Pro Safecracker Fact Checks Safecracking in Movies | Vanity Fair

Professional safecracker Dave McOmie fact checks safecracking scenes from movies and television including 'Army of Thieves,' 'The Italian Job,' 'The Thieves,' 'The Score,' 'Thief' and 'Fast Five' and analyzes their probability, craft, and execution.
Dave's book "Safecracker: A Chronicle of the Coolest Job in the World" is available here: www.amazon.com/Safecracker-Ch...
00:00 Intro
00:55 'Army of Thieves'
04:30 'The Italian Job'
09:47 'The Thieves'
12:47 'The Score'
16:02 'Thief'
17:47 'Fast Five'
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Pro Safecracker Fact Checks Safecracking in Movies | Vanity Fair

[@SangTheCryptek]

I love that this guy was shown the clip of the Italian Job and went, "Wait...is that possible?" and actually tried cracking a submerged dial and shared his personal experience with the experiment. Obvious passion to his craft.

[@simptrix007]

Someone bath with rubber duck someone with vault dial :/

[@zackkertzman7709]

"Mosler No. 10 you're the one! Making bath time with me fun!..."

[@gregdeandrea1450]

Points to the flick too for forcing the experiment!

[@terryandreasen5160]

Having started my career the same time as Dave, and having known Dave for almost 4 decades now I can attest to this man's legitimacy. I own one of the largest safe and vault companies west of the Mississippi and talk with Dave at least once each month. Sometimes it's just personal, most of the time it's discussing real world safe and vault problems. Dave McOmie is the real thing. His business card should say: "have boroscope, will travel" ! Great job Dave, well done. Looking forward to seeing you in May.

[@thebatonmaster]

"have boroscope, will travel" 🤣🤣

[@0ddSavant]

TL;DR This made my day. Thank you for the beautiful and humanizing note. -- I appreciate you taking the time to write your above comment. Bonus points for not including the name of your company. By making it all about Dave McOmie, you made a classy move rarely seen these days . It seems everybody is hocking something or shilling for someone, but your comment was just goodwill and acknowledgment. I’ma thumbs up you, then remove it, then thumbs up you again. Good looking out. Cheers!

[@jtj9609]

What's this guy's job? Security contractor? Former thieve? Both?

[@homedepot.]

@@jtj9609 not trying to be a douche but thief*

[@Harkness78]

Nice shill attempt, keep it to yourself

[@KarlBunker]

A book by a locksmith that I once read pointed out that movies often show a safecracker opening a combination lock faster than someone who actually _knew the combination_ could possibly have opened it. OTOH, I'm shocked to hear that a Fast & Furious movie was unrealistic. Shocked, I say.

[@PowuhToSeven]

I had to put my plans away for that one

[@nelsblair2667]

I once opened a safe in a sensitive location on my first turn of the dial by a few digits. I was there to reveal a potential vulnerability but instead revealed that it had already been exploited. My observer and I were each immediately uncomfortable. He was there for a lock hardware related reason and I doubt that this situation was ever properly reported, despite my sincere efforts.

[@julioschwarzbeck5529]

I've known Dave for over a decade, for all the comments about how knowledgeable he is, or how engaging his conversation is, you can add that he himself is an incredible humble human being, he could be talking about how paint dries, and we'd be as immersed in that conversation as we were in this video, congrats neighbor!

[@since1876]

My paint usually dries with large blobs running down. Gravity sucks. 😡

[@hansolowe19]

Interesting. The guy was honest, didn't mince words. I like him.

[@Whitepaint]

"They take 30-40 minutes", then you hear in the background, "This is the lock picking lawyer, and what I have for you today is a vault door. This vault door can be bypassed with a paper clip. Let me show you haw that's done".

[@alexm566]

lpl more and more keeps targeting cheap easy locks these days...

[@sasquatch370]

ROTFLMAO

[@mretaoin1]

@@alexm566 He's selling his lockpicking tools, not demonstrating difficult locks.

[@derricgreene]

In reality, he has a safecracking machine that can take about a day (or three) depending on the complexity of the safe

[@brussels13207]

I was once assigned the task of opening an Army field safe where the combination had “slipped.” I knew nothing about opening safes. But what I did have was several other identical safes, we were a finance office in Vietnam. This made the job pretty easy. By looking at the interior of identical safes, I could see where a hole could be drilled such that a metals rod could be inserted and click open the safe. Took safe to engineering guys, had them drill hole exactly where needed, inserted rod and presto, the safe was open. A little spot weld to cover hole that was drilled, and safe could be used again. Amazing what you can do when given a task, especially if ou think outside the box a little.

