Ronin (Arrow Video)

[Ray_Rogers]

From director John Frankenheimer (Reindeer Games, The Manchurian Candidate) comes Ronin, a pulse-pounding, action-packed crime thriller featuring an all-star cast headlined by Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver, Heat) and Jean Reno (Léon, The Crimson Rivers).

On a rain-swept night in Paris, an international crack team of professional thieves assembles, summoned by a shady crime syndicate fronted by the enigmatic Deirdre (Natascha McElhone, The Devil's Own). Their mission: to steal a heavily guarded briefcase from armed mobsters, its contents undisclosed. But what begins as a routine heist soon spirals into chaos, with the group beset by a series of double-crosses and constantly shifting allegiances, and it falls to world-weary former CIA strategist Sam (De Niro) and laconic Frenchman Vincent (Reno) to hold the mission together.

A latter-day return to form for Frankenheimer, the film evokes the same gritty milieu as classic 70s crime fare like The French Connection, in addition to anticipating the early 21st century trend towards more grounded, realistic action movies, exemplified by the likes of the Bourne franchise. Arrow Video is proud to present Ronin in a brand new, cinematographer-approved 4K restoration, allowing this jewel in the crown of 90s thriller cinema to shine like never before.

• Brand new 4K restoration of the film from the original camera negative produced by Arrow Video exclusively for this release, supervised and approved by director of photography Robert Fraisse
• Original English 5.1 audio (lossless)
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary by director John Frankenheimer
• Brand new video interview with director of photography Robert Fraisse
• Paul Joyce documentary on Robert De Niro
• Ronin: Filming in the Fast Lane, an archival behind-the-scenes featurette
• Through the Lens, an archival interview with Robert Fraisse
• The Driving of Ronin, an archival featurette on the film's legendary car stunts
• Natascha McElhone: An Actor's Process, an archival interview with the actress
• Composing the Ronin Score, an archival interview with composer Elia Cmiral
• In the Ronin Cutting Room, an archival interview with editor Tony Gibbs
• Venice Film Festival interviews with Robert De Niro, Jean Reno and Natascha McElhone
• Alternate ending
• Theatrical trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jacob Phillips
• First pressing only: Collector's booklet illustrated by Chris Malbon, featuring new writing on the film by critic Travis Crawford

UK STREET DATE: AUGUST 14.

[Ray_Rogers]

YES! I've been waiting YEARS for this release! One of my favorite John Frankenheimer films and had always been wanting a sequel.


Sequel's premise, at least in my head:

[Show spoiler]Robert De Niro and Jean Reno return but they're in Southeast Asia with even more gunfights along with car chases. Other actors would be Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Gedde Watanabe, and I haven't figured out the rest.

[Superted]

Great stuff, haven't seen this since its initial release so well looking forward to this. Pre ordered

[DrWally]

Is the price likely to come down before release? I don't want to miss out on the book that comes with the first pressing, but £25 seems way too steep to preorder at this point.

[Yocke]

This was the second dvd I ever bought. Can't wait to upgrade. I wonder what will be on the reverse cover.

[levcore]

Already got the existing blu but this is an awesome movie so would be tempted to double dip for a better transfer.

[IVI13]

Originally Posted by IVI13

I have that digipack and the original single disc version. Kept both because the Filming In The Fast Lane featurette is 3½ minutes shorter on the special edition. I wonder which version will be on the Arrow disc.

Originally Posted by Eibon

Never noticed that discrepancy, I only have the deluxe Digipack. What was dropped? Interview? Can you compare and post in the Ronin specific thread so we can check for the footage when the disc is released? This usually only happens when they edit contentious opinion moving from TV broadcasts to DVD extras. For example, extras on Clockwork Orange or Blade Runner or Exorcist, although that might be a Warners thing

The original version contains behind the scenes footage from Frankenheimer's Grand Prix and The Train, and stills from The Manchurian Candidate and French Connection II; these have all been removed from the Special Edition version. There are also brief bits of behind the scenes footage from Ronin and a snippet of Frankenheimer interview missing. The original also had some narration, this has been removed from the shorter version.

