If I could cut a quarter of the 140-minute film length, it would be a good film.
Robbing a bank is destined to excite every hot-blooded man.
Take me as a good boy with glasses curled up in a corner of the office, making a cup of hot coffee, and thinking of a few muscular guys with cigarettes and sunglasses, pouring money into snakeskin bags, I think Immediately raised a gun and made the entire editorial staff lie on the ground.
Too bloody.
Robbing a bank is not only a violent way of making money, but also a difficult technical job, and it is also a life attitude of giving up.
This is why, regardless of how the times progress, filmmakers like to hold on to "robbing a bank", and they have to grab a gun every three times and five times. Is it money? is pleasure.
In reality, bank robbers, in nine out of ten cases, are crushed to the ground and sent to the Public Security Bureau without even taking out their knives. The next day, they have to be labelled "stupid thief" on the hot search list to be ridiculed by thousands of people.
But as the "heart meat" of crime movies , this art has been mastered by filmmakers so far, and it has produced too many classics.
Whether it is a straightforward street fight , or a high-IQ, high-tech brain duel , the gangsters' preference for banks has never been concealed.
Moreover, the more heavily guarded big banks are, the easier it is to attract challenges . People who rob savings banks and ATM machines are embarrassed to say hello to people when they go to prison.
So, you might be asking, since filmmakers know how to rob a bank, why not actually rob it?
Because making a "robbing a bank" movie is much faster than actually robbing a bank.
①
The bank is there, isn't it just for robbery?
Although banks are all the same bank, the means of robbing a bank are varied.
Can be roughly divided into three categories.
One, tough.
For the veterans of the 1930s and 1940s , robbing a bank is really not difficult.
At that time, the security measures were too poor, the gang members had several Thomsons, and the staff had to pay honestly.
In [Public Enemy] , Dillinger took his younger brother hostages at the bank gate in broad daylight. When the police came, they fired a single shot and then walked away.
[Male and Male Robbers] is even more direct , showing us that robbing a bank at that time only required three steps :
1. Walk into the bank with a gun and declare that you are here to rob.
2. Go to the counter and ask the staff to put the money in your pocket.
3. After getting the money, talk and laugh with the accomplices and get on the car and leave.
It's not that easy now.
Even the well-equipped, well-trained, well-planned, and well-arranged robbers in [Pirates of Fire] could not escape under the police's firepower.
As a result, the method of "hard and rigid" has gradually been eliminated. After all, who can just beat the police, and replaced by "soft dealing".
Of course, if you have the skills of The Joker, Doctor Octopus, Geek in disguise, don't tell me.
Two, hostages.
When surrounded by the police, there are often helicopters on the top and snipers on the bottom , and it is impossible to run away.
At this time, the hostage is the most powerful bargaining chip, whether it is to threaten the police or protect oneself, it is very important.
The thief in [Hot Day Afternoon] had planned to grab some money and run away, but the police came too fast, and in desperation changed from stealing money to kidnapping people.
Moreover, with these two rookies and two broken guns, they were able to deal with the surging police outside the door for a long time, which shows the "power" of the hostages.
When the hostages are in the hands of the elite robbers, it is even more different. The hostages captured in [Operation Swordfish] , how many are captured, how to release them, and how to use the hostages for their own best interests are clearly calculated.
Of course, the use of hostages still has to be exposed to the police's sight after all , and there are still full risks.
A sniper accidentally finds an opportunity to shoot him on the spot, and it is difficult to get rid of the police's tracking. After all, you can't take hostages for a lifetime.
So, robbing a bank requires more brains.
Three, outsmart.
The meaning of this is relatively broad and there are many methods, but the purpose is all around "dodging the attention of the police".
The simplest and crudest one is "digging tunnels" .
In [Old Woman Killer] , a group of improvised rabble moved to the basement next to the bank, where they used band rehearsal to hide their eyes and ears, and dig tunnels like crazy when they were free.
Although this is a low-risk move, it is a test of luck.
