I've heard a lot about this film but I found it a bit underwhelming and a tad boring at times. There is the famous chase scene and the ending was good but overall I found it a little bit one dimensional and much preferred The Conversation as a film.

For better or worse, this plays like something 15 years it's junior. Pioneering for the genre, never dull (for it's ilk), and very impressive technically. Subgenere fans should check this out and see where the entire industry almost certainly drew inspiration from.

Gripping masterpiece! You could not recreate this with all the money in the world! Hackman and Scheider are incredible!

Classic! Love the vintage gritty NYC streets and contrazting French scenes. Hackman living the part of Popeye, rogue cop. Gene Hackman in great physical shape, attracting young broads when he isnt chasing a suspect on foot for block after stairway after city block.

On a technical level, "The French Connection" is expertly made. The way the movie crafted chase sequences and shootouts is really impressive. I can see why a movie that is this old still holds up in that regard. That being said, I feel like this movie is so thin on plot, story, and characters, and it never really engaged me in the way it should have. There are intense moments but I wish the movie gave me more to latch onto. Overall, I think it is an okay movie with many good qualities, but it doesn't really stand as one of the great Best Picture winners for me personally.

I'm pretty sure I'd seen this before, a very long time ago - but my memory of it was only the car/train chase and something about 'picking your feet'. I finally got to this long overdue reacquaintance in memory of the much missed Gene Hackman. What struck me most about Friedkin's brilliant drug-crime thriller is the economy of it - not only in the run-time, but certainly that; but that somehow it's a film pared down to essentials. Nothing is there that doesn't need to be; every element of the film has a purpose. That's in the editing, the cinematography, the direction ... and the economy of the performances, especially Hackman's remarkable central performance. A classic that more than stand up, it stands an object-lesson in thriller film-making and also as a study in obsession.

​"The French Connection" is a gripping crime thriller that has stood the test of time. Gene Hackman's portrayal of Detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle is both brash and passionate, earning him the Academy Award for Best Actor. The film's direction by William Friedkin is innovative, particularly in its thrilling chase sequences, including one of the most iconic car chases in cinema history. The movie's pacing and stylistic choices keep viewers on the edge of their seats, making it a must-watch classic.

In Marseille, a police detective follows Alain Charnier, who runs a heroin-smuggling syndicate. Charnier's hitman, Pierre Nicoli, murders the detective. Charnier plans to smuggle $32 million worth of heroin into the United States by hiding it in the car of his unsuspecting friend, television personality Henri Devereaux, who is traveling to New York City by ship. In Brooklyn, detectives Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) dressed as Santa Claus and Buddy "Cloudy" Russo (Roy Scheider) stake out a bar known for drug trafficking. They later go out for drinks at the Copacabana. Popeye observes Salvatore "Sal" Boca and his wife, Angie, entertaining mobsters involved in narcotics. They tail the couple and establish a link between the Bocas and lawyer Joel Weinstock, a buyer in the narcotics underworld. Popeye learns that a shipment of heroin will arrive soon. The detectives convince their supervisor to wiretap the Bocas' phones. Popeye and Cloudy are joined by federal agents Mulderig and Klein... Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four stars and ranked it one of the best films of 1971. Roger Greenspun of The New York Times wrote: The French Connection "is in fact a very good new kind of movie, and that in spite of its being composed of such ancient material as cops and crooks, with thrills and chases, and lots of shoot-'em-up." Variety wrote: "So many changes have been made in Robin Moore's taut, factual reprise of one of the biggest narcotics hauls in New York police history that only the skeleton remains, but producer Philip D'Antoni and screenwriter Ernest Tidyman have added enough fictional flesh to provide director William Friedkin and his overall topnotch cast with plenty of material, and they make the most of it." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune awarded the film four stars out of four and wrote: "From the moment a street-corner Santa Claus chases a drug pusher thru the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, to the final shootout on deserted Ward's Island, The French Connection is a gutty, flatout thriller, far superior to any caper film of recent vintage." Pauline Kael's review in The New Yorker was generally unfavorable. She wrote: "It's not what I want not because it fails (it doesn't fail), but because of what it is. It is, I think, what we once feared mass entertainment might become: jolts for jocks. There's nothing in the movie that you enjoy thinking about afterward—nothing especially clever except the timing of the subway-door-and-umbrella sequence. Every other effect of the movie—even the climactic car-versus-runaway-elevated-train chase—is achieved by noise, speed, and brutality." David Pirie of The Monthly Film Bulletin called the film "consistently exciting" and Gene Hackman "extremely convincing as Doyle, trailing his suspects with a shambling determination; but there are times when the film (or at any rate the script) seems to be applauding aspects of his character which are more repulsive than sympathetic. (Via Wikipedia) "The French Connection" is on the American Film Institute's list of the best American films ever made and to a certain extent I can truly agree to that. The film is based on Robin Moore's 1969 nonfiction book "The French Connection: A True Account of Cops, Narcotics, and International Conspiracy" about real life narcotics detectives Eddie Egan (Who plays Captain Walt Simonson in the film) and Sonny Grosso. And their fictional counterparts in the film are New York Police Department detectives Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle and Buddy "Cloudy" Russo. At the 44th Academy Awards, the film earned eight nominations and won five, for Best Picture, Best Actor (Hackman), Best Director, Best Film Editing, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Scheider), Best Cinematography and Best Sound Mixing. Tidyman also received a Golden Globe Award nomination, a Writers Guild of America Award, and an Edgar Award for his screenplay. It's a slowpaced dialogue driven neo-noir action thriller, but director William Friedkin makes sure that there's sequences that suddenly goes in overdrive like the car chase in Brooklyn, often cited as one of the greatest car chase sequences in movie history. I love that this sort of sequence comes from out of nowhere. This is of course one of Gene Hackman's best roles and performances as the hard as nails Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle, a role he won an Oscar for and a role he will always be remembered for. Rest in peace Mr. Hackman. "The French Connection" carries a feeling of being a documentary at times and there's this massive authentic vibe that adds so much to the film plus the backdrop of a gritty New York in the 70s. I haven´t seen "The French Connection" for many years and I guess I was a bit surprised at first that the film is quite slowpaced as said which I didn't remember, but I adjusted to that during the screening. "The French Connection" is a classic. Trivia: Though the cast proved to be one of the film's greatest strengths, Friedkin had problems with casting from the start. He strongly opposed Gene Hackman as the lead, first considering Paul Newman (too expensive), then Jackie Gleason, Peter Boyle, and the columnist Jimmy Breslin, who had never acted. The studio considered Gleason box-office poison after his film Gigot had flopped several years before, Boyle declined the role out of disapproval of the film's violence, and Breslin refused to get behind the wheel of a car, as Popeye does in an integral chase scene. Steve McQueen was also considered, but did not want to do another police film after Bullitt; moreover, as with Newman, his fee was too high. Charles Bronson was also considered for the role. Lee Marvin, James Caan, and Robert Mitchum were also considered; all turned it down. Friedkin almost settled for Rod Taylor (who had actively pursued the role, according to Hackman), another choice the studio approved, before going with Hackman. (Via Wikipedia)

