported that Frankenheimer had signed to direct Ronin, making it his fifth picture for United Artists.<ref name="fleming">Template:Cite web</ref> 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 Black Sunday and French Connection II. It's not one of these CGI pictures, it's a film about people. It's not bigger than life, which I don't relate to that much."<ref name="fleming"/> He also saw it as an opportunity to apply his broad knowledge and understanding of France, especially Paris, in which he resided for many years.<ref name="commentary">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> He added, "I would not have been able to do the film nearly as well anywhere else".<ref name="fast">Template:Cite video</ref> His films The Train (1964), Grand Prix (1966), Impossible Object (1973), and French Connection II (1975) were shot in France.<ref name="magid"/>
Many of RoninTemplate:'s principal crew members had worked with Frankenheimer on television films; editor Tony Gibbs on George Wallace, set designer Michael Z. Hanan on George Wallace and The Burning Season (1994), and costume designer May Routh on Andersonville (1996).<ref name="prod"/> Frankenheimer chose French cinematographer Robert Fraisse to help him achieve the look and style he wanted for the film. Fraisse impressed Frankenheimer with his work on the police thriller Citizen X (1995), which persuaded the director Fraisse could handle the more-than-2,000 setups he planned for Ronin.<ref name="magid"/> Frank Mancuso Jr. served as the film's producer.<ref name="fleming"/>
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.<ref name="commentary"/>
Screenplay
[edit]Writer John David Zeik, a newcomer to film,<ref name="latimes">Template:Cite web</ref> conceived the idea for Ronin after reading James Clavell's novel Shōgun at the age of 15.<ref name="prod">Template:Cite web</ref> It gave him background information on rōnin (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 Gendarmes crossing the Promenade des Anglais. That image made me realize that I wanted to set the film in France."<ref name="prod"/>
Accounts differ as to the screenplay's authorship. According to Zeik's attorney, Playwright David Mamet was brought in shortly before production to expand De Niro's role and add a female love interest. Although Mamet rewrote several scenes, his contributions were minor according to Zeik's account. Frankenheimer said Mamet's contributions were 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."<ref name="latimes"/> Frankenheimer later retracted this in a September 1998 open letter published in Variety, writing that "J.D. Zeik is unequivocally entitled to the first position screenwriting credit as well as the sole story credit he was awarded by the WGA ... [He] deserves recognition for his significant contribution to this film, and I am proud to have worked with him".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref name="latimes"/>
Filming and cinematography
[edit]
Ronin was produced on a budget of $55 million.<ref name="numbers"/> Principal photography lasted 78 days,<ref name="magid"/> beginning on November 3, 1997, in an abandoned workshop at Aubervilliers.<ref name="photography">Template:Cite web</ref> Scenes at Porte des Lilas and the historic Arles Amphitheatre were filmed that November; the crew then filmed at the Hotel Majestic in Cannes, La Turbie, and Villefranche.<ref name="photography"/> Production was suspended for Christmas on December 19 and resumed on January 5, 1998, at Épinay, where the crew built two interior sets on sound stages; one for the bistro in Montmartre and another for the rural farmhouse,<ref name="photography"/> both of which also have exterior location shots.<ref name="commentary"/> The climactic scene with a panicked crowd at Le Zénith required about 2,000 extras, who were supervised by French casting director Margot Capelier.<ref name="commentary"/> Filming concluded at La Défense on March 3, 1998.<ref name="photography"/>
Because there were no second unit director and camera operator to film the action scenes, Frankenheimer and cinematographer Robert Fraisse supervised them for an additional 30 days after the main unit finished filming.<ref name="magid"/><ref name="arrow">Template:Cite video</ref> The first major car-chase scene was shot in La Turbie and Nice; the rest were filmed in areas of Paris including La Défense and the Pont du Garigliano.<ref name="photography"/>Template:Sfn Scenes set in a road tunnel were filmed at night because it was impossible to block tunnel traffic during the day.<ref name="driving"/> The freeway chase, in which the actors dodge oncoming vehicles, was filmed in four hours on a closed road.<ref name="driving">Template:Cite video</ref>
Frankenheimer's affinity for deep depth of field led him to shoot the film entirely with wide-angle lenses ranging in focal length from 18 to 35 mm using the Super 35 format, both of which allow more of the scene to be included in each shot as well as the freedom to reframe the movie for Full Screen presentation.<ref name="commentary"/><ref name="fraisse"/> The director also avoided bright primary colors to preserve a first-generation-of-film quality.<ref name="commentary"/> He advised the actors and extras not to wear bright colors and had the film processed with Deluxe's Color Contrast Enhancement (CCE), "a silver-retention method of processing film that deepens blacks, reduces color, and heightens the visible appearance of film grain".<ref name="commentary"/>Template:Sfn Fraisse said he used a variety of cameras, including Panaflexes for dialogue scenes and Arriflex 435s and 35-IIIs for the car chases, to facilitate Frankenheimer's demands.<ref name="magid"/> Steadicam, a camera stabilizer used for half of the shoot, was operated by the director's longtime collaborator David Crone.<ref name="magid"/> According to Frankenheimer, 2,200 shots were filmed.<ref name="commentary"/>
