History Main / ArmedBlag

* Knocking over armoured cars transporting cash was a staple of crooks in Franchise/{{Batman}} comics until at least the 1980s.

* ''Film/TheItalianJob1969'' (and [[Film/TheItalianJob2003 the 2003 remake]])
* ''The Killers'' (1964, Don Siegel)
* ''Film/DiamondsOnWheels'' opens with the gang pulling an armed blag on a armoured van transporting diamonds. The professionalism of this job stands in stark contrast to their transformation into StupidCrooks later in the film.
* ''Film/{{Heat}}'' opens with this kind of job. The robbers wear hockey masks to hide their faces.
* In ''Film/LayerCake'', this is referenced as being the crime of choice for [[LondonGangster London gangsters]] before they discovered drug dealing. At the end of the film, the two [[OopNorth Scouse gangsters]] relish the opportunity to rip off the MagnificentBastard via armed robbery, and they comment to the effect that it reminds them of old times.

* The half of ''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 [=MST3K=]]]'' veteran ''Film/TheRebelSet'' that wasn't beatnik-sploitation revolved around the Chief from ''Film/GetSmart'' planning an armored car robbery in Chicago -- with the twist that the robbers would do the job while travelling from New York to LA by train, during a layover; they'd be gone on the train, with the cash, before the police would know what happened.
* "Professor Marcus" and his associates pull this off pretty neatly in ''Film/TheLadykillers1955''. Unfortunately for them, the little old {{Cloudcuckoolander}} lady they're using as a cover catches them ''in flagrante delicto''.
* ''Film/TheLavenderHillMob'' robbed an armored car of gold bullion.
* ''Film/TheDayTheyRobbedTheBankOfEngland'', more of the same
* The crew in ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' pulled off the post office version, hitting a trade station and making off with, ironically enough, the pay for the security guards who were supposed to stop them. Mal mentions that the crime won't be investigated too heavily since it's out in the boondocks and the company will hush it up -- if they let it get out that they couldn't protect their own wages, they sure as hell won't get any customers lining up for security contracts.
* The second robbery in ''Film/BabyDriver'' involves heisting an armoured car that is delivering cash to a bank. It does not go as smoothly as the first robbery.

* The 1967 film ''Robbery'', directed by Peter Yates, begins with a heist of a suitcase full of jewellery being transported by car.
* In ''Film/SherlockHolmesAndTheDeadlyNecklace'', Moriarty's gang steal the necklace while it is being transported in a police van from Scotland Yard to the auction rooms.

* ''Film/MoneyTrain'' merges this with a TrainJob, in which the main characters rob an armored subway train that collects the revenue from the stations.

* ''Series/TheProfessionals''. In "Heroes", the robbery of an armoured car is actually the cover for a political assassination. Turns out a controversial American politician was being smuggled out of the country disguised as a security guard, but those after him got wind of it.
* Practically every other episode of ''Series/TheSweeney''. Which is kind of TruthInTelevision, as the Flying Squad were actually the Metropolitan Police's specialist armed robbery taskforce.
* Being an homage to the above two series, ''Series/{{Life On Mars|2006}}''.
* Early seasons of ''Series/TheBill''.

* The short-lived Creator/IceT series, ''{{Players}}'' had a RashomonStyle episode dealing with an armored car theft the team was supposed to prevent.
* The Season Two arc of ''Series/AshesToAshes2008'' climaxes with [[spoiler:a plot by a group of corrupt cops to step into an Armed Blag they've been tipped off to and take the money themselves.]]
** Quite possibly inspired by a couple of RealLife incidents in the 70s and 80s, a period when the London Metropolitan Police in general and the Flying Squad in particularly might just as well have been another gang.
* In one episode of ''Series/PersonOfInterest'', the VictimOfTheWeek is part of an armoured truck's guard crew, and the heroes suspect someone will try to rob the truck while it transports platinum. [[spoiler:Someone does, but their "victim" is the ringleader and the [[InsideJob Inside Man]]]].
* Another American example: The ''Series/KraftSuspenseTheatre'' episode "The Jack Is High".

* This, or variants, showed up a few times in the original ''Series/LawAndOrder''. One was a cold case from the 60s in which some radical college kids and a few hardened criminals stuck up a payroll shipment. Another was a modern case in which some far right wing extremists stuck up an armored car carrying the take from an OTB (off-track betting; licensed location for placing almost any kind of bet).

* ''Series/TheCoroner'': In "Pieces of Eight", a gang of robbers dressed as pirates snatch an armoured van delivering cash to the bank.
* ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'': "Astoria Helen" opens with a gang knocking over an armoured car that is delivering cash to [=ATMs=]. Major Case get involved months later, when one of the gang starts picking off his accomplices.
* ''Series/DempseyAndMakepeace'': In "The Squeeze", a heavy duty transit van carrying half a million pounds in used notes is high jacked, drivers and all and S.I. 10 is tasked to find it.

* An early mission in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' has you stealing an armored van for TheMafia.
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'':
** Armored cars randomly spawn throughout Los Santos. If you happen to have some explosive charges and a getaway vehicle handy, you can blow the doors off of them and make off with their contents.
** The mission "Blitz Play" is one big {{Homage}} to the opening scenes of ''{{Film/Heat}}''. You even get extra points if you have the protagonists wear hockey masks.
** If you bring [[BadassSpaniard Gustavo Mota]] along for "The Paleto Score", when asked about his first heist, he replies that he robbed an armored car.
** One version of the final heist involves hijacking two armored cars and using them for a BavarianFireDrill.

