All language subtitles for Mythbusters.S09E17.Flying.Guillotine.1080p.AMZN.WEBRip.DD2.0.x264-CasStudio_track3_[eng]

Please, don't try anything
you are about to see at home.

We're what you call experts.

[ Shatters ]

Narrator: On this head-spinning
episode of "mythbusters"...

[ Adam laughs ]

Adam and Jamie fire up
a fearsome explosive...

Jamie: That's one way to cut up
a watermelon.

As they test a military myth...

You're not nervous about
making the shot, are you?

That c-4 is
a serviceable cooking fuel...

Mmm.
It's not bad.

But if subjected
to heavy-hitting action...

Oh!
It's on his shoe!

Creates a culinary catastrophe.

There it goes...
Pouring right onto the c-4.

Meanwhile, kari, Grant,
and Tory...

Chin up, buddy. It's gonna be
over before you know it.

Mull a martial-arts myth...

that a fabled
flying guillotine...

Somebody's losing a finger
on this shoot.

Narrator: Can decapitate
and capture your cranium.

You ready?
Let's do this.

Who are the mythbusters?

Adam savage...

70% chance of science.

And Jamie hyneman.

We're gonna have an adventure.

Between them,

more than 30 years
of special-effects experience.

Together with Tory belleci...

Wasn't ready for that one, kari.

Grant imahara...

Something just touched me!

Narrator:
And kari Byron...

Let's do it.

Narrator: They don't just tell
the myths.

They put them to the test.

Captions by vitac...
www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by
discovery communications

what's with the stove?

It is our next story.

It's about cooking?
Sort of.

It is a military myth,

and it's about replacing
your normal cooking fuel

with something usually
considered far more destructive.

With explosives?

Not just any explosive...
Your favorite.

Well, that would be c-4.

Exactly.

The myth is that c-4
is so stable,

you can light it with a match

and it will burn
and cook your lunch.

And it doesn't explode?

It won't.

Although you're told
not to stomp on it

or drop your pot on it

'cause that could make it
blow up.

Well, that would make
for some hot chili.

Indeed.

C-4.

Not just the explosive of choice
for the mythbusters...

When in doubt, c-4.
[ Laughs ]

but also the military.

But can c-4's power
be used another way...

To cook with, without exploding?

Well, that's great.

Well, there's two parts
to this story.

One is that supposedly
you can light c-4 on fire

and it will burn
without blowing up,

and the second is, is that you
better not drop a pot on it

or stomp on it
while it's on fire

'cause that could
make it blow up.

I think we should test
both of those.

Sure.
[ Laughs ]

So, to find out if this myth
is cooking with gas,

or just a flash in the pan,

the guys head to the safety
of... you guessed it...

A bomb range.

Now, before we get down to the
business of testing this myth,

let's reacquaint ourselves
with c-4, shall we?

For this is not simply a stable,
high-speed explosive

in a plastic medium

that you can mold into the shape
of a bunny and blow up.

[ Squeak! ]

Oh, no.
This is versatile stuff.

Let's take a look
at a simple c-4 detonation.

Narrator: This is why
the military likes c-4.

It can make things go away.

That's one way
to cut up a watermelon.

But it's also
a precision device, too.

Adam: This piece of metal
bent into a "w" shape

is going to cut this bar
cleanly in half.

That's right.
"W" stands for "whupah!"

Man: 3, 2...

That is beautiful.
Look at that nice, clean cut.

I could do a little better
with a saw,

but it does, indeed, work.

Now that we've seen
how it detonates,

it's time to tackle our story,
which, simply stated,

is that this stuff...
C-4 plastic explosive...

Is stable enough
to actually light on fire

and heat your lunch with,

that it will not blow up,
even if you set it on fire.

That's what we're about to test.

Narrator: Okay, why might
burning c-4 explode?

Well, heat causes molecules
to become excited.

The greater the heat,
the more the molecule mania,

and that can cause instability
and possibly an explosion.

So, from the safety
of their bunker,

and ignited by a remote,
neon transformer...

You ready?

Igniting c-4,

seeing if it burns
without blowing up,

in 3, 2, 1...

Yup.
Jamie: It's burning.

Wow. [ Laughs ]
It's really burning.

It burns hot.

But blowing up, it ain't.

I don't think I'd want to be
next to that.
[ Laughs ]

I don't care what they say.

[ Laughs ]

Narrator: The c-4 burned
at more than 1,000 degrees,

rapidly and without a kaboom.

That's very good news
for this myth, so far.

Now that we know it burns,
let's see how well it cooks.

Meanwhile, Grant, kari, and Tory

are attempting to wrap
their heads around

a mysterious martial-arts myth.

All right, kari,
what's with the cool costume?

Take a deep breath.

