French Connection II (1975) User Reviews

"I'd rather be a lamp-post in New York then the President of France"

[LeonLouisRicci · 8/10 · 13 August 2013]

John Frankenheimer may be the best Director that modern Movie Lovers have never heard of. He was always ahead of His time and never compromising. This Movie is surely uncompromising. It took a well known Best Actor Performance from a Best Picture Winner and the Character, Popeye Doyle, and stripped Him of the already barely likable persona of a tough, one dimensional Cop and laid Him open for all to see. It was not a pretty picture.

Neither is French Connection II. It will have you squirming and the Second Act detox is not for anyone with expectation of a slick Action Movie. This is a gritty, dirty, unpleasant Character Study that is compelling Cinema, but not Viewer Friendly. It was taking that Seventies realism just one step further.

It has enough Action and energy to make it as a Thriller but it never lets you forget the painful pursuit of Doyle's obsession with removing H from the Street and the even deeper pain of removing it from your body. This makes this compelling and completely coarse Cinema that makes you pay the price for your Entertainment. Not the best Box-Office formula but it is the stuff of Artistic Angst.

Good sequel with excellent acting by Gene Hackman and splendid support cast

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 23 September 2005]

The movie concerns on Popeye Doyle (Gene Hackman), an unorthodox New York narcotics cop investigating the flow of drug that follows the trail of the French connection . He travels to Marsaille following the foreign connection and tries to track down the eluded evil Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey) , the smuggling ring chief , who escaped from N.Y.C. There , he joins forces to the French gendarmes (Bernard Fresson and Jean Pierre Castaldi , among others) to hunt down the ringleader . Then , Popeye getaways his French escorts and goes himself into action .

The picture is the follow-up to ¨French Connection¨(by William Friedkin) but didn't achieved the same success and was a flop at box office . However , being , nowadays , considered a very good film and highly rated . In the movie there is action , suspense , violence , intrigue and a little bit of humor in charge of Popeye Doyle , as he begins to find himself as a fish out of water in France and particularly on his relationships with the French people . The film develops a certain social critical to the French habits and there's specially a banter to the Police called Gendarmerie . The motion picture has action-packed but in the intervening period when the starring ends up being abducted by Alain Charnier's henchmen , it results to be a little bit boring , with overlong scenes ; besides , quite disagreeable as Popeye is injected heroin . Gene Hackman's interpretation as the rebel and nonconformist Popeye Doyle is top-notch as well as the previous film that's why he gained deservedly an Academy Award . Fernando Rey repeats perfectly his role as the elegant and cunning nasty and the secondary casting formed by French actors are very fine . The picture was stunningly directed by John Frankenheimer. Rating : Very good and well worth watching.

Enjoyable film

[Rmoore31 · 7/10 · 2 December 2006]

I am Robin Moore, the author of The French Connection. I was paid the film rights for The French Connection, was on the set during the filming and at the Oscars when the award was presented.

When I was writing the French Connection Sonny Grosso and Eddie Eagan came down to Jamaica to my Blue Lagoon. While they were there Barry Sadler and his wife, Lavonia, joined us. Barry and I had written The Ballad of The Green Berets a few years previously.

I enjoyed The French Connection II, however, I spent a lot of time trying to get paid, but never succeeded. Sad. After the French Connection II came out a lawyer in NY got me to sign the rights to The French Connection over to his law firm so I wouldn't be able to get any money from anything that came after The French Connection. We writers are always getting burnt by the film industry!

I last saw Sonny Grosso in NY a couple of years ago. I took the two emergency cops (the ones who raised the flag at The World Trade Centre) to meet Sonny and they gave him a copy of their DVD.

ROBIN MOORE...

Robin Moore...

Popeye in limbo

[manuel-pestalozzi · 5 August 2003]

This certainly must be the strangest of all sequels in motion picture history. The two main characters of French Connection I are still there, played by the same actors, Don Ellis composed another compelling musical score – but everything else has changed. The script is by someone else, the director is not a young experimentalist but an experienced and highly respected professional, the location is not New York but Marseilles, France for the whole duration of the movie. If you like FC I it is not at all certain you will like FC II, they did not use the same recipe (and I thought that's all the sequel business is about!). I, for my part, think this unusual kind of dealing with a sequel is fascinating. I like both FC I and FC II, but for entirely different reasons.

