Notes

MOVIE REVIEWS - Den of Thieves Reviews
R 2018 ‧ Drama/Thriller ‧ 2h 28m
Nick O'Brien is the hard-drinking leader of the Regulators, an elite unit of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Ray Merrimen is the recently paroled leader of the Outlaws, a gang of ex-military men who use their expertise and tactical skills to evade the law. O'Brien, Merrimen and their crews soon find themselves on a direct collision course as the criminals hatch an elaborate plan for a seemingly impossible heist -- the city's Federal Reserve Bank.
Release date: January 19, 2018 (USA)
Director: Christian Gudegast
Box office: 80.5 million USD
Budget: 30 million USD
Screenplay: Christian Gudegast, Paul Scheuring
Showing all 13 items
Gerard Butler gained twenty-five pounds for his role, as recommended by director Christian Gudegast.
169 of 171 found this interesting | Share this
Prior to filming, two separate boot camps were run in order to get the cops and the robbers in shape for their respective roles with both groups training separately to enforce a rival atmosphere. Interestingly, each group was trained differently by military consultant Paul Maurice.
112 of 113 found this interesting | Share this
Gerard Butler and his crew are loosely based on former ATF agent, Jay Dobyns, who consulted on the film. Dobyns is best known for his undercover work and his willingness to infiltrate crime organizations, much like Gerard Butler's character. Dobyns makes a cameo in the film at the bar Donnie works at in LA, closing his tab at the bar.
80 of 83 found this interesting | Share this
Christian Gudegast's original cut of the film was closer to 160 minutes and featured a different ending.
98 of 104 found this interesting | Share this
Amongst the cast, there are four UFC fighters: John Lewis, Max Holloway, Oleg Taktarov and Michael Bisping.
84 of 90 found this interesting | Share this
A large splash of water is shown when the crew blows the armored truck. Water impulse breaching charges produce this kind of spray because an external water jacket is used to focus the blast into the target.
20 of 20 found this interesting | Share this
The film was in development for roughly fourteen years, where director Christian Gudegast and a writing partner had a blind deal with New Line Cinema in 2003. The project was also later supposed to be distributed by the now-defunct Relativity Media at one point as well.
65 of 71 found this interesting | Share this
In the closing credits the $100 bill has the serial number DOT00002018, for Den of Thieves 2018 the release year.
70 of 77 found this interesting | Share this
Eric Braeden (Ziggy Zerhusen) is the father of the writer and director Christian Gudegast.
59 of 66 found this interesting | Share this
When Donnie is in the count room bagging up the $100 bills to be shredded, he bags either 12 or 13 relatively small bags the appear to weigh in the 2 to 3 pound range. The goal of the robbery was $30 million. Based on the weight of $100 bills, $1 million weighs 22.05 pounds. Even if each bag had $1 million, that would equate to 280 pounds of cash which is clearly not the case. Also, if each bag weighed 5 pounds each, the would equal just under $3 million total. $30 million in $100 bills weighs 661.5 pounds.
32 of 35 found this interesting | Share this
Although set in Los Angeles, a vast majority of filming took place in Atlanta, to take advantage of the state's tax breaks.
56 of 68 found this interesting | Share this
After the initial robbery Ray Merrimen (Pablo Shreiber) tells Bosco (Evan Jones) "Be careful with those guns, I don't want any accidental discharges). In 8 Mile Evan Jones plays Cheddar Bob, B Rabbits childhood friend who shoots himself with his own gun.
73 of 91 found this interesting | Share this
This was the second time Pablo Schreiber played a thief masquerading as an armored security guard. The first time was Person of Interest: Matsya Nyaya (2012).
25 of 46 found this interesting | Share this
Showing all 25 items
Jump to: Audio/visual unsynchronised (1) | Character error (1) | Continuity (6) | Errors in geography (2) | Factual errors (6) | Miscellaneous (2) | Plot holes (2) | Revealing mistakes (4) | Spoilers (1)
Audio/visual unsynchronised
In the shoot out while the traffic is stopped and Ray Merrimen sets up the M249 (SAW) on the hood and pulls back on the cocking handle assembly, two sounds are heard.. Normally when a closed bolt weapon's cocking handle is pulled back it will make two sounds, the first would be the bolt being pulled back and a second sound when the bolt closes as it chambers the round. However the M249 is a gas-operated weapon that fires from the open bolt position, so there would only be a single sound made when the cocking handle is pulled back locking the bolt into the open position and it will only close when the trigger is pulled.
33 of 48 found this interesting | Share this
Character error
During a final scene in the movie, Big Nick is seen, from a front camera shot, visibly holding his handgun with his right hand and supporting the grip with his left. However, when the camera cuts to an "over the shoulder" shot, the handgun is now being gripped in his left hand and supported by his right. This camera shot transition happens several times during this scene and each time the handgun switches hands.
11 of 15 found this interesting | Share this
Continuity
Throughout the entire movie Big Nick's chest tattoo keeps disappearing and then reappearing.
25 of 26 found this interesting | Share this
Towards the end, Big Nick is opening bags of shredded bills and breaking the bunches apart with both hands, and brushes his hands off with the other hand fairly roughly. Since he had a bullet wound in his right hand, there is no way he could have used both hands to do any of this.
3 of 3 found this interesting | Share this
When Nick is putting on his vest at the police station it does not say Sheriff on it, while all other officers vests say Sheriff. When he is standing over Merriman his vest says Sheriff.
9 of 13 found this interesting | Share this
During the armored truck hijack, the gang warns the driver that they will fire armor piercing (AP) rounds through the windshield, but they instead tear out the windshield with a drill contraption. Despite this, the cops later say that the windshield was shot out, although no rounds were actually fired at it.
4 of 7 found this interesting | Share this
When Big Nick asks for some Pepto early in the movie in the police station, the top of the bottle, including the pink liquid, is already visible on the desk. The other officer reaches into a drawer to get it and pretends to put it on top of the desk, but it is already there.
6 of 14 found this interesting | Share this
Before the final shootout, LASD officers warn the occupants of many civilian vehicles to get down, and a mere handful of civilians are seen fleeing. After the shooting starts, the civilians presumably occupying the remaining vehicles seemingly disappear. No screams are heard, nobody panics, and no one is injured by the gunfire, shrapnel, or flying glass.
2 of 4 found this interesting | Share this
Errors in geography
The film is set in Los Angeles, but during the final shootout, the Atlanta MARTA train can be seen.
25 of 25 found this interesting | Share this
The location in Pico Rivera is given as the intersection of Atlantic and Wilcox. These streets do not intersect, but run parallel and are located in cities west of Pico Rivera.
9 of 12 found this interesting | Share this
Factual errors
While LA has had the title of "The Bank Robbery Capital of the World," given in 1963 and it does have a history of infamous bank heists, it does not have a "robbery occur every 48 minutes" as it says in the opening title. Only in it's greatest year (1992) does it come close, with 2,641 bank robberies in the seven-county region of LA (1~ every 66 minutes).
57 of 60 found this interesting | Share this
Throughout the film, the license plates for the majority of the vehicles all share a close version of 4PCI*** with the last three numbers being slightly different. This includes several different armored trucks which, in reality, would bear commercial, not passenger, license plates. The marked police cars should display California Exempt license plates too.
13 of 14 found this interesting | Share this
The "leader" of the gang says the federal reserve bank deletes the serial numbers of bills when they are shredded.

