100 things I've learned from watching Ronin
1. Before rogue agents shoot at each other they make friends by exchanging small talk.
shareI don't remember what I learned from it. That's the second thing they teach you!
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MovieChat Forums > Ronin (1998) Discussion > 100 things I've learned from watching Ro...
If you're a fishmonger or a produce vendor, you're better off going on the dole. Your stands are just gonna get mowed over by a passing car pursuit, or you're gonna be riddled with bullets during an ambush.
If your heyday as a filmmaker was in the 60s and 70s, then you still believe tomato paste still makes for convincing fake blood, a la The French Connection (I know, that was Friedkin).
Apologies to Fraknenheimer. Ronin still rocks.
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14. "Everybody's your brother 'til the rent comes due."
15. "Everybody wants to go to the party, nobody wants to stay and help clean up."
16. Sam's attached to his skin because it covers his body.
17. Spence doesn't know what color the boathouse at Hereford is.
18. Sam's in it for the money, Vincent has the money "right here".
19. Management won't give you a cigarette, but labor will.
20. These are uncertain times.
21. Larry doesn't know what a "grasshopper" is, but Sam does.
22. If this is gonna be amateur night, Sam want's his money up front.
23. If it's in Paris, Vincent can get it for you.
"We all have it coming kid."
24. They didn't need to tell Spence to forget them.
25. Reflexes die hard.
26. Ice skates have metal cases.
27. Deirdre drives very fast.
28. Never walk into a place that you don't know the way out of.
29. Hardened Criminals are deathly afraid of falling signs
share30. Coliseums are still dangerous, but nowadays for tourists.
31. Allways pay attention to lost "tourists" with maps if you´re stiting in a car.
32. Dont let your kids wear glasses in parks, because that makes them cute and prone to be targeted.
33. Never date a russian mobster.
34. Money > hot famous girlfriends.
35. Elaborate "bond-vilain-style" trade plans always fail; guns do the job much better.
36. If you want to kiss a chick pretend the cops are coming.
37. De Niro's character might have been a true 'ronin', ie masterless samurai*/ex-CIA, in the beginning of this movie, 'Ronin', but the 'Agency' was keeping a close eye on the whereabouts of that mysterious silver case, so he was never really too far 'out in the cold', whether he knew it or not, from the onset of this movie.
This contact between De Niro & the CIA guy was not some accidental get-together. Jean Reno's character repeatedly asks De Niro to come up with sources who can be of assistance with things like tracking certain, particular cell-phone users as they are conversing.
De Niro tells Natascha McElhone's character Deirdre, "I didn't come for your case. I came for your boss. I never left. I came for Seamus."
In the conclusion of the film, De Niro gains control of this valuable metal valise, but immediately turns it over to the CIA.
Once again, they are his paymasters, therefore his stint as a ronin was short-lived.
*A prime example of a true ronin would be the character 'Tsubaki Sanjuro', as played by Toshiro Mifune in Kurosawa's motion picture, 'Sanjuro'.
38. Jean Reno's character 'Vincent' was the only true 'ronin' of this film, at least from the samurai concept of ronin being a masterless samurai, ie a freelance ex-security services operative.
But, I need to question the lack of response from the Frency Ministry of the Interior, The Surete, and the CRS with regard to the high octane hijinks of this crew.
So, maybe Reno's Vincent was under deep cover, too.
All the main characters were performing a masquerade of sorts, as it were.
39. Spence may not know what color the boat house is in Hereford, but Sam doesn't even know how to pronounce "Hereford". Plus, Spence would have known that if he was English so I'm not sure he's even English.
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Hah! Made you look!!
40. You can shoot the lock off a gate at a tourist attraction, and tourists will keep walking in the streets, looking around as if nothing happened as you run with your pistol visible in your hand.
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john the joker!
HUZZAH!
At last someone else who presumably found that the awful mispronunciation of Hereford got right up their nose!
I Doff my cap to you sir! :)
The more I think about it, I think Sam was deliberately mispronouncing "Hereford" to test Spence.
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Fox News: We lie, you panic!
john the joker!
Possibly, but i think it was just an american who was unfamiliar with the the idiosyncrasies of british place names (eg. Leicestershire) Sam testing Spence in that way would be a little too subtle for viewers to realise - especially non british viewers.
He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!
123. don't let yourself be ambushed by a cup of coffee!
Silver Lining Accounting Service: "We satisfy or we eat it."
29. Sam wants juste une petite verre.
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Excellent, wiking5. If IMDb ever installs those "Like" buttons, you have my vote.
share30. you take a picture like this, snaps like this, aim like that, very simple, see?
31. the map is not the territory (which is more than just a good line - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Map-territory_relation)
"why is the rabbit unafraid? because he's smarter than the panther."
32. Just because your buying guns doesn't mean you didn't bring any.
share33. jonathan pryce pronounces shi t differently from me
34. the roads in europe are very narrow
35. use every advantage ie when gregor is held at gunpoint by the frenchman and hits the breaks hard to discombobulate frenchy
Please buddy, running the elevator its all i got.
36. Teflon coated bullets will penetrate body armor better (they won't)
37. Ronin are masterless samurai (seriously, I didn't know that before)
38. Keep in touch with your friends from high-school
39. Weapons are tools: pick the right tool for the job
40. Sean Bean is the constant lesser-badass (think about it: he's really good at it)
41. de niro has the worlds best camera that can zoom in and rotate around his target.
42. a sign falling over sounds like gunshots to the trained ears of an armed bodyguard.
43. playing tense music for the first hour WILL keep a movie suspenseful although nothing is actually happening
44. larry is a legend behind the wheel of an S8
If your Vincent, you can ask a security guard for a cigarette and he will then proceed to engage you in small talk and tell you useful information....for the rest of us the response is usually "bugger off"
Car chases with old school cars rule!
How to do a handbrake turn when speeding towards a bus (handy note, put it in 2nd gear)
When you need new clothes, there's always clandestine groups.
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