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Movies / On DVD / The French Connection II
The French Connection II

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The French Connection II (1975)

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Reviews Counted:20

Fresh:16

Rotten:4

Average Rating:6.7/10

Runtime: 1 hr 59 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

Synopsis: Gene Hackman stars as hard-boiled New York narcotics cop Popeye Doyle in the sequel to the Oscar-winning FRENCH CONNECTION. Still on the trail of heroin kingpin Charnier (Fernando Rey), whom he's... Gene Hackman stars as hard-boiled New York narcotics cop Popeye Doyle in the sequel to the Oscar-winning FRENCH CONNECTION. Still on the trail of heroin kingpin Charnier (Fernando Rey), whom he's dubbed Frog One, Doyle heads for Marseilles. On arrival, his aggressive ugly-American persona alienates French inspector Barthelmy (Bernard Fresson), and his limited ability to speak French doesn't help. Frustrated by Barthelmy's lack of progress, he slips his assigned police protection and goes looking for Frog One on his own. He's soon captured by Charnier's minions, who lock him in a fleabag hotel and shoot him up repeatedly with free samples of their product until Doyle is completely addicted. Charnier uses the detective's narcotized state to interrogate him and is surprised to find that he's virtually ignorant about his operation. The disdainful Charnier has him dumped in front of police headquarters, and Barthemy arranges for him to be put in isolation. Doyle undergoes the lengthy, grueling ordeal of quitting heroin cold turkey while his desperation to capture Charnier builds inside him. Hackman's brilliant performance highlights this somewhat overlooked sequel; Claude Renoir's camera fully captures the squalor of the milieu, and Frankenheimer engineers a harrowing final chase. [More]

Starring: Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Bernard Fresson, Cathleen Nesbitt

Starring: Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Bernard Fresson, Cathleen Nesbitt

Director: John Frankenheimer

Director: John Frankenheimer
Screenwriter: Alexander Jacobs, Robert Dillon, Laurie Dillon
Producer: Robert L. Rosen
Composer: Don Ellis

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Feb 24, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Gene Hackman returns in his Oscar award-winning role as the hard-hitting detective Popeye Doyle. Doyle travels to Marseilles in pursuit of the heroin dealers who he hit, but failed to kill in New York. In the south of France, he is kidnapped by the dealers and forced to become as addict in captivity. But Popeye is too tough to be beaten and when he is finally set free, he quits the junk cold turkey and undergoes an agonizing withdrawal. After he comes clean, he goes after his enemy Charnier, the heroin dealing king pin, played by Fernando Rey. He burns down the hotel where he was held hostage, survives a shootout and finally does away with his enemies once and for all. With its tension-filled action, inspired chases, inexhaustible excitement and Hackman's superb performance, French Connection ll is every bit as good, if not better, than the original.
  • Source: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
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    Reviews for The French Connection II

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    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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    may wrap up the story the original began, but it just doesn't have the same magic

    Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment 1 Comment
    04/01/09
    Christopher Null
    Christopher Null
    Filmcritic.com
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
    03/26/09
    Variety
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    The last ten minutes are the best thing about it (that final shot is one of the best of the '70s), and it's no coincidence that in this ten minutes Frankenheimer returns to his technician passions.

    Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
    03/24/09
    Walter Chaw
    Walter Chaw
    Film Freak Central

    While it certainly is a couple of notches below its action classic original, French Connection II is still a darned good action film that maintains the core of its central character and has some added layers that are genuinely disturbing.

    Full Review Source: Movie Views | comment Comment
    03/14/09
    Ryan Cracknell
    Ryan Cracknell
    Movie Views

    you can't help but feel a sense of disillusionment ... because the finality of it is so harsh and so sudden that it draws your attention less to the idea of justice served than it does to the brute simplicity of violent retribution and the ultimately cycl

    Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
    03/11/09
    James Kendrick
    James Kendrick
    Q Network Film Desk

    If you take away comparisons with the original, it's a reasonably solid, if flawed, crime thriller; but it does shrink into the shadow cast by its vastly superior predecessor.

    Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
    02/23/09
    Brian Webster
    Brian Webster
    Apollo Guide

    More conventional than its predecessor, but it's still unconventional by the cop thriller standard set by a wash of anonymous, lesser films. [Blu-ray]

    Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
    02/22/09
    Peter Canavese
    Peter Canavese
    Groucho Reviews

    Nearly as high powered and gritty as the first 'Connection.'

    comment Comment
    07/02/07
    Steve Crum
    Steve Crum
    Video-Reviewmaster.com
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
    01/26/06
    Time Out
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    10/14/05
    Michael Szymanski
    Michael Szymanski
    Zap2it.com

    No review available.

    comment 1 Comment
    07/23/05
    Emanuel Levy
    Emanuel Levy
    EmanuelLevy.Com
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
    05/09/05
    Vincent Canby
    Vincent Canby
    New York Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    03/28/05
    Jules Brenner
    Jules Brenner
    Cinema Signals

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    11/18/04
    Randy Shulman
    Randy Shulman
    Metro Weekly (Washington, DC)

    John Frankenheimer's ("The Manchurian Candidate") version outshines William Friedkin's 1971 original.

    Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
    11/12/04
    Dennis Schwartz
    Dennis Schwartz
    Ozus' World Movie Reviews

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
    10/23/04
    Roger Ebert
    Roger Ebert
    Chicago Sun-Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    A classic with a terrifid car chase

    comment Comment
    09/26/04
    Tony Medley
    Tony Medley
    Tolucan Times

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    08/22/03
    Carol Cling
    Carol Cling
    Las Vegas Review-Journal

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    08/04/03
    James O'Ehley
    James O'Ehley
    Sci-Fi Movie Page
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
    05/24/03
    Channel 4 Film
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic
     
     
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