Stunts
[edit]
Frankenheimer avoided using special effects in the car-chase scenes, previsualizing them with storyboards and used the same camera mounts as those used on Grand Prix.<ref name="commentary"/> The actors were placed inside the cars while being driven at up to Template:Convert, by Formula One driver Jean-Pierre Jarier, and high-performance drivers Jean-Claude Lagniez and Michel Neugarten.<ref name="magid"/> The actors had enrolled at a high-performance driving school before production began.<ref name="commentary"/> According to Lagniez, the car-stunt coordinator, it was a priority not to cheat the speed by adjusting the frame rate; he said, "When you do, it affects the lighting. It is different at 20 frames than at 24 frames."<ref name="driving"/> However, Fraisse said: "Sometimes, but not very often, we did shoot at 22 frames per second, or 21."<ref name="magid"/> Point-of-view shots from cameras mounted below the cars' front fender were used to deliver a heightened sense of speed.<ref name="commentary"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
For the final chase scene, which used 300 stunt drivers,<ref name="commentary"/> the production team bought four BMW 535is and five Peugeot 406s;Template:Efn one of each was cut in half and towed by a Mercedes-Benz 500 E while the actors were inside them.<ref name="commentary"/> Right-hand drive versions of the cars were also purchased; a dummy steering wheel was installed on the left side while the stunt drivers drove the speeding vehicles.<ref name="commentary"/><ref name="driving"/> The final chase had very little music because Frankenheimer thought music and sound effects do not blend well. Sound engineer Mike Le Mare recorded all of the film's cars on a racetrack, mixing them later in post-production.<ref name="commentary"/>
Frankenheimer refused to film the gunfights in slow motion, believing onscreen violence should be depicted in real time.<ref name="commentary"/> Mick Gould, the film's technical advisor and a former instructor in the advanced training wings of the Special Air Service, trained the cast in weapons-handling and guerilla military tactics.<ref name="prod"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The physical stunts were coordinated by Joe Dunne.<ref name="variety"/>
Alternative endings
[edit]Frankenheimer filmed two additional versions of the film's ending. In the first, Deirdre (McElhone) waits on the stairs next to the bistro and considers joining Sam (De Niro) and Vincent (Reno). Deciding against it, she walks up the stairs. As she gets into her car, IRA men drag her into a van and call her a traitor; it is implied that she is later killed. Sam and Vincent, unaware of Deidre's abduction, finish their conversation and depart. Although Frankenheimer said the test audience "hated" the ending because they did not want to see Deirdre die, he thought it "really worked".<ref name="commentary"/> In the second ending, Deirdre walks to her car after Sam and Vincent leave the bistro; this ending was also rejected because it verged on being "too Hollywood", hinting at a sequel. Frankenheimer yielded to the test audience's response with a compromise ending; he said, "with the tremendous investment MGM/UA had in this movie, you have to kind of listen to the audience".<ref name="commentary"/>
Music
[edit]Jerry Goldsmith was originally commissioned to compose the score for Ronin but left the project.<ref name="sountracknet">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="ign">Template:Cite news</ref> MGM executive vice-president for music Michael Sandoval assembled an A-list to replace Goldsmith.<ref name="sountracknet"/> From Sandoval's three choices, Frankenheimer hired Czech composer Elia Cmíral,<ref name="commentary"/><ref name="sountracknet"/> who said he "was far away from being even a 'B' composer at that time".<ref name="ign"/> Cmíral attended a private screening of the film's final version and considered its main theme, which at Frankenheimer's behest would incorporate qualities of "sadness, loneliness, and heroism".<ref name="sountracknet"/> To achieve this, Cmíral performed with the duduk, an ancient, double-reed woodwind flute that originated in Armenia.<ref name="cmiral">Template:Cite video</ref> Cmíral sent a demonstration to Frankenheimer, who "loved" it, and was signed as the film's composer.<ref name="sountracknet"/> Cmíral's piece "Ronin Theme" was used for the opening scenes.<ref name="sountracknet"/><ref name="allmusic">Template:Cite web</ref>
Cmíral's score for Ronin, his first for a major film studio,<ref name="cmiral"/> was recorded in seven weeks at CTS Studio in London.<ref name="sountracknet"/><ref name="allmusic"/> It was orchestrated and conducted by Nick Ingman, edited by Mike Flicker, and recorded and mixed by John Whynot.<ref name="sountracknet"/> Varèse Sarabande released the soundtrack album on compact disc in September 1998.<ref name="allmusic"/> For AllMusic, Jason Ankeny rated the album 4.5 out of 5 and called it a "profoundly visceral listening experience, illustrating an expert grasp of pacing and atmosphere".<ref name="allmusic"/>
Reception
[edit]Box office