This is not true.

The federal reserve bank does not do this, it would be the Treasury that could do it but they do not do it since they need to keep a record of all serial numbers ever printed.
24 of 28 found this interesting | Share this
Several police vehicles in the movie (most notably unmarked cars and a SWAT truck) have only blue emergency lights. California law requires all emergency vehicles to have one steady burning red light, and virtually every law enforcement agency in California (including the LAPD and LASD) use red and blue light setups on all their vehicles. Blue-only light setups are more consistent with Georgia, where the movie was shot.
5 of 5 found this interesting | Share this
The city of Montebello has its own police department, LAPD wouldn't have jurisdiction.
14 of 22 found this interesting | Share this
The bank robbery stats in the opening credits were correct for 1992 only, that being the worst ever year for recorded offences. The current figure is less than a tenth of that volume.
Is this interesting? | Share this
Miscellaneous
During the initial shootout, the bad guys tear out the windshield of the armored truck; however, while they are driving away, the windshield is shown intact multiple times.
18 of 21 found this interesting | Share this
Lots of shots fired toward "bad guys" but none hit the gas tanker truck you can see sitting past them?
4 of 8 found this interesting | Share this
Plot holes
High security facilities like the Federal Reserve would not allow a guest like Donnie (or any food deliveryman) to walk around unescorted. If an employee ordered food, they would most likely have to come down to the front desk and pick it up themselves. Either that or the deliveryman would be escorted by security the entire time they are in a secure area.
89 of 93 found this interesting | Share this
Butler tells his guys "they're wearing vests, no center mass shots" but he shoots several rounds at Pablo that are center-mass.
7 of 13 found this interesting | Share this
Revealing mistakes
In the final shootout, gunfire is exchanged lengthwise along cars stopped in traffic. All bullet holes are neat and round, even in hoods and closed doors. This indicates the bullets passed through perpendicular to the metal, i.e. from right above or across the cars. This is obviously not the case.
15 of 18 found this interesting | Share this
When Merrimen is driving the armored truck at the second checkpoint, as it enters the Federal Reserve Bank building, a subway train can be seen running through what is supposed to be the bank building in the distance above.
6 of 11 found this interesting | Share this
When Donnie wakes up from being tased and knocked out by Nick, he walks out of the bedroom. Directly behind him, Murph walks out of the same bedroom, clearly alone. In the next shot, Murph walks by Donnie holding the hand of one of the girls at the party. In the instant earlier, she was no where to be seen.
4 of 7 found this interesting | Share this
After the climactic shootout, Big Nick walks down the street while a commuter train rolls across the bridge in the background. Although it is presumably rush hour, it is obvious that there is not a single passenger aboard the train.
Is this interesting? | Share this
Spoilers