[ Both inhale sharply ]
We're doing
a kung-fu myth.

Yes! Yes!

Which one?

"The flying guillotine."

Oh,
i love that movie!
Yes!

That's the one where
the guy has a weapon.

It's like a hat.

He throws it over
the other guy's head,

and he pulls the chain,
and it decapitates him!

Calm down.

Yeah, and not only that,
but once you cut the head off,

you can actually retrieve
the head back to the thrower.

Well, i think the cool thing is

that this might be
more than a movie myth.

This might be an actual,
ancient weapon.

It could work.

Narrator: Made famous
by b-grade kung-fu movies,

the flying guillotine was a disc
that, when thrown over the neck,

would decapitate and capture
the victim's head.

But it might not just be
a filmmaker's fantasy

because legend has it
emperor yongzheng

commissioned the device in 1722.

But unfortunately
for the mythbusters,

no drawings of the design
survive.

Okay, what a terrifying
concept...

Assassins that can behead you
from a distance?

But you know what? The
real problem right now
is finding a design.

I mean, we've been through
all these history books

and found nothing.

I mean, the only designs
come from the movies themselves.

I mean, we're on our own
on this one.

All right, well, why don't we
come up with some prototypes?

We can incorporate some ideas
from the movies

and come up with our own ideas
and see which works best.

So, we might actually
get to design

our own flying guillotine?

This is awesome.

Narrator:
So, in order to test whether
the mythical flying guillotine

was a viable
assassination weapon,

they're going to divide
and compete

to see if they can design
their own flying guillotine

based on four parameters.

One... enough power
to cut the head off.

Two... it has to be light enough
to be thrown.

Three... it has to be
safe enough to be deployed

without cutting
your own fingers off.

And four... you have to have
some means to retrieve the head.

Narrator: With each of them
working alone,

it's going to test the team's
prototyping skills to the limit.

Kari:
Now, a traditional guillotine
gets its cutting force

from the fact that you have
a massive blade

traveling a long distance

to create enough force
to chop a head off.

We have to make
our devices lightweight,

and we only have about
six inches of travel

to create that same
sort of force.

Narrator: In their respective
corners of the shop,

the guys begin by playing with
ideas and concepts

that may or may not work.

All right, so, i had a great
idea for a flying guillotine.

I asked the researchers
to find me a bear trap.

Hopefully this would have
enough energy

to actually crush through
a person's head.

Clearly there's enough force,
but...

[ Grunts ]

throwing this through the air
could be problematic.

Narrator:
Meaning it's gonna be a "try it
and see" kind of process.

Yeah!

Sometimes in the design process,

you just have to get in there
and get your hands dirty.

Because there are no historical
documents, no blueprints,

no plans
for a flying guillotine,

we're just gonna have
to figure this out as we go,

which is gonna mean
a lot of trial and error.

Probably, mostly error.

Narrator:
And that's immediately clear

from kari's first fiddle
with a fan

from an air-conditioning duct.

It's hard to use,
it's getting heavy,

and i just don't think
it's gonna work.

Narrator: So it's back
to square one for kari.

And likewise,
on belleci's bench,

this lethal-looking,
scissor prototype he's made

is also a dud.

Uh, my flying guillotine
doesn't work at all.

I mean, it kind of looks cool...

but if you put something
inside of it...

like, that's
the safest place to be.

Narrator: Despite the pressure
of their early designs

failing on several fronts,
the guys aren't deterred.

I'm gonna have to come up
with a whole new design.

Narrator: After all,
learning from your failures

is all part of
the prototype process,

which is exactly what kari does

by opting for
a far simpler concept.

Picture a cigar cutter.

Basically, just have a blade on
the rim of the hat that goes...

Takes the head right off.

Narrator:
Meanwhile, using an authentic
ching dynasty design app,

Grant has decided
simpler is not better.

Grant: Now, what you need in
order to cut someone's head off

with a blade is speed and power.

Now, we've got this ring

that's supposed to go
over someone's head,

but that doesn't leave
a lot of space

for the blades inside of it
to accelerate.

So my solution is to actually
cock the blades all the way back

and let them swing out
and around.

Narrator:
With his lawn mower of death

sporting five,
highly sprung cutting blades,

Grant's ready to pull the pin.

Aah!
[ Laughs ]

Narrator:
That was close.

Kari: Okay, this could be
the most dangerous experiment

we've ever worked on.

Forget car crashes,
explosions, guns...

Aah! Aah!

Somebody's losing a finger
on this shoot.

Don't cry wolf, kari.

[ Laughs ]

'Cause then you're
gonna get hurt

and no one's gonna rush
to help you.

Narrator:
Still to come...

Flaming c-4 feels the full force
of the mythbusters.

This is gonna be fun.

Narrator: And the flying
guillotines make...

