10 Best Ever Live Action Movie Duologies
7. The French Connection & The French Connection II
It is a given that the first movie is a stone-cold classic that shot William Friedkin and Gene Hackman to fame. And well-deserved Oscars of course. It has earned its right to be counted as one of the best movies in the crime genre.
The centre-stage is the oft-imitated car chase of the subway train, but there is so much more to it than that. The one thing that does hurt is when the criminal gets away which is a template that many moves follow to set up the sequel now. A point that sets up the beginning of French Connection II.
The sequel though not as satisfying and acclaimed as the first part, does come with its own pedigree. Including John Frankenheimer directing and Gene Hackman (who was supposed to have missed out on an Oscar nomination by a whisker). The highlight of the movie is the extended sequence where he is kidnapped and forced into drug addiction by the antagonist. His subsequent withdrawal and ultimate rehabilitation would match anything he has ever done before and since.