Safes & Vaults versus Hollywood

[Parautoptic]

Just watched this, there is a good view (briefly) of a wall mounted safe with a nice brass plate saying....

Prize Medal London 1852
G Price and Co
Patent
Fire-proof Safe
+ Lock Manufacturers
Wolverhampton
Regd. Trademark R370?

There is an escutcheon plate that says...

??????
Patent Lock

and a nice hexagonal knob for the boltwork.

The safe plays no part in the plot, our hero just checks it to ensure it has not been opened.

[wylk]

A recent movie "Public Enemies" (2009, Johnny Depp, Christian Bale) includes a few scenes of large vaults as the movie portrays some of John Dillinger's bank robberies. It was broadcast recently and I used the DVR to get a good look.

The first vault is poorly filmed from a vaultophile's viewpoint except for one exceptionally large door hinge. The second may be a Mosler door but the time lock is missing. The third is also nicely displayed and may be a Remington and Sherman. I think it was the middle bank's scene that also panned past the emergency door. One of these banks (I don't know which one) was filmed in the Milwaukee County Historical Society which is a former bank.

They do seem to be real vaults as opposed to Hollywood mockups.

Aside from this and a couple of steam locomotives I didn't see much else to recommend.

[Ant]

Ok Its a long time since I posted but I am in the process of watching A TV serial "Inside Men" where the acting is really good. But of course. Opening the Tann 650 Strongroom is not! I have to sit there and both my Son and Wife looking at me and now wait to hear me say to the TV You have got that wrong!! When the character on the screen is turning the Dial check lock after he has opened another "ticking" S & G K/C/L 4 wheel. and both locks turned to one number once to open!

I suppose it has to be so or else how would save time for the rest of the sex and violence.
I find it the same with so many other programmes, steam locos (running on the wrong lines Out of era aeroplanes in the wrong places and in wrong colour schemes.
Perhaps I have become grumpy?

[Dean Nickel]

Oh come on! Locksmiths set 3 and 4 wheel locks to a single number all the time! mostly because the safes are for sale on the show room floor and we set the combo to the customers numbers at the time of sale/install. But yes it is hokey when it is done on the screen.

We have had a few safe rentals to stars or film sets over the years and almost all of them were to single numbers and/or electronic keypad. A famous rock star (No I will not tell you who) had a safe from us for 4 days and it was set to a single number to make it quick to get into. So it isn't totally out of line it just looks dumb and it is if there is anything in the safe.

[Adrian Weber]

You guys should watch the second trailer...
I think it is shown in the trailer that Superman gets thrown against that vault door by something and I believe that THE man of steel can cause damage like that :D

[ruffus]

I don't remember just what movie it was, but the premise has the thief/bad guy/good guy? inside the safe by way of a ceiling vent (far fetched enough) and the authorities are on the outside trying to get in and catch him. Of course the tech can't remember the combo (it is an S$G 6120 electronic lock) so the US Marshall pulls out his holster cannon and shoots the keypad! And magically the door swings open! I have been missing out on a lot of fun all these years using a drill rig!

[Parautoptic]

No safes that I recall, but a really good explosion, practising entry to an armoured van, the peterman overcooked it a bit and destroyed the whole van, prompting one of the most quoted Michael Caine lines... "You`re only supposed to blow the b****y doors off!" ...Superb film, must get the DVD....

[Adrian Weber]

hm... can't remember a movie like that, sorry! But I also have an old movie in mind (I think 80s) where there was a family that cracked safes... I can't remember the movie though and it was not one of the popular ones.

Anyway... I have to agree with Halflock that the most realistic safe opening took place in "The Italian Job" (the new movie). Where a woman drilled a safe but nearly hit the glass from the emergency lock system.

But you all forgot one real cool safe in your Hollywood safe history... The vault room from Die Hard 1 and the attempt to open it. It is very realistic if you look at the time you need to drill a moderate and well armoured vault door. Okay... in the End there are no drilling holes and the computer screen of the driller is very futuristic.. also the electromagnetic seal is kind of unrealistic. But the door that opens differently then others and the realistic surroundings are just cool;-);-) :-P

I wonder if this vault room really exists....

Greetings, Dicey

[Parautoptic]

Saw a film a while ago, can`t remember title or who was in it but it involved a bank robbery where the manager was forced to divulge the combination to the outer doors of the vault and the hero produced two very nice shiny black S&G dials and pushed them onto the shafts to dial open the outer doors. Is this a common thing? or was the detached dial thing just a plot device? The whole thing got a bit silly when the wall next to the main vault door (timelocked) was breached with a few rounds from a 20mm cannon at point blank range. The robbers were all right though, they had protective goggles!!! Wot a crock....

[wylk]

I just saw parts of "The Bank Job" on TV, I need to catch the beginning. Interesting portayal of a safe deposit vault being robbed via tunneling and a thermic lance. A few scenes of what appears to be a real vault door, and at least one safe, but not much. I suspect the depiction of the smoke from a lance was underdone, and would have been a much bigger problem in reality. But the movie is based on an actual theft.

For those who enjoy David Suchet as the detective "Poirot", the character "Vogel" in the movie is done by Suchet.

Jim