Aah!

Narrator: Headway.

Yeah!
Nice!

Narrator: Can you cook
your goose safely using c-4?

The military myth says you can,

and Jamie and Adam are
hot on the trail to find out.

It's really burning.

So far,
they've seen it does burn.

But that's not all.

Let's just pause and take
a moment here to recognize

that we just ignited
a high explosive and burned it,

and it didn't blow up.

This is gonna be fun.

Narrator:
Given this is a military myth,

they're going to use a "ready
to heat and eat" military meal.

All right. Time to choose
what we're gonna cook.

So, what's for dinner, chef?

Well, we've got four choices...

Spaghetti with meat sauce,
pork sausage with cream gravy,

southwest style beef
and black beans with sauce,

or... my personal favorite...
The brisket entrée.

I'm going with pork.

We always go with pork
in these explosive experiments,

don't we?

Done. Let's do it.
Here you go.
Okay.

Narrator:
So, all that's left to do now

is retire to a safe distance
and light the c-4.

We're good to go.

Here we go.
Cooking lunch with c-4,

in 3, 2, 1.

We have ignition.

It's burning beautifully.

Wow, and that's it.

It's like two minutes,
it burns out.

Yeah, it burns vigorously,
but a little too quickly.

Let's see how hot
we got the food.

Indeed, the proof of the pudding
is in the eating.

Eating food
cooked with c-4.

[ Laughs ]

It's not bad, but it's not hot.

No.
It's kind of warm.

With the c-4-cooked mre
barely lukewarm,

the guys now want
to scientifically test

how c-4 compares

with three other commercially
available cooking fuels.

After all,
if other fuels are better,

why would a soldier even resort
to using c-4?

Jamie: So, these are
our cooking fuels.

There are tablets that you might
normally use while camping

made of hexamethylenetetramine.

There's a trioxane tablet,

which is issued by the military
for their rations.

And there is chafing-dish fuel,
which is basically an alcohol.

Each of the fuels
will be ignited simultaneously,

and each will then attempt
to do its best

to heat up an identically sized
pot of water.

Adam: This is comparative
cooking test, four fuels...

Including c-4...
In 3, 2, 1. Go.

The neon transformer
simultaneously sparks up

all four fuels,

each of which weighs one ounce.

The c-4
is definitely going.

Yeah, they're all going.

Now we wait.

Now we wait.

But that wait isn't long,

as the c-4 burns itself out
in two minutes...

Adam: The c-4's water is at
117 degrees fahrenheit.

Everything else
is burning along merrily.

Narrator: Closely followed by
the trioxane,

the fuel of choice
by the military.

All right,
trioxane got up to 120 degrees.

Narrator: And then
the hexamethylenetetramine.

[ Laughs ]
149 degrees fahrenheit.

Narrator:
Finally, the chafing dish.

Ha!
A measly 115 degrees fahrenheit.

So, how did our c-4 do
in the cooking fuel cook-off?

Not badly.

By this chart here, we can see
that one of our fuels,

hexamethylenetetramine,
did a spectacular job,

heating the water
to a piping-hot 149 degrees.

The other two, the chafing-dish
fuel and trioxane,

heated within
a couple of degrees of c-4.

And you'll note,
c-4 did the job a lot faster.

That tells me it not only burns,
it is a viable cooking fuel.

Narrator: Kari, Grant, and Tory
are going kung-fu crazy...

testing the myth of
the Chinese flying guillotine.

[ Laughs ] You think cutting
my head off will kill me? Hm!

Narrator:
Their first set of designs
were uniformly successful...

at failing.

That's the safest place to be.

Narrator:
Tory's latest idea

is as clever
as it is potentially deadly.

This one is
a very simple design.

It's a steel ring sharpened,

but then there is a groove
on the outside of the ring

that i have wrapped
this cable around.

Let's see if it works.

Narrator:
Okay. Stand back, everyone,

'cause Tory's ready
to take his brutal saw disc

for a spin.

[ Chuckles ]
Dude, that looks like
it worked great.

All right, well,
it cut through foam.

I wonder what it's gonna do
to a neck.

[ Both laugh ]

Narrator:
Meanwhile, kari's pondering
process is paying off, too.

What I've come up here with now
is a kitchen knife

on top of a saw blade
that's at an angle,

sort of like a traditional
French guillotine...

Two out of three headless
frenchmen say it's the best...

That will work on either
a spring load

or a really good yank.

Narrator:
To test the cigar cutter,

kari's rigged a rubber leg
in a vise

to see if she can get
a clean cut.

You ready?

1, 2, 3.

Okay, maybe not.

Ah, it looks like
it worked pretty good to me.

It just takes a few yanks.

Narrator:
Finally, despite a near,
involuntary appendectomy...