FC I is, as I see it, a situation. The actors, the events and their surroundings constitute a whole. Everything fits, that makes FC I a great movie. In FC II we meet Popeye Doyle in Marseilles. And from the first moment it becomes very clear: Popeye does NOT fit - and this is basically the story of FC II. A man finds himself on foreign ground, where all is incomprehensible, where every step is dangerous. Popeye is a fish out of the water, he nervously gasps for oxygen. All his contacts are French and Popeye can't figure them out, be they policemen or criminals or just common individuals.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

So FC II focuses on the person of Popeye Doyle (all alone, without his buddy "Cloudy"). At first sight one might think, knowing the story of FC I, that Doyle is on a personal vendetta. But no, he is in France on official business! His commission is to assist the French police in the capturing of drug kingpin Charnier as he is the only one able to identify him. Being under the command of some frog he can hardly understand, that's not to Popeyes taste. Soon he strikes out on his own. Charnier's men capture him, hold him in a dingy room somewhere in the old town for weeks and make him a heroin addict. He then is deposited at the stairs of the police commandature.

The French police take Popeye in, lock him in an underground cell and force him to go cold turkey. His contact in the French police monitors Popeye and stays close to him during that time, without really becoming his friend. The harrowing scenes during the "rehabilitation process" are probably Gene Hackman's best on screen performance (apparently much of it was improvised). The movie resembles here a stage play and is far from mainstream moviemaking.

The "rehabilitation" is a success, but Popeye is not the person he was before. Somehow the viewer gets the impression that he is a broken man (or maybe he has just become more mature?). The French police officer confirms Doyle's suspicion that his superiors in New York did not send him over to act but had an agreement with the French police to use him as a bait for Charnier – a mere puppet. So it becomes clear – more so than in FC I – that Popeye Doyle is nothing but a small cog in the big, incomprehensible system.

A Worthy Sequel

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 13 April 2016]

Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) travels to Marseilles to find Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey), the drug smuggler who eluded him in New York.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two and a half out of four stars and said that "if Frankenheimer and his screenplay don't do justice to the character (of Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle), they at least do justice to the genre, and this is better than most of the many cop movies that followed." Is this the classic the original was? Of course not. But you have to give them credit for trying, and not just passing it off as a weak sequel. They kept Hackman, they brought in a big director like Frankenheimer. This was not something just to make a few bucks. And while it may not be the same level of "classic", it still has what most viewers want: some action, some chase scenes... and a devious subplot of a drug cop getting hooked on heroin!

Very watchable but not in the same league as the previous one.

[alexanderdavies-99382 · 7/10 · 26 June 2017]

It is no surprise that a sequel to the masterpiece "The French Connection" was commissioned. After all, the 1971 film helped to define a much more realistic kind of Hollywood movie and is in a league of its own. Gene Hackman brought so much depth to the tough cop, Popeye Doyle. In the hands of a lesser actor, the character would have become one-dimensional. Released in 1975, "French Connection 2," is actually very good on its own terms. Naturally, Gene Hackman was brought back and so was Fernando Rey as the drug dealer who eluded capture in the previous film. Aside from actor Ed Lauter, every cast member in this sequel is French apart from Hackman. It made sense to have this 1975 film, seeing as there were a few loose ends from before. Being set and filmed in Marseilles, we see a more vulnerable side to Popeye Doyle. He doesn't know any area of France, he has never been to that particular country before, so his being on alien territory makes him a target in more ways than one. There are some good action scenes which keep the viewer interested but the film suffers from overlength. If the running time had been trimmed by about 15 minutes, then the narrative would have been stronger. This is no fault of the director, John Frankenheimer. He certainly deserves more recognition as he made some very good films. The drug addiction reference makes for rather uncomfortable viewing as we see first hand, Doyle's graphic and disturbing withdrawal symptoms. I can understand why this was included in "French Connection 2," as Fernando Rey is determined to rid himself of this cop who has been a thorn in his side from day 1. He will employ any means necessary to rid himself of his adversary. However, the drug addiction took up too much screen time. Regardless, it is testament to how tough Doyle is as his fighting spirit is still there. Surviving his ordeal, only makes him that more determined to catch his man. The French police with whom Doyle works, view him with a certain degree of suspicion and concern. After all, Doyle's reputation precedes him....... There isn't so much of the humour or camaraderie that is so evident in the previous film but one scene that is quite droll is as follows: when Gene Hackman goes to a bar and he can't make himself understood very well as his French is limited and the barmans English is even worse! Then after a few drinks together, they merrily walk the streets of Marseilles after the bar is closed. That was a good scene. This isn't a classic but worth viewing all the same. There were plans by "20th Century Fox" to produce a third "French Connection" film with Gene Hackman being paired with Richard Pryor as his new partner. It was scheduled for production for about 1979. That sounds interesting, a shame it didn't bear fruition.