[@caterpillakilla]

you mean thinking inside the box 😉

[@AppleSauceGamingChannel]

@@caterpillakilla thinking outside the box about what's inside the box and you want outside the box so you can then put it back into a box...BOX

[@ARSZLB]

@@AppleSauceGamingChannel that made me laugh way harder than it should have

[@antonomaseapophasis5142]

You mean "inside the safe"

[@Magicspirit11]

If it would have been a GSA container you would not have gone far with a drill, you would have needed a large angle grinder with a mount.

[@Hunter-xy7sc]

Love that this guy acknowledged some things you have to do to make a movie look good but also explained what they're expressing. Great guest

[@sovcsiklaszo4351]

The expert spoke very competently, it was a pleasure to listen! And what is most shocking is the last scene. That safe weighs about 3 tons and is full of money. That much money weighs about 100 tons, it would take special machinery to handle it, let alone knock down walls. And here it's being pulled away by two Dodge's :D

[@emlynn1004]

Great ad for Dodge, though lol

[@edwardvdc6287]

listen again, quote: "The door alone weighs probably between 10 and 12 tonnes" Yeah, not gonna happen xD

[@xMingan]

Two cars that start spinning wheels as soon as the cable gets tension. Not going anywhere.

[@BigDavoNorriwong]

Their axles would be dust

[@TooLittleInfo]

The best part of any FF movie is the suspension of disbelief lol

[@thebatonmaster]

No, thank YOU! Super fun and interesting to have this guy on. Passionate yet reserved. Would love to see him a second time.

[@natea.2926]

Super knowledgeable guy, humble and with a good sense of humor. One of the most informative expert commentary videos!

[@MLB9000]

I really hope that at the end of the Annual Manipulation Contest the award is presented inside a locked safe that the winner has to open.

[@AnimecrazySakura7]

This is one of the most interesting professional critique videos I’ve ever seen! Professional safecracker seemed like a made up job but it’s probably one of the coolest things ever and this guy was so good at explaining everything! I enjoyed every minute, thank you!

[@kikixchannel]

For every crime you can think of, you can be 100% certain there is a profession that is actually legal doing just that. I mean, if someone forgets the combination to a safe, it's just ridiculous to just up and treat it as a loss whenthere could be billions in it. Same as to why there are hackers that are legal. They are paid to hack programs and computer systems, to find the vulnerabilities, so that they can be fixed. Oh...and they are used by the police forces to hack into stuff the owners genuinely don't want them to hack into too...but yeah. It's still legal if there's court warrant for that.

[@la_keith321]

I dig this guy, would love to hear his top 5 on actual safe cracking where the people got away, or the legends in his field!

[@williamwells434]

These how-to tutorials are getting really in depth and I appreciate that

[@larsgrabowski9269]

"I run an international organisation of professional Safecrackers" is a great synopsis for a movie I would definitely watch.

[@davidbutler8096]

Michael Mann employed real safe crackers for Thief...the police detective who arrests James Cann was played by a real thief. And...the soundtrack by Tangerine Dream is excellent.

[@selo.harper.24]

I always love watching experts watch things like this and critiquing on what can be and can't be shown about things. The earliest example I loved was talking with my dad about how inaccurate military rankings are shown in movies due to rather obvious implications of IDing ranking officers, they have to show bad markings and he likes trying to find what they are.

[@IdleByte]

You can tell how much joy he gets out of saying "water bomb"

[@hatednyc]

Fascinating stuff. If I ever produce a film with safe cracking scenes I want this man as a consultant.

[@Borg14]

I love this video series. I learn about stuff I thought I had no interest in and end up really learning something.

[@p51abc]

I'm also wondering that if a safe is underwater, if the pressure differential would make it more difficult to open? Of course 10 feet underwater vs 50 feet vs 300 feet would be a substantial difference. I would guess that in the movie it wouldn't be too much...

[@yellekc]

It depends if water can get into the safe to equalize the pressure. But let's say it's waterproof and has a 3x4 foot door. That's 12 square feet. If you have atmospheric pressure on the inside and 10 feet of water pressure on the outside, that's about 4.3 psi or 620 lbs per square foot, so over 12 square feet that's over 7400 lbs of force on that door. You ain't opening it.