Aah!
[ Laughs ]

Narrator:
Grant has persevered
with his beautifully designed

but alarmingly heavy
five-bladed mechanism.

Grant:
Okay, keep your arms and legs
clear of the ride at all times.

Here we go.

In 3, 2, 1.

[ Laughs ]

I feel a little queasy,
i got to say.

Me too.

Narrator: Like a red-hot
guillotine through ice cream,

the cantaloupe's no match for
Grant's fearsome fruit slicer.

[ Laughs maniacally ]

Narrator: With the cutting
component looking good

for each of the three designs...

Flying guillotine.

Narrator: There's one thing
left to sort out...

The net to capture the head.

I know this looks like
a guillotine cap,

but it's actually a salad bowl.

That's right,
death by salad bowl.

So far, so good.

Narrator: Kari's concentrated on
decoration for decapitation.

He looks like he's all dressed
up for a funeral... His own.

Narrator:
Not to be outdone,

Grant's final head-capture
feature is also very... Catchy.

Grant:
I added this cage,

which allows you to connect
all the pins together

to this disc with a spring.

You deploy the one spring that
fires all the blades at once,

and then this cage also captures
the head for retrieval.

It's done.

I call it...

The decapitron.

Narrator: Can these
flying guillotine weapons

cut it in the real world?

Narrator: Could the mythical,
Chinese flying guillotine

have been a real
assassins' weapon?

Aah!

What better place for kari,
Grant, and Tory

to test their own designs than
in a genuine, Chinese garden?

I don't think we could have
picked a better environment.

This is awesome.

Tory: All right, now that we've
each designed and built

our own flying guillotine,

we are here at bamboo giant
to test three things

in order to confirm this myth.

First, its throwability.

Second,
can it decapitate a head?

And if so, can it retrieve
the severed head?

Narrator: Up first is
throwability testing.

But with safety in mind,
the weapons won't be armed.

This is our target.
We have a head on a stick.

We're gonna see
if we can actually land

our flying guillotine
with accuracy and ease,

and we're going to do it from
a distance of about 10 feet,

which is about as far
as you would be

if you had to deploy
your device.

Narrator: Each of the guys
will take turns to throw.

First up, it's kari
with her designer cigar cutter.

Okay.
This is the throwing test.

Ready?

Tory: All right, we're looking
for a ringer.

Narrator:
The cigar cutter flies.

Well, you got his feet.

Narrator: But on throw one,
it's way short of the mark.

Grant's next.

His unwieldy decapitron's

not exactly
an aerodynamic masterpiece.

My design... it weighs in
at a good seven or eight pounds.

So, as a secondary weapon,

I'm relying on
blunt force trauma.

Narrator: Yep, and the first
throw backs that up.

Oh!
Super close.

That's another miss.

So, it's Tory's turn.

Tory:
So, mine's pretty light,

and it's kind of shaped
like a frisbee.

So it's gonna be easy to throw.

Whether or not i can hit
my target,

that remains to be seen.

All right,
spinning salad bowl of death.

You guys ready?

Let's see it.

Ooh!
Ooh! Ooh!

Narrator: That's three throws
and three nos,

which isn't good news
for the myth.

Can kari do better in round 2?

Ready?

Tory: Yeah!

Narrator:
This time, she nails it.

Grant: Good job.

Not to be outdone,
Grant's beheading behemoth...

Whoo!

Scores a direct hit, too.

Yeah!
Yeah! Yeah!

Nice!
[ Laughs ]

You did it.
You got it.

That was awesome.

Narrator:
Tory's second go.

The salad bowl soars.

Yeah!

It's over.

It's three for three
in the throwing stakes.

The myth may still be alive.

On the benchmark tests so far,

they've all ticked
the throwability box.

Next, it's weapons
cocked and loaded

to see if their guillotines can
achieve a decent decapitation.

This is where the metal
meets the mannequin.

Their target is a pig's neck
married to a synthetic head.

Kari: Mm, my favorite part
of every show.

It's very
anatomically correct...

Ohh!

If he could just
keep his head on.

Oh, it's even more
of a horror show than usual.

Narrator: They'll each get
one shot at decapitation.

This is my flying guillotine.

It is based on
the traditional guillotine.

Now, they've been using
this sort of technology

for hundreds of years
to behead people,

so I'm hoping
with a little bit of strength

and a little quickness,

i might actually be able
to pull a head off.

Narrator: Without the weight
or acceleration

of a traditional guillotine...

Okay,
you guys ready?
Yeah.

Hers relies
on brute pulling power.

Ohh!

Did it work?

It looks like it cut a little
of the bone and the skin,

but it more pulled the head off

than really cut through
the neck.

Narrator: Tory's right.

It was, in fact, more
dislocation than decapitation.