"Nobody listens to me".

[lost-in-limbo · 7/10 · 20 March 2013]

Unnecessary you could say. However film-maker John Frankenheimer's follow-up to William Friedkin's 70s classic "The French Connection" is a gripping, gritty and powerful crime thriller that fittingly complements its predecessor thanks largely to Gene Hackman and Fernando Ray reprising their larger-than-life roles.

Where as the action took place in New York for the original, in the sequel it finds the hard-nosed New York detective Popeye Doyle in Marseilles on the trail of heroin French kingpin Alain Charnier who got away from Doyle's original New York bust. What occur are basic fish-out- water scenarios (lost in translation) during the opening stages for the foul-mouthed Doyle and he's even getting on the nerves of the local authorities he's working with (led by a prefect Bernard Fresson). But the story does go down a dark path when Doyle is kidnapped and forced into taking heroine in an attempt to find out what he knows. He becomes a junkie, where the local police find him and isolate him so he can go through cold-turkey withdrawals. Breaking the habit and learning the real truth why he was sent to Marseillies makes it real personal for Doyle, to the point of going beyond the law for payback. Here it becomes merciless and ugly. Watching the scenes involving the withdrawal is punishing even if it goes on for a little too long. What does it wonders is the barnstorming performance of Hackman, adding more personality and complexity to a signature grizzled character. Because he goes through a whole lot more. The story could have just repeated what had gone before it, but instead it's completely novel in its depiction of man's dangerous addiction to getting his man. The script is taut, but can be crude and enduring.

Director Frankenheimer's intimate styling gets up and personal giving it a realistic edge and plenty of local colour with a real sense of detail for the seedy side of things. The camera-work has a kinetic-like touch, capturing the exhausting action with creative POV shots. When it came to the action and surveillance set-pieces, they're pulsating and biting (namely the foot-chases) in its suspense with moments of red paint being splashed about. Some scenes probably could be tighter, but it never loses interest or impact.

"French Connection II" is straight-up a raw, hard-hitting sequel with an appropriate sudden ending.

"Look at my hat"!

Murder, My Sweet homage...

[poe426 · 6/10 · 13 October 2014]

THE FRENCH CONNECTION was good enough to stand alone- and not just because it was a great movie, but because the Real Life "Charnier," a war hero who helped the Resistance against the Nazis in World War II, was never held accountable for his drug dealing(s) by the French government. He got away with it. End of story. But, Hollywood being Hollywood, there had to be a sequel to such a successful movie- thus, FRENCH CONNECTION II. Despite the inevitable ending- which undercuts the irony of the original film's ending-, there IS a long, drawn out sequence that makes the whole thing worthwhile: Doyle's addiction and "rehabilitation." Unfortunately, even THIS sequence isn't original in its conception: it's a rehash (if you will) of a similar scene in MURDER, MY SWEET, wherein the hero, Marlowe, is kidnapped and hooked on drugs. He, too, undergoes painful withdrawal- but, for my money, it was done better in MURDER, MY SWEET than in FRENCH CONNECTION II. Not a complete waste of time, but a far cry from the original.

Superb sequel

[hecraig-36320 · 10/10 · 21 June 2016]

Only 2 sequels were any good in the 70's. The Godfather and The French Connection. French Connection 2 may have bombed at the box office but it's an absolute gem. Hackman is awesome. The scene where he burns down the drug house where he was held captive and turned into an addict is as satisfying as any cinematic experience I've ever had. The ending is perfect, too. As great as the first French Connection was - this one holds up better over time. Although the first one had Roy Scheider - another great actor who was the original pick to star in Apocalypse Now but had agreed to act in Jaws 2 - a stinker. Also checkout Scarecrow with Al Pacino and Hackman. Another one that few people saw but it's powerful as hell. That may have been Hackman's best performance ever - and Pacino was great, too.