[Dean learner]

Not seen this since the cinema, but I remember how impressive the action was. The early tell when they are all sizing each other up and the coffee cup is dropped, only for Skarsgaard to grab it mid-air without skipping a drop was a masterful piece of character building.

[dykesy]

I'm really looking forward to this. I was talking to a friend about Ronin a few days ago, specifically the car chase and I mentioned about how it's a shame that the Blu-Ray release was so sh!t. And then two days later at most this is announced. I'm so excited for this but £25 is a very steep price. I don't doubt that it will drop down to £15 before release.

[stigdu]

Yeah I still say it's the best car chase I've ever seen. To Live and Die in LA comes a close second.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[Superted]

Originally Posted by dykesy

I'm really looking forward to this. I was talking to a friend about Ronin a few days ago, specifically the car chase and I mentioned about how it's a shame that the Blu-Ray release was so sh!t. And then two days later at most this is announced. I'm so excited for this but £25 is a very steep price. I don't doubt that it will drop down to £15 before release.

£25 is great for locking in free shipping, rather than waiting for it to drop below £20.
I pre ordered 3 titles at £25 separately rather than all together, meanes I can cancel one or two and still get free shipping

[Dean learner]

Originally Posted by dykesy

I'm really looking forward to this. I was talking to a friend about Ronin a few days ago, specifically the car chase and I mentioned about how it's a shame that the Blu-Ray release was so sh!t. And then two days later at most this is announced. I'm so excited for this but £25 is a very steep price. I don't doubt that it will drop down to £15 before release.

Like all Arrow releases in this price bracket, it'll be down to £14.99 on release and in the HMV 2 for £25 a week later.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Superted

£25 is great for locking in free shipping, rather than waiting for it to drop below £20.
I pre ordered 3 titles at £25 separately rather than all together, meanes I can cancel one or two and still get free shipping

Yeah, I did the same with Mulholland Drive. I ordered it at the higher price and I'm happy to actually pay it too with David M in the driving seat, but now it's come down so the free postage stays.

I'll do the same with Ronin. Even if the price were to stay high it's worth supporting a release done right.

[Porco Azzurro]

Originally Posted by Yocke

This was the second dvd I ever bought. Can't wait to upgrade. I wonder what will be on the reverse cover.

Hah, me too... Well, joint first/second... along with Pink Floyd - The Wall (still waiting for a first Blu-ray for that let alone a re-master...!).

Will definitely be getting this, cracking film.

[andersos]

Originally Posted by Yocke

This was the second dvd I ever bought. Can't wait to upgrade. I wonder what will be on the reverse cover.

I bought this and Tombstone on DVD at Åhléns in late 1998. I had bought a Dell Pentium II PC earlier in the autumn, and luckily it had a MPEG2 decoding card, so I could watch those movies on a 19" monitor.

Haven't watched Ronin since then, so this is a welcome upgrade.

[Cerberus40000]

ah I just recently got this movie in a 3 for £20, nasty bare bones Blu-ray after having the old DVD with extras

This will be a must buy for me

[alien2010]

Ronin was the first film I bought on DVD. Hell it was the reason I convinced my parents to get a DVD player. I first saw the film on its cinema release back in 1998 when I was 13 (thank heavens I looked older for my age) And I was completely floored by it. The characters were very well drawn out, even though they had their own hidden motives towards the jon in hand. The car chases were exhillerating and a tour de force and the story itself was a cynical and fun ride. I remember coming into school on the Monday and my friends were really scoffing at how amazing this film was. Wanted to see it again the next weekend, but by then the film was pulled from my local Odeon (b*stards) After reading terrible reviews of its transfer, I decided not to bother so I'm really glad this may well be getting the blu ray transfer this film richley deserves.

[captainsolo]

I'm literally crying with joy over this. Ronin is THE forgotten lost masterwork of the 90's.
And a new 4K scan..oh boy...this is what finally makes me go for region free...and what a release to do so!

[jono3000]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

I'm literally crying with joy over this. Ronin is THE forgotten lost masterwork of the 90's.
And a new 4K scan..oh boy...this is what finally makes me go for region free...and what a release to do so!

You know it's being released in the US too? Not sure why you need to go region free for it.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[joy-division]

PO'd