The French Connection (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) | 
| Director: William Friedkin
Actors: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey, Tony Lo Bianco, Marcel Bozzuffi
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $9.00
You Save: $10.98 (55%)
New (45) Used (16) from $6.86
Rating:  126 reviews
Sales Rank: 23149
Format: Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, Dvd, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 2
Running Time: 104 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.2 x 5.4 x 0.7
MPN: 2232583
UPC: 024543225812
EAN: 0024543225812
ASIN: B000BZIST4
Theatrical Release Date: October 9, 1971
Release Date: February 7, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Movie DVD
Amazon.com essential video
William Friedkin's classic policier was propelled to box-office glory, and a fistful of Oscars, in 1972 by its pedal-to-the-metal filmmaking and fashionably cynical attitude toward law enforcement. Gene Hackman's Popeye Doyle, a brutally pushy New York City narcotics detective, is a dauntless crime fighter and Vietnam-era "pig," a reckless vulgarian whose antics get innocent people killed. Loosely based upon an actual investigation that led to what was then the biggest heroin seizure in U.S. history, the picture traces the efforts of Doyle and his partner (Roy Scheider) to close the pipeline pumping Middle Eastern smack into the States through the French port of Marseilles. (The actual French Connection cops, Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso, make cameo appearances.) It was widely recognized at the time that Friedkin had lifted a lot of his high-strung technique from the Costa-Gavras thrillers The Sleeping Car Murders and Z--he even imported one of Costa-Gavras's favorite thugs, Marcel Bozzuffi, to play the Euro-trash hit man plugged by Doyle in an elevated train station. There was an impressive official sequel in 1975, French Connection II, directed by John Frankenheimer, which took Popeye to the south of France and got him hooked on horse. A couple of semi-official spinoffs followed, The Seven-Ups, which elevated Scheider to the leading role, and Badge 373, with Robert Duvall stepping in as the pugnacious flatfoot. --David Chute
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| Customer Reviews: Read 121 more reviews...
william friedkin is still dining out on this film June 20, 2009
Michael Giltz
This is really a great and gritty film, about the only one by William Friedkin that I truly care about. It looks just smashing on BluRay and comes with a bevy of extras worthy of a classic. Heck, just the chance to see New York City in the early Seventies make this riveting, never mind the headlong chase after a drug smuggling operation by the incomparable Gene Hackman. But it's $20 more expensive than the regular DVD and on sale at Amazon the difference is even worse: $23 versus $8, which is almost three times as much. If you don't own it yet, it's so good this might be worth the extra cost. But boy that's a big price jump. Visit me at michaelgiltz dot com.
 Hackman's French Connection June 10, 2009
John (Alexandria, VA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
A must have DVD. Classic movie, classic Hackman, best car chase ever filmed. The French Connection
Bonus features are tip top. May 5, 2009
badgersandman (Iron Mountain , Michigan)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The bonus features are excellent!!! It's hard to believe this movie almost didn't get made. As for the actual movie blue ray continues to rock.
classic movie on blu ray April 12, 2009
Salvatore V. Marceca (brooklyn n.y.)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Good to see this masterpiece of a movie available on blu ray. The extra disc was great. the movie takes place where I grew up in Brooklyn. Gene Hackman is my favorite actor.
 excellent movie, poor image quality April 4, 2009
Richard R. Pace (Long Beach, CA United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The French Connection was and remains an immensely entertaining cops and drug smugglers film. The movie is probably best remembered for Gene Hackman's manic car chase, during which Hackman appears to be oblivious to both his own safety and that of the citizens of the densely populated city he is sworn to protect. However spectacular that scene may have been, it was far down the list of the film's best moments. These come, ironically, in the slower scenes, such as the unauthorized stakeout during which Popeye and his partner doggedly pursue evidence against a suspected small time drug dealer. All in all, the film is an excellent portrayal of the gritty, dirty world of drug law enforcement.
That's the good news. The bad news is that the print quality of the blu-ray disk is virtually indistinguishable in most scenes from a standard definition DVD. Worse, in some places (Particularly the night and low light scenes)the added definition of blu-ray actually seems to emphasize the graininess and soft focus of the film. In short it's a great movie but an inferior blu-ray product.
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