Very impressive mid-'70s US crime thriller set in France

[mark-rojinsky · 7/10 · 10 June 2021]

Some critics think the sequel is much better than the first French Connection (1971). A New York Irish-American cop, 'Pop-eye' Doyle is a stranger in a strange land on a mission to target the drugs-lord Alain Charnier played by the dapper bearded Spanish-actor, Fernando Rey (The Light at the Edge of the World' (1971) and Antony and Cleopatra (1972)). The urban underbelly of the port of Marseille ca. '74-75 is captured well and the film shows the factory methods of heroin production, eccentric French police methods, the local shipping trade, evocative scenes of a French bar when an inebriated Doyle sporting a beige mac and a pork-pie hat orders a double creme-de-menthe and pickled eggs while ogling attractive young French girls. The cold turkey scene is evocative.

Puzzling

[chaswe-28402 · 5/10 · 21 May 2020]

As I see it a large number of unanswered questions arise in this account of Hackman's visit to Marseilles. The idea of Hackman acting as bait to locate Fernando Rey seemed faintly idiotic. After Hackman was captured by the bad guys what exactly was the point of them spending a lot of time turning him into a drug addict, and then dumping him back for the local police to look after ? Why was such a pointless extra long time spent on showing his cold turkey cure, and his sports fantasies ? Was this cure meant to last for three weeks or more ? What was the point of showing an old woman, who was nothing to do with the story, stealing his wrist watch ? Were all the people in the Hotel Tanger, or Colonnade, drug addicts ? Very little made sense --- or was I missing something ? After quite a lot of shooting, the whole scene was suddenly flooded by cascades of water. I had no idea where all that water came from, and the only point of it seemed to be to show how Hackman saved the life of the French cop. Then the French cop would be indebted to Hackman. For what reason ? It was all peculiar, and the only reason I might watch it again would be to try to figure it out. Somewhat like in the first film, Hackman ends up doing a fantastic amount of running, and then produces a stupendous long-distance pistol shot. He is often shown eating, and doesn't like Swiss chocolate. Don't know why.

Hackman is superb in this drug chasing sequel

[SimonJack · 8/10 · 8 January 2017]

This sequel to "The French Connection" of 1971 has the same hero, Popeye Doyle in pursuit of the drug lord who escaped at the end of the first film. While that one was based on a true story and a book, this sequel is total fiction. Gene Hackman's Popeye is driven to bring Alain Charnier (played by Fernando Rey) to justice.

I won't give away the plot of this R-rated film, but will say that Hackman was deserving of another Oscar nomination, at least. His portrayal of a man suffering through DTs and withdrawal from drugs is excellent. Very rarely have such things been shown in films over the years, and Hackman gives a superb performance.

As with the earlier film, this movie won't be for everyone. It's graphic, crude and crass in places. It's supposed to mirror the underworld and real world of the drug trafficking and the law enforcers who try to bring down the narcotics trafficking kings.

Gritty and hard boiled but oh, so many other things as well. Remarkably, not one for the squeamish nor for the ones frustrated by lacklustre plotting.

[johnnyboyz · 6/10 · 25 February 2008]

French Connection II is an odd beast; an animal that starts off as one thing, becomes something else and then ends in exactly the sort of manner you'd expect it to, only not as epic. There are times in French Connection II, the sequel to 1971's Best Picture Winner, that will have you groaning in disbelief; others will have you looking away from the screen, especially if you're not a big fan of needles and syringes.

I suppose comparisons will be made with the general consensus tilting in the favour of the first one but, remarkably, I'm going to have to disagree. It seems whenever you hear of the first film, the first thing you get people talking about is the car chase – you ask them what else they like about the film and they tell you Gene Hackman and Scheider are pretty damn good; OK, anything else? No? Right. Fact of the matter is, The French Connection is a film that is the victim of its own success and a film that, bar the famous chase sequence, I cannot recall all that well – something about a policeman who gets black people up against a wall? Something about a smuggling operation? A European bad-guy dealing in drugs? (Could've been worse, could've been South American). Not sure, the memories are hazy. But in French Connection II, if you remember for one thing, it's not a chase scene, its an entire segment revolving around Popeye (Hackman, again) recovering from his heroin addiction that became forced upon him by heroin dealer himself Alain Charnier (Rey).

