Rating: 
Summary: This Is About The French Connection 2
Review: ...This one...has a better car chase and a terrible plot. Popeye Doyle becomes a heroin addict, but then has to get rid of his habit and nab drug dealers. Sounds like a goood plot, but weakens through out the whole film. Character devlopment is pretty good, but is counterattacked by the plot. It only costs about $[money], so buy it if you want the sequel also, but don't expect very much.
Rating: 
Summary: Deservedly acclaimed picture
Review: Although William Friedkin was unhappy with the casting of the key characters (according to the BBC documentary), it turns out to be inspired. Hackman as the fiery, impulsive lead. Scheider as the long-suffering partner who acts as go-between during Popeye Doyle's many disputes. Fernando Rey, a Spaniard apparently couldn't speak any French, but his accent is ideal for the Marseilles drugs syndicate boss, Charnier. His beard and felt hat add to his genial and inscrutable manner.Friedkin brilliantly contrasts the luxury, 5 star existence of the drugs boss and his henchman in New York, with the poor, seedy existence of the cops. In one scene, the camera focuses on the criminals enjoying a fabulous lunch in a downtown restaurant. Then it focuses on Doyle and Cloudy freezing in a shop doorway across the street, eating takeaway pizza. While Doyle is chasing Charnier on foot through the streets of New York, all we see are two pairs of legs: Charnier striding effortlessly and confidently along, Doyle running and stumbling to keep up. Every time we see a glimpse of Charnier's silver-topped umbrella, there is a clang in the music score. The editing and direction here, as elsewhere are superb.
Rating:
Summary: French Connection II - Hackmans finest
Review: At long last a release on DVD for probably the greatest acting performance I have ever seen. Gene Hackman's heroin withdrawal scenes are the peak of his (or any other actors) career. The French Connection II, far superior in every regard to it's rather pedestrian predecessor, is the real gem in this set. The closest hollywood ever got to high film art. Watch and be blown away. Heeeey Willie maaaays!!
Rating:
Summary: Stop Picking Your Feet and Buy This!!!
Review: Billy Friedkin's film is the most influential crime thriller since film noir. Look at the cop shows on TV today. Bocchco and Wolf would be lost without this as a model. It set the tone for Hollywood in the 70's and stands up today with it's great acting, terrific dialogue, and charcter driven action. On a personal level I saw this movie at the ripe age of 9 at a drive-in with my parents. This film was the movie that made me fall in love with movies. For that I am forever grateful to Friedkin, D'Antoini, Hackman and Company.
The bonuses on this DVD package are terrific. Mark Kermode's BBC documentary is as good as the one he did on "The Exorcist" and Friedkin's commentary on the film itself is informative and entertaining. The lost scenes are interesting if you're a fan of the film and a fan of Friedkin the director.It is instructive to watch an extended scene, such as the one in the hotel lobby, that lasts 2 or 3 minutes on film in the outtake last only a few seconds in the finished film, yet all the information that is communicated in the longer scene is in the finished product without stopping the pacing and it allows the audience to fill in the blanks. Even while being pushed along on a viseral high the audience is using their heads. I always felt this was Friedkin's strentgh as a filmmaker, telling a lot of information visually and quickly, even if the audience doesn't catch on at first.
This package also contains John Frankenheimers underrated sequel that isn't based on fact put is purely a fictional account of Popeye Doyle in France. Frankenheimers commentary is also worth listening to as he speaks of his admiration for the first film and desire to stay loyal to the style Friedkin developed(what urban crime film of the 70s didn't?). It also contains Hackman extending his performance of Doyle brillantly and it finds a way to end the film in a way that rivals the ambiguous descent into madness that ended "The FRENCH CONNETION" only it goes in the opposite direction, shocking, startling and definite.
A great package, one masterpiece and one four-star underrated gem. And at a great price
Rating: 
Summary: Bad translation/understanding of the movie "feel&touch"
Review: I was disappointed that the disk set did not translate 99,9% of the French spoken in the two movies. The French conversations are SO crucial! The French conversations are so crucial to the enjoyment of the movie, that I feel the left out translations as subtitles are a major mistake for a so-called "Collector's Edition". Too bad. I wish I hadn't purchased this disk set. Everything these days seems to be so focused at a mainstream American public, whom the movie studios obviously thinks doesn't care about the French in-between conversations. Talk about looking/talking down at/to the audience!
Rating:
Summary: Gene Hackmann the great actor
Review: It has been a long time since I have watched this movie. But I could not forget it. I have never seen a more dramatic action movie in my life. Gene plays Popeye Doyle a very highly motivated & tough New York cop who tries to crack a foreign drug ring. Doyle's tough, rule breaking & take no prisoners policeman who blurs the line between cop and criminal. The fact that this mean, brutal cop is somehow sympathetic is a testament to Hackman's great skills as an actor. One of my favorite scene is the film's famous car chase. As a drug smuggler races by above on an elevated train, Hackman speeds along in a car on the street below. Director William Friedkin's "The French Connection" is an exciting, jam packed cop action fest. Friedkin won the best directing award. You have to have it in your collection.
