Ronin
Ronin promotional movie poster
Directed by	John Frankenheimer
Produced by	Frank Mancuso Jr.
Written by	J.D. Zeik (story) David Mamet (screenplay, as Richard Weisz)
Starring	Robert De Niro Jean Reno Natascha McElhone Stellan Skarsgård Sean Bean and Jonathan Pryce
Music by	Elia Cmiral
Cinematography	Robert Fraisse
Editing by	Tony Gibbs
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	September 12, 1998 (Venice Film Festival)
Running time	121 min.
Language	English
Budget	$55,000,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

Released in 1998, Ronin is an action/thriller that tells the story of a group of former intelligence agents who team up to steal a mysterious metal case. Starring Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, Stellan Skarsgård, Sean Bean, and Skipp Sudduth, with Jonathan Pryce, Katarina Witt, and Michael Lonsdale in supporting roles. Image File history File links Ronin_movie_1998. ... John Michael Frankenheimer (February 19, 1930 – July 6, 2002) was an American film director. ... Frank Mancuso Junior is the son of former Paramount Pictures president Frank Mancuso Sr. ... David Alan Mamet (born November 30, 1947) is an American author, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, and film director. ... Robert Mario De Niro Jr. ... Jean Reno (born Juan Moreno y Herrera Jiménez, July 30, 1948) is a French actor of Spanish descent. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Stellan SkarsgÃ¥rd (help· info) (born June 13, 1951, Gothenburg, Sweden) is a Swedish actor. ... Sean Mark Bean (born 17 April 1959) is an English film and stage actor. ... Pryce as Sam Lowry in Brazil Jonathan Pryce (born June 1, 1947) is a Welsh actor who was born in Holywell, Flintshire, Wales. ... Elia David Cmiral is a film composer. ... Robert Fraisse is a French cinematographer born in Paris in 1940. ... The current United Artists logo (a variant was used during the 1980s). ... September 12 is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years). ... // February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein. ... The Venice Film Festival (it: Mostra Internazionale dArte Cinematografica) is the oldest Film Festival in the World (began in the 1932) and takes place every year in late August/early September on the Lido di Venezia in the historic Palazzo del Cinema on the Lungomare Marconi, in Venice, Italy. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean [1]. // Coated in ice, power and telephone lines sag and often break, resulting in power outages. ... Robert Mario De Niro Jr. ... Jean Reno (born Juan Moreno y Herrera Jiménez, July 30, 1948) is a French actor of Spanish descent. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Stellan SkarsgÃ¥rd (help· info) (born June 13, 1951, Gothenburg, Sweden) is a Swedish actor. ... Sean Mark Bean (born 17 April 1959) is an English film and stage actor. ... Skipp Sudduth Robert Lee Sudduth IV (b. ... Pryce as Sam Lowry in Brazil Jonathan Pryce (born June 1, 1947) is a Welsh actor who was born in Holywell, Flintshire, Wales. ... Katarina Witt (December 3, 1965, Staaken) is a German figure skater, in Germany commonly affectionately called Kati Witt. Won two Olympic Gold Medals for East Germany, first in the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics and the second in 1988 at the Calgary Olympics. ... Michael Lonsdale (born May 24, 1931 in Paris) is a French actor perhaps best known for his role as Sir Hugo Drax in the 1979 James Bond film, Moonraker. ...

The movie was written by J.D. Zeik and David Mamet, and directed by John Frankenheimer. Mamet is credited as "Richard Weisz", reportedly due to disappointment at having to share credit with Zeik (the originating writer). According to some production sources (notably Zeik's lawyer), Mamet's contributions were "minor", limited to adding the character Deirdre and most of DeNiro's scenes. According to Frankenheimer , "The credits should read: Story by J.D. Zeik, screenplay by David Mamet. We didn't shoot a line of Zeik's script." [1] David Alan Mamet (born November 30, 1947) is an American author, essayist, playwright, screenwriter, and film director. ... John Michael Frankenheimer (February 19, 1930 – July 6, 2002) was an American film director. ...

