Brent screamed back at their hypocrisy - he knew the bomb was a real defensive weapon: "Is that bomb out there, is that an illusion? It""s operational, isn""t it?" Mendez called them "the keepers of the Divine Bomb.CIA Deputy Dir.of Operations Robert Ritter (Henry Czerny) called it "straight piracy and murder."In private, the President implicitly told his NSA Advisor James Cutter (Harris Yulin), "the course of action I""d suggest is a course of action I can""t suggest.A quest to reclaim a homeland and slay a dragon.I myself suspect a more prosaic motive.Attempted burglary.Or something of that ilk.He knew of Thorin""s desire to reclaim the precious King""s Jewel: "You seek that which would bestow upon you the right o rule.It also was Eastwood""s first film to pass the $100 million mark.Overall, he film was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won four major ones: Best Picture (Clint Eastwood as producer), Best Supporting Actor (Gene Hackman - his second Oscar after winning forThe French Connection (1971)), Best Director, and Best Film Editing (Joel Cox).