Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7034 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-01-05
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English, French
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 213 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
A milestone film from 1971 and winner of five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor, The French Connection transformed the crime thriller with its gritty, authentic story about New York City police detectives on the trail of a large shipment of heroin. Based on an actual police case and the illustrious career of New York cop Eddie Egan, the film stars Gene Hackman as Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle, whose unorthodox methods of crime fighting are anything but diplomatic. With his partner (Roy Scheider), Popeye investigates the international shipment of heroin masterminded by the suave Frenchman (Fernando Rey) who eludes Popeye throughout an escalating series of pursuits. The obsessive tension of Doyle's investigation reaches peak intensity during the film's breathtaking car chase, in which Doyle races under New York's elevated train tracks in a borrowed sedan--a sequence that earned an Oscar for editing and was instantly hailed as one of the greatest chase scenes ever filmed. Produced on location, The French Connection had an immediate influence on dozens of movies and TV shows to follow, virtually redefining the crime thriller with its combination of brutal realism and high-octane craftsmanship. Boosted by the film's phenomenal success, director William Friedkin gained even more attention with his follow-up film, The Exorcist. --Jeff Shannon

DVD Description
Directors commentaries by William Friedkin and John Frankenheimer.

French Connection commentaries by Gene Hackman and Roy Schneider.

French Connection 2 commentaries by Gene Hackman and produced by Robert Rosen.

Original Theatrical Trailers

French Connection 2 Still Galleries.

Synopsis
This special set features two of the 1970s' most exciting action pictures, THE FRENCH CONNECTION and FRENCH CONNECTION 2.
THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971): Released the same year as Clint Eastwood's DIRTY HARRY, William Friedkin's THE FRENCH CONNECTION marked the beginning of a new era of gritty, urban police dramas in which the theme of tough-cop amorality seemed to serve an epochal conservative demand for a police-state crackdown on the domestic chaos and subversive youth culture of the Vietnam War period. Based on the true story of two New York City police detectives and their investigation into a French heroin smuggling operation, this film is perhaps best known for its infamous, masterfully filmed chase scene (directly influenced by Steve McQueen's BULLITT) in which the lead policeman, Popeye Doyle (Gene Hackman), recklessly drives a stolen car through oncoming traffic in pursuit of a sniper escaping by elevated train. The exciting thrill of this ostensibly conventional crime drama is accentuated by director Friedkin's early European influences, perhaps best represented by the often handheld documentary-style visual approach that brings the viewer into a more personal proximity to the characters, as well as Friedkin's claims that the Oscar-winning screenplay was frequently disregarded in favor of improvisation. THE FRENCH CONNECTION is the first film Friedkin made after announcing to Variety that he would abandon his European influences in favor of genre entertainment and not only marked a significant change of course for his career but also signified a demographic shift that all of Hollywood would soon follow.
THE FRENCH CONNECTION 2 (1975): Gene Hackman again stars as hard-boiled New York narcotics cop Popeye Doyle in the sequel to the Oscar-winning FRENCH CONNECTION. Still on the trail of heroin kingpin Charnier (Fernando Rey), whom he's dubbed Frog One, Doyle heads for Marseilles. On arrival, his aggressive ugly-American persona alienates French inspector Barthelmy (Bernard Fresson), and his limited ability to speak French doesn't help. Frustrated by Barthelmy's lack of progress, he slips his assigned police protection and goes looking for Frog One on his own. He's soon captured by Charnier's minions, who lock him in a fleabag hotel and shoot him up repeatedly with free samples of their product until Doyle is completely addicted. Charnier uses the detective's narcotized state to interrogate him and is surprised to find that he's virtually ignorant about his operation. The disdainful Charnier has him dumped in front of police headquarters, and Barthemy arranges for him to be put in isolation. Doyle undergoes the lengthy, grueling ordeal of quitting heroin cold turkey while his desperation to capture Charnier builds inside him. Hackman's brilliant performance highlights this somewhat overlooked sequel; Claude Renoir's camera fully captures the squalor of the milieu, and Frankenheimer engineers a harrowing final chase.

Customer Reviews

Excellent Gritty Crime Thriller
Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider in early 70's New York City. Dirty, dangerous and gritty NYC. They are narcotic cops after the drug lords who import heroin into NYC via France. The methods and language used by these cops is far from PC but they get the job done!

Oh and it includes one of THE great car chase sequences. What's great about the car chase is that it's just long enough - not a second is wasted.

Much of this film set the way for other such crime films/TV shows and pretty much the standard for car chases in films.

A strong 7/10.

Extremely overrated!
I'm sorry to have to criticise a famous "classic" film, but this really is not the action packed thriller it should be. Like a lot of well known films, it receives praise for no real reason other than the fact that it is already famous and therefore simply must be good - in the minds of the gullible anyway. With the exception of the one excellent scene in which Hackman is attempting to follow a train by driving recklessly in a car, the ENTIRE rest of the film has no action whatsoever, and no interesting twists or subplots. It might be better than a lot of mainstream trash but it is still unacceptably poor and immensely boring for such a renowned film. Avoid boring yourself with this, unless you are an obsessive fan of the genre.

Classic 70's film made in same time as the Godfather movies
These 2 films have a close parallel to the two Godfather films made in the same time. If Godfather I and II made superstars out of Pacino, De Niro and Robert Duvall; French Connection on the other hand propelled Gene Hackman into the big league.
The 70's rarely pulled punches when it came to top billed cop movies, starting with Dirty Harry, the original French Connection and snowballing into classics like Serpico, French Connection II is no exception. This movie won't disappoint any fan of either the original, or anyone that wanted to see for themselves Gene Hackman carrying a lead action role almost through the screen.Gene Hackman as Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle and Roy Scheider as Buddy 'Cloudy' Russo are great as the two detectives chasing and following a couple of people including Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey) and Salvatore Boca (Tony Lo Bianco)
Hackman plays Popeye Doyle as if it were him really. Every emotion doesn't seem to be acted;it seems real !