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Commanding a previously unheard of level of realism and grittiness, Friedkin, screenwriter Ernest Tidyman and producer Philip D'Antoni exploded the traditional hallmarks of the cop picture - clear cut villains and heroes, an easy identifiable moral compass set on right versus wrong - to smithereens. New York city detectives "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman, who also won the Oscar for Best Actor) and Buddy Russo (an excellent Roy Scheider) are "bad men, good cops." Hoping to break a drug smuggling ring, they uncover "the French connection," but the pursuit is only beginning. Doyle is stalked by one of the criminals who is out to kill him, and Doyle's quest will take him out of bounds - both literally and figuratively outside of the city's limits.

Part drama, part thriller, part unflinching social critique, The French Connection paved the way for decades worth of largely inferior imitators, though few can match the film's relentless single-mindedness in smashing social taboos. The film benefits greatly from Friedkin's background in documentary filmmaking. As he would demonstrate in such films as Boys In the Band, The Exorcist and future police procedurals Cruising and To Live And Die In LA, Friedkin doesn't know how to pull a punch. The film's sense of realism gives it a sense of urgency lacking in the glossier, more modern crime epics of today - The French Connection might as well as invented the term "hard boiled." (And, for once, the mean streets of New York are not recreated on the backlots of Burbank!)

Slow-paced by today's standards, much of the film's then-shocking language, style and score are dated. And screenwriter Tidyman occasionally seems to revel in rubbing our noises in the corruption and often infuriating ambiguity of the characters, and with such conventions are commonplace today, it only makes it more obvious. But Friedkin, Scheider and especially Hackman bring a genuine humanity to the characters that keeps The French Connection from falling into irrelevance. Aside from perhaps only Bullitt and Dirty Harry, few crime pictures remain as complex, articulate and exciting today as they did when first released. And don't forget that great car chase!

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, The French Connection makes its DVD debut with this very fine new THX-certified transfer. Director William Friedkin and director of photography Owen Roizman went for a very gritty, documentary-like approach, so this is simply a very grainy and dirty-looking film. Yet despite the grain, the print is for the most part very clean, with minimal blemishes or defects to distract. Colors are intentionally subdued; the outdoor scenes exhibit a drab, everyday look, though the hues can be vibrant in key scenes - some of the interiors boast stylized lighting with fairly vivid reds and blues that can be striking. Fleshtones appear accurate and colors are solid and stable with no bleeding nor smearing. Given the heavy grain, shadow detail is somewhat obscured and the film looks murky. Contrast is good and edge enhancement minimal, though there a bit more present that I would have like. I noticed little compression pixel breakup. Overall, a pretty nice transfer.

Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?

Fox offers a newly remixed soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1, and the results are typical of most remasters of older catalog titles. Produced in 1971, The French Connection is simply a thirty year-old film, and the limited techniques of the era cannot be overcome with any sort of digital trickery. Dialogue, the music and the effects have a dated, restricted feel. Friedkin also went for a documentary style aurally as well as visually, utilizing a greater percentage of "live" production sound than is usual on most Hollywood fare. As such, there is occasional hiss and distortion on both the dialogue and effects, and the score also suffers from limited dynamic range and fidelity. Thankfully, despite the limitations of the source material, the mix is free of the heavy overprocessing that often distorts and destroys such remasters.

On the plus side, this new remix opens up the sound stage considerably. The fronts benefit the most, with a better sense of separation and a bit more envelopment, especially with the score. The surrounds are only rarely active and don't sound particularly discreet - I noticed few pans from front to back and weak separation among the rears. Surrounds are employed sporadically and only for sound effects, delivering weak ambiance. Despite such criticisms, and considering the age of the material, this is still a very laudable effort.

Also included are English 2.0 surround and French mono tracks, English and Spanish subtitles and English Closed Captions.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Released under their "Five Star Collection" banner, Fox has pulled out all the stops with The French Connection, offering up a wealth of supplemental material that is an embarrassment of riches.

