Movie: The French Connection

zenheretic

zenheretic

Joined
Oct 29, 2005
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Ok ok, I had never seen this movie, so the other day I stayed up late to watch since it is supposed to be great.

For a seventies movie it was ok, but I found it a rather dull build up to a fizzle ending.

I don't need multiple car chases, bullet proof heros, and lots of explosions to be entertained but this movie doesn't seem to have aged well.

On the flip side, it is probably far more realistic than modern cop movies.

Keep in mind, I don't think CGI, and modern movies are always better than old movies but The French Connection just doesn't seem to have what made a great old movie great.

Any comments on my blasphemy? :confused:
 
Watch Bullitt. That one has aged well. I like Gene Hackman, but never thought much of this movie.
 
I saw it when it first came out and I can vaguely recall being moderately impressed with the car chase but the rest of the movie didn't really grab me.

I started watching it again recently and got bored with it fairly quickly.

If you want to see a very good movie, IMHO, with what would have to be one of the very best car chases I've ever seen in a movie, try this one:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0122690/
 
gajinoz said:
I saw it when it first came out and I can vaguely recall being moderately impressed with the car chase but the rest of the movie didn't really grab me.
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Yeah it is still famous for its car chase scene, again way more realistic than today but blargghhh, a total snooze fest.

I should have known an Oscar nomination usually means crud.
 
I've never been able to sit through the French Connection or Bullitt. I did like the chase in Bullitt.
 
Ronin's chase was good. Any chase that ends with a rocket launcher being fired is OK with me.
 
FC was of interest to me since much of it was filmed in my old neighborhood NYC .Chase scenes are better if you know the streets !! The film did drag out when they got to Marseilles .It's also a bit better if you now the actual case it was based on ..Each chase scene tries to out-do the last !....I did like the chase /shoot-em-up in Ronin, warmed my heart it did !!
 
I haven't seen The French Connection in many years. Rather un-memorable, except for the car chase. Not just the car chase itself, but the technical filming aspects were cutting-edge and realistic. Not like so many of today's car chases that are computer-generated cartoons.
 
Bob W said:
I haven't seen The French Connection in many years. Rather un-memorable, except for the car chase. Not just the car chase itself, but the technical filming aspects were cutting-edge and realistic. Not like so many of today's car chases that are computer-generated cartoons.
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Well to be honest, the modern instant explosion followed by the car flip when a car hits the back of a parked car is extremely old, not to mention the crash through a fruit stand/giant piece or glass or painting that is being moved across the street. :barf:
 
I think for the time it was made it was new and fresh. I've seen it a few years ago, and you're right it didn't age well.
 
I disagree, I thought it was quite good. One thing to remember however is that Gene Hackmann is an acquired taste.
 
French Connection was critically applauded for its gritty realism. At the time, nothing else quite like it had been made for cinema, so it was groundbreaking in that respect. Hackman and Scheider hung out with real narcos and Hackman's character was based on a well-known NYC narc.

I like it because I'm a major Hackman fan, but for a real socko Hackman performance, the sequel is even better. That's the one that is set in Marseilles, when he is kidnapped by the traffickers and they get him hooked on dope.
 
raindog101 said:
Watch Bullitt. That one has aged well. I like Gene Hackman, but never thought much of this movie.
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Bullitt is a typo, the second L should be an SH. The most overhyped, overrated junk, I have watched in my life. :grumpy:

The French Connection is somewhat better, but also overrated IMO.
 
zenheretic said:
Any comments on my blasphemy? :confused:
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Yea.......Midnight Cowboy I felt like I needed to take a shower after wasting my time on that movie.

All the acclaim (much like The French Connection) and I hated it.

I'm with you on TFC as well. Others MMV but I was not all that impressed.

Neither movie were as good as Waterworld.;)

tarmix ducks for cover......
 
Yea.......Midnight Cowboy I felt like I needed to take a shower after wasting my time on that movie.
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A fantastic film, the acting, music, and story were all exceptional. Didn't have much of a car chase though. :D

Neither movie were as good as Waterworld.
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Ugh! Two-hundred-million dollar budget, but they couldn't scrape up $20 for a story...
 
I don't think you can fairly compare it with today's movies. Within its own genre of gritty realistic police dramas I think it's right up there with other great movies like Serpico and The Seven-Ups.
 
Bob W said:
A fantastic film, the acting, music, and story were all exceptional. Didn't have much of a car chase though. :D
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Yes....yes.... my taste for some movies leaves little to be desired to be sure. Midnight Cowboy just made me feel all icky and stuff?!?!

Can't say why really. Just didn't do it for me.


Ugh! Two-hundred-million dollar budget, but they couldn't scrape up $20 for a story...
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I was being a little sarcastic here. Waterworld stunk to high h*ll. :p
 
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