I said the film was a three in one deal; that much is technically true. The first may be by the book but it's impressive enough; the second is the harrowing drug addiction sequence and the third is a by the book finale that is as formulaic as a black guy dying first in a Hollywood blockbuster or as an example of Mulvey's gaze theory in a 1940s Hollywood film – it deserves better. But for its innings, French Connection II plays some textbook shots, some loose swings and some by the numbers forward defences – on each occasion, it gets away with it enough to remain engaging.

The film tells the tale of 'Popeye' Doyle, the ultimate fish out of water if ever there was one: an American in France or perhaps more simply put; an American in Europe. I mentioned it was by the book but that it wasn't a bad thing; we have several scenes devoted to Doyle's inability to deal with his new surroundings, you can take the hard boiled cop out of the U.S. of A. but you cannot take the U.S. of A. out of the hard boiled cop. Seemingly pointless scenes that revolve around Doyle's failure to order even the most basic of requirements at a French café, be it food or drink as well as little shots of him in his hotel room; sitting there bemused and confused, the television on and producing incomprehensible French programming but it all serves a point, it can also be impressive; this is Doyle and the film showing Doyle as a lost soul, wondering and lonely. My favourite examples of this little segment are the long, exterior shots of Marseilles as Doyle walks along streets and roads; this not only gives him the above attributes of the 'loner' but makes excellent use of the setting with impressive cinematography.

Along with this, the film relies on the old fail safe of a buddy relationship between Doyle and the French detective accomplice; a sort of best friend/worst enemy relationship that is pushed and then tested before coming to a satisfactory agreement when Barthélémy (Fresson) helps him through his recovery process; the most touching of scenes is when he listens to Doyle's slurred comments about a baseball game. I could go into egos and superegos that irrupt between the two but that is elementary for the genre, I suppose. So with the establishment of the film and the character complete with some hard boiled and entertaining scenes in which an inside man gets severely messed up; Doyle deals with two tails and also extensively bemoans his office locale, French Connection II is impressive. But then it becomes another animal, ruthlessly plunging us into a world of not only vacant storytelling (albeit for the good/effective) and pure disturbance. Maybe it's the dislike of needles, maybe not but it's the sort of jolt you get when watching torture porn; it goes from standard film with this and that to disturbing series of scenes involving human misery of some sort, much like a recent torture porn film.

I'd say the second segment of French Connection II is amongst the most unwatchable in any film, especially with content like the old lady complete with infection, making a little needless but jolting reminder what will happen if Doyle does not control his itching urge. If anything, French Connection II becomes TOO hard boiled and all of a sudden; you are longing for formula, you are longing for absolutely anything else bar what you're seeing. Much like the torture porn effect; having a character have sex and get high for an hour before sawing his head off is one thing but having someone smart, hard and upstanding like Doyle seem alienated and lost for forty minutes before having him tied to a bed and heroin injected into him is another thing: John Frankenheimer pulls off what people like Eli Roth cannot, and it was thirty years ago. And so, toward the end when the weak plot points involving the 'set up' and the 'finding of the location' through whatever means needed occur, you don't mind because you are out of the hell Doyle is put through. French Connection II is fun, entertaining and very unnerving when it takes its dive. Not one for the squeamish, unbelievably, but an impressive gritty crime film that delivers on certain levels.

Self indulgence sinks the film .....

[merklekranz · 5/10 · 6 August 2016]

"French Connection 2" pales in comparison to "The French Connection". This movie comes across as a director's vanity piece. The story is weak, so Frankenheimer finds it necessary to stretch almost every scene. The first part is nothing more than trite examples of Hackman's challenge with the French language. The second part where he is forcibly hooked on heroin and then detoxes is way too long and boring. I mean an exchange about baseball players goes on and on forever. Even the finale, with the endless chase is anti-climatic, as two shots end this ten minutes of buildup and the credits roll. I say skip this director's self indulgence. - MERK.

a fine sequel that was unfortunately overlooked!!

