Ronin • The Next Reel

One of John Frankenheimer's best films came late in his career — 1998's Ronin. A seemingly simple story about a group of mercenaries who take a job trying to get a mysterious case is twisted around with double-crosses and plot twists, and becomes a perfect example of Hitchcock's MacGuffin. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — on this week's episode of Movies We Like as we continue our great car chase series. We talk about the great car chases in this film and how they were executed, as well as why Frankenheimer chose to film them the way he did. We discuss the script and the writers, most notably David Mamet, and how he ended up deciding to get credited as co-screenwriter under an alias. We chat about the great actors and what they bring to the film, yet how one of them never has felt right to us in his role, as great of an actor as he is. And we chat about the title of the film, the nature of ronin warriors, and what it means in context of this film. It's a great action thriller with amazing car chases and definitely a film worth talking about. Listen in! The Next Reel Family of Film Shows:Cinema Scope: Bridging Genres, Subgenres, and Movements | The Film Board | Movies We Like | The Next Reel | Sitting in the DarkConnect With Us:Web | Letterboxd | Flickchart | Instagram | Bluesky | YouTube | DiscordYour Hosts: Andy | PeteMerch Store | Audible