John Frankenheimer's much maligned sequel, 'French Connection II' (1975), gets released on Blu-ray alongside its classic predecessor and dang it all, I guess I'm one of the few, but I found it to be an entertaining, smart and effective follow-up.
Certainly not perfect and it's unquestionably clunky compared to Billy Friedkin’s critical and commercial smash entry from four years earlier but considering sequels weren't exactly common in the seventies, I think the filmmakers got a lot right here by keeping the focus on Popeye Doyle but taking him out of his comfort zone i.e. New York and upping his curmudgeon ante by placing him in dreaded Marseilles (in his mind anyway).
Remember, this was decades before that became a convention (what to do with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker for 'Rush Hour 3'? Send 'em to Paris!) and it gives us some intriguing new surroundings and an excuse for Doyle to spread his racist, but ultimately benign, vitriol to every poor Frenchman who comes within spitting distance.
The story essentially picks up where the real-life story picked up which is Eddie Egan i.e. Popeye Doyle heading to France in attempt to extradite his nemesis Jean Jehan i.e. Fernando Rey's character Charnier. In real life, Egan headed home with hands empty-handed where the film decides to go a different route.
So Doyle (Hackman) arrives in Marseilles to track down escape artist/heroin smuggler Fernando Rey and immediately becomes suspicious of everybody around him including, maybe not unreasonably, a cab driver. With the NYPD setting him up with the local police department, the Marseilles PD are none too happy to have a racist American among their ranks chasing their own.
These early scenes are mostly Doyle looking sideways at every Frenchman around him including French detective Barthélémy (Bernard Fresson) who is the closet thing to Roy Scheider in this movie.
Complaints on the film generally refer to this meandering first hour where not much happens but it flowed well enough for me on the sheer talent of Hackman and some fine scenes including Doyle's desperate attempt at any sort of ‘connection’ in this foreign city including some young French chicks who offer up nothing but giggles and a bartender who does take to him after several bought drinks.
Charnier's men eventually come smart to him and kidnap him and then shoot him full of heroin and keep him captive and on drugs for weeks hoping he'll give up some info. Eventually letting him go, they shove out of a moving car where Barthélémy locks him up in a cell and forces him into detox.
There are some great scenes here with Hackman at the top of his game and probably a first for seeing a protagonist cop spew hatred and beg for heroin.
The third act which finds Doyle successfully detoxed and ready to go after Charnier with a new verve contains the film's few action sequences, the highlight being shoot-out in a massive dry-dock that Charneir's thugs flood.
Granted, the action may not be handled as well as it could, particularly considering that direction was from Frankenheimer who has given us some outstanding action sequences a la 'Ronin', but as a whole, the film mostly worked for me in large part due to Hackman’s continued excellent perf.
The 1080p 1.78:1 transfer looks quite good with detail and color considerably better than the old DVD release. There is also a minimum of grain here which makes the film standout compared to the original 'French Connection' which Friedkin halfway molested. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is fine if representative of the time period.
Special Features include an audio commentary from John Frankenheimer and a second one from Hackman and producer Robert Rosen which was carried over from the '01 DVD release. Both are quite good with the former maybe being more of interest with Frankenheimer's passing in ‘02.
New is a great half-hour featurette 'Frankenheimer: In Focus' which details the filmmaker and his work from television to 'The Manchurian Candidate' and 'The Train' to 'Black Sunday'. 'Conversation with Gene Hackman' gets his positive thoughts on the film with trailers and a still gallery rounding things out. All in all, this is not a bad package of supplements considering the film's reputation as a failure.
Ultimately, I liked the movie quite a bit due to Hackman's strong presence and a unique locale. While it may not stack up to 'The Godfather Part II' as sequels go, it's more literate than you might think and with fine high-def video and audio and some cool new special features, this comes recommended.
French Connection II is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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