[dtucker86 · 1 September 2003]

The late John Frankenheimer was truly one of our directing geniuses. He deserved to be ranked with John Ford, Orson Welles and William Wyler. The people who work behind the camera like the director, producer and screenwriter are just as important as the actors, because they make the film happen. Frankenheimer directed over 150 live tv shows in the Golden Age of television and I am happy that many are out on video. He started off his movie directing career with All Fall Down, Birdman Of Alcatraz, The Manchurian Candidate, Seven Days In May and The Train. His career nosedived after that but I am glad that in the last years before his death he was able to direct a slew of excellent tv films that won him acclaim from a whole new generation. Against The Wall, The Burning Season, Andersonville, The Island Of Doctor Moreau, George Wallace, Ronin, Reindeer Games and Path To War. He made this film in the nadir of his career in the 70s when his only hit was Black Sunday. Its unfair that few remember this film, like one movie critic said Gene Hackman repeated his Oscar winning role but no one cared. I think this is one of the few sequels that is as good and packs as strong a punch as the original. Popeye Doyle was sort of an anti-hero, he was a near maniac as a matter of fact! but you cheer for him because of Hackman's intensity in the role. He dominates this film and roars like the Indy 500 all the way. I think one of the reasons that I liked The French Connection and this film is that I really got caught up in hating Charnier the dope dealer he was after. Dope dealers are all murderers and scum to me. The scene where he kidnaps Hackman and turns him into a heroin addict really shows you the true horror of hard drugs as does the scenes where Hackman goes thru a hellish withdrawal. POSSIBLE SPOILER HERE. The French Connection had one of the greatest auto chases in movie history, this film has a great foot chase where Hackman chases down Charnier in the very end of the film. He races to the end of the pier and sees Charnier getting away again, he calls to him and shoots him to death! Frankenheimer was the master of suspense and this is one helluva film.

Get real!

[MacaulayConnor · 6/10 · 16 June 2005]

People! Come on, it's not a movie which deserves a rating 1/10 nor its a 9 or 10/10! There are really "BOMB"s out there like "Troll2". Movies like that deserve one star out of ten (actually zero!)! So get a grip, get real and give it 3-7 stars, something like that...

And there are instant classics like "The Godfather", "The Shawshank Redemption", "The Third Man", "The Manchurian Candidate" (by Frankenheimer!) - you name it. "FC2" does not belong in this category either, don't you think?!

So I will vote for 6/10, because there was some good acting by Hackman, you could *feel* his pain. But the story wasn't that good, the movie never got going due to the long middle part... And the action was not as intense as in the first. So IMHO it deserves a 6/10 - not too bad, with several flaws and some good acting.

Macaulay J. Connor

fair exotic crime thriller

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 13 December 2015]

New York police detective Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle (Gene Hackman) arrives in Marseilles, France to track down drug kingpin Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey). Inspector Henri Barthélémy (Bernard Fresson) is dubious of his methods. Henri puts two cops to follow him. He manages to shake his tail. Charnier's goons capture him and turn him into a drug addict.

It is a lot of language barrier which gives the movie an exotic feel. The drug addiction is not my favorite turn. Breaking Popeye down may be an interesting idea but it is more of a temporary stopover. There is lots of gun action. The shootouts are chaotic. There is a chase but nowhere near as exciting as the one in the original. It does end well but that original car chase is an iconic touchstone in cinematic history. Overall, this is a fair crime drama.

Popeye is back but he bores til the end

[jrs-8 · 6/10 · 3 January 2006]

"French Connection II" makes a huge mistake right away by taking Popeye Doyle out of his native New York and placing him in France. In New York Popeye was king of the streets. Remember that terrific scene in the original when Popeye walked into the bar loaded with African Americans and took total control? Alas there is none of that to be found in this sequel which, like most sequels, is totally unnecessary. Popeye acts like a goofy tourist while in France even down to wearing a silly hat. Where is the Popeye we know and love? He IS alive and well and when that Popeye shows up the screen comes to life. Unfortunately the film gets bogged down in a slow moving middle act which has Popeye captured and slowly turned into a heroin addict. And when I say slowly I mean slowly. It takes forever for this portion of the picture to conclude as it says the same thing over and over. Our interest in Hackman and the character keep us watching but it gets old fast. The conclusion, however, is a knockout as Hackman begins a foot chase to capture the elusive Frenchman. This scene alone is worth the time with a final shot that is terrific. Hopefully you will have stayed with this long, sometimes tedious film to get to that point.

