Lockpicking in Motion Pictures?

[luckylockpicker]

I've been wanting to try out youtube anyway, and just couldn't resist posting this scene from Crime Spree, it's very funny!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IHc90R97ac

[freakparade3]

The season finale of supernatural had some lockpicking in it.

[Legion303]

The last episode of Doctor Who ("Unicorn and Wasp") showed a thief's kit, with real picks.

-steve

[Jaakko]

Beverly Hills Cop I, Axel Foley picks a gate lock Nothing is shown basically, but still.

[Slyfox]

A scene from the thief lord has pickin in it. Pretty cool, and if I remember correctly he does use a tension wrench.

[raimundo]

happened to catch that smarmy show called burn notice last night, there was a couple of frames that showed a pick and tensor to explain how someone got in somewhere, the main actor is just to cute-sy and pretensious, but every now and then he may have some interesting moves.

[weerwolf]

I saw an isrealian commercial once. The FBI or something would break into a house with president Clinton and Monica Lewinsky.
To pick the lock they use a broken key extractor.

In an episode of Flikken (belgian cop show) , they showed how a locksmith cracked a cilinder lock. Now , that was very realistically done.

[Jaakko]

Just watched Wanted and they first used a normal pick and a tensioner, then tried EPG with no tensioner and then continued picking with the original tool, which appeared to be something like a hairpin

[Kranmer]

MIdnigt Run with Robert DeNiro he uses a snapper pick to open the door of a bail jumper. If anyone has not seen Midnight Run I highly recommend it, one of the greatest 80's movies, it's a classic.

Yeah you right.. Super movie, I agree. I watched it the other night on DVD.

[Brianpojo56]

'No Country for Old Men' is hilarious. The guy with that pneumatic pig killing thing blows the cylinder straight through the door and (even on the deadbolts) the door magically becomes opened. I'm pretty sure that they would blow a hole through an aluminum trailer door before it blows the cylinder straight through cleanly.

[Transam]

My favourite lockpicking blasphemy was McGyver picking a lock with the knife on his pocket knife. No extra tools required.
"Boy, that McGyver must be good at picking..."

Funny enough, i pretty much started my lock picking hobby with a similar pocket knife that macgyver uses I used the fish descaler to pick locks instead of the knife though.. It was like using a jiggler key, no extra tools were needed.

[Transam]

I admit that there are major errors in the lockpicking scenes we see in movies etc. The thing is, that if they show it 100% correct in television/movies, that wouldn't be very smart right? I believe that the props people in movies know the stuff, but they can't actually show that stuff on tv.

The people that don't know how it's really done don't care/know any better, and the people that do, already know the techniques that they are "simulating" The "real" method of picking would more than likely be less tv friendly and not so exciting to watch ( you know the led lights in bombs and some lockpicking scenes right )

Gone in sixty seconds: Car ignition picked with a pick gun attached to a led screen

[squelchtone]

I admit that there are major errors in the lockpicking scenes we see in movies etc. The thing is, that if they show it 100% correct in television/movies, that wouldn't be very smart right?

Many people in the public seem to think that if a person has picks that you just put them into a lock an it immediately opens like a skeleton key or a master key would open a door. It takes a relative amount of skill and experience. I think if movie showed someone with a pick and wrench picking what we would call "correctly" that would only give the audience half of the information they need to open a lock.

The other thing they need is a lockpick set, and watching a movie and then breaking out some bobby pins and paper clips or even a bent hobby screwdriver isn't going to get them into too many locks.. maybe their tool box... or file cabinet. and thats if they have more than an hours worth of patience to bother, during which time they would search the internet and find this site and maybe actually learn something.

My main question is if the movie producers feel a personal responsibility not to show things, or if the RIAA has rules against showing certain things and how they are done. Anyone have contacts in Hollywood who can ask around?

k thx
Squelchtone

[squelchtone]

oops. I meant MPAA

[Jaakko]

My main question is if the movie producers feel a personal responsibility not to show things, or if the RIAA has rules against showing certain things and how they are done. Anyone have contacts in Hollywood who can ask around?

It is a horrible act of criminality to show how the lock is actually picked, but wait until we get guns in to those scenes...filling a mag, loading and firing...and I haven't yet talked about speeding with a car!