Ok, just watched the movie for the first time...and I have a question!

Is it ever said what is in the box? Like, did the director ever give a hint of what it might have been or is this just another infinite mystery like in "Pulp Fiction" w/ the briefcase?

Just curious, thanks

I honestly cannot remember, but Frankenheimer does have a pretty interesting commentary on the DVD which would be worth renting to listen to.

No, the case is just there as a "McGuffin".

It's Sean Bean's soul.

Thanks everybody...

I think I'll give the commentary a listen tomorrow.

diedre: ALRIGHT, but i am under no obligation to--

sam: if you are not then the price has gotta go up. i'll get you the case, but the price has gotta go up. if its gonna be amatuer night, i want a hundred thousand up front, in a bank account, i want another hundred thousand when the jobs over.

*diedre stares at him a minute, then leaves to call. spencer gets up and draws on a whiteboard*

spencer: right, tell you an old trick i learned in regiment. you have two shooters, here and here. now--

sam: draw it again.

spencer: what?

sam: draw it again. its a simple diagram, draw it again. DRAW IT AGAIN.

spencer: ...

sam: two shooters, here and here. mark comes through, they shoot each other dead. hey, wow, where'd you learn that trick?

spencer: i told you, in the regiment--

sam: what regiment?

spencer: the 106th special air service.

sam: whats the color of the boathouse at hereford? what is the color of the boathouse at hereford??

spencer: i dont think i like your attitude--

sam: you're the one with the gun. do something. im unarmed. do something. c'mon, do something. *spencer backs into the coffee* you wanna tell me about an ambush? huh? i ambushed you with a ****ing cup of coffee! tell me about an ambush!

---

i wrote that from memory :D so it might be imperfect..heh heh

i love ronin, one of my favorite movies. the dialogue, whew, the dialogue.

But it must've been pretty important that bodyguards were escorting the dude who had the briefcase handcuffed to his hand eh?

oyea, the case. its important. i doubt the cia engineered the whole thing to draw saemus out, it doesnt seem plausible. once the americans knew saemus was going after it, they put sam into play.

whats in it? well, your guess is as good as mine. probably something relating to bad things, like bombs, or something, as why else would a rogue wing of the IRA want it? or the russian mafia?

At the end we hear on a radio news broadcast that a treaty had been signed between the millitant branch of the IRA and somebody else (I don't remember, British Gov.? ) Whatever was in the case was critical to the peace negotiation. More specifically it doesn't matter what's in the case, and the players who recover the case are just tiny people risking their lives for a bigger picture (the peace conference) that is invisible to them and out of their control. They (good guys and bad guys) are erand boys of the powers that be.

So what's in the case?

Specifically: I don't know

Vaguely: It's something to do with a peace negotiation. It might be something totally useless, just a distraction or bait, or it could be something important. In the end the whole point of the movie is that it doesn't matter what's in the case. You do the job, you don't ask questions, what the powers that be do with the "whatever" is unimportant to you.

Reminded me a lot of the "Transporter" that was out a little while ago...which I really liked.

"dont ask questions"

i don't agree pants. why would the russian mafia want to buy a peace treaty (or something) from crazy french people?? why would the french even have it? why would the irish want to buy it?? that doesn't fit at all.

the peace between britian and the IRA resulted in saemus' wacko gang being eliminated. more than likely the ira wanted to end the fighting but saemus' splinter group wanted to continue it. with saemus out of the picture, peace resulted.

anyhow you're right about the rest of it. :P

Perhaps there is something VERY VERY valualble in the case. Perhaps there is something of little value in the case but which has been invested with value by "people" who want to use the case as bait to draw out a millitant terrorist like Seamus.

With everyone taking orders from on high, no one needs to know what's in it, only that it is of incredible value.

i guess thats a possibility, but i dunno, it'd take a lot of effort and a whole lot of perfect coincidences to draw everyone into it. so maybe!

If no one has the key, not even the russians, but everyone is told it contains something of value, then it becomes valuable, even if it's empty.

I watched this again tonight. I sure wish there were more movies like Ronin. I guess the Bourne movies come close. What a good flick.

= J

Man! Now I want to watch Ronin again but I will have to rent it.

I watched it too. Last week the 2-disc was $10 at Target. Good movie.

One of my top 5 movies of all time...absolutely love it! I'll have to go check Target and see if the 2 disc is still cheap I just have the original 1 discer.

I have wandered this for years. I do not agree that the case is unimportant. Nor do I believe that the case was a plant by the CIA in order to draw out Shameus. It seems to me, all the contrary, that he only told the woman that in order for her to leave and get herself out of danger. I believe that Deniro's character saw a good soldier in her and one that was simply loyal and that she (most likely) didnt care what was in the case either; just one doing her job. Deniro would have likely identified with this and just attempted to save another soldier. Could be that he even had knowledge that she had no idea what was in the case either.
There are far too many people in this plot that had a strong belief in the the case and what was in it. Likely Shameus (having been disavowed by the IRA) was a splinter that still believed in his cause for the IRA, though the IRA became weary of the war and was destined to end it anyway. No, there was something significant in the case.
It was far to large to be files of any significance. Also, it likely was not names of agents. Russians probably wouldnt have had much interest in it. I would think that it would be most obviously a piece of equipment. It was in a metal box. Possibly lead. Could be in order to hide radiation. Plutonium or uranium. The IRA and all factions involved would have been very interested in that. Certainly the IRA or an Irish splinter group would have. So would have a russian splinter group. Or, perhaps, a dirty bomb or dirty bomb ignitor or initiator.
Those would be my guesses. Or something of the like. All of these people seem rouge. Extremists. They like terrorist type action. That would be the most likely I think.

I dunno what's in the case. What I do know is that had the scene not been deleted, this would have been part of the Sean Bean Keeps Getting Murdered Collection.

I remember seeing this in the theater in 1998 and being disappointed. It was sold to the fans of course with it starring Deniro, and I was hoping it would be an intelligent thriller. Instead it was a dumb action/thriller that had every so many plot twits it borderlined on ridiculous. There is nothing more annoying in these type of movies where every 5 seconds a character isn't who he really is just to throw off the audience.

I have a friend who is hard to sell on this movie as well. Quite frustrating. Also frustrating is the fact that the Blu-Ray is bare bones. Luckily I got it on special for only $5 .