The Movie: Yet another one of these movies that I should have already seen but haven't, and it was quite an interesting movie at that. Based on a true story, it's about a guy who robs a bank so he can buy a sex change operation for his gay lover who is a woman trapped in a man's body. As the DVD cover says, it should have taken 10 minutes, but it ended up becoming a media circus and taking 12 hours. The main character is beautifully played by Al Pacino, and an interesting point for me was that his accomplice in the bank was played by John Cazale... "Fredo" from the Godfather. Weird, eh?

Again, I gotta say that Al Pacino was great in this movie. After getting off the phone with his nagging (and "nagging" is a serious understatement) wife, he made this face... the most pathetic, desperate, hopeless face I have ever seen in my entire life, and it totally fit the moment perfectly... But yeah, overall, the movie was pretty good, and interesting, and also oozing of 1970's goodness... the cars... the helicopters, the clothes, the hair...

Have you ever seen a more desperate looking face?

Speaking of the cars, check out this beauty... people think that these Ford Excursion and Expedition limos are something new? Check out this stretched IH Scout! And it's got the craziest design... there's a series of bench seats and each row has it's own set of doors! Crazy! And the luggage rack! This is genuine 70's... you can't make a period piece this authentic!

The DVD: This DVD is a dual-sided disc with 4:3 pan-and-scan on one side, and a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen version on the other. The transfer is pretty damned clean... you can see that quality of film that definitely marks it as something from the 70's... it looks old, like the old film stuff that you see on Sesame Street... and yet you don't see much dust and scratches, so you know it's the true quality of the film coming through.

The audio format is the original mono soundtrack, and special features are sparse... Cast & Crew bios, and a list of awards won by this film, including an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, a British Academy Award for Best Actor (Al Pacino), and the National Board of Review award of Best Supporting Actor (Charles Durning).

Some DVD's have "recommended" other movies to see if you liked the one you just watched, and most of them are lame, and this disc is no exception in that department. Some of the movies they suggested you see if you enjoyed Dog Day Afternoon include Eraser, Under Siege, and Under Siege 2. Riiiiiiight.