I'm not sure if you actually disagree or just misunderstand. I have no issue with fantasy, except when it's put in place of reality. I enjoyed LOTR and Hobbit, and I even want to see Pacific Rim (although I must admit I'm embarrassed about it). When fantasy replaces history, history is lost.
When you tell a story that's historical in nature, I (and many others) feel you have an obligation to your audience to teach them the actual history, not to bastardize and fictionalize it with fantasy and Neo. I'm sorry if you feel that way of thinking makes me a jerk, it wasn't what I was going for. I feel it makes me an adult that is unapologetic about being interested in amazing history more than flashy fantasy.
My point about Lincoln has been ignored or misunderstood...would you have liked to see him fight a confederate dragon? Would that have added to, or detracted from the compelling adult story being told? Was Lincoln Vampire Hunter as good a movie as Lincoln in any way? Did the addition of Vampires help you understand the person or time period, or would it have confused you about the historical facts if you knew nothing about the subject(s)?
I understand 300 was not meant to be historical, but it has the same issues with adding fantasy and drama to a well known, historical story. This is a big pet peeve of mine, as I feel most people have a tenuous grasp of history at best, and are not served by being told about historical events in a clearly non-historical, unreal, dramatized, and fantasized manner. It is especially egregious when there is no historical version to point to (in English at least, there is Chushingura in Japanese) when discussing the subject. I read mostly science fiction, and I read both 300 and The Gates of Fire, and while I loved 300, I wish the latter had been made first. I have read many versions of 47 Ronin, and none of them had a dragon or any unrealistic fantasy. Any of them would have made a great action packed adult movie with many lessons to teach rather than just a fun few hours watching Neo save the Asians. To me, adding the fantasy is tantamount to saying the story isn't compelling enough without embellishment, and this one certainly is. To me, it's the same as exaggeration, it's like admitting reality isn't good (or bad) enough to make the point in your argument. Pure fantasy is exempt from this issue.
P.S. sorry for the essay.

And disagreement is cool with me, I often disagree with people who like musicals but I can do so without being a jerk about it, I'm just not into them. An active imagination is often considered a sign of intelligence and higher thinking. I'm pretty sure creative minds like Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, just to name a few, are not lacking in the intelligence or comprehension departments. Gene Roddenberry could be responsible for god knows how many people going into the sciences, inspired to make the future, he imagined a reality.
Lincoln was great movie and I'd be all for seeing a movie based on the 47 Ronin that was more historically accurate, but that doesn't mean I can't also enjoy movies like Pacific Rim. As for 300, the movie was actually based on Frank Miller's graphic novel, which I doubt was ever intended to be a factual account of the event anyhow. Movies like this one are, for better or worse a product of market forces and the society we live in.

You realize that this is a movie, right?
Granted, I don't know the story of the real 47 ronin, or that there even was a real story, so I had no expectations before I watched the trailer. Movies are supposed to be entertaining. While I personally would love to see a historically accurate version of this story (now that I know there is one), it probably wouldn't sell as many tickets. Be glad they didn't throw in some giant robots.

Damn it, why can't Americans enjoy a great story without infantilizing it by adding magic and dragons?
As I understand it, the 47 Ronin is not a 'legend', it's a historical fact which needed no embellishment to be a GREAT story for a movie. It's like 300, but much worse. I had hoped the success of Lincoln might have taught Hollywood that at least attempting historical accuracy can be applauded if your subject is worthy, but it seems this lesson was lost.
And Keanu is apparently going to be Oishi, the leader of the ronin? Why not Ken Watanabe? I'm disappointed this is the treatment this great story gets from us, and I've been awaiting a good English telling of this story for decades.

Ronin had excellent car chases. Drive was a much better film.

>> ^LukinStone:

Boo. You know what would have made this movie great? Car chases. 1:38 is about right to show you nearly all it had to offer. There's a good one at the very beginning and this one near the end. The entire film is terribly paced. Really over the top violence kicks in way too late, to the point where folks in the theater I saw it in were laughing.
You want good car chases (an not a bad film overall), rent "Ronin."
Oh, and while I'm at it, the new "Gone in 60 seconds" also had crap car chases. The movie consisted of characters looking at cars, admiring them, then cutting to the scene after they stole them. Lame.
Sorry, a pet peeve.


yeah, you should sue them.

I don't really think the car chases were the point of Drive. FWIW, I thought it was a really good movie.

You're right about Ronin, though. Best car chase ever committed to film. Although "Bullitt" is a close second, mainly because Steve McQueen is god.

Boo. You know what would have made this movie great? Car chases. 1:38 is about right to show you nearly all it had to offer. There's a good one at the very beginning and this one near the end. The entire film is terribly paced. Really over the top violence kicks in way too late, to the point where folks in the theater I saw it in were laughing.

You want good car chases (an not a bad film overall), rent "Ronin."

Oh, and while I'm at it, the new "Gone in 60 seconds" also had crap car chases. The movie consisted of characters looking at cars, admiring them, then cutting to the scene after they stole them. Lame.

Sorry, a pet peeve.