Let's start with the not one but two new screen-specific audio commentaries, the first with director William Friedkin and the second with actors Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider Friedkin is forthright, intelligent and as blunt as always, but thankfully avoids the "let me just recite for you want is happening on the screen" syndrome that plagued his recent commentary for the retooled Exorcist. Perhaps because this is one of his best films (and he knows it), Freidkin doesn't waste time with the minor details. Aside from a few dry moments and gaps, Friedkin is talkative about the entire shoot - developing the script, the limited budget, the infamous car chase, achieving the desired documentary effect, and working with the cast and crew. Ironically, given the eventual acclaim the film and the filmmakers would receive, Friedkin has admitted to not even wanting Scheider or Hackman in the film at all. Though he eventually warmed to Scheider, Friedkin remain cool on Hackman even after shooting started.

But apparently none of that matters anymore, because both Hackman and Scheider contribute new, non-screen-specific interviews exclusive to this DVD. Both were recorded separately, with Hackman kicking off the track for the first 45 minutes or so, followed by a few minutes of dead space before Scheider takes over at the 55-minute mark. Both Hackman and Scheider are quite enthusiastic about sharing the recollections of the film, and even when Hackman discusses the dreaded "actor's process, " he is refreshingly devoid of pretentiousness While Hackman is a bit more dry and less animated than Scheider, both offer surprisingly informative detail about developing the characters and working with the always-unpredictable Friedkin. Despite the frustrating gaps of silence (no commentary chapter stops are included) this is a worthwhile listen.

Just the commentaries alone add up to over three hours of materials, but Fox has also included not one but two full-length documentaries. Either one by themselves would have been more than adequate, but together they offer just about all you could ever want to know about The French Connection! The BBC documentary Poughkeepsie Shuffle was produced in 2000, by the same team that created the terrific documentary on Friedkin's The Exorcist (complete with returning host Mark Kermode). I think that The Exorcist documentary just might be the best documentary ever produced on the making of a film, and "Poughkeepsie Shuffle" is up to that same high standard. Running 50 minutes and presented in anamorphic widescreen, we are treated to interviews with no less than Friedkin, producer Phil D'Antoni, ex-Fox head Richard Zanuck and partner David Brown, assistant director Terry Donnelly, director of photography Owen Roizman, sound recordist Chris Newman, actors Roy Scheider and Gene Hackman, and real-life NYPD narcotics expert Sonny Grosso. This is an amazingly in-depth and comprehensive documentary, chronicling everything from the development of the project through to the casting, the production, the difficulties in editing and scoring the picture, and the incredible reaction. Expertly produced, shot, and edited, this a superlative presentation.

But here we are only a year or so later, and Fox has produced their own 54-minute documentary on the making of the film, Making the Connection: The Untold Stories. Presented in full frame with non-anamorphic film clips, this offers even newer interviews with everyone that appeared in the Poughkeepsie documentary, as well as a more detailed look at real-life figures Sonny Grosso, Eddie Egan, Tony Lo Bianco and author Robine Moore. But Friedkin, Roizman, Zanuck and Brown, and Scheider and Hackman offer a bit more insight into the crafting of a true-to-life crime drama this time. Though they touch on similar material in both the commentaries and the BBC documentary, there is more robust focus here on the critical and Oscar acclaim the film received, as well as some of the more controversial choices Friedkin made. (Ever wonder how they decided to use that shot of Hackman shooting the guy in the back as the film's poster image? Here you'll find out.) I'm afraid if you are a real French Connection fan, you'll just have to watch this one, too.

But, c'mon now, do you really think that's it? Friedkin also hosts a collection of seven deleted scenes, presented in non-anamorphic widescreen and with dodgy production sound. Running a bit over 20 minutes, Friedkin offers insight into why he cut these scenes (including a very amusing bit with a dominatrix!) as well as discussion on additional scenes now lost in the mists of time. Oddly enough from a navigational point of view, you can also access these same deleted scenes via a separate submenu on the disc, but without Friedkin's introductions.

Additional supplements include three still galleries with production photographs, publicity stills and ad materials. Each allows for still frame access, and while the ad material and publicity sections are rather pithy, the production photographs are fairly extensive with nearly 50 stills in all. Unfortunately, no supplementary text is included to offer additional insight. Rounding out the extras are two theatrical trailers included on the first disc for The French Connection and its sequel, both presented in anamorphic widescreen. Unfortunately, no DVD-ROM material is provided.

Parting Thoughts