Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Pjtaylor-96-138044 'Ronin (1998)' features some of the best car chases ever committed to film, with insanely fast choreography making you squirm on the edge of your seat and furious practicality compounding the intensity and danger of every moment. The usually wide frame also captures an unspoken but uneasy camaraderie, brought about by a group of disparate hired guns coming together to do their disreputable work, and a sense of 'lost soul' melancholy, aided by the wonderfully wistful but appropriately eclectic and exciting score. The picture does have its problems, though, including a generally poor pace and a late-game revelation that threatens to tear some slight holes in the plot, as well as make the already questionable thematic symbolism essentially moot - as does an exposition scene that only serves to further push the piece's already heavy-handed conceptual metaphor. Overall, though, this is an old-school action-thriller that feels pulpy and palpable and has quite a bit of meat on its bones, especially when the tyres start to spin and those chases, which are literally some of the best I've ever seen, tear across the screen. 7/10

paid in full This movie is solid. The actors, especially Deniro, Reno, Natasha and Sean all play their role to perfection. A well written action movie in France. You will have to pay close attention to the dialogue and its subtext to fully understand the movie. Of course it is not perfect and yet I have watched it several times.

Mark Turner In the early 2000s a string of horror films were made in Japan that has been referred to as "J-horror". These films were huge hits there and made their way to the US where fans were fascinated with them. So much so that Hollywood took notice and began remaking them left and right. Probably most famous of these are THE RING and THE GRUDGE. Another early entry was PULSE starring Kristen Bell but it wasn't as well received. Now Arrow Video has released a great version of the original film on blu-ray for fans to enjoy.The story involves two separate groups of friends experiencing paranormal encounters that are leaving a mark on them, some literally. The first group works together in a business that supplies plants to buyers. When their tech guy fails to show for work or answer his phone, they check up on him. While there, he walks into another room and hangs himself. Gruesome enough but then they begin to look at a disc he left behind which shows ghostly images from his apartment. A return visit has them exposed to his ghost as well.The second story involves a college student who finds something odd going on as well. When he asks a professor to help, they too discover ghostly images online. These images have an effect on some that view them and they begin to disappear. As someone hypothesizes what happens to souls when they leave here? Do they go to another dimension? And then the question is raised what happens when, after the millions that have died over time, that dimension begins to fill up? Do they try and make their way back? Eventually the two stories intersect with the leads of both uniting to try and discover the answer to these questions. It is their journey and what they discover that makes the film more chilling than you would expect.Some will be turned off to the way this story unfolds. The back and forth between tales, the dismal look of the entire landscape and the somber tone that it emits start to finish. This is not an in your face or jump start scare style film. It is one that creeps into you, crawls under your skin and makes you look over your shoulder even though you know nothing is there. It takes the ghost story we've become acquainted with and melds it with the world of computers, even if these computers look cumbersome since the movie was made in 2001. The pace is slow as the horror unfolds before your eyes. This makes for a movie that deserves attention.Arrow Video, as always, presents this in the best form possible with a hi def 1080p transfer. The extras include a new interview with writer/director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, a new interview with cinematographer Junichiro Hayashi, THE HORROR OF ISOLATION a new video appreciation featuring Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett, an archive making of documentary, premiere footage from the Cannes Film Festival, cast and crew introductions from the opening day screenings in Tokyo, trailers and TV spots and a reversible sleeve with newly commissioned artwork.

fredtee Beats me why a lot of reviewers gush over this movie-mess. The kabuki dance with the silver case gets old, fast. A clue that this silver case is all about nothing: A hotel is inspected by DiNero...and very conveniently, on cue from the lobby walks a group carrying a silver case. But the silver case is not captured this time, for DiNero only takes camera shots to plan the capture. Everyone returns a second time and the keystone-cops chases are on... and on... and on... and on.Who is following this plot? Who cares? About as ridiculous as the car chases on the wrong side of highways and tunnels. Are the French cops really so stupid to let these chases go on, bystanders get terrified and hurt, countless vehicles get destroyed....while the reckless drivers go free?At one point DiNero directs his own surgery to remove a bullet from his abdomen. Is there anything this man cannot do? Oh, I forgot, he cannot capture the silver case.Hint: is DiNero an undercover CIA agent, whose real purpose is to find and kill the Irish terrorist who is preventing peace between the British and the Catholic North Irish, through the girl "my name is Deidre." We can only guess.Spoiler Alert: Capturing the silver case means nothing. All of the car chasing and killing mean nothing. DiNero looks and act like he's been forced into acting in this movie...and can't wait for it to end, sipping a cup of coffee. Frankly, neither could I.