Certain seventies movies have such a bonkers plot concept that you have to watch them, if only just to see with your own eyes how they elaborated the idea! Take "The Doberman Gang", for instance. Following a screwed-up bank heist (they put the loot in the trunk of the wrong getaway car) and a romantic night with waitress June, the embittered ex-con Eddie comes up with the brilliant plan to train six fierce Doberman dogs to commit a bank robbery, so that he and his buddies can observe from a distance without running any risks. Brilliant, isn't it? So does this mean that "The Doberman Gang" is a fantastic 70s crime-caper gem with plenty of virulent action sequences and spectacular animal stunts? Unfortunately not
It's more of a slow-paced comedy/buddy movie with enormous amounts of dog training footage and a LOT of country music montages. Eddie enlists the help of former police dog trainer Barney, even though he only worked with German Shepard dogs before and initially doesn't know what he's training the Dobermans for, and puts together a forceful dog pack with the glorious sounding names of legendary bank robbers like Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Ma Barker, Baby Face Nelson and – of course – Bonnie and Clyde. Unless you have a strong affection for this particular type of dogs (like my mother-in-law, who for some reason collects everything that has to do with Dobermans) there's very little to recommend here. The first 70 or so minutes are quite dull and substantially void, unless you like country music, and the only things to enjoy are the charismatic dogs and the reasonably sympathetic acting performances of the second-rate bank robbers Sammy Bow and JoJo D'Amore. The actual bank heist is obviously a lot more entertaining and the tricks of the dogs and their trek back home are quite exhilarating to watch. There isn't any violence or verbal/physical brutality, so it's perfectly suitable for younger audiences.