Just as night inevitably follows day when a movie is a big hit the studios start thinking about a sequel. When the film in question not only brings in huge box office receipts but garners Academy Awards and other critical acclaim a sequel is certain to happen. This was the case with the groundbreaking movie ‘The French Connection’. The downside of this trend is that with very rare exceptions the sequels are never up to the exalted standards of the original. In this case the follow up movie may not have reached as high as the first but it did a far better than usual attempt. The original film was such an incredible triumph and seminal movie that it would have been close to impossible to recapture lightening in the bottle once again. It does help when the first film left a few plot lines open and the audience wondering how things would ever come to a conclusion. With ‘The French Connection’ the hero never brought the villain to justice; he was the big fish that got away. For a character as determined to the point of obsession he would never let this sit. This opened the door to a furtherance of the story and one that the audience would want to know. While it never appears to prevent a sequel when such attributes are lacking it does help a lot when they are there. The sequel did have a few things going for it. It reunited the actors playing the good and bad guy which provided the much needed continuity between the films. This, however, did not extend to the all important roles of screen writer and director; both positions were filled by people that were not involved with the first movie. Although the film did not live up to the anticipations that surrounded it did deport itself well with a moderately decent acceptance by the public. It stands on its own as a film well worth watching and nicely wraps up the loose ends left by the first movie. Both this and the original have been available on DVD for quite some time now but it is time for it to be included in the recent trend of re-release in high definition. Fox has released but ‘The French Connection’ and ‘French Connection II’ on Blu-ray. While each film separately would make for an exciting evening together they make for an amazing double feature for a movie night at home.

It took a team of writers to relate this story to the screen. None of them where attached to the original screenplay. Included in this set of writers were Alexander Jacobs and the husband wife team of Robert and Laurie Dillion. The story was constructed by the Dillions and Pete Hamill was called in but uncredited for his help in the script. In many ways the story here is darker than before. Our rumpled hero Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle (Gene Hackman) has to endure a lot more than a cold New York night on a stakeout when he is addicted to the substance he has swore to get off the streets. There are sections of the story that are predictable. There were also somewhat necessary constraints on the scenes that had to be included. After the breathtaking car chase scene in the first movie the audience would demand a chased here that could surpass its predecessor. Since that scene is still considered one of the greatest on film, ever, this was an impossible task but these writers gave it an honest try. The story does take place in Marseille which helpes to give it a broader more international feel allowing the writers to add some ‘fish out of water’ themes for Popeye. He is such a quintessential New York character that his having to deal with the police force of a foreign country did lead to some interesting moments for the character.

Taking over the big director’s chair for this film was John Frankenheimer. He has worked for both television and films since the 1950s and made a notable contribution to both formats. In the golden era of television he directed programs for classic dramas shown on ‘Playhouse 90’ and the Dupont Theater’. Younger folks may never have heard of these series but they offered the best dramatic entertainment on the then new format of television. In 1962 Frankenhiemer directed ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ which was about a presidential assassination and had the bad timing of being released in November of that year. He followed that film up with one of the greatest films of political intrigue with ‘Seven Days in May’. This does demonstrate that this is a man who knows how to present a story in a fashion that will captivate an audience. What detracted from his formidable talent here was certain aspects of the story. When the villain, Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey) captures Popeye and he gets him addicted to heroin. The scenes depicting the addiction and subsequent cold turkey detoxification are overly prolonged and drag the action down. They are vital to the telling of the story and extremely dramatic in their emotional impact but they alter the pacing which was difficult too get back on track. Frankenhiemer also had a much less complicated story. Where his processor had a multilayer tale to unfold the screenplay here was fairly straightforward and didn’t offer Frankenhiemer the opportunity to display the tapestry of interwoven story lines that he does so well.

Popeye has lived with the ultimate failure of his spotted career. When Charnier, better known by the politically incorrect term of ‘Frog one’ got away the $70 million dollar drub seizure was a hollow victory for Doyle. Like Ahab after the great white whale that took his leg Popeye travels to France to track down his slipper foe. For Charnier the loss of the French Connection pipeline was only a minor setback. Barely any time at all passes before he is back in his deadly business. Popeye joins up with a local police officer with a shared goal of stopping the drug trafficking, Inspector Henri Barthelemy (Bernard Fresson). To the French Popeye is the typical American, completely ignorant of their language and customs who somehow thinks if you speak in English slowly and loudly it will be understood. During the addiction and cold turkey scene Hackman does something very uncharacteristic of an actor of his talent; he overplays the role. There is not a single emotion left out as Popeye kicks the drug habit forced on him by his enemy.

The film is most likely familiar to many fans but it has never looked or sounded better than it does in this Blu-ray presentation. The first film was intentionally gritty and graining but this film had more of a traditional look. The 1080p video is amazing. The scenic shots of the beautiful French countryside make you feel that you are right there. The color balance is without flaw and stunning. The soundtrack has been re-mixed into DTS HD with about average results. There is a generally good channel separation but the individual speakers lack a true identity. As with the first film there are the usual mixture of extras to add to your understanding of the film.