Kari: It cut trachea,
it cut a little of the skin,

it cut a little of the bone,

but it did not get
a clean decapitation.

Narrator: Grant's deadly
decapitron is next.

Mom, don't watch this part.

This is definitely
the most dangerous part of it,

which is arming the device
because it's all spring-loaded.

If something goes wrong,

it could actually fire
all the blades off at once

while I'm holding it.

Narrator: With his
hyperengineered decapitron,

Grant's design has a minor flaw.

He has to pull vertically upward

for his cable
to release the blades.

Gee, that thing might be
more dangerous for the thrower

than the receiver.

And that means he needs
a ladder to launch...

Kari: Oh, that thing
is insane.

Hardly a handy
assassin's weapon.

Grant: Ready?

3, 2, 1.

Now, that's a pain in the neck.

Oh, that looked cool.

Narrator: Despite being feared
by melons across the land,

when it comes to necks,
it's only cut skin-deep.

Not a clean decapitation.

And that leaves
just Tory's salad bowl of death

still on the menu.

Not only is he a kung-fu master,
he is also a beekeeper.

All right,
ready to chop some heads?

Where did you get a gong?

We had one in the shop.

[ Gong crashes ]
Ooh! Fight!

Tory: All right, here we go.
Flying guillotine in 3, 2, 1.

Aah!
Aah! Aah!

[ Laughing ] Ew!

That was gruesome!

Narrator:
Gruesome, but impressive.

God, look at that.
It cut through the bone.

Kari: And the trachea
and the carotid artery

and... wow... it did a lot
more damage than i expected.

That is promising.

Narrator: And that means Tory's
is clearly the most promising

of the three designs.

It's light, it's sharp,
and simple enough

that it could have been built
in 1700s China.

Narrator: Oh, and what about
head retrieval, you ask?

Simple.

With no decapitation,
there can be no retrieval.

That one's still to be tested.

Do not try what
you're about to see at home.

We're what you call experts.

[ Clang! ]
Ow!

Narrator: Part one of the c-4
cook-off myth is confirmed.

C-4 can make a stable,
reliable fuel.

Adam: It's burning
beautifully.

So it's on to part two.

If that flaming c-4
gets some sort of impact,

will it lose its stability
and explode to kingdom come?

An explosion
is a chemical reaction,

and heat tends to speed up
chemical reactions.

So it makes sense that
if you're burning an explosive,

it's gonna make it
more sensitive.

So, if we happen to be cooking
with c-4

and what we're cooking with
weighs, say, 7 1/2 pounds,

and it drops on the burning c-4,
you might have a problem.

Narrator:
With the heavy pot

raised to a height of 3 feet
above the c-4,

it will stop with the force
of 150 pounds.

This is a full pot
dropped on flaming c-4 in 3...

2...

1. Go.

[ Laughs ]

It just put it out.

Well, you know what they say.

A watched pot doesn't explode?

No, a dropped pot
doesn't explode.

Thanks for ruining my joke.

It seems that even alight,

the c-4 is still too stable
for a seven-pound pot

to prompt an explosion.

Adam: Well, the myth is

that a pot dropped on flaming
c-4 will make it go off,

and we got a perfect landing,
no explosion.

Not even...
I don't even see the c-4.

Oh, wait a second.
[ Laughs ]

There it is.
No explosion at all.

Right now, it's not looking
very good for the myth.

Well, that didn't work.
What's next?

Well, I've heard
two parts to this.

One is that you shouldn't drop
a pot on the flaming c-4,

but the other is that you
shouldn't try and stamp it out.

Stomping on burning c-4?

Well, I'm not gonna do that.

You can do that if you want.

Well, thanks, but no thanks.

I've actually worked on
the perfect thing.

Editors, roll the montage
of my robot stomper build.

Narrator: Okay, here's what
Adam made earlier...

Ow!

Narrator: A pneumatically
powered stomping robot.

I think he's ready
for prime time.

Narrator:
He certainly is.

There we go.
I'm powering up the man.

[ Laughs ] Perfect.

Narrator:
Now, for the second impact test

with Adam's robot
designed to accurately replicate

the force of a human stomp.

Will that set off an explosion
when it hits the burning c-4?

Make it like a nice,
toasty marshmallow.
[ Laughs ]

And then step two
is to fire up robo-stomp.

In 3, 2, 1...
Stomp!

Ha! Perfect.

Oh!
It's on his shoe!

Despite the impact of
robo-stomp's pneumatic foot...

the burning c-4 is still
too stable to explode.

Look, you don't get
much more real-world

than dropping a cooking pot

or stomping on the burning c-4
and nothing happens.

It's just too stable.

Clearly, we're gonna have
to go to some ridiculous lengths

to get this stuff to blow up.

