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The French Connection (Widescreen) [2 Discs]
 
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The French Connection (Widescreen) [2 Discs]

Gene Hackman (Actor), Roy Scheider (Actor), William Friedkin (Director) | Rated: R (Restricted) | Format: DVD
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)

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From Amazon.co.uk

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

Amazon.com Essential Video

William Friedkin's classic policier was propelled to box-office glory, and a fistful of Oscars, in 1972 by its pedal-to-the-metal filmmaking and fashionably cynical attitude toward law enforcement. Gene Hackman's Popeye Doyle, a brutally pushy New York City narcotics detective, is a dauntless crime fighter and Vietnam-era "pig," a reckless vulgarian whose antics get innocent people killed. Loosely based upon an actual investigation that led to what was then the biggest heroin seizure in U.S. history, the picture traces the efforts of Doyle and his partner (Roy Scheider) to close the pipeline pumping Middle Eastern smack into the States through the French port of Marseilles. (The actual French Connection cops, Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso, make cameo appearances.) It was widely recognized at the time that Friedkin had lifted a lot of his high-strung technique from the Costa-Gavras thrillers The Sleeping Car Murders and Z--he even imported one of Costa-Gavras's favorite thugs, Marcel Bozzuffi, to play the Euro-trash hit man plugged by Doyle in an elevated train station. There was an impressive official sequel in 1975, French Connection II, directed by John Frankenheimer, which took Popeye to the south of France and got him hooked on horse. A couple of semi-official spinoffs followed, The Seven-Ups, which elevated Scheider to the leading role, and Badge 373, with Robert Duvall stepping in as the pugnacious flatfoot. --David Chute

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Customer Reviews

54 Reviews
5 star:
 (32)
4 star:
 (10)
3 star:
 (5)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (5)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (54 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4.0 out of 5 stars Gritty but not Glamorous, Jun 23 2009
By 
Neil Olsen (Toronto, Ontario) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The French Connection (DVD)
You may not like the characters in this movie, but it totally captures the seedy underbelly of New York in the early 70s. Gene Hackman plays the part brilliantly. I didn't actually expect to like this but was hooked from start to finish. Only disappointment was sound quality. Found I had to have the volume way up to properly follow the dialogue. But other than that a classic of early 70s cinema.
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1.0 out of 5 stars another bore fest masquerading as a movie, Oct 25 2007
This review is from: The French Connection (DVD)
in my opinion,The French Connection is one long bore.Gene Hackman is a
gifted actor,but even he can't save this mess.William Friedkin has
managed to create a movie in which all of the action scenes(as well as
the rest of the movie)seem slow and boring.and in case you don't know
what the movie is about,here's a brief synopsis the way i saw it.cop
movie with bad dialogue,punctuated by boring action sequences,followed
by more bad dialogue and on and on.the writers should not escape notice
for their part in this disaster,either.i know this movie is considered
a classic,but i don't see it.this is just my view and i'm probably in
the minority,but that's how i saw this movie.i can only give The French
Connection 1/5.
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5.0 out of 5 stars the 4th time viewing got even better experience, July 2 2004
By 
justareader (yorba linda, ca United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The French Connection (Widescreen) [2 Discs] (DVD)
simply fantastic! the 2nd dvd got lot of significant details about this great movie making. the quality of the dvds are so crispily sharp. very very good viewing experience. gene hackman admitted it set off his career and confessed the difficulties to bring himself into playing the popei role. by viewing his performance only proved that he's one of the greatest modern time actors. think back....almost all of his movies roles were great, no matter how lousy the movies themself was. gene hackman is a national treasure.
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