The title is derived from the Japanese term ronin, used for samurai who had no master; some of the characters in the movie are unemployed agents set adrift by the end of the Cold War. The movie also makes a lengthy reference to the classic Japanese story, the 47 Ronin. Graves of the forty-seven Ronin at Sengaku-ji Ronin robbing a merchants house in Japan around 1860 (1) For other uses, see Ronin (disambiguation). ... Japanese samurai in armour, 1860s. ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... Incense burns at the burial graves of the 47 Ronin at Sengakuji. ...

It is notable for a number of car chase scenes, the last being a particularly lengthy one through the streets and tunnels of Paris; some scenes utilized up to 150 stunt drivers. Car work has been a speciality of Frankenheimer, a former racing driver^{[citation needed]}, ever since his 1966 film, Grand Prix. Although action sequences are often shot by a second unit director, Frankenheimer did all these himself. While he was aware of the many innovations in digital special effects since then, he elected to film all these sequences live, to obtain the maximum level of authenticity. To further this, many of the high-speed shots have the actual actors in the cars. Sudduth did nearly all of his own driving, while other cars were right hand drive models with stunt drivers driving - crashes were handled by a stuntman. City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... Grand Prix is a action film released in 1966. ... Special effects (abbreviated SPFX or SFX) are used in the film, television, and entertainment industry to create effects that cannot be achieved by normal means, such as depicting travel to other star systems. ...

The contents of the metal case are never revealed (see MacGuffin). Mamet has written that he believes revealing such details can be anticlimactic, that a director is wiser to allow the audience's imagination to answer the question. This is a technique Mamet has used repeatedly in his films. This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ...

Porn star Ron Jeremy had a small role, credited as "Hyatt" which is derived from his Jewish name "Ronald Jeremy Hyatt". However, scenes involving him were eventually cut by the studio. The basis of his character in the film is unknown. Ron Jeremy (born Ron Jeremy Hyatt on March 12, 1953) is an American pornographic actor currently residing in Long Island, New York. ...

There has been speculation as of late that a sequel was to be filmed somewhere in Asia, with De Niro and Reno reprising their original roles alongside actors James Franco, Charlotte Rampling, and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai^{[citation needed]}. James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, film producer, and artist. ... Rampling modeling on a Mickey Spillane book cover, 1972. ... Tony Leung Chiu Wai (Chinese: 梁朝偉; pinyin: ) (born June 27, 1962) is a Hong Kong movie and ex-television actor. ...

Synopsis

A few men and a woman are sitting around at a Parisian bar, waiting for something. An American man, Sam (Robert DeNiro) first hides a gun in the back, then walks in, asking in French to use the bathroom. After unlocking the back door before going to the bathroom, he’s asked in English by the waitress, Deidre (Natascha McElhone), what he’s doing there. Sam answers that he’s there because he was asked by ‘the man in the wheelchair’. A car horn honks in the back, and when asked by Deidre what he was doing in the back, Sam replies that “I never walk into any place I don’t know how to walk out of.” Robert De Niro Robert De Niro, Jr. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ...

Sam, the two other men and Deidre go in the van to a warehouse, where they meet two other men. The four other men are Vincent (Jean Reno), Larry (Skipp Sudduth), Spence (Sean Bean), and Gregor (Stellan Skarsgård). The next day, Deidre lays out the general idea of the job – they’re to rob a group of men (between 5 and 8) of a large silver case – though Deidre refuses to say what’s in the case. Throughout the meeting, the other men’s roles are more fleshed out. Vincent can get anything in Paris, Larry is the driver, Spence is the ‘weapons man’, and Gregor is the electronics man. Sam, meanwhile, displays a sense of experience, asking questions and taking note of small things (such as Gregor’s lightning quick reflexes), while keeping information about himself close to the vest. Sam, Vincent and Larry display their own previous experience in dealing with violence, as a meet to get extra weapons turns against them quickly. Spence, however, reacts poorly, eventually throwing up when the adrenaline rush leaves him. His amateur status is later confirmed by Sam, when he ‘ambushes’ Spence with a cup of coffee (backing Spence up into the cup while asking him specific questions about his alleged past). Spence is given a small retainer fee, and sent away, warned not to return again. Jean Reno (born Juan Moreno y Herrera Jiménez, July 30, 1948) is a French actor of Spanish descent. ... Skipp Sudduth Robert Lee Sudduth IV (b. ... Sean Mark Bean (born 17 April 1959) is an English film and stage actor. ... Stellan SkarsgÃ¥rd (help· info) (born June 13, 1951, Gothenburg, Sweden) is a Swedish actor. ...

