Customer Reviews

Dog Day Afternoon (Widescreen/Full Screen)

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Crime, Drama, 125 minutes
Directed by Sidney Lumet
Starring Al Pacino, John Cazale and Charles Durning

Al Pacino is one of the best actors of his generation and has given us many memorable characters, from Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy to his Oscar-winning portrayal of Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman. But if I had to pick my favorite character, it would be Sonny Wortzik. So, as the snow falls in Ontario, I decided to escape to the dog days of Brooklyn in the 1970s.

Pacino's performance was so full of energy. He switched from ranting like maniac to moments of quiet reflection. He appeared dangerous when required, but showed that he cared about the plight of his hostages a moment later. In fact, most of his hostages ended up rooting for him to succeed in his attempt to rob their bank. Heist movies are something I enjoy when they are executed well, and this would top my list. What's interesting is the reason Sonny attempts the robbery at all, but I won't reveal that here. It was certainly controversial back in 1975.

Sidney Lumet was responsible for the first entry on this list; 12 Angry Men. With Dog Day Afternoon, he showed us how the media was capable of turning criminals into celebrities. With his sidekick watching the hostages, Sonny ventured into the streets and performed for the gathering crowd. You'll probably find that you want Sonny to escape too because Lumet does such a good job of showing us his character and motivations. Isn't it strange how we sometimes root for the criminal?

Lance Henriksen makes an appearance toward the end of the movie and it helped launch his career. The resolution might not be what all that we were hoping for, but the movie was based on a true story. I remember watching Dog Day Afternoon in my early teens, and my taste in movies was very different from what it is today. But something about the story held my attention even then.

One thing I learned is never attempt a robbery with a partner who thinks Wyoming is a country.

"Dog Day Afternoon" is the true story of Sonny and Sal, two first-time bank robbers whose failed hold-up suddenly becomes a massive media event and hostage situation. These men, both veterans of the Vietnam War and open homosexuals (though not extrafilially involved), must face a war zone of life-threatening obstacles in their spontaneous decision to flee the country. Fantastic, yes, but excellent acting by Al Pacino, Charles Durning, and James Broderick makes this narrative startlingly real. Accessible to the average viewer, "Dog Day Afternoon" will find particular interest to ex-convicts, bank tellers, and all seeking a military burial.

This has got to be one of the greatest films ever. The story, the plot, the acting is just amazing. Al Pacino is an original in this film. Once you watch it once, you will want to watch it over and over again. Great movie to watch on a hot weekend, summer afternoon.

Al Pacino plays a bisexual bank robber in love with a man who needs a sex change. Al is in his twenties for this film, at the beginning of his career, around his first Godfather film. He is not the stoic mobster in this flick. He is sensitive, screwed up, and angry. I've never seen Pacino this vulnerable. Brooklyn is exploding with post-Vietnam trauma. The cops are stupid and clumsy. The neighborhood kids are high and bored. The new TV culture is on the street making the botched robbery a classic hostage study, a Stockholm Syndrome of American stupidity. The acting is so good; you swear you're watching a documentary. The fat wife is screaming. The idiot mother is crying. The gay lover is sprung from a mental hospital. America is at war with itself in 1972, panic in the streets. Sidney Lument has created a flawed masterpiece of suspense with the Oscar winning script by Frank Pierson. My two complaints: not sure why the wonderful character actor John Cazale (he died so young in real life) was considered so dangerous. The film was forty minutes too long with screaming phone conversations.

As usual, another major studio has done a lazy job of transferring to dvd with "less-than-optimum" elements. Warner is known for bad transfers, a problem which they also had when they were in the laserdisc (another "hi-end" format) business. I am amazed they didn't even bother to include the "making of" which is included on the VHS TAPE--FOR GOSH SAKES, GET WITH THE PROGRAM!

Great movie, one of Pacino's best, bye it now

Well-done, tense drama of a botched bank robbery in Brooklyn in which two misfits commit one absurd blunder after another and turn a criminal act into a three-ring circus, what with the police, crowds and the media swarming upon the bank to observe the comedy of errors.

Al Pacino is superb as Sonny who wants the money to finance a sex-change operation for his transsexual lover (well done by Chris Sarandon). Aiding and abetting Sonny is half-wit Sal (John Cazale in a solid characterization) who chooses Wyoming as a foreign country destination for a safe haven. Charles Durning scores as Detective Moretti who spars with Sonny throughout the afternoon and arranges "safe" passage for him and Sal to JFK and their would-be flight to freedom. There are snippets of dialogue from the 1956 feature film, "The Lone Ranger", that is heard in the background during the hostage standoff inside the bank. Ironic because the Ranger's law-and-order message falls on deaf criminal ears during the commission of the felony.

Sidney Lumet's Oscar-nominated direction is sharp throughout. Based on actual events, "Dog Day Afternoon" is another great winner from the 1970s, Hollywood's second Golden Age. 5 stars out of 5.

Al Pacino is just outstanding in Dog Day Afternoon. He expresses so many different emotions in this movie, which allows us to see how talented he really is. It is almost scary how heated he gets in some of the scenes with the police. There are great actors cast, along with an excellent screenplay. I enjoyed this movie very much and would recommend it to anyone. If you are an Al Pacino fan like myself, you must see this movie.

This movie rocks! You should definitely buy it!

Al Pacino gave his strongest performance as Sonny,a crazy

bank robber who failed in his robbery operation along with

his dump partner Sal [played by the late great actor John

Cazale].Although the movie is great, but the DVD has some

problems with the sound and there is no extras.