NationStates Jolt Archive

A science organisation in the UK has recently run a competition to come up with a solution to the problem faced by the robbers at the end of the Italian Job (the original film - no idea if the remake ended the same way or not). For those who have not seen the film the robbers have carried out a gold bullion robbery and are escaping in a coach. The film ends with a literal cliff-hanger the coach ends up balanced on a cliff with the robbers trapped on the landside while the gold is at the other end of the coach hanging out over a precipice. If the robbers try to get off the weight of the gold will no longer be counterbalanced and the coach will fall into the ravine. But if anyone goes towards the gold they will also upset the balance.

So I thought I would put this question to the finest minds in the world, then quickly realised it would be easier to put it to NSG. So how do the robbers save the gold and themselves?

Get the fuck out of the van and let it fall. Climb down the cliff and get as much gold as they can. Viola!

If the location is remote enough they can spend days planning the Operation.

Get the fuck out of the van and let it fall. Climb down the cliff and get as much gold as they can. Viola!

If the location is remote enough they can spend days planning the Operation.

Damn, you beat me to it.

But only one person could get out before the coach would lose its equilibrium.

But only one person could get out before the coach would lose its equilibrium.

This way divvying up the booty becomes simpler.

Anyway, I'd need more info on the problem to attempt another solution.

This way divvying up the booty becomes simpler.

:eek: I had never had you down as that ruthless. No honour amongst thieves I imagine is a fairly universal saying. Though I must say I came to the same conclusion as soon as I typed my previous post.

But only one person could get out before the coach would lose its equilibrium.

The it's either every man for himself; or they all jump on three.

It's a matter of leverage; if all but one hang out the back as far as they can, there should be enough leverage for one go crawl over and get a bar of gold. And the more gold they get to their side, the easier it will get.

But only one person could get out before the coach would lose its equilibrium.It won't fall over the edge instantaneously though. Inertia will provide everyone with a little time.

It's a matter of leverage; if all but one hang out the back as far as they can, there should be enough leverage for one go crawl over and get a bar of gold. And the more gold they get to their side, the easier it will get.

Yeah thats the answer. As I remember they are all (apart from the driver) in the back of the lorry, just move a few people into the drivers cab to swing the leverage towards the front of the lorry, and then one person only needs to move about 4 bars to the front of the lorry to get the front wheels back on the ground.

This way divvying up the booty becomes simpler.

Anyway, I'd need more info on the problem to attempt another solution.
watch the movie.

I liked the solution a 12yr old gave, just for sheer painfulness of the wordplay:

"Keep singing The Self Preservation Society," he tells the gang. The chorus starts up again until they all get frogs in their throats. The frogs start to jump up and down, which rocks the bus.

They use the rocks to weigh the end of the bus. "Keep singing, lads."

They sing louder, but now the frogs have gone, their throats get sore. They use the saw to cut the gold bars in half. Two halves make a whole. They pass the gold out through the hole, and jump out.

Still singing, they've now all gone hoarse. They load the gold on to the horses and ride off into the sunset.

By Thomas Nixon (aged 12)

watch the movie.

I liked the solution a 12yr old gave, just for sheer painfulness of the wordplay:

"Keep singing The Self Preservation Society," he tells the gang. The chorus starts up again until they all get frogs in their throats. The frogs start to jump up and down, which rocks the bus.

They use the rocks to weigh the end of the bus. "Keep singing, lads."

They sing louder, but now the frogs have gone, their throats get sore. They use the saw to cut the gold bars in half. Two halves make a whole. They pass the gold out through the hole, and jump out.

Still singing, they've now all gone hoarse. They load the gold on to the horses and ride off into the sunset.

By Thomas Nixon (aged 12)

Thats as impractical as it is fantastical.

I think it just might work.

Move forward--perhaps onto the hood.

They sing louder, but now the frogs have gone, their throats get sore. They use the saw to cut the gold bars in half.
This pun eludes me.
The rest of it seems like a very sound idea. One I will certainly endorse the next time I'm in the front half of a van filled with gold that is balanced precariously on the edge of the cliff.