Diedre, meanwhile, meets her contact Seamus (Jonathan Pryce) while walking through the Paris metro system. Seamus hands off the information about the case to Deidre. The case is in Nice, and the Russians are bidding on the case, so the team needs to move quickly. When Deidre still refuses to give up more information about the case or the men guarding the case (for example, if the case is ‘chained to some unlucky bloke’s wrist’), Sam angrily tells Deidre that the price has gone up – he wants $100,000 up front, and another $100,000 when they get the case for each of the men. Pryce as Sam Lowry in Brazil Jonathan Pryce (born June 1, 1947) is a Welsh actor who was born in Holywell, Flintshire, Wales. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

In Nice, the team continue to try and get more information about the case and the people guarding it. At the hotel where the men with the case are, Sam and Deidre create a distraction while posing as a married couple, showing Sam that the people guarding the case are professionals. However, the team goes ahead with the ambush the following day. With Gregor tracking them via a cell phone signal, Vincent and Sam manage to take out one of the cars with a grenade launcher, while the other two cars are chased by Sam and Vincent. Sam takes out a second car, while Larry manages to push a third car temporarily off the road. After a long chase, the team manages to stop the lead car, where a firefight breaks out. Gregor gets the case, but hands a fake silver case off to Sam. Gregor runs in one direction, while the rest of the team run down an alley. Sam notices the silver paint on his hands and throws the case away. The case explodes, but Larry is injured from the shrapnel. After regrouping at a safehouse, Sam asks for Gregor’s cell phone number so he can trinagulate where Gregor is.

The next day, Gregor meets with someone to trade money for the case. Gregor shows his brutality when he threatens to kill a young girl in a nearby park to prove that he’s willing to kill for his money. Eventually he kills the other man, who threatened Gregor with his own gun. Gregor then calls another man, Mikhi, and tells him that the cost went up 3 times for the case.

Meanwhile, Sam meets with a contact in the street, covertly handing off Gregor’s cell phone number. Via the contact, Sam finds out that Gregor is in Arles. In Arles, Gregor arranges to meet two men from Mikhi in a nearby arena, while Deidre, Vincent, and Sam follow Gregor’s signal to the arena, with Larry waiting outside in a car. In the arena, the various people make contact, with Gregor temporarily taken at gunpoint by Sam. However, he’s able to get away using the tourist crowd as cover. Sam and Vincent confront Mikhi’s men, and one of them shoots in Sam’s direction, causing Sam to get hit through his bulletproof vest by a Teflon-coated bullet. When running out of the arena, Gregor is first stopped by Seamus, who was at Larry’s car, and then Deidre follows. Sam and Vincent run out just in time to see Seamus and Deidre drive off with Gregor, while Larry, having been killed by Seamus, lies on the street. Coordinates Administration Country France Region Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur Department Bouches-du-Rhône (Subprefecture) Arrondissement Arles Canton Chief town of 2 cantons: Arles-Est and Arles-Ouest Intercommunality Agglomeration community of Arles-Crau-Camargue-Montagnette Mayor Hervé Schiavetti  (PS) (2001-2008) Statistics Altitude 0 m–57 m...

