Popular reviews

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  Review by matt lynch ★★★★ 1

  Mamet and Frankenheimer possessed by Melville is basically crack to a film-nerd sociopath in love with genre hyperspecificity like me.

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  Review by Robert Franco 5

  to those who have not been exposed to the high points of the genre (and to be clear, the said high points are high), action is generally regarded as an unsophisticated genre that is artistically bankrupt. this stereotype is a result of the ratio of how many bad action movies come out a year (many) compared to how many good action movies come out a year (few). this preconceived notion that action films are inherently bad makes it so that some are unable to realize that, when it’s good, action is fucking good. 

  ronin is a prime example films that exhibit the true artistry of action filmmaking. for instance, look at the figure skating scene. any given action filmmaking hack…

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  Review by Sean Fennessey ★★★½ 12

  This thing still whips.

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  Review by Michael James ★★★ 2

  An old school action thriller that has a passable story with decent twists and one big MacGuffin, however the stylish craft, fantastically executed car chase-shooting-explosion sequences, great soundtrack and one hell of a cast do the redeeming job and keep it entertaining enough.

  “Yeah, well, either you're part of the problem or you're part of the solution, or you're just part of the landscape.”

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  Review by manilazic ★★★★ 1

  ”can I take a picture of *you* with my wife?”

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  Review by Matt Singer ★★★★½

  Yeah sex is cool but have you ever watched a movie about hyperprofessional crooks exchanging brusque dialogue in between white-knuckle car chases?

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  Review by Josh Lewis ★★★★ 5

  Glad to have made this my first experience at the New Beverly: a lot of B-side leftovers from Heat (warrior codes among world-weary professional criminals) and Mission Impossible (the cutthroat economy of plans-within-plans espionage) but punched up by an entire weight class by the God Frankeheimer channeling some gritty, blunt American thrills and destruction and some prime Mamet tough guy dialogue; he ambushed Mr. Raspberry Jam with coffee! Legit 80s levels of civilian collateral damage, loud squib-heavy shootouts, a cartoonish number of double-crosses and some of the sickest driving ever done on the streets of France. The setpieces are so fast, chaotic and dangerous-looking they completely earn the Friedkin comparisons. 

  [35mm]

  Full discussion on ep 85 of my podcast SLEAZOIDS.

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  Review by Grooveman ★★★★

  "You ever kill anybody?"

  "I hurt somebody's feelings once."

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  Review by Christmas Di Leo 🎄 ★★★★

  This thing is suave as fuck. Specialized strangers are hired to do a job, shit hits the fan and things get real messy and untrustworthy. There's plotting, scheming, backstabbing, vagueness, ulterior motives, snappy dialogue and an abundance of awesome car chases. Ronin is one hell of a good time that totally delivers!

  🇺🇸🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇮🇪🇫🇷🇩🇪🇷🇺💼📦🚘💥🔫

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  Review by comrade_yui ★★★★★ 7

  it really amazes me how much my taste has changed since i first saw this back in 2018: at that point, i considered this a competently-made but boring thriller, nothing that special. now, after wading through the filmographies of michael mann, walter hill, johnnie to and jean-pierre melville, ronin's specific quality of extremely tactical and legible action, terse and measured hardboiled dialogue by david mamet, and stacked cast of excellent 90s performers are things that i can now fully appreciate and respect.

  ronin focuses on my highest cinephilic obsession, men who live by a code, not a moral code, but a code of action, a code of presentation, a stripped-down bare-bones way of life, a way of encountering with a…

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  Review by DeSvenster ★★★★ 2

  It's just so simple, assemble a crew, get a briefcase, tentions run high, can't trust this one, can't trust that one, bang, bang, car chase, boom!

  You gotta love it, I did, and I still do after all this time.
  Brilliant cast, I mean, you got Reno, De Niro, Jonathan Pryce, Natascha McElhone, Sean Bean and Stellan Skarsgard...what more do you want?

  It's straight to the point here. No fancy special effects or color corrections, just good choreography and stuntwork.
  I've said it back then, and I'll say it again, "Ronin" has the best car chases, period.

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  Review by Blake Bergman "Various Spaghetti" ★★★★½

  "Ronin" is a 1998 action film directed by John Frankenheimer. As Frankenheimer has expansively directed a multitude of films in close to a 50-year time span, he has been involved in a multitude of works. "Ronin" was proportionally filmed near the end of his career, showcasing that even in his older age, the director still could keep pace with the delivery of excellent action narratives that offer both elements of excitable action but also deeper constructs in thought provoking depth and reason. The name easily connects with the element of Japanese historical lore, as the very real yet somewhat mythical in build figure of the "Ronin" is a masterless Samurai that owes no conventional loyalty to anyone. There is still…