[edit]Ronin had its world premiere at the 1998 Venice Film Festival on September 12,Template:Sfn before a wide release on September 25.<ref name="bommain">Template:Cite web</ref> Ronin fared moderately well at the box office;Template:Sfn it was the second-highest-grossing film in the United States during its opening weekend, grossing $16.7 million behind the action-comedy Rush HourTemplate:'s $26.7 million, at 2,643 locations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The film dropped to fifth place on its second weekend and to seventh on its third, grossing $7.2 million and $4.7 million, respectively, at 2,487 locations.<ref name="weekend">Template:Cite web</ref> It dropped further until its sixth weekend, when it grossed $1.1 million (13th place) at 1,341 locations.<ref name="weekend"/> The film ended its theatrical run with a gross of $41.6 million in the U.S. and Canada, and $70.7 million worldwide.<ref name="numbers">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="bommain"/> Ronin was 1998's 11th-highest-grossing R-rated film.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Critical response
[edit]Critical reception to Ronin was favorable;Template:Sfn critics praised its ensemble cast, with many singling out Robert De Niro.<ref name="variety">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="travers">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="ebert">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="maslin">Template:Cite news</ref> Todd McCarthy in Variety credited De Niro with sustaining the film<ref name="variety"/> but a reviewer from the Chicago Reader disagreed.<ref name="chicoreader">Template:Cite web</ref> The film's action scenes, particularly the car chases, were generally praised;<ref name="variety"/>Template:Sfn Janet Maslin in The New York Times called them "nothing short of sensational".<ref name="maslin"/> These scenes were criticized by The Washington Post for their length<ref name="wapo">Template:Cite news</ref> and by McCarthy for their excessive jump cuts.<ref name="variety"/> Robert Fraisse's cinematography was routinely praised;<ref name="variety"/><ref name="travers"/> Michael Wilmington in the Chicago Tribune called it superficially attractive and entertaining.<ref name="tribune">Template:Cite news</ref> Although the plot was criticized by the Chicago Reader as dull and The Washington Post as derivative,<ref name="wapo"/><ref name="chicoreader"/> Wilmington called it a "familiar but taut tale".<ref name="tribune"/> Some reviewers singled out the espionage scene in which De Niro and Natascha McElhone pose as tourists and photograph their targets at a Cannes hotel as one of the film's best.<ref name="variety"/><ref name="wapo"/>
Critics also evaluated Frankenheimer because the broad acclaim he received with the political thriller The Manchurian Candidate (1962) established him as a director.<ref name="travers"/><ref name="ebert"/><ref name="tribune"/> Many said he was influenced by the works of fellow filmmaker and close friend Jean-Pierre Melville, particularly Melville's neo-noir film Le Samouraï (1967),Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but McCarthy wrote that Ronin lacks Melville's "world-weary, existential ennui".<ref name="variety"/> The film was considered to be a return to form for Frankenheimer,<ref name="bowie">Template:Cite magazine</ref>Template:Sfn whose Emmy Awards for the television films Against the Wall (1994), The Burning Season, Andersonville and George Wallace had resurrected his career, after it lost momentum during the 1970s and 1980s due to the director's alcohol addiction.<ref name="tcm">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="travers"/> Ronin was Frankenheimer's last well-received feature film;<ref name="tcm"/> Wilmington called it the director's best theatrical film in decades despite lacking The Manchurian CandidateTemplate:'s "blazing invention",<ref name="tribune"/> and Stephen Prince called the film his "end-of-career masterpiece".Template:Sfn Prince wrote:
With Ronin, Frankenheimer vindicated his cinematic talents and aesthetic preferences. The film is stylistically bonded with the principles of his work as found in the earliest and best period of his career. Its aesthetic of realism places it with Grand Prix, The Train, and The Gypsy Moths, and its minimalist conception of character and narrative detail bonds it to those productions as well. Frankenheimer had not lost his touch as a filmmaker, far from it. Ronin is smart, sharp, and witty, and it shows a greater facility for visual storytelling than most films made today, by younger directors, can muster.Template:Sfn
Post-release
[edit]Home media
[edit]In February 1999, MGM Home Entertainment released Ronin as a double-sided DVD that contained versions in widescreen and full screen formats, and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound.<ref name="allmovie">Template:Cite web</ref> The DVD also contains the alternative ending and an audio commentary by John Frankenheimer, who discusses the film's production history.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> MGM released a special edition DVD of the film in October 2004 and a two-disc collector's edition in May 2006, both of which have additional cast and crew interviews.<ref name="allmovie"/>
It was released on Blu-ray with its theatrical trailer in February 2009.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In August 2017, Arrow Video released a special edition Blu-ray with a 4K resolution restoration from the original camera negative that was supervised and approved by cinematographer Robert Fraisse.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Arrow's Blu-ray also includes archival bonus features that originally appeared on the MGM special edition DVD,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> together with Fraisse talking about his early cinematography career and his involvement with Ronin.<ref name="dvdtalk">Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:Anchor Cinematic analysis
