Rating: 
Summary: The Best Cop Movie Ever, Period
Review: As a native New Yorker it's easy to pick out flaws in movies about New York. It might be a shot of some homeless guy asleep in a doorway and he's got a brand new shoe shine...or something equally out of sync. That's not the case with this baby. The shots of New York, the dialog between Popeye Dolye and partner Sonny Garraso, the general feel of the late night haunts of Manhattan, all ring so picture-perfect. This has got to be the absolute best cop movie of all time. As a side note, I met a guy whose father was involved in the real life FC affair. He eventually did eight years at Denamoura, an upstate New York correctional facility. Although he sited some obvious inaccuracies with the real life events, he did agree that the movie excelled in portaying the overall story with tremendous authenticity and great atmosphere. And if all this were not enough, what about that car chase to end all car chases? Watch it with the sound turned all the way up and hold on to your seat. You may want to buckle-up, just in case!
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest connection
Review: The French connection i'll have to say is one of my all time favorite movies. Great acting, Great story, Great script, Great cast and crew...and One hell of a movie. You know I watsh this great movie over and over again and discover myself stunned to death that Hackman, not a well known acter at the time put on this fabulous preformance. Infact I take back my five star review,and give a six star review whoever disagrees is not a real man.
Rating:
Summary: OUTSTANDING!!!!
Review: This is the BEST DVD I've seen so far. Everything from the package to the extras was done with care! I first saw the French Connection while still in high school in the mid 80's and was hooked. It is in my opinion the FINEST COP MOVIE ever made. It also is a wonderful snapshot of the early 70's.
I'm amazed at the picture quality! I have a recent vhs version and there is no comparison. In the vhs version, what looked like a sun drenched morning shot is now a bitter cold evening shot. That is how yellow the vhs looks. I had no idea the film had deteriorated so badly. It's like seeing the movie for the first time. The sound is excellent as well. The singing by the Three Degrees at the begining of the film sounds less like a dubbed track and more like a live performance.
The extras are outstanding! Friedkin's commentary is the best I've heard so far. Genuinely informative comments about the making of the film that add a great deal. The bulk of the cut scenes are pretty bad but nonetheless great to see. The documentaries are also among the best I've seen. There is a scene of Sonny Grosso and Tony Lo Bianco walking by some of the "scenes of the crimes" that is really nice to see. It's great to hear what went into the making of the chase scene. They also explain the "pick your feet" comment! (Finally!) Hackman & Scheider's commentary is brief and could have been more scene specific but is very enjoyable.
This isn't a special effects, explosion filled crime movie. This is a carefully constructed film that takes you into the lives of two New York cops. They simply don't make movies like this anymore! The documentary quality adds so much. The direction, the camera work, the acting, & the dialogue are all excellent! I CAN'T GIVE THIS MOVIE OR THE DVD A HIGH ENOUGH RATING! Get it and enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent DVD of a great film
Review: No need to say much about this film, it is a classic with superb performances and an excellent script. The cast are all spot-on, with Gene Hackman (one of my favourite actors) fully deserving his Best Actor Oscar. The 2 DVD set includes 2 documentaries, one 'The Poughkeepsie Shuffle' made by the BBC, and the other I think specially for the DVD release. Both occasionally overlap in content of course, but are definitely worth watching. They include interviews with Hackman , Roy Scheider and William Friedkin, and with the two NYPD cops on whose exploits the film is based. The DVD transfer is very fine for a 30 year old film. Don't worry about the atrocious grain (which almost amounts to pixellation) in the opening shot of Marseille's skyline. The rest of the film enjoys an excellent anamorphic transfer, with only slight grain visible in a few night scenes. This transfer is well up to the standard of the best DVDs of similar period films. The soundtrack is also excellent.
Rating:
Summary: A classic, influential film gets a wonderful DVD treatment
Review: This is one of my favorite films and probably the best cop movie ever made, in my opinion. Finally, the film is available on DVD, and the "Five Star Collection" gives this classic the treatment it deserves. I've heard complaints that the picture is still a bit on the grainy side, but I feel that's the way it was filmed. Director William Friedkin was going for a gritty, almost documentary-style feel for this film, and it's appropriate. It's certainly watchable and of the highest quality ever for this film. The commentary by William Friedkin is very interesting and insightful, particularly to fans of the film. I wasn't too crazy about the times when he would explain exactly what's happening in a particular scene...it seemed a bit condescending. Yes, William, we KNOW there's a drug deal going down. We want the behind-the-scenes stories and that kind of stuff. Still, a very good commentary overall. Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider give interesting commentaries as well, but they don't seem to be "scene specific"...just casually relating stories of how they came to be involved in the picture and stuff like that. The extras are fantastic, including deleted scenes with commentary by Friedkin and TWO documentaries, one produced by the BBC that revisits locales and talks with many of those involved. You'll find out basically everything you want to know about the film, and then some. As far as the film itself...if you haven't seen it yet, rent it and see what the fuss is all about. Gene Hackman fully deserved his Best Actor Oscar portraying narcotics detective Popeye Doyle, whose hunch about some thugs in a local night club lead to he and his buddy Cloudy (the marvelous Roy Scheider) tailing them, leading to a transatlantic drug bust of enormous proportions. The film basically laid the blueprint for the buddy cop movie, but it's never been done so well as it is here.