Vincent and Sam steal a car and go to Jean-Pierre, a friend of Vincent’s, who is able to help perform surgery to get the bullet out of Sam (Sam, again showing his toughness, refuses any alcohol, instead instructing Vincent and Jean-Pierre how to remove the bullet). While Sam is sleeping, Vincent asks Jean-Pierre for information about Gregor, Seamus and Diedre, feeling that he owes his life to Sam. When Sam wakes up, he sees Jean-Pierre working on an elaborate diorama of the forty-seven Ronin, with the implication that Sam and his colleagues are somewhat like the Ronin themselves – soldiers without a master who need to do what they can for honor. Incense burns at the burial graves of the 47 Ronin at Sengaku-ji. ...

At a different safehouse in Paris, Seamus beats the information out of Gregor about the case. They go to a Paris post office, where Gregor mailed the case to himself, but it’s not yet there. The next morning, Seamus, Gregor and Diedre go back to the post office, this time followed by Sam and Vincent. Sam holds Deidre at gunpoint, and Vincent tails Gregor and Seamus – who now has the case – but Sam pauses when Deidre drives off, quickly picking up Gregor and Seamus. Another chase ensues throughout the Paris streets, tunnels and highways, with the two cars eventually racing against traffic along a busy highway. The chase ends when Sam blows out one of Deidre’s tires, and Deidre drives the car off an unfinished section of highway. Gregor, Deidre and Seamus all manage to get out separately, despite Vincent and Sam shooting at them from above, with Gregor back in possession of the case.

Not knowing what to do next, Vincent and Sam sit at a coffee shop, trying to figure out how Gregor knew where to get an identical case to make a switch. They then see someone with a similar case, and they find out it’s a case for ice skates. Having talked to Jean-Pierre’s contact, the men figure out that the Russians, whom Gregor is likely to sell the case to, would be at an ice-show featuring Natascha Kirilova (Katarina Witt) (who happens to be the girlfriend of Mikhi). The two then make their way to the ice show, looking out for any suspicious activity. They spot Mikhi get a message from someone and walk off quickly, and follow behind. In a back office, Mikhi meets with Gregor, who tells him that he hired a sniper to kill Natascha if he’s not paid and he doesn’t call in the next minute. Mikhi opts to let the deadline lapse, shooting Gregor in the head and walking out with the case. With the rest of the stadium being escorted out, Mikhi and his associate make their way out, but are shot by Seamus, dressed as a stadium guard. Seamus, though, is stopped when he sees Vincent and Sam (along with Sam’s friend) in the distance. Sam spots Deidre, and convinces her to leave without Seamus. Seamus shoots Vincent, then runs back in the building, eventually taking a woman hostage. Sam is shot, and is threatened by Seamus, but Seamus is shot by Vincent, who collapses from his wounds. Katarina Witt (December 3, 1965, Staaken) is a German figure skater, in Germany commonly affectionately called Kati Witt. Won two Olympic Gold Medals for East Germany, first in the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics and the second in 1988 at the Calgary Olympics. ...

The next day, a series of radio announcements says that the British Government and the IRA have ceased hostilities, somehow as a result of the previous night’s action. Sam and Vincent, each recovering from their injuries, exchange pleasantries in the café from the beginning of the film (though Sam refuses to divulge the contents of the case) before Sam is picked up by his friend and Vincent walks off, musing about his own uncertain status. The United Kingdom is a unitary state and a democratic constitutional monarchy. ... Provisional Irish Republican Army (Irish name: Óglaigh na hÉireann) (PIRA; more commonly referred to as the IRA, the Provos, or by some of its supporters as the Army or the RA) is an Irish Republican left-wing paramilitary organisation that, until the Belfast Agreement, sought to end Northern Ireland... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ...

In the original ending (included on the DVD), the viewer also sees Dierdre attempting to return to the café, when she is abducted by her former IRA associates to an uncertain (and possibly ominous) fate.

Trivia

• The second major car chase passes through a Paris tunnel that is remarkably similar to the site of the car accident (the Place de l'Alma underpass) that lead to Diana, Princess of Wales’ death on August 31, 1997. The filming took place in a different tunnel, however (under Boulevard Gouvion Saint-Cyr in northwestern Paris). "Paris has a lot of tunnels," Frankenheimer commented. "That’s part of the thing about the city I wanted people to see. A crash in a tunnel in Paris is about as like having someone having a crash on a freeway here. It happens all the time." (Rocky Mountain News, 1998-09-27).

