The French Connection

Whether it was the best movie of the year is up for debate, but that does not mean The French Connection is a bad film. In fact, it is a superb film. It is very well made, it has a hard edge, is well directed, has a fine script, some very memorable sequences, is well scored and Gene Hackman once again is superb in the lead. I like cop flicks just as much as the next person, and I have to say The French Connection is one of the best of them. Not only does it have all the things I mentioned above, but I think it has aged well and it is definitely worth seeing more than once. All in all, superb, worth seeing for Hackman. 10/10 Bethany Cox

"The French Connection" needs no introduction. Along with "Dirty Harry," it set such high standards for how a cop thriller should be made. The above film strives for realism and achieves this and more. Almost every camera shot was on location.The fact that "The French Connection" won major Oscars just about says it all. The film wisely has a documentary feel to it, seeing as the film is based upon real life events Gene Hackman became an overnight sensation in the lead. He was born to play Popeye Doyle, no one else could play that character. By turns, he is jolly, determined, obsessed and volatile. He has fine support from Roy Scheider, Tony LoBianco and Fernando Rey. A film like "The French Connection" benefited immensely from having technical advisors on hand, including the very two police officers whose careers this film is based. The car chase scene is one of the best I've ever seen. One of the ultimate masterpieces.

"The French Connection" is an excellent film in every way imaginable. Gene Hackman (Oscar-winning) stars as a tough New York cop who is obsessed with stopping the flow of heroin into the city from France. Fernando Rey is perfect as the ring-leader of the smuggling. Tough, gritty, and realistic, "The French Connection" is an intense character-study that is never short on suspense or action. The film won five Oscars in 1971, including the Best Picture Oscar and one for William Friedkin's (only 32 at the time) intense direction. In a year that produced "The Last Picture Show" and "A Clockwork Orange", this film's win makes it even more impressive than it was nearly 30 years ago. Excellent. 5 stars out of 5.