For example , among the [amateur thieves] who blindly followed suit , they either dug in the wrong direction or leaked the water pipes.
The heroes scoffed at this method , and the thieves were sneaky, and the real men were playing tricks on the police on the table.
The robbers in Die Hard 3 set bombs all over the city, causing the police to wander around the world, while he easily emptied the unattended bank vault.
It's just that this high-level operation tests funds, teams, tacit understanding, execution...not everyone can learn it.
②
The experience of the predecessors has to be repeated
The robbers in [Thief's Nest] can be said to be the director of all families.
At the beginning of the film, it was introduced that the frequency of bank robberies in Los Angeles was "2,400 times a year, 44 times a week, 9 times a day, and an average of once every 48 minutes."
In this "robbery capital" where countless robbery experts gather , no one will take you to play without two brushes.
The soldier-turned-robber leader "Melliman" not only has excellent personal qualities, but is also likely to have read a lot of bank robbery movies, and he plays all the tricks well.
For example, in the two gun battles one after the other, they played the style of the old-timer [Pirates of Fire].
Heavy machine guns, submachine guns, pistols... The two gangs of robbers and police were fighting in the street , and their firepower was comparable, but it was the cars that were beaten with many holes.
It is equally unequivocal when it comes to hostage-taking.
As soon as I entered the door, I told everyone that "we only make money, not kill" . This kind of remarks like "money belongs to the country, life belongs to oneself" effectively made the hostages squat down and dare not act rashly.
At the same time, he told the police to prepare money and planes, and if he acted rashly, he would kill a hostage. As a result, although the police were numerous and powerful, they only had to be dumb and anxious.
The most important thing is that the hostage-taking is just a false move.
Miliman successfully attracted the police by taking hostages in a small remote bank, and then escaped through the tunnel to attack the "Commonwealth Bank" in the city center.
From "hard-hearted" to "hostage-taking" to "outwitness", the "robbing a bank" routine summarized by many filmmakers throughout the ages has been staged in turn , which is not unremarkable.
If it hadn't been for a police officer who could "look at the butt of the car from 30 meters away and know that a robber is sitting in it" , it would have been a beautiful battle.
③
No matter how long you plan, you can't get past the police.
No wonder, after all, Christian Goodgast has been planning to rob a bank for 14 years.
Christian, who was addicted to crime movies, said that he didn't want to rob such a bank or two. I don't believe it (who doesn't want to rob).
As early as 2003, he started planning to rob a bank . As a result, his old employer suddenly went bankrupt and the funds were gone, so he had to put it on hold. It was not until 2017 that he began to implement the robbery plan.
However, in the intervening years, he has not been idle, and has been thinking about how to carry out this robbery.
The first to be identified is Los Angeles .
Not only because the crime rate in Los Angeles is among the highest in the United States, but also because of the cold and loneliness of Los Angeles, where bastards and poor people live everywhere, and the sound of gunfire is perfect.
Later, he also checked a lot of bank robbery information, visited security experts in major banks , and asked people, "You said that your security system, if I came in and robbed, where should I start?"
Even two weeks before the plan was implemented, Christian organized the brethren to begin intensive training.
Every day, let them snatch and run, move quickly, shoot while shooting, and quickly load guns, etc.
After the official operation began, everyone went into battle with real guns and destroyed tens of thousands of empty ammunition packs.
But unfortunately, like this bank robbery, the [thief's nest] itself was destroyed by the police.
Gerard Butler's "Detective Nick" is still the old-fashioned "I smoke, drink, drink, tattoo, cheat and go clubbing, but I know I'm a good cop" .
The film also wants to emphasize from the very beginning that the police here are more like villains than villains , but a lot of boring and cumbersome family scenes have not made "Nick" deeply moving, but also slowed down the pace of the film.
On the contrary, a scene of "scaring the prospective son-in-law" on the robber's side made several robbers vivid and interesting.
If I could cut a quarter of the 140-minute film length, it would be a good film.
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Text: Han Gege
The article comes from WeChat public account: Movie Detoxification
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