Every Sequel To Best Picture Oscar Winners - Ranked
4. The French Connection II
William Friedkin delivered one of the best action-thrillers of the 1970s with The French Connection, a hardboiled cop movie that spawned countless imitators and swept the Academy Awards in 1972, pipping A Clockwork Orange, Fiddler On The Roof and The Last Picture Show to the Best Picture accolade that year.
Friedkin did not return for the sequel three years later, but his replacement John Frankenheimer did manage to convince Gene Hackman to reprise his role as Popeye Doyle, which earned him an Oscar the first time around.
Unlike the first film, which was partly based on a true story, The French Connection II is entirely the work of fiction, following Doyle on a fabricated adventure. The sequel satisfied, though nowhere near on the same level as the original.
It's a cut above the wave of cop thrillers The French Connection paved the way for, but like most movies on this list, it couldn't match the feats of its predecessor.