The goof item below may give away important plot points.
Plot holes
As the LASD officers stake out the bank, Big Nick explains that they are waiting for the gang members to commit a crime so they can make an arrest. He earlier encountered Merriman, who is a convicted felon, practicing at a gun range. It is a serious federal crime for a convicted felon to possess a firearm under almost all conditions. Having numerous witnesses and likely surveillance video from the gun range, Merriman could have easily been arrested on firearms charges, thwarting the villains' robbery plans without confronting the entire heavily armed gang. Of course, this would have prematurely and anticlimactically ended the movie.
Is this interesting? | Share this
Showing all 2 items
Ray Merrimen: I ain't cuffin' up
'Big Nick' O'Brien: That's ok. I don't bring my cuffs anyway.
15 of 16 found this interesting | Share this
'Big Nick' O'Brien: Yea, the food here sucks. We come here for the ass.
4 of 4 found this interesting | Share this
Showing all 2 items
German distributor Concorde chose to cut approx. 16 minutes from the movie to tighten the pace (removed were mostly family related scenes with Butler's character Nick).
Also available as an unrated version which runs approx. eight minutes longer.
Showing all 7 items
Jump to: References (1) | Referenced in (2) | Featured in (4)
References
Casablanca (1942)
Donnie compares his bar to Rick's in Casablanca
Referenced in
Midnight Screenings: 12 Strong/Den of Thieves (2018) (TV Episode)
movie is reviewed
Good Morning Britain: Episode dated 31 January 2018 (2018) (TV Episode)
Mentioned.
Featured in
Conan: Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson/Rebecca Romijn/Dashboard Confessional (2018) (TV Episode)
Scene of 50 Cent was shown.
Chris Stuckmann Movie Reviews: Den of Thieves (2018) (TV Episode)
Chris reviews the movie.
Good Morning Britain: Episode dated 31 January 2018 (2018) (TV Episode)
A clip is shown.
The Making of 'Den of Thieves' (2018) (Video)
Clips, making of, Interviews, etc.
Soundtrack Credits
Ein Prosit
(Traditional)
Performed by Munich Beerfest Band
Courtesy of K-Tel Music Inc.
Rheinische Lieder
Written by Peter Cornelius
Performed by Munich Beerfest Band
Courtesy of K-Tel Music Inc.
Inspiration Information
Written by Shuggie Otis
Performed by Shuggie Otis
Courtesy of Epic Records
By arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment
Return of the Tres
Written by Ivan Scott Martin, Kemo the Blaxican (as David Lewis Keimonti Thomas), Alejandro Martinez
Performed by Delinquent Habits
Courtesy of Delinquent Habits Music
Say You Love Me
Written by Dominic Balli
Performed by Dominic Balli
Courtesy of Red Song Music
Kemuri
Written by DJ Krush (as Hideaki Ishi)
Performed by DJ Krush
Courtesy of Es U Es Corporation
What It's Like
Written by Erik Schrody
Performed by Erik Schrody (as Everlast)
Courtesy of Tommy Boy Music, Inc.
Tokyo Dreaming
Written by Matt Mariano
Performed by Matt Mariano
Courtesy of Lalela Music
Ten Wo Koete
Written by Matt Hirt, Taeko Oshima
Courtesy of Firstcom Music
Coincidimos
Written by Raul Enrique De La Mora
Performed by La Gran Herencia
Courtesy of LGH Music Inc.
Highway Tune
Written by Jacob Thomas Kiszka, Joshua Michael Kiszka, Samuel Francis Kiszka, and Daniel Robert Wagner
Performed by Greta Van Fleet
Courtesy of Lava Music / Republic Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises
Just How Much Can One Man Stand
Written by Monroe Wright III
Performed by The Valdons
Courtesy of Secret Stash Records
The Cabin
Written by Cliff Martinez
Performed by Cliff Martinez
Courtesy of Voltage Pictures, LLC
Our Demons (Pair of Arrows Remix)
Written by Justin Boreta, Edward Ma, Josh Mayer (as Joshua Mayer), and Aja Volkman
Performed by The Glitch Mob
Courtesy of Glass Air Records, LLC
By arrangement with Zync Music Group LLC
Legendary
Written by Sam Getz and Jimmy Weaver (as James Weaver)
Performed by Welshly Arms
Courtesy of Republic Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises
On the Beach
Written by Cliff Martinez and Gregory Tripi
Performed by Cliff Martinez
Courtesy of Cutting Edge Music Services, LLC

Inside Man
2006

Heat
1995

Set It Off
1996

Takers
2010

Set Up
2011

Chaos
2005

The Bank Job
2008

Triple 9
2016

Hell or High Water
2016

Armored Car Robbery
1950

Point Break
1991

The Town
2010

The Thomas Crown Affair
1968

Stolen
2012

Drive
2011

The Mason Brothers
2017

Dollars
1971

Charley Varrick
1973

The Heist
2001

Hotel Artemis
2018

Empire State
2013

Heist
2015

Hard Rain
1998

To Steal from a Thief
2016

7 Seconds
2005

The Prince
2014

Proud Mary
2018

The Italian Job
2003

Escape Plan
2013

The Getaway
1994