* In ''Videogame/AssassinsCreedIII'' convoys filled with money and special items occasionally spawn in different parts of the frontier and Connor is able to steal from them after killing every guard. It´s also implied the player is on the receiving end of this as sending a land/naval convoys with products to a city or the frontier will usually present a percentage of failure.

* Can randomly happen in ''VideoGame/{{XCOM2}}'' since you are commanding LaResistance fighting against the [[VichyEarth ADVENT Coalition]]. Sometimes you attack a convoy or train for supplies, sometimes you attack an armored truck carrying a captive Resistance VIP (An Engineer or a Scientist).

* One possible mission hook in ''VideoGame/BattleTech'' has you attack a base and steal a government payroll with your [[HumongousMecha BattleMechs]]. One "flashpoint" mini-campaign event from the DLC of the same name, "Yang Virtannen's Big Score", is a more elaborate example in which your mercenaries hijack a bunch of pristine vintage battlemechs.

A type of typically British [[TheCaper Crime Caper]] revolving around the robbery of an armoured car carrying a company's payroll. For obvious reasons, it will be set in older times when workers received a pay ''envelope'' (full of cash) rather than a pay ''cheque'', necessitating the delivery of said cash by said armoured car. The cast is likely to be full of {{Violent Glaswegian}}s and other British Undesirables, notably {{London Gangster}}s. When this trope gets used in works set in more recent times, it's often re-dressed, with the armored car becoming a prison transport van, and the money, a prisoner who must either be freed by his accomplices or killed before he can testify against them. That, or it's a jewelry shipment.

Compare TrainJob and TheCaper. Compare and contrast VulnerableConvoy, where the target is a live prisoner rather than cash. JustForFun/NotToBeConfusedWith an armed ''{{blog}}'', regardless of [[Webcomic/{{XKCD}} how it's spelled]].

A type of typically British [[TheCaper Crime Caper]] revolving around the robbery of an armoured car carrying a company's payroll. For obvious reasons, it will be set in more primitive times when workers received a pay ''envelope'' (full of cash) rather than a pay ''cheque'', necessitating the delivery of said cash by said armoured car. The cast is likely to be full of {{Violent Glaswegian}}s and other British Undesirables, notably {{London Gangster}}s. When this trope gets used in works set in more recent times, it's often re-dressed, with the armored car becoming a prison transport van, and the money, a prisoner who must either be freed by his accomplices or killed before he can testify against them. That, or it's a jewelry shipment.

* One possible mission hook in ''VideoGame/BattleTech'' has you attack a base and steal a government payroll with your [[HumongousMecha BattleMechs]].

* In one episode of ''Series/PersonOfInterest'', the VictimOfTheWeek is part of an armoured truck's guard crew, and the heroes suspect someone will try an ArmedBlag on the truck while it transports platinum. [[spoiler:Someone does, but their "victim" is the ringleader and the [[InsideJob Inside Man]]]].

* In one episode of ''Series/PersonOfInterest'', the VictimOfTheWeek is part of an armoured truck's guard crew, and the heroes suspect someone will try an ArmedBlag on the truck while it transports platinum. [[spoiler:Someone does, but their "victim" is the ringleader and the InsideMan]].

* ''VideoGame/PAYDAY2'' has a rather more violent spin on this trope in its Transport Heists: you intercept [=GenSec=] armored cars in the middle of their route, break them open, and steal their contents, all the while law enforcement is trying to bring you down. Those "interceptions" consist of such tactics as ramming them with a semi, dropping a cargo container in front of them, or dropping a skybridge with C4 to stop them.

* Happens in the second episode of ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}!''. Given that it's pulled off by [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Isaac and Miria]], though, you can bet that the [[RefugeInAudacity execution is more than a little WTF-inducing]]. (Note: They said they were going to do a [[TrainJob Train Robbery.]] [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Which they understood as riding a train to the robbery location, doing the robbery and then get back on the train for their getaway.]])

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[[folder:Film]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* The Season Two arc of ''Series/AshesToAshes'' climaxes with [[spoiler:a plot by a group of corrupt cops to step into an Armed Blag they've been tipped off to and take the money themselves.]]

* "Professor Marcus" and his associates pull this off pretty neatly in ''Film/TheLadykillers'' (1955). Unfortunately for them, the little old {{Cloudcuckoolander}} lady they're using as a cover catches them ''in flagrante delicto''.

* ''Series/ThePretender'' had an episode where a hostage rescue simulation Jarod had done while he was still at the Centre is used to kidnap a witness who was slated to testify at a Yakuza boss' trial.

* Happens in the second episode of ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}!''. Given that it's pulled off by [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Isaac and Miria]], though, you can bet that the [[RefugeInAudacity execution is more than a little WTF-inducing]]. (Note: They said they were going to do a [[TrainJob Train Robbery.]] [[FunnyMoments Which they understood as riding a train to the robbery location, doing the robbery and then get back on the train for their getaway.]])

* The 1967 film ''Robbery'', directed by Peter Yates, begins with a heist of a suitcase full of cash being carried by a banker travelling by car.