At the auction in Chicago, Vandamm and his men bid on and buy a small Pre-Columbian statue, called a "Tarascan warrior" in the screenplay. Later we learn that the harmless-looking little guy's filled with microfilm, which is what the bad guys are using to smuggle government secrets out of the U.S.

Hitch enthusiasts often talk about a "MacGuffin", which was the director's name for an object or other plot component that holds out a promise of significance that it doesn't ultimately fulfill. It seems important to the characters, but holds little importance for the plot. What's on the microfilm? Nuclear secrets? An assassination plot? Proof of alien life-forms? For all its relevance to the plot, it could have been filled with emeralds or Skittles.

We never find out what's on the microfilm—and it doesn't really matter.