[edit]
The film's title was derived from the Japanese legend of rōnin, samurai whose leader was killed and left them with no one to serve, and roamed the countryside as mercenaries and bandits to regain a sense of purpose.Template:Sfn 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. Michael Lonsdale's character elaborates on the analogy in an anecdote about the forty-seven rōnin told with miniatures, comparing the film's characters to the 18th-century rōnin of Japan.Template:Sfn In his essay, "Action and Abstraction in Ronin", Stephen Prince 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".Template:Sfn 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".Template:Sfn
The film features a MacGuffin plot device in the form of a briefcase, the contents of which are important but unknown.Template:Sfn<ref name="tribune"/> Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert wrote that its content is identical to that of the equally-mysterious case in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994),<ref name="ebert"/> also a MacGuffin.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune called Ronin an homage to The French Connection (1971), The Parallax View (1974), and Three Days of the Condor (1975); thriller films known for their lack of visual effects.<ref name="tribune"/> Maitland McDonagh of TV Guide also compared the film to The Day of the Jackal (1973)<ref name="tvguide"/> and noted similarities between RoninTemplate:'s opening scene and that of Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992), in which a group of professional killers who have not met before assemble.<ref name="tribune"/> According to Armstrong, the film's plot observes the conventions of heist films.Template:Sfn
Frankenheimer employed a hyperrealistic 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 semi-documentary.<ref name="commentary"/> He credited Gillo Pontecorvo's The Battle of Algiers (1966), a film he considered flawless and more influential than any other he had seen, with inspiring this style.<ref name="commentary"/> 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 Bullitt (1968)".Template:Sfn The director credited the Russian film The Cranes Are Flying (1957) with inspiring invisible cuts in Ronin. On the film's DVD audio commentary, Frankenheimer notes a wipe during the opening scenes made by two extras walking across the frame, which becomes a tracking shot 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.<ref name="commentary"/>
Legacy
[edit]Modern reception
[edit]Template:RT prose In 2019, Rotten Tomatoes' Alex Vo ranked Ronin No. 101 on his list of the "140 Essential Action Movies To Watch Now".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:MC film
RoninTemplate:'s car chases were included on several media outlets' lists of the best depicted on film, including CNN (No. 2),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Time (No. 12),<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Fandango (No. 6),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Complex (No. 25),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Daily Telegraph (No. 10),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> PopMatters (No. 9),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> IGN (No. 9),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Screen Rant (No. 8),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Business Insider (No. 3),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Consequence of Sound (No. 6),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Collider.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Some critics have said the chase scenes in Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) were influenced by those in Ronin.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Screen Rant ranked Ronin No. 1 on its list of the "12 Best Action Movies You've Never Heard Of".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2014, Time Out polled several film critics, directors, actors, and stunt actors about their top action films;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ronin was 72nd on the list.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Paste magazine ranked the film at No. 10 on its list of the "25 Best Movies of 1998".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ronin was included in the film reference book 101 Action Movies You Must See Before You Die.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Template:Anchor Video games
[edit]Ronin influenced the conception of the action video games BurnoutTemplate:Efn and Alpha Protocol.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]Bibliography
[edit]External links
[edit]Template:John Frankenheimer Template:David Mamet Template:Authority control Template:Good article
- Pages with broken file links
- 1998 action thriller films
- 1990s chase films
- 1990s heist films
- 1990s spy films
- 1998 films
- American action thriller films
- American chase films
- American heist films
- American spy films
- 1990s English-language films
- Films about the Central Intelligence Agency
- Films about the Irish Republican Army
- Films about the Russian Mafia
- Films directed by John Frankenheimer
- Films scored by Elia Cmíral
- Films set in France
- Films set in Nice
- Films set in Paris
- Films shot in Paris
- Films with screenplays by David Mamet
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
- United Artists films
- Films about The Troubles (Northern Ireland)
- Films about mercenaries
- 1990s American films
- Films produced by Frank Mancuso Jr.
- English-language crime films
- English-language action thriller films