This pun eludes me.
The rest of it seems like a very sound idea. One I will certainly endorse the next time I'm in the front half of a van filled with gold that is balanced precariously on the edge of the cliff.

'Sore' and 'saw' end up with the same pronounciation with a certain accent

The "real one", as put forward by Michael Caine, was something along the lines of getting all to one end of the coach, turning the engine on and burning off all the petrol before getting off and letting the gold fall. They'd then go get the gold whilst being chased by the mafia, which was the premise for the sequel.

Personally, I'd have shot that fucking coach driver for being such a fucking dick and driving like that.

Personally, I'd have shot that fucking coach driver for being such a fucking dick and driving like that.

Aaaahhaaaa! Thereby puting several ounces of lead into him to make him weigh more! Good thinking.:D

iirc, there was actually a sequel planned, where the mafia would, at the beginning of the movie, turn up with a winch and lift them to safety before making off with the gold. the movie was (apparently) going to be about getting it back from the mafia. but i can't remember where on earth i read that...

what i'd do though, is get everyone (including Croker) to the end of the bus, lie down, open the doors and try to scoop dirt into the bus. eventually, you might get enough to allow someone (very light) to get off the bus and start piling on boulders and other heavy things. eventually you'll balance the bus, pull the gold off, and somehow drag it back onto the road. maybe.
kinda a lot of faith in the weight of dirt, there >.>

what i'd do though, is get everyone (including Croker) to the end of the bus, lie down, open the doors and try to scoop dirt into the bus. eventually, you might get enough to allow someone (very light) to get off the bus and start piling on boulders and other heavy things. eventually you'll balance the bus, pull the gold off, and somehow drag it back onto the road. maybe.
kinda a lot of faith in the weight of dirt, there >.>
And in the structural integrity of the bus. I've been in a few buses that would probably snap in half if you sneezed on them too hard.

Get someone to tie their clothes to form a rope and a hook on the end, throw the rope and pull.

iirc, there was actually a sequel planned, where the mafia would, at the beginning of the movie, turn up with a winch and lift them to safety before making off with the gold. the movie was (apparently) going to be about getting it back from the mafia. but i can't remember where on earth i read that...
I don't know either, but this is what Michael Caine had to say:
"In the coach, I crawl up, switch on the engine and stay there for four hours until all the petrol runs out," he explained at an awards ceremony. "The van bounces back up, so we can all get out, but then the gold goes over. There are a load of Corsican Mafia at the bottom watching the whole thing with binoculars. They grab the gold, and then the sequel is us chasing it."
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/3-3-2003-36643.asp

The film's producer, Michael Deeley, mentioned his own alternative on Desert Island Discs: that the Mafia fly in a helicopter that makes off with both the bus and the gold.

The winning entry was from John Godwin, of Godalming in Surrey:
The first step involves punching out the third set of windows in the middle of the Bedford bus with the heel of Croker's shoe. This would relieve some weight from the back of the bus hanging over the cliff edge, but more importantly it would allow the crew to lean out and punch in the front windows, so the weight of the glass would not be lost from the front.

The next step is to lower one of the crew from the broken windows so that they can let down the front tyres, to reduce the vehicle's rocking motion and make the front end more stable.

The third stage is to open the access panel to the fuel tank, sited inside the bus halfway along its axis, and to drain the tank of its 36 gallons of petrol, weighing nearly 140kg, which is stored under the rear floor.

Once this fuel is drained, there should be enough weight in the front of the bus to allow one crew member to leave and bring back the necessary ballast to counter the effect of someone crawling along the floor to retrieve the gold bars.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/23/italian_job_solution/

Here's the top five solutions (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/4293624/The-Italian-Job-top-five-solutions-to-films-most-famous-puzzle.html).

So I thought I would put this question to the finest minds in the world, then quickly realised it would be easier to put it to NSG. So how do the robbers save the gold and themselves?
Ring their pals and get them to bring a crane down the road to rescue them. Buh.

There is no solution. They either die with the gold or get out and lose it.

Drain the petrol tank and get some rocks...what a load of nonsense.