• At the time of the movie's release in 1998 a new accord was reached that provided for a new Northern Ireland Assembly as well as a North-South Ministerial Council to deal with issues of joint interest to the province and the Irish Republic. The Republic of Ireland also agreed to give up territorial claims on Northern Ireland. This reflects the conclusion of the film after the death of Seamus O'Rourke, with the real-world country actually agreeing on a peace settlement, just as in the film.

• This film has three different James Bond villains as co-stars. Michael Lonsdale starred as Hugo Drax in Moonraker, Sean Bean as Alec Trevelyan in GoldenEye and Jonathan Pryce as Elliot Carver in Tomorrow Never Dies.

• De Niro and Pryce previously co-starred opposite each other in Terry Gilliam's Brazil.

• Pryce and Stellan Skarsgard would later work together in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

• Katarina Witt plays Natascha Kirilova, and the announcement of Kirilova's Olympic achievements are actually Witt's.

Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances[2]; née Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. ... August 31 is the 243rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (244th in leap years), with 122 days remaining. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean [1]. // Coated in ice, power and telephone lines sag and often break, resulting in power outages. ... September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean [1]. // Coated in ice, power and telephone lines sag and often break, resulting in power outages. ... Flemings commissioned image of James Bond to aid the Daily Express comic strip artists. ... The James Bond novels and films are notable for their memorably despicable villains and henchmen. ... Michael Lonsdale (born May 24, 1931 in Paris) is a French actor perhaps best known for his role as Sir Hugo Drax in the 1979 James Bond film, Moonraker. ... Sir Hugo Drax is a fictional character and villain created by author Ian Fleming for the James Bond novel Moonraker. ... Moonraker is a 1979 James Bond film starring Roger Moore, based on the book by Ian Fleming. ... Sean Mark Bean (born 17 April 1959) is an English film and stage actor. ... Alec Trevelyan (006) is the primary villain in the James Bond film GoldenEye, portrayed by actor Sean Bean. ... GoldenEye is a 1995 spy film that is the 17th installment in the James Bond film series. ... Pryce as Sam Lowry in Brazil Jonathan Pryce (born June 1, 1947) is a Welsh actor who was born in Holywell, Flintshire, Wales. ... Elliot Carver is a fictional character and the main villain from the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. ... Tomorrow Never Dies is the eighteenth James Bond film made by EON Productions, and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as Ian Flemings secret agent, James Bond. ... Terrence Vance Gilliam (born November 22, 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, animator, and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. ... Stellan Skarsgård (born June 13, 1951, Gothenburg, Sweden) is a Swedish actor and father of Alexander Skarsgård and Gustaf Skarsgård. ... Katarina Witt (December 3, 1965, Staaken) is a German figure skater, in Germany commonly affectionately called Kati Witt. Won two Olympic Gold Medals for East Germany, first in the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics and the second in 1988 at the Calgary Olympics. ...

DVD Release

The DVD release has an extensive, detailed commentary about the making of the film by Frankenheimer, where he explains the production techniques used to realize the high speed chases.

The US edition of the original DVD release has several navigational hooks to DVD-ROM content, which were taken advantage of several weeks after the original release of the DVD, on MGM's website during a special 'RONIN' event where viewers would be taken on a guided tour of the making of RONIN. Making-of scenes shot during filming are hidden on the DVD, since they are not present on the main menu of the DVD you can only access them on a computer using the DVD-ROM program that is on the disc or using a DVD viewwing program that let you navigate through the titles of the disc manually.

On May 6, 2006 a two-disc Special Edition of the movie was released in the US. This new version contain the same things as the old single disc version on disc 1 and on disc two there are supplemental material about the movie: one documentary, 6 featurettes and a picture gallery.

External links

• Ronin at the Internet Movie Database
• Ronin at Rotten Tomatoes