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Release Date: February 24th, 2009 Movie Release Year: 1975

French Connection II

Overview -
OVERALL:
Rating Breakdown
STORY
VIDEO
AUDIO
SPECIAL FEATURES
Tech Specs & Release Details
Technical Specs:
Region A
Video Resolution/Codec:
1080p/AVC MPEG-4
Length:
119
Aspect Ratio(s):
1.85:1
Audio Formats:
Spanish Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono
Subtitles/Captions:
Mandarin Subtitles
Special Features:
Still Galleries
Release Date:
February 24th, 2009

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

Ranking:

Let's be very clear about this: 'The French Connection' was a great movie that in no way called for or left itself open to a sequel. After the picture made a lot of money, won a lot of Oscars, and shot Gene Hackman to stardom, somebody at the studio thought it would be a swell idea to cash in on that. Thus, 1975 brought us the imaginatively titled 'French Connection II', in which NYC narcotics detective Popeye Doyle travels to Marseilles to hunt down "Frog No. 1," the drug smuggler who eluded him during the wrenching anticlimax that closed the first movie. We just can't let our hero go without closure, can we?

Original director William Friedkin was either too busy or had the good sense to stay away, so the normally-reliable John Frankenheimer was brought in to replace him. Whereas the first movie was at least loosely based on a true story, the sequel throws away any such pretenses for a purely fictional follow-up. In this one, the racist Doyle clashes with local French police and wanders around incompetently searching for his prey in an unfamiliar land. Eventually, he's kidnapped by the villain Charnier (Fernando Rey, the only other actor to return from the first film), drugged up, and turned into a heroin junkie, just like those he used to abuse.

No doubt it's this middle portion of the movie that interested Hackman the most. Doyle's painful attempts to detox provide a grand acting showcase, and legitimately bring a little depth to this otherwise two-dimensional character. Soon enough, Doyle is back on the case, blowing away any Frenchies that get in the way of his sweet retribution.

Judged strictly on its own terms, 'French Connection II' is a vaguely competent international thriller set in some scenic French coastal locations. As a sequel to 'The French Connection', it's frankly terrible. Gone is all of the gritty authenticity of the original film, replaced with stagy studio sets and merely workmanlike direction from Frankenheimer. The poor script is padded and dull. Almost every scene runs on far too long. The movie just plods along, with no tension whatsoever, even during the few blandly-staged action scenes. There's a lengthy foot chase that's meant to serve as an ironic analogue for the original's brilliant car chase, but even that is only moderately exciting.

Honestly, if not for all the foul language, this looks and feels like a bad TV movie. 'French Connection II' is one pointless sequel that never should have been made.

The Blu-ray: Vital Disc Stats

'French Connection II' comes to Blu-ray from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, released simultaneously with its predecessor 'The French Connection'. The disc is Java-enabled and extremely slow to load in a standalone Blu-ray player. Even the Sony Playstation 3 (usually one of the fastest-loading Blu-ray players) slows to a crawl with this one.

Video Review

Ranking:

If nothing else, I suppose we should be grateful that William Friedkin had nothing to do with the production of 'French Connection II', and thus had no excuse to impose his ridiculous revisionist color timing changes onto the sequel as he did for the original. The Blu-ray provides 'French Connection II' with a fairly straightforward, mostly faithful transfer.

The opening scene had me worried. The picture starts off very soft and dull, but that may be a problem inherent to the photography. Almost immediately afterwards, the image pops into focus. For the most part, the 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 transfer (presented in its 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio) is bright and clean, with a minimal amount of grain. The movie has a bland photographic style, but detail is well represented throughout.

The colors look a little oversaturated, especially reds. A background extra wearing red pants early in the movie practically glows. Blood also tends to look really fake. With that said, flesh tones look normal, and the majority of colors are certainly more natural than the abominable transfer afforded to the original 'French Connection' Blu-ray.

Audio Review

Ranking:

Like the first movie, the monaural soundtrack for 'French Connection II' has also been remixed into DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround. However, it's clear that the studio didn't put nearly as much work into this one. The track still sounds mostly mono. It has constrained fidelity, dull explosions, and weak gunshots. The music sounds to have been merely processed into fake stereo, rather than remastered from the original recording elements, and comes across stridently.

The original mono mix has also been provided in Dolby Digital 1.0, but I can't say that it sounds any better.

Special Features

Ranking:

'French Connection II' was previously released on DVD back in 2001 as part of the 'French Connection Collection' box set. The Blu-ray retains all of the bonus features from that disc.

  • Commentary by John Frankenheimer – Recorded about a year before his death, in this commentary the director admits to being intimidated by the prospect of making a sequel. He explains why he agreed, praises Hackman continually, and provides a technical breakdown of each scene.
  • Commentary by Gene Hackman and Producer Robert Rosen – At times, this strangely-edited track sounds like the actor and producer were recorded together. However, they have very little interaction, and Rosen frequently refers to Hackman in the third person, as if he weren't there. In any case, Rosen does almost all of the talking about the film's troubled production.
  • Theatrical Trailers (HD, 6 min.) – The trailer for 'French Connection II' describes it as "The only film that could follow The French Connection." In that it was the only film to follow 'The French Connection', I guess there's a certain sort of logic to that. The Blu-ray offers the same trailer with English, Spanish, or Portuguese narration. Also hidden in the "Fox on Blu-ray" section of the disc is a trailer for the first 'French Connection' with its original color scheme.
  • Still Galleries – A collection of stills related to wardrobe and storyboards.

HD Bonus Content: Any Exclusive Goodies in There?

In addition to the above, Fox has added a few exclusive supplements to the Blu-ray.

  • Frankenheimer: In Focus (HD, 25 min.) – A fascinating profile of the very prolific director, from the start of his career directing live television through to his final films. William Friedkin, Bruce Dern, and other collaborators offer testimonials.
  • A Conversation with Gene Hackman (HD, 7 min.) – In this interview, the actor discusses his performance during the withdrawal scene and admits to liking the movie, even though he acknowledges that it doesn't compare favorably to the original.
  • Isolated Score – The score by Don Ellis is isolated in lossless DTS-HD Master Audio.
  • D-Box Motion Code – Viewers with D-Box equipped furniture can load the disc into a PC drive to synchronize the shaking and jostling movements with the action on screen. The codes are also available for download from D-Box directly if you don't have a Blu-ray drive in your computer. Considering how little sonic excitement there is in 'French Connection II', I can't imagine this being very useful.

'French Connection II' is a needless sequel that doesn't hold a candle to the original 'French Connection'. The Blu-ray does look pretty good, though, and has a smattering of fairly interesting bonus features. Fans of the original film who just can't live without seeing what happens to Popeye Doyle will want to give this one a rent. Just keep your expectations in check.