[@jupiterzombies]

it's venice, the canals are incredibly shallow

[@p51abc]

@@jupiterzombies As someone stated above, even 10 feet underwater would add an incredible amount of pressure to the door.

[@MemeticsX]

This guy really knows what he's talking about; really appreciated his detailed, expert analysis and explanations.

[@Chrispy9393]

This was a fantastic video. I'd be happy to see more videos with him.

[@andrewwillard5625]

I love these videos they do I feel like you really learn so much

[@rmdc2782]

I adore this guy. He really knows what he's talking about

[@TWWIW]

I met him at a pen party at my fathers former job called Corporate Safe Specialists when I was younger. Nice guy and very brilliant in the art of safe cracking! Got a autographed history book on his safe cracking experience. I tried reading the first page and thought I'd do better reading Chinese lol

[@zidbits1528]

The problem with the burning bar is that it will set off fire suppression systems inside the room/building you're working in. Commercial properties, where you're likely going to need to get into a safe, has robust sprinkler systems.

[@dvdmike007]

One of the best videos you guys have done in ages, but you should have done The Heist

[@loreleimonn3220]

I always wanna see safecrackers react to the safe cracking in White Collar. There’s lots of fun scenes, and it’d be super interesting to learn how real they are

[@lyledeporiss5937]

This is so fascinating, it deserves more views by now

[@dandymcgee]

I accidentally cracked my grandparents' safe once.. on the second try. It was under a computer desk, and I was playing a game on the computer, so I didn't look at the safe while playing with it. Each time, I scrambled it by spinning the dial 4-5 times, turned it left 3 rotations, right 2, left 1, then tried the handle. I judged how much to turn it purely based on what "felt" natural. I don't mean by feeling for bumps or applying tension to the handle. I literally just turned it the _amount_ of rotation that felt like enough to be a valid combination. I pushed down the handle after the second attempt, and in one smooth motion the huge metal door fell gently open. I tried to do it a bunch more times after that and never was able to successfully open it again. I never looked at what was in the safe. I immediately closed it and locked it back up and was afraid at what I had just achieved.

[@squelchtone]

I am so happy he mentioned the Hollywood BS of adding the clicking sound when a dial is being turned. A real safe lock will be so nice and quiet when you turn it.. there are no clicks..

[@x--.]

This certainly makes sense but that Hollywood BS helps sell the movie for the millions and millions (literally) of people who are professional safe-crackers. That sound design can be tested with audiences, as well. Complete silence? or a clicking sound, like a clock counting down, keeping the pressure on. In the same way no professional safe cracker would want Hollywood to give a tutorial on how to exactly crack some safe, no Hollywood filmmaker is going to pass up an opportunity to build tension in a scene. :) It's the biz.

[@geetarwanabe]

"runs international organization of professional safe crackers" basically a bond villian

[@CreativeSteve69]

This is my first time hearing of such a job of a professional safecraker. After all these years I thought it was a made up position for films n tv watching growing up. I find this a really neat carrier subject. :)

[@ploopy8780]

It's just called being a locksmith.

[@bobbuhler3753]

@@ploopy8780 Because I am both, I can tell you it's not the same. Different ball game, same field.

[@TheSaintBigFoot]

@@bobbuhler3753 what steps did you take to start that career? I really want to explore this field.

[@KyokujiFGC]

This is the same guy who opened Prince's sealed vault.

[@gokselcandogan]

@@ploopy8780 the video starts by literally telling you that they're not the same

[@davelabargesafecracker2104]

Having known Dave McOmie for over three decades now I'm glad to see he dispelled some of the safecracking myths seen in the movies over the years, yet also stated when an accurate detail was shown. The only thing I noticed that was wrong was when he was describing manipulation and breaking down the number five into tenths such as 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 etc. He was actually at 95 and not 5 on the dial at the time. But as Dave says "Safecrackers love safecracking in the movies" and an experienced safe and vault technician will notice things like that, even on KZbin!!

[@looksirdroids9134]

It's irrelevant where he was on the dial, he wasn't showing where he was.

[@knockeledup]

It’s quite possible that editing could be to blame. He may have correctly described what he was doing but then the makers of the video wanted a close up and could have easily shown the wrong part of the dial.

