Robert De Niro is 80 years old, and what better way to celebrate his birthday than with a look back at one of his most underrated classics: Ronin. John Frankenheimer’s career seemed to reach its nadir when he directed the ill-conceived remake of The Island of Dr. Moreau. Still, someone in Hollywood must have been impressed by how he held that tortured project together, as two years later, he would release 1998’s Ronin, boasting an all-star cast including Robert DeNiro, Sean Bean and Jean Reno. This action flick about a group of disavowed spies working as mercenaries wound up being a masterclass in action filmmaking from the director who helped invent the genre with The Train, Black Sunday, Grand Prix, and so many more.

While a modest box office hit, Ronin has become something of a classic, famed for its spectacular car chases through the streets of Paris. It’s...