This made the movie pretty funny and clever. I don't suppose
the writer thought this could be done IRL , just that it moves
the plot along in a very interesting way.
I figured Joe must have had some way to send the washers
in the same plane as the gold...which is why after De voto
cheats him re. the jewerly store heist he says he need
another month before doing the Swiss air job.
Movies don't realize a 14" cube of gold is a damned ton. But stupid never slowed down a Hollywood production.
What I had in mind was boxing the compass.share
There is a fine line between pointing out movie stupidities and simply being pedantic. Too many people cross it. ^^
share"Pedantic". An interesting term.... one that can hardly be used without appearing as. Helpful to the conversation at hand, however, and thank you so much for playing. Now you can get back to your wanking.
What I had in mind was boxing the compass.share
i can wank and type at the same time, i mean, you only need one hand for each right??
shareYes, gold weighs more than washers but someone in the midst of a heist picking up a tray of washers might not notice the difference, a tray of washers still being pretty heavy. Especially since not many people, not just those in Hollywood, have much experience picking up trays of gold and therefore don't really know what to expect. If you want an example of a movie that completely misses how heavy gold is check out the scene in "Three Kings" where several large bars are loaded into Gucci duffel bags, which would not only rip immediately under the weight but be far too heavy to carry in any event. And let's not get started on the way gold is tossed about and transported in "Die Hard With A Vengeance." But I must differ with you: "pedantic" only sounds pedantic to people who are pedantic about pedantry. jk
sharewhat's odd to me are people asking how the gold was switched for washers and/or vice versa. And the askers are SERIOUS! They really think there was a switch.
Way back when Joe said he could "stand this thing on it's head" he told Pinky to get in touch with a Freight Forwarders. This was because JOE was going to get a load of washers on the plane that was ALSO going to be carrying the gold. THEN Joe had two labels or placards created so that when he got on the plane, he put his fake Swiss Bank label on the cases holding the washers he that he had had put on the plane previously, by the freight forwarder, and put the fake Foundry label on the cases with the gold. So when he moved the washers onto the truck, it says Swiss Bank on it and Jimmy Silk, seeing this, thinks its the gold.
Meantime, the airport people would have their own priorities and see that there are now, apparantly, NO BOXES labeled Swiss Bank so they would also think the gold was stolen. But now, in the meantime, they still have their committments to the other shippers and they see the boxes with Foundry labels on them, not realizing that those are the fake labels and the gold is really in there. So Joe comes along and just takes it with him.
Thank you , Waltcosmos, for actually addressing the original question and for clearing up that question for me. My husband and I just saw the movie, enjoyed it immensley, but did wonder how he did the switch.
shareyes, the switch on the plane was clever, but fairly obvious.
why he uses washers, which would be both lighter (since they aren't solid) and might rattle when moved instead of simple lead bars (which we know he can forge at his handy home smelter), *that's* the mystery. he must have known that washers would have been more picturesque when scattered along the roadside when the getaway van is in a rollover accident caused by an 18-wheeler driving on the wrong side of the road that everyone walks away from without a scratch. that joe, he has a plan for everything! :)
(not that an abandoned van load of washers scattered along the roadside not far from the scene of a large theft of precious metal would be suspicious or anything!)
It was probably a reference to The Wild Bunch, that's why it was washers specifically.
shareperhaps... a dollar's worth of steel holes is about all this film is worth.
though i have to say, heist's a pretty good choice for a movie i love to hate. i might have to watch it again to remind myself why it's so terrible. :)