The Film (4/5)

   John Frankenheimer in many ways was the ultimate director for hire. He made a handful of classics in his career like Seconds and the Manchurian Candidate, but he was fine being handed a script, and attempting to make an entertaining film with it, and for decades this is just what he did. In 1998 for one of his final films, he directed the heist thriller Ronin, which should be said is not quite a masterpiece being a derivative amalgam of cold war thrillers and heist film antics viewers have seen for decades before. However, between Frankenheimer's solid direction, the script from J.D. Zeik and Richard Weisz (David Mamet under a pseudonym) and a cast that is so diverse and amazing that it includes Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Jonathan Pryce, and Sean Bean amongst many others that Ronin finds itself taking material that could just be another generic thriller and elevating it into something great and wildly entertaining.

    Ronin opens on a gorgeously atmospheric rainy night in Paris, a group of criminals is assembled to take on the heist of a case that is wanted by both the Russians and Northern Irish. They are assembled by an Irish woman who is not revealing why it is required. The group goes to carry out their mission not knowing anything else about each other, and so a series of events to acquire the case including a series of double crosses, chases, and more begin.

    Ronin feels like what a Jean-Pierre Melville film would be if amped up for the late 90's.  I actually don't think Melville would ever push the limits quite this far, but in the moments between the two mind blowing chase sequences and some of the heavier action scenes are quieter more plot driven moments that would not be out of place in the director's oeuvre.  Frankenheimer does a great job creating a nice atmosphere in the piece, and of course, a nice amount of twist to keep viewers guessing as the plot unravels.

Audio/Video (4/5)

    Arrow Video presents Ronin in a 2:35:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer in a new 4k scan from the original negative. I haven't seen Ronin since a DVD projection of the film back in college, and can attest that the film as presented by Arrow looks natural, film like, and well-detailed. There are some minor instances of damage that made it through the clean up process, but those hardly effect the quality of the transfer.

    Audio chores are handled 2 ways a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track in English and a 2.0 PCM track also in English. Both tracks are quite solid with dialogue and score coming through nicely.

Extras (3.5/5)

    Extras include a new interview with DP Robert Fraisse, an audio commentary by late director John Frankenheimer, a 1994 appreciation of DeNiro by Quentin Tarantino, and multiple archival interview and featurettes. The disc also has an alternate ending, trailers, and galleries.

Overall

   Ronin is one of the best action conspiracy thrillers of the late 90's, and a late career highlight from director Frankenheimer. The Blu-ray from Arrow Video looks and sounds fantastic. It is loaded up with a nice slate of extras and comes HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.