French Connection II

[jboothmillard · 6/10 · 19 February 2008]

The first film had a great chase sequence under the train, and the leading actor was a worthy Oscar winner, and this sequel from director John Frankenheimer (Deception) is almost as good. Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle (BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated Gene Hackman) is in Marsailles trying to find Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey), the drug dealer/smuggler, the villain who escaped at the end of the previous film. There is a point where Charnier catches him, and holds him hostage, constantly injecting him and being forcibly addicted, and it is disturbing to see his breaking down after escaping this horrible torture, and for a little while he is very overly distraught and quite emotional. Before this, and after when he's back to normal he is just as violent and aggressive to do his job as the previous film, and he does kill Charnier in the end. Also starring Bernard Fresson as Barthélémy, Jean-Pierre Castaldi as Raoul, Charles Millot as Miletto, Cathleen Nesbitt as The Old Lady, Pierre Collet as Old Pro, Philippe Léotard as Jacques, Ed Lauter as General/Brigadier Brian, Alexandre Fabre as Young Inspector, Jacques Dynam as Inspector Genevoix and Raoul Delfosse as Dutch Captain. Hackman is pretty intense, I can agree it isn't as believable as the previous film, but still worth watching. Good!

Amazing - a masterpiece!

[warthogjump · 10/10 · 21 January 2018]

One of the finest films ever made. Some say not as good as the first; some also say a good movie, but an unnecessary remake; I say it is even better than the first (that is saying A LOT) and completely necessary.

The first 'The French Connection' was a classic of its time; completely deserving of its many awards; and masterfully directed demonstrating both the typical life of NYC Narcotics cops and the many losses which come with the war on drugs, ultimately questioning the utility of the war at all. It was much more 'story-telling' based and much slower than its sequel 'French Connection II.' In this movie, Gene Hackman excels even further, and the move shifts from an excellent telling of a non fiction story to a dark, gritty character study of our anti hero 'Popeye.'

In a sense, the sequel is necessary because it completes the character development of Popeye and it shows how much he is willing to lose in his desperate pursuit of Charnier. The fiction element of the sequel allowed for the opportunity to make it conclude in style and the movie was otherwise well balanced as either entertaining or difficult to watch at times due to its graphic depiction of drug use, which is a balance very difficult to strike effectively.

The chemistry between Popeye and the French detective was wonderful. The acting is super superb. The movie is essentially flawless, and it adds so much to the first movie by the very nature of engaging in an in depth study of Popeye. It is one of the best crime dramas ever made, and it is disappointing to see that it has not received as much attention by awards critics or the public in general.

Maybe it is too difficult to watch for some, or maybe it is too 'different' to its predecessor and it causes too much dismay. However, for me, it was completely unique, and executed with perfection, and could not have been a better fit to a fiction ending to a non fiction story! In my opinion, 'The French Connection' and 'French Connection II' together, as one, make for one of the most memorable Hollywoodised detective films of all time. No matter how much time passes or how old it gets, they will always be remembered as classics, each for their own reasons, for me.

A Necessary Sequel That Does Its Job Well-Enough

[MovieGuyFunTime · 7/10 · 26 February 2021]

It is no surprise there is a sequel to The French Connection given the open, confusing and, some would say, entirely unsatisfying ending of the original. I mean, hey, the good guys are supposed to win, right? Well, this film fixes that if in a rather drawn out and mechanical way.

The best thing about this film is Hackman's acting which is much more intense and volatile than in the first film. Although some of it was a little much for me, he certainly got his points across. All the other actors (apparently French for the most part) were good but came off as wooden posts next to the fiery Hackman. This really was a showpiece for Hackman more than anything else.

The story, while feeling inevitable, also felt a bit contrived and unrealistic at times. Many liberties were taken in order to achieve the main objective which was for Popeye to get his man... which he does... to the satisfaction of many a fan of the original. After four years, we finally have closure.