Exactly.

Narrator:
So, did someone mention
dropping a really heavy object?

So, why the anvil?

Well, this testing
is all about determining

how shock-sensitive c-4 is.

When we drop this anvil,

we're looking at something like
1,500 pounds per square inch

being exerted on that c-4.

And that's quite an impact.

And if that doesn't do it,
that says a lot about the myth.

Narrator: Indeed it does

because the anvil
tops the scales at 90 pounds.

Adam: Looks like
we have ignition.

Flaming c-4 with an anvil
dropped on it in 3...

2... 1...

Go!

Oh!

[ Laughs ]

Perfect landing.
Nice work.

And no explosion.

I don't know what's gonna
blow this stuff up.

We've burned it,
we've smashed it,

we've smashed it and burned it.

I don't know
what else to do to it.

Let's shoot it with guns.

Sure. Why not?
[ Laughs ]

Back from testing,

it's clear
that of the three prototypes,

Tory's flying guillotine

came closest
to completing a decapitation.

Halfway through the bone!
That is promising!

Narrator: But since close is not
close enough to prove the myth,

it's time to refine his design.

Okay, so, we've left
the bamboo forest

and we're back at our...
Chinese palace.

We have one more test to do.

We want to see
if we can actually achieve

a full decapitation... a throw,
slice, capture, retrieve...

'cause, ultimately, we
want to find out if
this myth is plausible.

Narrator: Tory's prototype...
The salad bowl of death...

Slices as it spins
against the neck.

Can he improve it
to sever a head completely?

One thing that i noticed
on my guillotine

is that it cut halfway
through the neck bone.

I think it's because i have a
straight edge on my guillotine.

So what I'm thinking
is if i give it a saw edge,

cut grooves in the blade,

it'll help me cut through
that bone.

Hopefully this will give me
that advantage

to get a clean decapitation.

Narrator: To increase
the cutting power even further,

he's also lengthened
the pulling cable.

That way, i have
the guillotine spinning longer,

and hopefully that will give me
more cutting power

to get through that neck.

Narrator: And if they can
achieve a beheading,

the final hurdle is to see
if they can retrieve the head.

So Tory's attached a see-through
net to do just that.

All right, so i added this

not because i want him to be
a beekeeper,

but that way i can see the head
get cut off as it's happening.

Narrator:
No stranger to danger, poor, old
buster steps up one more time.

Chin up, buddy.

It's gonna be over
before you know it.

And they're set to test.

All right, so, i made
the adjustments

to my guillotine.

It's time to see
if it'll cut a head off.

Okay, we have the exact same
circumstances as before.

Yeah, we've got a same diameter
neck, same distance.

We're ready to go.

All right.
Let's do it.

Narrator: Like a mythical,
martial-arts master...

Tory takes the head clean off.

And it's in the bag, literally,
on just the first go.

Ohh!
We got it!

Look.
His head's in the bag.

It's a major achievement,

and it means
Tory's improved design

has now met all three benchmarks

for the flying guillotine.

That gory success
could mean only one thing.

There really could be something
to this myth.

You guys,
that was amazing.
I know.

Not only did we create
a real flying guillotine

from scratch,

but we achieved all the criteria
for the myth.

Yeah, i mean, we landed it
on the head,

decapitate the guy,

and retrieve the head
in the net.

Yeah, we proved it
on a basic level

against a static enemy,

but i don't think anybody's
gonna be holding still

in a real,
live combat situation.

What do you have
in mind?
I have a few ideas.

Oh, this should be interesting.

Narrator: Coming up in
"cooking with c-4"...

Kind of makes you shaky
when you're nervous.

And Tory's flying guillotine
gets put to the ultimate test.

Kari:
There's a guy behind you!

Narrator:
So far, impact has failed to get
burning c-4 to explode.

But is that all about to change?

So, we dropped an anvil
on the c-4, nothing happened.

Blunt force doesn't work.

The only other thing
that i can think of

that is a really hard,
fast impact on something,

short of another explosive,
is a bullet.

[ Gunshot ]

So, that's what we're gonna do.

We're gonna fire a speeding
bullet into burning c-4.

Narrator: Will that high impact
be enough to cause an explosion?

The first bullet
we'll be firing with is...

Your basic .308 caliber
sniper round.

It's a 7.62 NATO,

and it flies through the air
at 2,600 feet per second.

Narrator:
That bullet at that speed

will give a staggering force
on the burning c-4

of about 25,000 pounds.

Jamie: Oh, she's going
pretty good.

All right, i am gonna fire.

This is shooting
a regular bullet

at a flaming ball of c-4.

[ Gunshot ]

Oh,
i think you missed.
I missed.

All right, let's try that again.

Narrator: And with a few words
of encouragement

from the peanut gallery...