Rating:
Summary: A Nice Trip to "Poughkeepsie"...
Review: The first time I saw "The French Connection" was on cable several years ago (as well as its sequel, available only in this box set), and despite being edited for television, it was an incredible ride. It's a movie that would be next to impossible to make today. You have a bigoted, brash police detective (Gene Hackman) as your lead, little to no explanation why he's the way he is, and an ending that is by no means a happy one. As much as that may be a turn-off to some, it's the obsessive nature of our main character that fuels this movie. It goes to such a high pitch that even an accidental shooting doesn't give him less than a moment's pause while pursuing his nemesis, heroin kingpin Charnier (Fernando Rey). This obsession fuels also the sequel, "French Connection 2" (a rather underrated flick, in my opinion), which takes place in France. Despite being a tad too long, the sequel manages to be quite impressive, culminating in a final chase which ends the film on a note that's almost as striking as its predecessor. Both movies have audio commentaries from their directors (William Friedkin on 1, and John Frankenheimer on 2), deletd scenes (on 1 only) and "French Connection" fans will get their fill with the two documentaries on the first film and the true story that inspired these two rather solid action films. While "classic" can't be really said about the sequel, "The French Connection" is a brillant, classic thriller that isn't afraid to leave it's viewers hanging.
Rating:
Summary: A Nice Trip to "Poughkeepsie"...
Review: The first time I saw "The French Connection" was on cable several years ago (as well as its sequel, available only in this box set), and despite being edited for television, it was an incredible ride. It's a movie that would be next to impossible to make today. You have a bigoted, brash police detective (Gene Hackman) as your lead, little to no explanation why he's the way he is, and an ending that is by no means a happy one. As much as that may be a turn-off to some, it's the obsessive nature of our main character that fuels this movie. It goes to such a high pitch that even an accidental shooting doesn't give him less than a moment's pause while pursuing his nemesis, heroin kingpin Charnier (Fernando Rey). This obsession fuels also the sequel, "French Connection 2" (a rather underrated flick, in my opinion), which takes place in France. Despite being a tad too long, the sequel manages to be quite impressive, culminating in a final chase which ends the film on a note that's almost as striking as its predecessor. Both movies have audio commentaries from their directors (William Friedkin on 1, and John Frankenheimer on 2), deletd scenes (on 1 only) and "French Connection" fans will get their fill with the two documentaries on the first film and the true story that inspired these two rather solid action films. While "classic" can't be really said about the sequel, "The French Connection" is a brillant, classic thriller that isn't afraid to leave it's viewers hanging.
Rating: 
Summary: An Often Overlooked Classic
Review: The French Connection has never seemed to generate as much buzz as other Best Picture Winners, and is likely to be overlooked yet again in its DVD release, coming so close to the Godfather Trilogy and Citizen Kane. The exception is the chase, of course, long celebrated as perhaps the best ever captured on film. In addition to the action elements, however, there are other reasons to add this to your collection, including Gene Hackman's fine, Oscar-winning turn as Popeye Doyle and William Friedkin's energetic direction. French Connection II suffers somewhat by comparison - Hackman is still great, but the movie seems to lack cohesion, as if the writers patched the story together scene by scene, rather than knowing their destination. It is not a bad movie by any means, but certainly not the classic its predecessor is. The bonus materials are nicely presented and pretty interesting, for the most part - a solid, if not particularly spectacular, package.
Rating:
Summary: Gritty cop series gets the deluxe treatment
Review: The FRENCH CONNECTION is a gritty, realistic crime drama. It follows a pair of police detectives (GENE HACKMAN and ROY SCHEIDER) as they look to bust a French Drug Lord. But, this is no buddy film. The characters (especially Hackman's POPEYE DOYLE) are realistically and (coming out with the end of the Vietnam War) cynically. These guys don't play good cop/bad cop to get things done. They are good cop/bad cop. Ironically, Hackman's bad cop is the main character so we see a lot of sensitive and questionable techniques. Today, I find the storyline extremely tight and focused, even simple compared with todays cop dramas. Becuase of hat, it might not be as 'exciting' as expected. The film includes the classic 'car chase' which is loud, quick, dangerous and intelligent but, again, might not be as 'exciting' as stuff that we have seen since. It's nice to see this BEST PICTURE get the complete DVD treatment even if the commentary is less than stellar and teh deleted scenes are best for one thing - deletion. Otherwise it gets a great DVD transfer. THE FRENCH CONNECTION II is also included in this nice set. A nice sequel, following suit with its questionable ethics and somewhat unlikable lead character (this time he gets strung out on heroin). Much of the film is derivitive of its predecessor but thats okay, not a bad film to reincorporate. Followed by a couple un-official sequels as well, THE SEVEN-UPS and BADGE 373.
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