Safes & Vaults versus Hollywood

[wylk]

The Italian Job - That was the best acting of a safe tech I have seen in the movies. Mostly right for what was shown.

Do you mean the 2003 movie, or the 1969 movie?

[mercurial]

This isn't an explosives forum, so without going into detail, I must agree with Halflock - shaped charges can be used very effectively for cutting/punching through things, and enough research has been done that a shaped charge could be designed and fabracated to produce just the results desired, in a relatively controlled manner. That said, I don't see them becoming part of a safe tech's kit anytime soon ;)

Britain had a show similar to Mythbusters, I think it was called Brainiac. During the 2003 season they have a safe they are 'testing' - it gets attacked with all manner of methods, one per episode. They used handtools, powertools(done correctly, of course this could have worked, there is no question that somebody qualified could drill it), attacked by firemen's gear, dropped it from a crane, thermite(lol) & eventually they tried explosives (some detcord I think) - by this time the safe wasn't looking too good, but it stayed firmly closed.

Finally, they got the military out, to shoot it with a kinetic energy shell, shot out of the main gun of a Challenger 2 Tank... there wasn't much trace of the safe having existed after that. There is footage of this online.

The Mythbusters demonstration of filling a safe with water and using dynamite is a technique that wCas once used by safebreakers.

In a similar vein to McGyver and his 'two picks' approach, I noticed a real EPG on TV recently, the pins were vibrated and then the whole EPG was turned as if it was a key - so much for applying tension... The same show had scenes filmed inside a prison, it was a nice touch to notice a fullsize Folgar-Adams jail key on each keyring - even though keys are only ever in frame for a second, and never used in a lock. I doubt many people would ever notice the key let alone recognise it.

I don't know it's true, but I've read on another lock related forum that Hollywood has/had a 'rule' against showing both the pick and tension wrench in action in a lock.

...mercurial

[Dean Nickel]

Do you mean the 2003 movie, or the 1969 movie?

2003 ... don't remember much on the other one being I haven't seen it since I was a kid....haven't gone thru the trouble of seeing it again.