Doyle is bad news—but a good cop. The French Connection is a 1971 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by William Friedkin 🔫 Not bad, but not my favourite either 😐 Meh, it passed the time. Just. 😐 👍🏼👎🏼 Tough narcotics detective 'Popeye' Doyle is in hot pursuit of a suave French drug dealer who may be the key to a huge heroin-smuggling operation.

It’s a classic but doesn’t stand the test of time. I know he won an Oscar for it but Gene Hackman was so much better in Unforgiven, The Firm, Runaway Jury, even Birdcage. It’s gritty and relentless, but not as entertaining as the Dirty Harry films of the same era…

I liked it alot. NYC is really gritty and dirty. It has character. They don't bog you down with the two main characters back stories. Just a little of "Popeyes" without going into depth which i think works well. Sometimes giving you a slight glimpse makes it more interesting. Instead they rely on the charisma and determination of the actors/characters to get you invested. I enjoyed the chase scene it was tense. Spoiler.....The villain ended up getting away like a ghost in the night despite all the hard work put in to getting him. Sometimes the hero doesn't win. At least not completely. The villain was cunning. And as someone that works on cars they really did a good job taking that car apart lol

The cinematography is excellent. The film really captures the grittiness of NYC in the 70's. Hackman is excellent but Scheider is kind of an afterthought. There's not a lot of dialogue-lots of scenes of Hackman walking, running, waiting, and driving (the chase scene is a classic). I guess it's based on actual events but the ending was dumb and some of the scenes are inexplicable (the cops are on to the drug boss and set up a road block at the end of a bridge-but don't have any cars on the other side. The boss sees the cops, goes into reverse, and a chase ensues). But it's a must see if you're a Hackman fan.

overrated if you wanna see an 1 hour and half of gene hackman walking, running, and driving this is for you

It was my first time watching this classic film and enjoyed the storyline and the characters with in it. Really enjoyed Gene Hackmans portrayal.

As a young teenager in the early 70s, this was sold to me as one of the movies I just had to see, and it took years before I actually saw it. Freidkin was the best of the era's directors and this film is as flawless as execution of the medium gets. All the elements came together. What a story. If you haven't seen it do so, immediately. As good as movies get.

The French Connection knows how to build and maintain suspense while also having a clean eye for detail, a gritty athmosphere and splendid performances from Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider. While the start and ending could have been handled in a more orderly fashion, this is still a smart and well paced old school noir thriller that i highly recommend.

Good movie. Too violent for my taste, on the other hand.

filme legal, o filme não é tão atrativo, mas as cenas de ações são muito boas, e também a bela atuação de gene hackman no filme, mas o mistério fica, quem deu o ultimo tiro no filme na perseguição dentro do galpão? é um filme que eu recomendo.

Wow. What tripe. I’m assuming many rate this highly as they regard it a ‘classic’. That doesn’t wash with me. I know, let’s set up a road block that’s so obvious that the crooks can reverse and head back to the disused building so we can have a shoot out and have lone cops walk through the building while a big bunch of other cops shoot into said building from outside… Awful direction, awful effects, awful story line.

Antecessor de grandes filmes de gângster policial, aqui apenas mediano, um pouco cansativo e longo, pouca conexão e personagens apáticos, extrema seriedade, afinal baseada em fatos criminais históricos e apesar das 7 indicações e 5 Oscar não me apareceu... A icônica cena de perseguição de um carro a um trem elevado (seria o precursor de Velozes e Furiosos) muito bom, hoje apenas muito bom, deu me preguiça, faltou me simpatia e empatia, enfadonho...