You're not nervous about
making the shot, are you?

Like,
you might miss, huh?
No.

Not at all?
Nope.

Kind of makes you shaky
when you're nervous.

[ Laughs ] All right,
i think I'm ready to go.

Safety's off.

Don't miss.

I'm not gonna miss.

Shooting a flaming ball
of c-4

with a regular, old bullet.

[ Gunshot ]

Damn it.
It looks like i missed it.

So, with the score at c-4, 2,
Adam, zip,

and Jamie too gun-shy to take
a shot, the guys turn to a pro.

I'm an okay shot.
Not a great shot. I'm okay.

I missed my first shot,
nicked the second.

What we're about to do
is hand over responsibility

for the shooting in this story

to sergeant Dan Powell,
whose gun this is.

Hopefully he'll make the shots
much better than we could.

Narrator:
Sergeant "dead shot" Dan nails
the target on his first shot.

The burning c-4 bounces,
but a big boom there ain't.

Jamie:
Well, there you have it.

A normal bullet did not cause
burning c-4 to explode.

The next bullet we'll be firing
with is this... a tracer round.

It's got a bit of phosphorus
in its base

that allows the shooter to see
the path the bullet takes.

It also flies through the air
at 2,600 feet per second.

Narrator: A bullet striking
with a force of 25,000 pounds

plus added heat
from the burning phosphorus

means it's going to hit hard
and hot.

You may fire when ready.

[ Gunshot ]

Oh! [ Laughs ]

That was a direct hit.
No explosion.

Narrator: Once again, the bullet
impacts the c-4, but...

Nothing.

Two bullets down
and still no detonation.

The last round we'll be firing
is this... an incendiary round.

Inside is magnesium aluminum
alloy and barium nitrate,

which ignite
upon extreme impact.

You see where I'm going
with this?

Narrator:
It's down to this shot.

Can the impact
of a high-explosive bullet

finally make the difference
to our burning c-4

and make it go boom?

All right, fire at will.

[ Gunshot ]

Nice!

[ Laughs ]
That was beautiful!

Nice shot.
No explosion.

Narrator:
Really? No explosion?

Adam:
I know what you're saying.

You're saying,
"wait a minute, mythbusters.

"I see the bullet
hit flaming c-4

and i see what looks like
an explosion."

But it's an incendiary round.
That's what it's meant to do.

In order not to confuse you,

we filmed
this high-speed footage

of that same type of round
hitting a blank metal plate.

I think that makes the point
nicely, don't you?

Narrator: It does.

The explosive round
may have exploded,

but the blazing c-4
did not blow up.

The bullets won't detonate
flaming c-4.

Nope. We got to come up
with something else.

We do.

The mythbusters have proved

their flying-guillotine
design works,

but only against
a stationary victim.

Tory: Look!
Head's in the bag!

Now they're taking it to the Max
by testing it in combat

and that means
against an opponent...

A scarier,
more real-life opponent

because this time...

He moves!

Just like any other
real-life battle scenario,

your opponent is gonna be moving
around to avoid the weapon.

And this guy is no exception.

He's got a mobile robotic base
that we can control remotely.

Try and hit me.
Huh? Oh, oh.

That's not the only thing
we have in store for Tory.

An assassin
lurking in the shadows.

This one's actually...

Narrator: So Tory's up against
a moving robotic enemy in front

and a sneaky foe who can pop up
any moment from behind.

The ultimate real-world test.

All right,
now what do i need to do

to beat this obstacle course?

Okay, you have two minutes
on the clock

to defeat two enemies.

You have to stay
behind this line,

and your target
is gonna be moving.

Normally there's no rules
in battle, but all right.

Let's do it.

Narrator:
Ladies and gentlemen,

in the grand palace
of emperor yongzheng,

known in some circles
as "the m7 workshop,"

we have
the famous kung-fu killer,

the master of disaster...
Tory belleci.

And his shadowy, evil
opponent... the fa Jin king.

You ready?
Let's do this.

Honor and myth all hang
on the next two minutes.

Kari: Flying guillotine
in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

[ Bell dings ]

Narrator:
Right from the outset,

the robo-target's proving
very elusive.

It's a far cry from the original
static assassin test.

Tory:
Oh, my god.

This is like some crazy,
weird nightmare.

Narrator:
And then suddenly...

Tory:
There's a guy behind you!

There's that sneaky assassin
to contend with, as well.

But he doesn't last long.

You got him!

He wasn't decapitated,
but he was at least disarmed.

Then it's back
to the main target.

But before you can say,
"guillotine," time's up.

3, 2, 1!

Two minutes are up without
a single decapitation.

But at least there was
one knockout blow.

It's pretty hard
hitting a moving target.

It looked hard,

but, hey, you got the one
that popped up.

