this scene is just genius. This crew was all supposed to be ex-military type guys that had gone merc for one reason or another, mostly due to the fallout from the cold war. Deniro admits late in the movie after the ice skating scene that he never left and that he was there for Shemus. Knowing that he never left the CIA, he probably already has background on some of the people there, particularly Gregor. Gregor plays what is perceived to be an ex-soviet KGB type character, but has a German accent, which means he could be East German which was under Soviet rule. Many East German KGB guys remained loyal to the Soviet system even after its fall, so I think this scene was about Deniro trying to size up this east german ex-kgb guy to see if how well trained he was and if he was still sharp, without necessarily knowing if he was a legit merc just looking for a paycheck or if he was part of the now FSB. He clearly called out Sean Beans character with the ambush, this was another test on a guy he deemed as a real possible threat. Notice the only two people he tested were people that he felt he couldnt trust. He never tested Larry, or Vincent or Diedre.
@Chris Hargett: without a doubt one of the smartest best action movies with depth and detail. The dialogues, the sequencing, the editing, the characther depth, the interaction and plausibility; that's why Ronin will always stand out.
Thing that always struck me about it aside from the dialog & car chases was how memorable everyone's face was -- Frankenheimer & his casting director did a great job of making even the supporting characters look unique.
@@tomtrinchera8405 Absolutely true. Starting from the Pub scene to the Weapons purchase scene to all the secondaries and bit part characters in all the meets. Authenticity is beyond superb, top respect to the audience and the plot line is given through the visuals, the portrayal of each individual character.
The next level cast aside, the script all the way through hints at a mysterious past I lvoe it, even when it has no need to, like when Jean Reno comes across that dude at the stadium and he says " where do I know you from"? " vienna"
I think he already knew his background ("seems to me that was in your neck of the woods back in the late unpleasantness"). I think it was more of him doing everything he could to insure his survival while carrying out his task. I think his motivation was to see how good the guy was. That was also his motivation for exposing Sean Bean's character as inept. That's what was so good about the movie; action with character depth.
I loved when Sam grabbed Gregor at the Aurel Coliseum and told him something to the effect of your great in practice and old habits die hard, but your weak when you put your spikes on.
Gregor"s answer is used later by Sam when he corners Gregor in Arles and says to him, "Youre great in the locker room , pal and old habits die hard,;but you're weak when you put your spikes on.
This movie is amazing, nothing is superfluous, everything is deliberate in one way or another. Brilliant writing, and some of the best practical chase effects in any movie.
Gregor is the real hero of this story. He shows up to his first day of work dressed professionally. He doesn't make trouble and just listens. After he finds out that this is an amateur operation, he decides that it's better if these people don't get their hands on the case. He knows Sam smells like CIA and that's why he engages him conversation in this scene. He was laid off from the KGB so he had to do this type of stuff to earn a living.
That's a bit of a stretch since he attempted to kill an innocent child in a playground to prove a point, and had the figure skater executed hoping it would act as an insurance policy to get the case. Gregor double-crossed the team swapping cases out with a bomb that would have killed them all if Sam didn't notice the paint smearing on him.
@@jamesfrank3213 Also, despite his smarts, which were considerable, he didn't truly realize who he was dealing with, near the end. One might suspect, that with his knowledge and background, he would have been aware of that, instead of winding up with a bullet in the head.
I was in Germany when this movie came out, and just finished Anti-Terrorism Driving School near Stuttgart and been on a deployment to Saudi Arabia when I got to see it. For me, the driving scenes were very realistic to what happens in a pursuit and what you use to stop one. The most important thing is to keep moving. Fighting it out is the very last thing you want to do.
But it does help when you're driving onto oncoming traffic and its the Remy Juiellen stunt-car team. Hate to take the piss out of you, but with all scenarios go with the Mike Tyson one...
@@drazenbudis7881 I'm likely misspelling it near Weinegen-Einz in the Stuttgart area. Keep in mind this was 1998 when I toook it it was called ATED or Anti-Terrorism Evasive Driving. It was a full track facility with skid pads, ramming simulators, etc. Probably shared with the Polizei too. It was a one-week course for us.
The Russian that killed Gregor with the poker face after Gregor placed an assassin on his girlfriend was pretty bad ass also... After the assassin killed her, Gregor knew he was gone.
@@powerboatguy2308, Gregor thoroughly misjudged Mikhi, thinking that the amoral gangster truly valued his girlfriend. Skarsgard expertly portrayed his character's incredulous realization of this truth, as Mikhi sadistically drew out the execution until the final possible second.
Ha ha!! Yeah, I like Sean Bean and hate that he dies so much. He didn't die in The Martian either. Though I guess you could say he died figuratively since his character was fired both in this movie and in The Martian. :-)
I saw this movie as a kid and while I liked the action and the guns, was too young to understand what was going on. I gotta make time to see proper because it's not often I come across a DeNiro film I haven't watched as an adult.
@ABGLINE The guy is just suppose to be a intelect guy, he betrayed him self whit that move. No they must bethinking he had a special military training or something! (hope my english is ok)
I believe it was the egg salad recipe that they've been trying to hunt down since the 60's.ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lLU_-YMPX7I.html
Four stones; not one, not two, not three, but FOUR stones. What am I going to do with an empty case? Clip here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lj4oi2xUNvM.html
From what I could gather it's something to do with the peace plan for Northern Ireland. I'm guessing some sort of opposition material that could derail the process or allow one side more leverage. Just a theory from when you hear the radio broadcast at the end of the film as Sam and Vincent are getting ready to part ways.
0:33 There are two identical thermoses, and later there are two seemingly identical cases. One of the cases was a trap. It stands to reason that one of the Thermoses (no idea if I am spelling the plural of “thermos” correctly), was also a trap. Gregor didn’t poison the coffee, probably the thermos cap/cup that he set down, was somehow laced. He pocketed the authentic cap/cup, replaced it with the poisoned one, and meant to pull a Princess Bride esque fast one. The idea that Gregor just instinctively lunged for the cap/cup, because his reflexes are too good, is ridiculous. He lunged for the cup, because if he let it hit the floor, everyone would know that it wasn’t legit. It would sound wrong, wouldn’t bounce or roll the right way, or something like that. From this moment onwards, Gregor is off his game. He never regains his composure.
nope. The man in the wheelchair is M. Chernak an Mercenary broker, also a character in the Bourne books who Bourne later on kills. There's even a deleted scene from this film with him in it...... also suggests Ronin is set in the Bourne Universe.
Completely different universe. I would guess the man in the wheelchair is probably an ex KGB or other Russian/East German that became unemployed with Glasnost. This movie is less than a decade after the fall of communism, the oligarchy hadn't achieved the success it has now, so these operatives had to use whatever means to earn a buck.
@@jaysparc, It seems much more likely he was an American or someone from the West, as Sam is saying the guy directed him to this job and also, that Gregor's side was responsible for him winding up in the wheelchair. The second part of your comment is spot-on.
I could never figure out if Sam was setting up Gregor to see what he could do and what kind of man he was dealing with, or if it was just an honest accident with the coffee.
Of course, he was setting Gregor up. But... actually, Gregor should have let the cup fall. Gregor was pretending to be just a guy... kind of nerdy, tired, washed up... 'a has been'... But here he exposed himself. He caught this cup in spite of himself. Hence his remark about old habits dying hard.