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST DVD PACKAGE EVER!!!
Review: I previously reviewed the movie. Now I'll review this DVD. I have seen all of them: Terminator 2, Seven, Independence Day. This DVD tops any out there! There has been a lot of work and care on this package. The result is a delight! First the commentary is terrific. I am listening to it right now as I watch it. Friedkin is a great commentator. Unlike other directors who talk about trivial items while the movie is running, Friedkin describes every scene and how it was created. He reveals many surprises as he talks about the movie, such as the classic chase scene. Many of the crashes were actually mistakes and many of the cars in the chase were not involved with the filming. They just happened to be there. The other interesting aspect of the commentary is the revelation of what action scenes were made for the movie and what ones were fact. Many of the scenes which appear farfetched actually did happen. The documentaries are terrific, also. I especially like the sequences where some of the surviving actors go back and walk around the locations where the scenes were filmed. There's a terrific sequence where Sonny Grosso (the narrator) goes back to the actual subway where the car chase took place and describes it, pointing at locations, and even acting out the final gundown at the stairway. Other locations are looked at also (such as the hotel the villians stay in).
Much is revealed about the making of the movie, such as Hackman wanting to quit after the first day. Even the deleted scenes are entertaining. Unlike most special DVD scenes, these ones reveal a lot about the characters. Friedkin explains each scene and also why he deleted them. This is just how a DVD should be made! Movie directors should use Friedkin as a model on how to give great commentary. DVD producers should look at this one as the definitive DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Weak Transfer, Excellent Supplements
Review: There are few films that everyone should own, and The French Connection is one of them. After 30 years, it remains one of the most compelling crime stories ever committed to film, and it's centerpiece car chase is just as thrilling today as it was 30 years ago. It's a bit of a shame that the transfer isn't quite up to snuff. Like other "gritty" films, the transfer suffers from extensive film grain in daytime shots, with the early scenes in France particularly bothersome. Given the advances in DVD authoring, it's surprising to see something with Matrix-level graininess on the market, but this is a quibble that only videophiles will notice. As for supplements, this disc offers some of the year's best. Two extensive documentaries featuring interviews with many of the surviving members of the cast and crew delve into the true story behind the film and the nature of the production. The BBC-produced "Poughkeepsie Shuffle" even revisits the locations as they appear today, offering a nice contrast between New York City then and now. As an added bonus, there are seven deleted scenes--remarkable for a film of this age--which can be viewed with or without an introduction from director Friedkin. The French Connection isn't a kid's film by any standard, but it should be noted that the deleted scenes and the BBC doc both contain language and images that parents probably don't want their young children to see or hear. This isn't one of those "soft" R-rated pictures that would pass for PG today. If you love this film, you need this DVD. If you've never seen this film, you still need this DVD, so that you can experience a masterwork of American cinema with lasting power. Who knew Gene Hackman could be a tough guy?
Rating:
Summary: Many have tried, but none have successfully duplicated it.
Review: I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to the DVD-release of this terrific film. Anyone who appreciates gritty, police dramas such as Hill Street Blues and NYPD can thank director William Friedkin, who set the standard with this movie. Two years later the same director made the stuffy Academy members start taking the Horror genre seriously with his release of The Exorcist. And Friedkin was way ahead of his time with the 1970 gay- themed The Boys in the Band. The man is quite a trendsetter, not to mention a damn fine director. Gene Hackman, one of the finest, most versatile actors around, gives the performance of his career as the impulsive, almost maniacal, Popeye Doyle. Hackman's "balls-out" performance earned him the Academy Award for best actor. Incidentally, it is the tenacity of his character which adds to the rush of the famous car/el-train chase. No one is going to take a pop at this guy and just slink away! And what about the chase-scene? Some, including myself, feel that this is the best one ever on film. Others say it was done better in The Road Warrior; or Bullitt; or Raiders of the Lost Ark; or The Seven-Ups. ( Ronin is mentioned also, but I have never seen it.) These movies all had great chases, but they were shot either in the desert (Road Warrior and Raiders) or largely in the open road (Bullitt and Seven-Ups). In The French Connection, however, the pursuit takes place in a crowded Brooklyn commuter hub. And appropriately so, as the film is all about the grit of the big city. Working within this challenging setting, editor Jerry Greenberg does a tremendous job of maintaining the continuity of a rather lengthy sequence of high-speed events. There is more that can be said about this great movie, but I'll leave it at this: Unlike a previous reviewer, I have no trouble discerning how this film earned its five Oscars.
Rating:
Summary: Second best movie of 1971 (best is A Clockwork Orange)
Review: This is a great movie and it's finally going to be released on DVD. People who love movies will love this one. I believe that this, behind The Conversation, is Hackman's best performance. It's filled with great action sequeneces most notibly the car chase under the train. Everything is right about this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: An okay film, but...
Review: ...why did William Friedkin earn an Oscar for this film and not The Exorcist? The Exorcist is better directed than this film, I must say. Anyway, this film stars Gene Hackman (God, he's in a lot of movies). It was released in 1971 and I think it won best picture. Did it? I'm not sure...anyway, rent it if you like car-chase movies.
| 
