Matt is thankful for THE FRENCH CONNECTION I & II on Blu-Ray!
THE FRENCH CONNECTION was director William Friedkin's breakthrough film, a brutally told police thriller following Gene Hackman's sadistic, obsessive, racist and completely unsympathetic cop Popeye Doyle (but as he says he is honest, so at least you know where you stand with him) whose hunch for sniffing out drug smugglers sets him and his partner Buddy Russo (Roy Scheider) into a cat-and-mouse game that is compelling from first frame to the last. I regularly call it one of the best crime thrillers ever made and it's sequel, THE FRENCH CONNECTION II, is better than most movies in the genre today. They were trend setters which alongside DIRTY HARRY would influence virtually a whole decade of cinema, with bleak and single minded obsessive characters who would be our chosen heroes of the big screen until we later took to the skies in wonder with SUPERMAN and STAR WARS. Both parts of THE FRENCH CONNECTION make-up an exciting new Blu-Ray Release in the U.K. (you Americans get it in February) which I have enjoyed watching over the last two days with BRAND NEW AND EXCLUSIVE HD EXTRAS and can't recommend to you highly enough. My review of the set is below... The real improvement to films in general with this Blu-Ray technology can be found on these 70's movies which are transformed into looking like they were just made yesterday. I had the same reaction to the wonderful THE GODFATHER set and now from THE FRENCH CONNECTION I was transported back into the 70's, before I was even born but feeling like I could touch the New York winter and feel the coldness in the air. Shot in a kind of documentary style and carrying the feel of guerrilla film-making (i.e. it's hinted that they didn't shut the streets down to film and just went with it) both Parts I and II feature just another in a long line of movie cops who teetered that fine line between right and wrong. This was the era of Steve McQueens' BULLIT and Clint Eastwood's DIRTY HARRY. These were our screen heroes who saw collateral damage as just being part of the job if it got them closer to the bad guys and the scum. If however unlikely they believed in God, they knew they were the good guys no matter what terrible thing they did and that Heaven would reward them, even if their peers didn't. When they had a hunch, they took it to it's conclusion. If their superior told them to back down, they knew they couldn't. They had to be right. If killing an innocent man meant saving the lives of twenty others, they would take it. In THE FRENCH CONNECTION franchise, in the space of two feature length movies we go from a small hunch from bad boy cop Popeye Doyle (Hackman) to a violent bloody shoot out, which leaves trails of bodies behind. But like George W. Bush's war on terror, the bad guy must be stopped. 
The first movie which shook audiences to the core in 1971 who had never seen the likes of Popeye Doyle before was based on an actual infamous case of frequent ilegal shipment of heroin from Marseilles to New York which involved the Mafia and two New York Narcotic cops and their desperate urge to take them down. For the altered but mostly faithful movie adaptation, that thread line is kept in place but with Hackman quite terrifying and clearly working for his own badge and not for the law it represents in trying to take these guys down. The good cop, bad cop routine with Scheider is great fun to see unfold, though I would say if Scheider represented the "good cop" in this film, then I would have gotten the hell out of New York. Fernando Rey as Allen Charnier who was memorably cast because the producer invited the WRONG actor to the set as Freidkin wanted Francisco Rabal from BELLE DE JOUR, says very little but has a playful and snivelling villainy about his performance as the head of this dirty scheme. He is the effective villain for the straight talking Doyle. The whole film is a chase flick, just like THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM. The plot is thin, the characterisation is put aside (except of course for Doyle). This is about one man's desperate pursuit of the bad guys, who like a phantom is often just in the distance or just away from Doyle. Apart from the much talked about chase scene which has become legend, following Doyle in a civilian car, having to trudge through city traffic as he follows a high speed train that has a clear run. It's hardly a fair chase and the closeness to tragedy as Doyle gets closer to closer to causing the death of a civilian as he takes further risks to catch that train is riveting stuff. But it's the slightly quieter game between Doyle and the villain Fernando Rey before the chase which I always find to be more encaptivating. I often think this is the one movie that influenced the mega phenomenon video game that is GRAND THEFT AUTO. The single mindedness of Doyle, that incredibly visceral car chase which feels so real you hardly dare watch it to it's conclusion. The chase which leads to the subway. It's a movie told through action and movement and very few words. Whenever someone tells me that you couldn't make a good GRAND THEFT AUTO movie, I always point them to what William Friedkin created here. This is how it should be done. The sequel, THE FRENCH CONNECTION II isn't near as good but it's still terrific fun. It's a loose sequel from the events of the first movie and plays the "fish out of water" routine with Hackman in Marseilles still tracking down Fernando Rey from the first movie. Indeed, they are the only two cast members who are back for the sequel. Presumably, Roy Scheider was too busy fighting off sharks in JAWS to return. 
