Dog Day Afternoon - Special Edition [1975]

See Larger Image	List Price: £15.99 Our Price: £4.98 Availability: Usually dispatched within 7 to 11 days Manufacturer: Warner Home Video Starring: Al Pacino, Charles Durning, James Broderick, John Cazale, Carol Kane Directed By: Sidney Lumet Average Customer Rating:


Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Audience Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Binding: DVD EAN: 7321900337274 Format: Box set Label: Warner Home Video Manufacturer: Warner Home Video Number Of Items: 2 Publisher: Warner Home Video Region Code: 2 Release Date: 2006-02-13 Running Time: 119 Studio: Warner Home Video Theatrical Release Date: 1975
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Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Neo-realism meets Hollywood Comment: Other reviewers have rightly singled out Pacino's performance as a career best, as Sonny, the twitchy eternal optimist ("We're going to make it, right?"), and also John Casale's haunting and haunted performance as Sal, the sad loner with a dog-like devotion to Sonny. The essence of Pacino's performance is the brilliant balancing act between comedy and pathos, because he always plays the emotional truth of the moment, and lets the reaction come out of that. Improvisation is at the heart of his playing, and thirty years on it seems as fresh and "lived" as ever. But it's also worth commenting on the superb ensemble playing in the beseiged bank between the two robbers and the bank staff held hostage. The director Sidney Lumet gives a valuable commentary on the making of the film, and he puts his finger on what makes the film seem so "real". Partly it's in the single-day time frame of the script; partly it's in the austere refusal to use any music apart from Elton John over the opening credits; partly it's in the use of an extensive rehearsal period and allowing the actors to improvise; partly it's in the creation of the bank set on the real New York street so that characters go inside and outside in real time, without any sense of movie trickery. For 1975, the handling of the gay/transsexual theme was both brave and movingly done. It is cleverly introduced about halfway through the movie, after a deft feint. Sonny talks about wanting to see his "wife", and this is followed by the police interrogating a blabbermouth fat woman with two screaming kids. She is indeed his wife, but the "wife" who turns up is Leon, a drugged-up transsexual (Chris Sarandon) who Sonny has also married. It turns out that the motive for the robbery is to get money for Leon's sex-change operation. Because the film has built up so painstakingly Sonny as a character with a heart as big as a bucket, the audience took, and takes, Sonny's bisexuality in its stride. When he is finally about to leave the bank with the hostages, Sonny makes his will, leaving his life insurance divided between Leon ("who I loved more than any man has loved another man") and his heterosexual wife. This scene is the emotional heart of the movie, and lifts it way above run-of-the-mill heist films. The essence of the film is waiting: characters waiting to escape or be released. But the movie is not at all static, because of the emotional flows between the characters. In this, director Lumet brings a kind of European cine verite feel to a Hollywood formula. It's a great achievement. Customer Rating: Summary: Brilliant Film Comment: I am utterly convinced that this is Pacino's best performance, to the point where nobody could convince me otherwise! This film is literally brimming with energy and the acting is pretty much impeccable. It's got drama, humour, and a poignant ending. You end up feeling like you knew the central characters, particularly Pacino's ever optimistic Sonny. Watch this at least once, you won't regret it. Customer Rating: Summary: Pacino does comedy Comment: I keep thinking I have seen all Al Pacino's great films, and then I discover Dog Day Afternoon. This film shows Al developing the strand in his character that is amplified to such brilliant effect in Scarface and Carlito's Way. He's a sensitive and intelligent rebel, getting by in a way that endears himself to us. The scenario would make a good theatre farce, two inexperienced bank robbers trying to deal with a situation that has got out of their depth. Lots of absurdity. My only problem with the film was that I don't think Pacino is very convincing as a bisexual character. Customer Rating: Summary: Perfection from Pacino !!! Comment: I saw this film many years ago, and recently watched it again. It is still as good as ever. It is very rare that Al Pacino makes a bad movie. He is a legendary actor, and nearly every performance is Oscar worthy. Yes I have much passion for Pacino, he is an amazing actor. Theatre or film, Al Pacino delivers. This is a fantastic film, based on a true story. I dont want to give too much away. Superb performances from the great John Cazale, and Chris Saradon. A very good cast. The scene of Al Pacino taunting the Police, and gaining the crowds respect, is legendary. The Sexy dark eyed Pacino, acts to Perfection in this film. Highly recommended. Customer Rating: Summary: a classic from 70s, one of Pacino's best performances... Comment: Recently I encountered a TV review with Al Pacino (at 2004 Golden Globe ceremony perhaps), where he was asked to tell the names of three greatest films in his career. The answer: "Serpico", "Scarecrow", and "Dog Day Afternoon" Directed by veteran director Sidney Lumet, "Dog Day Afternoon" captures masterfully the social and political zeitgeist of the early 1970s, where optimism and morale was shaking due to post-Vietnam trauma, cynicism, new wave of Communist threat, distrust of any authority, oil crisis and imminent stagnation in economy. In this background, humane but equally awkward Sonny Wortzik (played by Al Pacino) come on the scene as an ANTI-HERO with a Brooklyn bank robbery, which would end up with a real tragedy. The movie have them all: robbery, hostages, negotiations, ineptness, cunningness, frustration, deception and death. The direction and characterizations are sharp and brilliant. Lumet makes perfect use out of limited locations. Although 80 percent of the movie takes place inside the bank, there's never a dull or wasted moment. It is beautifully scripted and shot all along. Pacino gives a stellar performance as Sonny, one of the most interesting movie characters in motion picture history. Performances of John Cazale as Sonny's sociopathic accomplice, Sal and Charles Durning as Detective Moretti were wondrous too. I must admit that this is a kind of movie that really does deserve special edition treatment. Eventually, this new 30th-Anniversary 2-disc edition has a great collection of extras. Most notably, it contains a commentary by Sidney Lumet which is amazing to hear from that great director. Second disc has an extensive documentary "The Making of Dog Day Afternoon" that consists of 4 featurettes (including interviews with Lumet, Pacino, Durning and Sarandon) that can be viewed separately or altogether. Not just Lumet or Pacino fans, this is a must have for any movie collector. More Reviews