Also, it's important to check out the Youtube comments and the video uploader's description. If you did that, you'd know his non-dying performances outweigh his dying performances. Someone did all that work and now you don't need to: http://www.compleatseanbean.com/deathbycow.html

HE DIES IN:
Airborne - bye bye Toombs
Caravaggio - Rannuccio gets his throat slashed
Clarissa - Lovelace is skewered by Sean Pertwee
Don't Say a Word - Patrick Koster is buried alive
Equilibrium - Death by Poetry - Partridge is blasted away by Christian Bale while reading Yeats
Essex Boys - Jason Locke meets a nasty end in a Range Rover
Far North - Loki is frozen. Naked. In the snow. A chilling end if there ever was one.
The Field - the infamous Death by Cow - Tadgh falls over a cliff, pursued by a herd of stampeding cows
GoldenEye - Alec Trevelyan falls a long way down and is crushed by a satellite dish thing
Henry VIII - Robert Aske meets a gruesome end
The Island - Death by Clone. Merrick is shot in the throat by a nasty grabber thingy with a sharp
hook and a cable that gets wrapped around his neck, and while he's struggling with Lincoln
Six-Echo, the catwalk they're on collapses, and Merrick ends up dangling by the neck. Currently
the most creative dispatch of Sean's career. Definitely well hung.
The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King) - Death
by Orc. Boromir. Arrows. Need I say more?
Lorna Doone - Carver Doone drowns
Outlaw - Dead Dead Dead. Was there ever any question? Dead.
Patriot Games - Sean Miller is beaten up, boathooked and finally blown up by Harrison Ford
Scarlett - Lord Fenton is dispatched
Tell Me That You Love Me - Gabriel Lewis is stabbed by Laura. Or he stabs himself. We're not
quite sure about this one, actually.
The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion - Death by summoning a god's avatar. Martin Septim (the son of the Emperor, aka The Lost Heir) meets his X-Box end when he attempts to save the world.
The Hitcher - Surely you jest. You need to ask? (There were two different versions filmed. He dies
in both of them.)
War Requiem - The German Soldier dies, but returns in the afterlife


HE LIVES IN:
(Leo Tolstoy's) Anna Karenina
A Woman's Guide to Adultery
The Big Empty
The Bill
Black Beauty
Bravo Two Zero
Exploits at West Poley
Extremely Dangerous
Faceless
The Fifteen Streets
Flightplan
Fool's Gold
How to Get Ahead in Advertising
In the Border Country
Inspector Morse: Absolute Conviction
Jacob
Lady Chatterley
The Loser
My Kingdom for a Horse
National Treasure (But only because of a rewrite. In an early version
of the the script Ian Howe got eaten by alligators in the subways of
New York. Really. Honest. I wouldn't lie to you. I wouldn't.)
North Country
Percy Jackson (Zeus is more or less an immortal so death seems a bit
redundant, really...)
The Practice
Pride
Prince
Punters
Ronin
Samson & Delilah
Sharpe (14 films)
Sharpe's Challenge
Shopping
Silent Hill
Small Zones
Stormy Monday
Tom & Thomas
Troubles
The Canterbury Tales - The Nun's Priest's Tale
The Dark
The True Bride
The Vicar of Dibley
Troy
Wedded
When Saturday Comes
Windprints
Winter Flight

Major Theatrical Performances:
Macbeth ... Yes. He dies. And gets his head impaled on a spike.
Romeo & Juliet... What do you think?
Fair Maid of the West ... Spencer doesn't die!

If you like Samurai Jack, you should probably read the source material, from where they practically stole the concept, the comic book "Ronin" from Frank Miller.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronin_(DC_Comics)

I'm not saying Samurai Jack isn't good (it is), just that it's a pretty blatant ripoff.

LOL! I laugh because you guys say it with so much truth!

man i must be asleep it took me a few seconds to think what ronin and british office are.

Ronin, the movie is on Hulu now.
Also, the british Office is on Adult Swim.

Fight Club... c'mon, it's obvious
Ocean's 11, Italian Job, Ronin, etc... heist movies are pure guy. They've got the same "play by your own rules, man apart" thing as American Beauty, Falling Down, and Fight Club; complex, logical problem-solving throughout; and action to top it off.

Racing against two silver Mercedes 400 E around 0.23 and trying to escape at around 5:15 - both from Taxi. Listed as "Taxi Express", i guess. At least the year fits.

>> ^Krupo:
Your summary lacks the French "Taxi" movies, eh? I'm not sure which of the 4 were included.


It's astonishing how amazing the chase of the original "Italian Job" still is.

Looking at the list, i couldn't help but wonder: is the short clip at 3:00 the scene from "Les Rivières pourpres" where Niemans is chased at night? Haven't seen it in a while and can't find the bloody DVD.

Bond's AMC Hornet and Bandit's Trans Am jumping around 5:02, that had a nice touch.

And damn, i love Ronin.

First, Kumi Tachi ni of what style? Aikido? Then what style of aikido?

Second, it's not a habit it's called a style. How you hold your sword in waki kamae (that's the usual name, gedan hasso is rarely used and its used mostly in aikido circles) is moot anyway since its not a striking stance but a waiting and inviting stance, i.e. you have to take another stance before striking, even if only for an instant. Here he switches to jodan before striking the ronin down. Yoshio Sugino of Katori Shinto Ryu was swordplay instructor so I do not think the left hand making an L is a mistake, though this doesn't seem to be the waki kamae of Katori Shinto.

Third, the ronin's stance is jodan, not hasso. It's not a foolish stance, but of course the ronin is not very good at it.

Fourth, it's called aiuchi. And it's not like he held back with the bokken. It's just that a bokken doesn't cut like a katana, so you have to give a blunt hit to show you touched the other guy. If Kyuzo had pulled back like he did the second time it would have looked as if they had both missed each other. Pulling back and missing by inches is how you'd practice the kata with friends, but this was a match.

Still, a great movie and a great sequence so upvote from me too.

This is effin blasphemy. Sorry, no Ronin-no upvote. See for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwUhjHtdoY4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEYT8LnUvTQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d4ej1RPkEI
and
http://www.topgear.com/blogs/carchases/004-ronin/