This movie is even more of a Doyle one-man show as he no longer has Buddy to bounce off. Watered down is the gritty style of the original, replaced with more prelevant jokes, using time and time again the well of Doyle struggling to interact with the French or with the French cops. There's a funny scene in a bar where Doyle attempts to seduce some French girls who are way too young for him but he stumbles into the communication problem. As he does trying to order a drink, he believes by shouting and talking louder, the French will understand his English, which of course they don't. Doyle becomes more sympathetic here, he's not as sure of himself outside of his own country and we pity him more. John Frankenheimer, who a decade earlier had helmed one of the best 60's films in THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE carries on the Friedkin documentary style to perfection but isn't quite as adept to staging the action set pieces and decides instead to focus on the inner turmoil of this complex character. Taking up virtually half of the movie is a sequence where the bad guys inject heorin to Doyle in an attempt to get him hooked on it as their prisoner. Of course it works, then an at least a twenty minute sequence of Doyle going "cold turkey" takes place which runs way long, but it's acted well. Hackman shows his true depth as an actor. The sequel ain't anywhere near as good as the original. But then again the first movie was a massive Academy Award winning favourite, taking home the gold for Best Director (Friedkin who would later make THE EXORCIST), Best Actor (Hackman's first Oscar at 42 and he dominated the screen for the next three decades), Best Adapted Screenplay (Ernest Tidyman), Best Editing (Jerry Greenberg... very well deserved) and Best Picture (controversially beating out A CLOCKWORK ORANGE). It was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Scheider), Best Cinematography (Roizman) and Best Sound. The sequel was never going to live up to the groundbreaking original though it does carry a worthy Gene Hackman performance and is a great genre movie which kinda makes you wish they had made more of these films.
The first movie which shook audiences to the core in 1971 who had never seen the likes of Popeye Doyle before was based on an actual infamous case of frequent ilegal shipment of heroin from Marseilles to New York which involved the Mafia and two New York Narcotic cops and their desperate urge to take them down. For the altered but mostly faithful movie adaptation, that thread line is kept in place but with Hackman quite terrifying and clearly working for his own badge and not for the law it represents in trying to take these guys down. The good cop, bad cop routine with Scheider is great fun to see unfold, though I would say if Scheider represented the "good cop" in this film, then I would have gotten the hell out of New York. Fernando Rey as Allen Charnier who was memorably cast because the producer invited the WRONG actor to the set as Freidkin wanted Francisco Rabal from BELLE DE JOUR, says very little but has a playful and snivelling villainy about his performance as the head of this dirty scheme. He is the effective villain for the straight talking Doyle. The whole film is a chase flick, just like THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM. The plot is thin, the characterisation is put aside (except of course for Doyle). This is about one man's desperate pursuit of the bad guys, who like a phantom is often just in the distance or just away from Doyle. Apart from the much talked about chase scene which has become legend, following Doyle in a civilian car, having to trudge through city traffic as he follows a high speed train that has a clear run. It's hardly a fair chase and the closeness to tragedy as Doyle gets closer to closer to causing the death of a civilian as he takes further risks to catch that train is riveting stuff. But it's the slightly quieter game between Doyle and the villain Fernando Rey before the chase which I always find to be more encaptivating. I often think this is the one movie that influenced the mega phenomenon video game that is GRAND THEFT AUTO. The single mindedness of Doyle, that incredibly visceral car chase which feels so real you hardly dare watch it to it's conclusion. The chase which leads to the subway. It's a movie told through action and movement and very few words. Whenever someone tells me that you couldn't make a good GRAND THEFT AUTO movie, I always point them to what William Friedkin created here. This is how it should be done. The sequel, THE FRENCH CONNECTION II isn't near as good but it's still terrific fun. It's a loose sequel from the events of the first movie and plays the "fish out of water" routine with Hackman in Marseilles still tracking down Fernando Rey from the first movie. Indeed, they are the only two cast members who are back for the sequel. Presumably, Roy Scheider was too busy fighting off sharks in JAWS to return. 
