Product: French Connection [VHS] (1971)
Rating: 5.0
One of the Best Ever to Grace the Screen
In "The French Connection," French drug-dealer Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey) plans to smuggle 120 pounds of heroin into New York City and return to France with the money that he would receive from the sale of the dope, but NYC detective Popeye Doyle (Gene Hackman) exhibits reckless determination in attempting to put the kibosh on the transaction and bring the smugglers to justice.Hackman won his first Academy Award in this spectacular film which netted five Oscars overall, including Best Picture for 1971. The tension builds slowly throughout the movie as Doyle and fellow detective Buddy Russo (Roy Scheider) stalk the villains. Judicious use of dramatic music heightens the suspense, and the portrayal of New York City is so gritty that the Big Apple of the early Seventies ends up being another star in the film. The chase scene is legendary (one of the pleasures of the film is seeing all of the period cars), and the movie culminates in a shocking ending.If you like adventure films, you simply have to see this movie at some point in life. Nearly four decades after its release, "The French Connection" is not simply one of the best crime/adventure films ever, it is one of the best films ever, period.