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Sam being the first person to open fire during the weapons purchase scene at the beginning of the movie

posted 3 years ago by PopMusicFan1927 (114)
5 replies | jump to latest

Re-watched this recently - something that really stood out to me and made me scratch my head is Sam being the first person to open fire during the weapons exchange at the start of the film. When the boat passes and honks its horn and turns on its lights, we see a sniper who is perched up in the rafters of the bridge - Sam sees this and shoots him and a brief skirmish takes place before the team gets out of there.

The thing that got me is the fact that it would totally make sense for the arms dealers to have shooters hiding and being posted around the area for the sake of worst case scenario - was Sam absolutely certain that they arms dealers were going to pull a fast one and trap the team? Or was he simply reacting and pulling a "Han shot first" and not taking chances?

[–] scannerdarkly (1274) 2 years ago

This is exactly why I came to this board.

I really wonder if the deal would have gone well if they just gave the money, took the guns, and walked.

But them wanting to go under the bridge, drawing Sam and crew closer was odd and raises red flags toward caution. Sam said on many occasions "If there is any doubt, then there is NO doubt". Trust your instincts above all else. Sam felt it was wrong, so that made it wrong by him.

The thing about placing snipers, why do all that if you have armed guys with you and right in front of you? You wanna do the deal, then do it. Dont go placing snipers to take pop shots!

From Sams point of view, he already has a bad feeling, and then sees a sniper. When guns are aimed at you or your friends you cannot wait for the enemy to fire first. You gotta take the shot.

This scene sets the tone rather well. It shows that every part of their life as "ronin" is precarious, that the seedy underworld they move through has grey areas. Alliances can shift and change, and routine deals can end badly.

[–] PopMusicFan1927 (114) 2 years ago

I see what you mean. If the arms dealers insisted on the team going inside the tunnel, that most certainly would raise a few red flags. I feel like that particular bridge/tunnel is a location in Paris that is often shown in films as being the location where some sketchy transaction is about to take place lol (the ending of Frantic comes to mind).

One thing about this scene, is how Sean Bean's character gets more and more hilarious to me each time I watch the film - that and it is more and more clear how Sam was totally livid with him during the"cup of coffee ambush" scene.

If this film took place in today's world, I can totally picture Sam pulling a Don Shipley and pulling out his cell phone and filming the Sean Bean character fumble his way through basic questions that anybody who is prior service would know. Lol.

[–] scannerdarkly (1274) 2 years ago

I always liked Sean Bean in this movie, he is trying so hard to be taken seriously but he is too amateur and Sam had enough of his sh!t xD

I appreciated how when Sean Bean is told off and leaves, he never comes back. It felt more real that he didnt show up as a twist to fight Sam and crew later on.

[–] elcamino (15540) 2 years ago

It has been awhile since I watched it. But from remembering the car outside only had about half the guns wanted and they said the rest was in the car under the bridge. Any wise person would know that was going to be a ambush.

[–] acidraindrop (3055) 2 years ago

This is correct. That's why he already refused to go into the tunnel.

The moment he saw the sniper, he realized that just refusing to step into the tunnel was no longer an option because they could have been killed right there and then.