'French Connection II' - High-Def Digest Review

[Attebery]

Josh has returned to the scene of William Friedkin's crime against Blu-ray. Thankfully, Friedkin didn't participate in the film's sequel. John (Ronin) Frankenheimer made the 'French Connection II,' which Mr. Zyber calls a needless sequel. This Blu-ray looks pretty good, however. Keep expectations low and give this one a rent.

Full review here:
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/1917...nectionii.html

[Fisher & Sons]

You mean the movie didn't have a big rainbow going across it to look more like a documentary?

[mugsniffer]

I'd have to agree that as a sequel to The French Connection this movie will probably come up short, but as a partial French production, it serves as a great companion piece to Roman Polanski's "The Tenant." Several character actors pop up in both movies, and, in at least one case, it looks like the actor simply walked off of one set and onto the other film. So from that angle, this is indispensible viewing! It's better viewed as a cinematic curio rather than a sequel to the groundbreaking original.

[blu-bird]

It doesn't have the same director, does it? I don't know if I will get this, with the first one turning out so bad. I think I will wait for Fox to restore the first move and get them at the same time.

[iDarren]

Haven't watched it for years, but I think it is a good film. Glad the transfer has escaped the evil clutches on Mr Friedkin.

[Flex Mentallo]

Man. no love for French Connection 2 from the review. I'm a Frankenheimer junkie and I dig FCII so I'm gettin this one. I would agree the movie drags in the middle tho oddly enough the middle has some of the strongest material, Hackman becoming a junkie and later detoxing.

Ah well, maybe Fox can show more Frankenheimer love w/ 99 and 44/100% Dead to go along w/FCII and Ronin.

[ack_bak]

I thought FCII was still a good movie. Not as good as the first, and I do feel like the studio was trying to milk the success of the first one, but it was still a good flick to me. I added this to my Netflix queue as I have not seen II in a number of years. I may feel differently about the movie after I watch it again.

[krylonman]

I have trouble with this one. It's well made enough, but the fact that it's a sequel to 'The French Connection' is a constant distraction—after the documentary realism of that movie it is very weird to see one where the dialogue feels scripted and the staging looks like...staging. It's almost like watching a movie about Popeye Doyle trying his hand at being an actor, or something.

But I love how abruptly it ends.

[Josh Z]

I like a lot of Frankenheimer movies, but this one just didn't work for me. Perhaps watching it back-to-back with the original French Connection only called attention to all of its inadequacies more clearly than if I had seen them years apart? In any case, even though it's less than 2 hours long, it just dragged and dragged and dragged.

[kubrick2007]

Interesting to see how this anti-action movie continues to be underrated, overlooked, and misinterpreted... at least in my opinion. Personally I think it's one of the best sequels ever made ...!