Thanks for the memories!

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

As with the best sequels out there, 'French Connection II' does not attempt to copy or outdo the original. The reliable John Frankenheimer takes the helm this time round and places a unique spin on the story, completely switching locations so that Gene Hackman's Popeye Doyle is now tracking down Fernando Rey's heroine kingpin in his own home ground of Marseilles. Frankenheimer also shies away from turning the film into one chase sequence after another as per the original. On one hand, this takes away from the adrenaline rush of Part One, but on the other hand, it gives us a chance to really get under Doyle's skin - something not possible given the pacing of the first film. Doyle's frustration is also doubled this time round as he is not just tracking down a drug trafficker, but one who eluded him once before, and while his anger over the way the French run things uneasily makes the French seem incompetent at times, it is important for characterising him. Things get even more interesting around a third of the way in as Rey manages to capture Doyle and, rather than kill him, gets him addicted to heroine instead to discredit the US police force. Hackman's scenes coping with his addiction are remarkably intense, however, the film does not stop there with some chase sequences too towards that resonate all the more since we know just how much Hackman has gone through in his attempts to track Rey down this time. Calling this a superior sequel seems to be the equivalent of movie heresy, but it does at least do more to explore Doyle as a fallible human being.

"Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) is sent to Marseilles to track down French drug-lord and smuggler Alain Charnier (Fernando Ray), in cooperation with the city narc squad, but he finds himself instead seemingly betrayed by the very law enforcement he represents! Sent out into the French public without understanding their language, and his unfamiliar lack of knowledge with his surroundings, it is easy to see Doyle was set up to fail or much worse die.I think the film benefits exponentially from Hackman's performance. This man lays everything he has out there for the character, including a harrowing, gut-wrenchingly unpleasant heroin-induced addiction by Ray and his cohorts and recovery once he is returned to the Marseilles police more than a little worse for wear. To say this is hard to watch is an understatement. One brave and emotionally vulnerable scene has Doyle combating withdrawal as Marseilles narc detective, Barthélémy (Bernard Fresson) feeds him cognac while he talks about Yankee baseball during fits of heroin yearning.Seeing Popeye not in his own turf is jarring, and he's vulnerable against the language barrier. Just trying to get scotch in a café is a chore, and if he wants to engage in flirtatious conversation with women it proves unsuccessful, not to mention, awkward. Like a volleyball babe who just shrugs him off primarily because she doesn't understand what he says. He is a bone of contention for the Marseilles police who feel obligated to babysit him while trying to keep him from roughhousing and aggressively pursuing suspects. When he is easily captured by Charnier, Doyle is reduced to an addict in the hopes of giving up what he knows about the drug operations. Not killing Doyle will prove to be his undoing.The chase at the end is obviously a standout, considering how physical and demanding it is for Hackman who must pursue a trollying Charnier on foot through streets and sidewalks, as well as, traffic (both vehicular and human). The raid of the ship that would be carrying Charnier's heroin, which almost leads to Doyle and Barthélémy being drowned by a purposed flood meant to kill them, is a throwback to the first film in that the main bad guy is almost caught but manages to slip away. The closing in on Charnier's secret meeting with a ship owner (carrying his drugs, of course!) as the Marseilles cops follow his minions throughout the city is another key sequence. Frankenheimer proves himself quite impressively with moving action as these two scenes attest. The in-your-face characterizations and willingness to go into the ugly could be a detriment for some who would have a hard time sitting through all of that. Still, I think it isn't afraid of the intimidating task of following such a revered and adulated 70s classic, and that could be applauded if the sequel has the guts to go its own way…Hackman certainly brings the acting chops required for the role made famous previously.

The movie starts out fairly entertaining with Hackman playing a crude intelligent tactless Eastwood like New York cop encountering funny language barrier situations. All these movies from the era have a "James Bond flair" of an exaggerated macho super male protagonist.So much of it seemed to be filmed on a set (all the indoor scenes) kinds of cheapens and wrecks the fun of time travel--but there were a decent amount of outdoor live scenes still..Where I started to get bored was when Hackman goes cold turkey after being forced to take heroin for 2 weeks so the baddie Rey can get information from him. I actually started to fast forward through that endless part.The whole attitude towards drugs is a bit corny and laughable--but this was made in 1976 so you have to put up with that.I never fully understood the plot a far more serious flaw....at one point it is revealed the Hackman was sent there as bait--bait for whose benefit the French? They don't seem to want him there. Anyway that is confusing.As others state the action scenes go on too long....the dry dock...the chases....with sound effects added afterwards. Also I found the idea that after Rey knows everything is being watched he goes ahead and pays off the captain of the ship---having no clue it might be watched---that is just plain stupid writing.I agree Rey doesn't make a good bad guy....needs to instill fear--not.This movie cost $4.3 million and grossed $12.6 million so what do I know? Semi Recommend

In this vastly underrated sequel (the first true Hollywood '2') Popeye travels to (more like discarded to) Marseilles after his crushing defeat at the end of the first film. The recovered heroin was stolen right out of the police evidence and made it to the street regardless, lining the pockets of Popeye's crooked colleagues. That's the price you pay for being honest.The French don't want him and make no attempts to hide their discourteousness as Popeye hits the streets, desperately looking for the elusive 'Frog 1'. His tough-guy schtick may have worked in the Big Apple but in France he's hopelessly incompetent and way out of his depth. Calling him a fish out of water is to put it lightly.Instead of being a carbon copy of the original, FCII takes a radical turn in the second act as Charnier captures Popeye and turns him into a junkie, the thing he hates even more than criminals. Near-death, and humiliated by Charnier even further, Popeye undergoes a harrowing withdrawal, going cold turkey in a French police cell while his partner looks after him (there ain't no gratitude though). Barely waiting two seconds to regain his strength, the hunt is back on to finally get revenge on Charnier.John Frankenheimer's take on the story is much slower and drama-orientated than the quick, raw energy of the first. Going deeper into Popeye Doyle's unstable, edgy personality makes it more of a character study and a bit of an epic when compared to what William Friedkin gave us.The ending may be as abrupt as the first, but it wastes no time in winding down the story. FCII might have the best, sudden climax of any movie ever made.Don't misjudge it as a 'same again' sequel, it's very different and is brave enough to take the character and story is a bold direction. Frankenheimer's career was full of underrated efforts, but FCII is the best of them.