[@jdonvance]

See, now I want to see a supercut of all these safecracking scenes back to back.

[@Gunbudder]

9:41 i have a vault that doesn't have a bolt like this. its just a very tiny and light bar that sits down in the gates and allows the handler to turn. the handle has a crazy amount of friction too, so its more annoying to crack (supposedly). for the last number on my dial though, you can spin right past it without ever knowing if you aren't careful

[@elliotross]

get this guy back for a part 2!

[@otteotte7698]

Best intro ever

[@MatheusLB2009]

I had no idea safecracking could be so cool, but this man proved it!

[@grimalkin6676]

The thing is according to plenty of stunt coordinators and news articles the FF scene with the vault? Depending on which part of the scene you watch that is a real 9000 pound vault they are pulling with those cars. Other parts of the scene used a half vault,a driving vault,one cgi vault and one lightweight fake one mounted on a ramp.

[@derkadeher8369]

sounds like he needs to drink some water

[@christopherweick5903]

I used to use a thermic lance to pierce rivets for removal, ironworkers get such wonderful toys 😁

[@ClaudiusPunchinello]

For anyone wanting more Dave, he was featured in "This American Life" episode 750: "The Ferryman", talking about a job he took of great musical significance.

[@trevormurphy7041]

This guy is awesome I took a lock in the tub and tried it you can really know he’s a professional

[@dreamlife2351]

I love these videos ❣️. Brilliant

[@since1876]

16:00 sounds like safe cracking and car mechanics have a lot in common 😂

[@Ruri_Kgosi_]

Amazing topic

[@slickstretch6391]

I wish I had the focus and dedication to get this good at anything.

[@swimmerkat3965]

I didn’t expect to hear Hillsboro OR mentioned in one of these! I think I know the exact store he was talking about!

[@FallenJustice]

I want to see Dave review some more films.

[@DAF546]

Like Antman

[@alexeiutgoff7955]

It takes the average person 3 semesters to be able to easily open a highschool locker every time.

[@stevenr6397]

oddly i'd say the fast five's most realistic part is cracking the safe with a palm scanner, its just a big fingerprint scanner for your whole hand and fingerprint scanners are notoriously useless and unreliable, thats why they DONT use them

[@bionicRod]

Super interesting, great video!

[@antonomaseapophasis5142]

-6:41 "The Albertson Job" I saw that! Nick Cage was great.

[@johntaylor1947]

I have repaired and restored antique Banker's safes - they are the high security safes of the time designed to be dynamite proof. They are beautiful works of art and fine engineering. I am not good at manipulation, so I drill if I have to and I can tell you the safe companies were very good at hardening steel 130 years ago. At their time they were impregnable and today they are very formidable. I enjoyed your presentation it moved right along.

[@yesssirr987]

awesome video and passionate dude, so entertaining

[@TillerSNZ]

As someone born and raised in Hillsboro Oregon, wild to hear it was this guy at the Albertsons 😂

[@Gottiline_Ace]

"Supposed to believe they used some magic wu wu", that's my new line... 😆

[@saginawdan]

Very enjoyable - thanks 👍

[@nookiepiza7898]

They should have brought lock picking lawyer

[@NikolajPeyk]

You've gotta love experts. Nothing better than people who know what they're talking about.

[@martinlutherkingjr.5582]

Aren’t bank safes basically irrelevant now with electronic payments?

[@XxXFlyingArmBarXxX]

This man needs his own show

[@gritnix]

"Use magic woowoo to open it." Hilarious!

[@seanliles5103]

I really enjoyed the video very much amazing job

[@jackbotman]

It's safe to say this was very enjoyable

[@JJAAHH]

I hear 'safe cracker' every time he says 'safecracker', like he is a secure saltine

[@ken1kiss]

this was an excellent video.

[@Nrivera9123]

I feel like the clicking noise can help u count the clicks and keep track of ya count. like when he did 5, 5.1,5.2 etc lol idek tho 🤷🏽‍♂️😂

[@HAbarneyWK]

Yet I have trouble opening dial locks when I know the combination 😅

[@iamamish]

I love his intellectual honesty

[@usern4metak3ns]

This dude indirectly gave a huge hint to prospective safe crackers. This is a legendary dude. He knows a guy that knows a guy. What a dude.

[@nightshade7240]

Nah, he's the guy who is known.

