French Connection

UPC: 024543529897

Studio: 20th Century Fox

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Violence, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language, Substance Abuse]

Summary: This gritty, fast-paced, and innovative police drama earned five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay (written by Ernest Tidyman), and Best Actor (Gene Hackman). Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Hackman) and his partner, Buddy Russo (Roy Scheider), are New York City police detectives on narcotics detail, trying to track down the source of heroin from Europe into the United States. Suave Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey) is the French drug kingpin who provides a large percentage of New York City's dope, and Pierre Nicoli (Marcel Bozzuffi) is a hired killer and Charnier's right-hand man. Acting on a hunch, Popeye and Buddy start tailing Sal Boca (Tony Lo Bianco) and his wife, Angie (Arlene Faber), who live pretty high for a couple whose corner store brings in about 7,000 dollars a year. It turns out Popeye's suspicions are right -- Sal and Angie are the New York agents for Charnier, who will be smuggling 32 million dollars' worth of heroin into the city in a car shipped over from France. The French Connection broke plenty of new ground for screen thrillers; Popeye Doyle was a highly unusual "hero," an often violent, racist, and mean-spirited cop whose dedication to his job fell just short of dangerous obsession. The film's high point, a high-speed car chase with Popeye tailing an elevated train, was one of the most viscerally exciting screen moments of its day and set the stage for dozens of action sequences to follow. And the film's grimy realism (and downbeat ending) was a big change from the buff-and-shine gloss and good-guys-always-win heroics of most police dramas that preceded it. The French Connection was inspired by a true story, and Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso, Popeye and Buddy's real life counterparts, both have small roles in the film. A sequel followed four years later. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Category: Crime

Awards: Best Actor – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Picture – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Editing – British Academy of Film and Television Arts 100 Greatest American Movies – American Film Institute Best Picture - Drama – null Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama – null Best Director – null Best Screenplay – null Best Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Adapted Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Cinematography – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Director – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Editing – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Sound – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Sound – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – National Board of Review Best Actor – National Board of Review Best Actor – New York Film Critics Circle Best Supporting Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Screenplay – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Director – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Director – Directors Guild of America Best Screenplay – Edgar Allan Poe Awards

Features: cc

Disc 1

William Friedkin Introduction to The French Connection

Commentary by William Friedkin
Commentary by Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider
Trivia Track
Isolated Score Track
Enhanced for D-Box Motion Control Systems

Disc 2

Deleted Scenes
Anatomy of a Chase
Hackman on Doyle
Friedkin and Grosso Remember the Real French Connection
Scene of the Crime
Color Timing The French Connection
Cop Jazz: The Music of Don Ellis
Rogue Cop: The Noir Connection
BBC Documentary: The Poughkeepsie Shuffle
Making the Connection: The Untold Stories of The French Connection

French Connection

Format: Blu-ray

Release Date: 02/24/2009

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: DD1 Dolby Digital Mono, DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo, DTS Digital Theater Systems

Runtime: 104 Minutes

Sides: 2

Number of Discs: 2

Language(s) English,French,Spanish

Subtitles: English,Spanish

Richard Gilliam

The French Connection became the blueprint for many action films that followed and, as such, is regarded among the most influential films of its era. Oscar winner Gene Hackman plays the prototype psycho cop, overly dedicated to results even when it means disregarding public safety and common sense. His partner (Roy Scheider) is the good cop counterpart, and they are constantly at war with each other, with the bad guys, or, more commonly, both. Unlike Lethal Weapon and other films it influenced, The French Connection has more street realism and a generally unhappy ending. The dialogue is intelligent, and the film features one of the most riveting automobile chase scenes of its era, rivaled only by the legendary stunt work in Vanishing Point. Overall, the film captured five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director (William Friedkin). ~ Richard Gilliam, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Irving Abrahams  Actor 
Al Fann  Actor 
Ann Rebbot  Actor 
Sonny Grosso  Actor 
Bill Hickman  Actor 
Alan Weeks  Actor 
Andre Emotte  Actor 
Patrick McDermott  Actor 
Randy Jurgensen  Actor 
Harold Gary  Actor 
Arlene Faber  Actor 
Maureen Mooney  Actor 
William Coke  Actor 
The Three Degrees  Actor 
Eddie Egan  Actor 
Ben Marino  Actor 
Robert Weil  Actor 
Phil D'Antoni  Producer 
William Friedkin  Director 
Don Ellis  Composer (Music Score) 
Ernest Tidyman  Screenwriter 
G. David Schine  Executive Producer 
Gene Hackman  Actor 
Fernando Rey  Actor 
Roy Scheider  Actor 
Tony Lo Bianco  Actor 
Marcel Bozzuffi  Actor 
Frederic de Pasquale  Actor 

Country: USA