20 Spy Movies You Must See Before You Die

The premise is simple: a group of mercenaries (the "Ronin" of the title) come together to steal a briefcase, the contents of which are mysterious. Yes, it's a MacGuffin of the highest order, but when the film surrounding it is so darn entertaining, it's impossible to care about things like "narrative integrity."

What most people remember about this film, of course, is the elaborate car chase sequences, which takes place through city streets and over winding mountain roads, all of which are gut-wrenching to watch from start to finish.

Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, and Sean Bean all deliver performances that border on "self-aware," which ultimately begs the question... is Ronin a kind of subtle homage to the spy thriller? With such a convoluted plot and characters that err on the side of cliche, you could certainly argue a case for it.

It doesn't matter, though, because director John Frankenheimer keeps us gripped to our seats with an endless barrage of twists and turns, both within the narrative and with those phenomenal car chases - surely some of the best to have ever been captured on celluloid.