[@DedicatedSpirit8]

I was a locksmith for nearly 15 years and always find lockpicking and safe cracking in movies to be hilarious.. I'm no safe expert tho. My specialty was automotive

[@AkiraHDR50]

I was expecting bad Santa to be on here.

[@TheManCone]

So wouldn't installing a built in clicking mechanism make it much harder to feel and or interpret those contact points? Thus making it nearly if not impossible to open by simple means?

[@Xanderviceory]

Theres an ASMR guy on YT that makes hour long videos of trying to open a combination lock by just raw trial and error

[@herzogsbuick]

What I really learned is a positive correlation between safecracking in a film, and the word "Thief" in its title

[@molntuss7113]

18:37 "Rio dee genero" 🙂

[@maotisjan]

18:34 They would need AT LEAST an M3 Bradley or maybe even an Abrams, on top of that I very much doubt that those cars frame would hold out not even mentioning the cables

[@jackzwahlen764]

For the army of thieves safe, the reason he did it without looking was that was the one he practiced on and knew like the back of his hand, that's why in the scene it plays out musically for him, he is in tune with all of the mannerisms of the lock

[@davemcomie1526]

You're right, Jack. But remember: Dieter's manipulation technique works only in movies, not the real world.

[@retrobass3693]

this was amazing

[@quartfeira]

Give to the man a glass of water for God's sake!

[@TheSaintBigFoot]

We need LPL to laugh thru every lock picking scene

[@MrELO89]

I didn’t know Logan Roy was this good at cracking safes.

[@huangjun_art]

Army of Thieves is such an amazing movie. Yes, of course a lot is made up. The main character Dieter almost has some sort of a superpower for safecracking, and that's what makes it such a fun movie.

[@TotallyNotRedneckYall]

I would totally watch this guy's channel.

[@rph_redacted]

Army of Thieves was fun to watch..i am not a fan of heist movies but this was surprisingly good

[@Ben-xf7uy]

Italian Job is still such a good movie. I didn't realize its almost 20 years old

[@nicgreaves3484]

Have you seen the original? I personally think it's better and it may be worth tracking down if you liked the remake

[@Ben-xf7uy]

@@nicgreaves3484 had no idea it was a remake. Ill have to check Amazon for it this weekend.

[@NotSure109]

"They shouldn't be showing that!" if it's too realistic? What a bad person.

[@MrBuckman420]

Love that he says the vault one is impossible when it's an actual stunt they did but obviously the vault wasn't full weight.

[@ploopy8780]

They didn't do it at full weight because it was impossible....

[@johngaltline9933]

@@GameTesterBootCamp It was a real, 9000 lb safe... with wheels and a driver inside it that could steer it.

[@girtisholland]

@@johngaltline9933 So the safe had a driver because it wasn’t possible otherwise

[@DeadlyPlatypus]

@@girtisholland It was basically a car with a box on it...they used two cars to pull one car. After thinking about it, that ratio doesn't scale, though... • 2 cars to pull 1? EASY • 4 cars to pull 2? MODERATE • 100 cars to pull 50? Technically easy, logistically impossible Going the other way? • 1 car to pull half a car? EASY, but messy. • Half a car to pull a quarter car? Very difficult...EVEN HARDER if both cars were split longitudinally.

[@taitsmith8521]

One thing he never mentions in this video is that all safe manufacturers make a drilling template for every safe that they produce. You have to be licensed to buy them, but nobody is just guessing where they need to drill.

[@davemcomie1526]

There is a kernel of truth here, Tait, but the truth is, most mfrs that attempt this are not very good at it. Only a few have tech support worthy of the name. And you don't need to be licensed; you just need to be registered (most US states do not license lock and safe technicians).

[@robertdickerson16]

This guy said ,"THINGAMABOB",LOL,we're in Memphis where 100,000 of us are without power and 20 degree ice ,and hearing him say that made my week still worth ,haha "THINGAMABOB ,LOVE IT

[@brunnstudio9280]

Couldn't you have given the poor guy a glass of water? His voice..

[@happzy]

As impossible as FF scene was, it was hella fun to watch.

[@shahinislam7550]

''Hollywood loves the clicking sound '' Bruh

[@DasUhMAZIN]

“Aaaaaaaaand…. CRACK!” ‘Did I miss the 5’O Clock free crack giveaway?’

[@L.C.Sweeney]

This was great

[@jeffmoss26]

Dave is a legend!