However, this time the villain lacks the certain diabolical mystery he effused in the first film. The characters are presented a little bit more one-dimensionally and we lack the depth from the first film. Understandably, the film was likely written with the end in mind while the rest was just people sitting around brainstorming how to fill in the two hours leading up to the predictable end. It is good enough but not the powerful psychological thrill-ride of the first film (the amazing car chase from the first film is replaced with a rather, uninspired foot-chase with a winded Hackman in slow pursuit of the villain on a plodding boat lazily escaping a dock). Another thing that is a little frustrating for me was the fact that every other character speaks in a heavy French accent which makes much of the rapid-fire dialog very difficult to understand. I had to set "English subtitles for the hearing impaired" on the DVD so I could tell what they were saying much of the time.

If you enjoyed the first film, you will no doubt enjoy this one... If for no other reason to see the bad guy get his comeuppance even if in a somewhat anticlimactic way. If you've never seen the original French Connection, you probably won't get much out of the sequel as the original really sets the stage for this film.

John Frankenheimer is the director and I love most everything he has done but this movie doesn't "feel" much like a Frankenheimer film. Compared to his greats like The Manchurian Candidate, Grand Prix and Black Sunday, this just seems out of character. But at any rate, it is certainly a watchable film and something of a must-see for those who are fans of the original.

Gallic Traffic II...

[Xstal · 4/10 · 21 February 2023]

You find yourself arriving in Marseille, intent on hunting down drug lord Charnier, with little help from Barthélémy, the French officer assignee, you behave like a small child at nursery. After throwing several teddies out the pram, you find yourself trapped in a strange program, that starts addiction and reliance, that negates all your defiance, and puts you into somewhat of a jam.

While the first encounter with Popeye Doyle in the 1971 film effectively transports you to the streets of New York and the world of the narcotics police, there is just no way that the behaviour and language by Doyle, as he alienates, antagonises and irritates the French authorities with such great aplomb is believable - not then and not know, and neither is the reaction he receives. That aside, it's a pretty average movie that pales into insignificance when compared to the original.

Brilliant.

[Adam Frisch · 10/10 · 19 December 1999]

I actually saw this one before seeing the first. Now that I've seen both several times, I must admit that rarely have I seen a better follow up. Gene Hackman is brilliant in this cat and mouse chase in the french town of Marseilles. Especially his acting in the cold turkey scenes are just amazing. It's a sad fact that they don't do these types of movies anymore. Today it's all about overloading your senses, thinking that more is always better. This is a masterpiece in sparingly used soundeffects, music and cinematography. If you've seen the first one, make sure to see this one. At all cost.

Better than Part 1

[lonnielongino · 7/10 · 29 April 2023]

This is in my opinion,one of those rare films where the sequel is better than the original. The first French Connection was a good but bland story that pretty much followed the lead up to a big drug bust. It had basically two sets. And the story stayed on point with no added subplots. Noe don't get me wrong it was a very good film, but not as good as I expected. The sequel is set in France and Detective Doyle comes to try to find the mastermind from major drug busts. The French police aren't exactly happy to help. This film has several subplots as Doyle has major communication problems as he doesn't speak French. The drug dealers wind up kidnapping Doyle and getting him addicted to Heroin while they have him. Gene Hackman left a great performance here as his acting was much deeper than part 1. Both films are very interesting and a good watch,but part 2 is slightly better.

Nowhere Near As Good As the First!!

[gsoropos · 4/10 · 8 March 2009]

I simply cannot believe the number of people comparing this favourably with the first film. It moved me to leave this comment! This is just an obvious attempt to cash-in on the success of the first film. The dialogue is appalling and nothing like as authentic or compelling as the original film.

The storyline is ridiculous, the portrayal of the French police laughable and the characterisation of Doyle a mile away from the first film.

How many drug bosses do you think go down to the docks in person to see a shipment come in? The ease at which Doyle finds his guy is just pathetic. Like all the French Police were just drinking coffee until Doyle turns up from America and does some REAL police work. What a joke. Try going to a foreign city and unearthing the biggest crims in the place with a travel map and some tourist pamphlets. Pathetic.

A truly awful sequel, anyone who thinks otherwise is crazy.