Your reaction time was great.

Yeah, you definitely

knocked out the assassin
from the shadows.

Tory:
That was so much fun.

I mean, this was like
living out my fantasies...

Having two attackers
coming at me,

trying to take them down.

However, trying to hit a moving
target, it's almost impossible.

Narrator:
This weapon has proved plausible
as an assassination device,

but no match for a foe
in pitch battle,

so before we can sign this myth
to the dusty vault of history,

let's leave the final word
to Grant.

Despite that this guy
looks like he's been defeated,

he actually survived
and not only that, he won

because it's so difficult
to deploy the flying guillotine

in a combat situation.

Definitely this is plausible
as an assassin's weapon,

but in combat, no way.

Narrator:
On the other side of the break,

it's time for c-4 to sizzle,
"mythbusters" style.

There it goes...
Pouring right onto the c-4.

Narrator: Adam and Jamie
have gone all out

testing the two-pronged
military myth

that burning c-4 to cook with
is safe...

Adam: It's burning
beautifully.

It's not bad, but it's not hot.

So long as you don't bash it
while it's alight.

To test that,

they tried dropping
heavy objects on it...
Oh!

They tried shooting it
with high-impact bullets...

Jamie: Nice!

Nice shot.
No explosion.

But nothing's detonated
the burning c-4.

So in a last-ditch attempt
to cause it to explode,

they're ramping it up
to the Max.

Time to mix some thermite.

Narrator:
Thermite... that high-intensity,
extreme-heat material

that can cause
explosive reactions.

Adam: Wow!

If anything's gonna super-heat
the molecules in c-4

enough to set it off,
then it's thermite.

Thermite is a mixture
of two different metal powders.

One is the fuel,
the other is the oxidizer.

Usually, that would be aluminum
and iron oxide.

Now, when they're mixed together
and ignited,

they burn with extremely
high temperatures...

About 4,500 degrees fahrenheit.

Narrator:
They've proved that c-4

burning at just over
1,000 degrees won't explode,

but what about at 4,500 degrees?

Here's how our rig
is going to theoretically work.

Up on the stand,
I've got a massive flower pot

filled with about three gallons
of thermite.

It will be ignited
by a neon transformer...

The wires of which
are right here.

Once ignited,
that thermite will start to burn

and it will start to drip.

Where you ask?

Well, through the bottom
of this flower pot, of course.

The molten thermite will
drip through the bottom
of this flower pot,

right onto our c-4.

We, of course,

will be waiting safely behind
the blast panels

to see if the thermite
makes the c-4 go boom.

Give me the c-4.

There we...
Ooh, ooh, ooh.

Don't drop it.
I won't.
[ Laughs ]

Here we go.

Narrator:
So it'll be thermite

burning at a super-hot
4,500 degrees

pouring directly
on to the c-4 beneath it.

Call it whenever you're ready.

Okay, molten thermite
dripping on to c-4.

In 3, 2, 1, go!

Oh, it's lighting beautifully.

At 4,500 degrees, thermite burns
with blinding intensity.

There it goes...
Pouring right onto the c-4.

It's a perfect hit.

It's just behaving
exactly like we wanted.

Narrator: In spite of the
extreme heat, there's no boom.

I can't think of anything else.

It's like you're not setting off
c-4 by accident.

That's all there is to it.

I think that's all there is
to it.

I think we've really done
everything we can.

Pretty much.
[ Laughs ]

Even when subjected
to 4,500 degrees of pure heat,

the c-4 keeps its cool.

So, after all this testing,

what exactly will make c-4
go boom?

Well, the explosive in c-4
is rdx,

and you need a blasting cap
to set off rdx.

The Mercury fulminate
in a blasting cap

moves really fast
when it goes off.

It's something like
100,000 feet per second.

That's over mach 100,
which is really, really fast.

And we just can't achieve
those kinds of speeds

with anything short
of a blasting cap.

C-4 was designed specifically

to be a high explosive
that was incredibly stable.

And i got to give it up.

It is more stable
than i ever thought possible.

Narrator: So with the c-4
scientific certainty sewn up,

there's just one thing
left to do.

Adam:
Shall we call this?

I think it's time.

All right.

On the first count
that c-4 can be ignited

and heat your lunch,
how do you find?

I find that confirmed.

On the second count
that said flaming c-4

should not be trod upon
or dropped upon,

how do you find?

I find that busted.

I love it.

It's both busted and confirmed
at the same time.

Let's go back
to the shop.
Okay.

You know,
in spite of the evidence,

i just wouldn't stomp
on that stuff.

No.
Neither would i.

Want to know why we did
what we did

and didn't do what we didn't do?

Check out the aftershow.

Log on to discovery. Com/
mythbustersaftershow.