This movie is even more of a Doyle one-man show as he no longer has Buddy to bounce off. Watered down is the gritty style of the original, replaced with more prelevant jokes, using time and time again the well of Doyle struggling to interact with the French or with the French cops. There's a funny scene in a bar where Doyle attempts to seduce some French girls who are way too young for him but he stumbles into the communication problem. As he does trying to order a drink, he believes by shouting and talking louder, the French will understand his English, which of course they don't. Doyle becomes more sympathetic here, he's not as sure of himself outside of his own country and we pity him more. John Frankenheimer, who a decade earlier had helmed one of the best 60's films in THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE carries on the Friedkin documentary style to perfection but isn't quite as adept to staging the action set pieces and decides instead to focus on the inner turmoil of this complex character. Taking up virtually half of the movie is a sequence where the bad guys inject heorin to Doyle in an attempt to get him hooked on it as their prisoner. Of course it works, then an at least a twenty minute sequence of Doyle going "cold turkey" takes place which runs way long, but it's acted well. Hackman shows his true depth as an actor. The sequel ain't anywhere near as good as the original. But then again the first movie was a massive Academy Award winning favourite, taking home the gold for Best Director (Friedkin who would later make THE EXORCIST), Best Actor (Hackman's first Oscar at 42 and he dominated the screen for the next three decades), Best Adapted Screenplay (Ernest Tidyman), Best Editing (Jerry Greenberg... very well deserved) and Best Picture (controversially beating out A CLOCKWORK ORANGE). It was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Scheider), Best Cinematography (Roizman) and Best Sound. The sequel was never going to live up to the groundbreaking original though it does carry a worthy Gene Hackman performance and is a great genre movie which kinda makes you wish they had made more of these films.
This comes highly recommended, with tons of extra's...
The French Connection I & II Blu-ray Details: Release date: 1 December 2008 Run time (FC I): 103 mins Run time (FC II): 119 mins CERT: 18 Price (FC I) £19.99 Price (FC I & II): £34.99 Special Features:The French Connection Disc 1: William Friedkin Introduction to The French Connection Audio Commentary by William Friedkin Audio Commentary by Gene Hackman and Roy Schieder Trivia Track Isolated Score Track Theatrical Trailer French Connection II BD Trailer The French Connection Disc 2: 9 Deleted Scenes with Optional Audio Commentary by William Friedkin (12 mins 50 secs) William Friedkin Discusses the Deleted Scenes Devereaux At Work Additional Deleted Scenes Anatomy of a Chase (20 mins 36 secs) Hackman on Doyle (12 mins 14 secs) Friedman and Grosso remember the real French Connection (19 mins 34 secs) Scene of the Crime (6 mins 19 mins) Colour Timing The French Connection (13 mins 21 secs) Cop Jazz: The Music of Don Ellis (10 mins 11 secs) Rouge Cop: The Noir Connection (13 mins 56 secs) BBC Documentary: The Poughkeepsie Shuffle (53 mins) Making the Connection: The Untold Stories of The French Connection (60 mins) The French Connection II: Audio Commentary by Director John Frankenheimer Audio Commentary by Gene Hackman and Producer Robert Rosen Isolated Score Track A Conversation with Gene Hackman (15 mins) Frankenheimer: In Focus (25 mins) Theatrical Trailer Stills Galleries