The French Connection
Discussion
What an over rated film. Can't believe I bothered watching the whole thing, mainly because a lot of people on here seem to rate it very highly.
The car chase scene was also a total let down really, the only thing making it remotely interesting was that I'd heard they filmed it without closing the street. Is that true? What about all those cars they smashed up
Guess I'm too young to appreciate it
The car chase scene was also a total let down really, the only thing making it remotely interesting was that I'd heard they filmed it without closing the street. Is that true? What about all those cars they smashed up
Guess I'm too young to appreciate it
Huh?
And once more...huh???
The greatest film of all time IMO.
The car chase was made from multiple runs, using camera in passenger seat, footwells etc., but some was filmed without public knowledge.
Couldn't you just feel the cold and the tension when they were trailing Frog 1.
I should give up, I could go on forever.
>> Edited by selmer on Tuesday 18th January 09:38
And once more...huh???
The greatest film of all time IMO.
The car chase was made from multiple runs, using camera in passenger seat, footwells etc., but some was filmed without public knowledge.
Couldn't you just feel the cold and the tension when they were trailing Frog 1.
I should give up, I could go on forever.
>> Edited by selmer on Tuesday 18th January 09:38
I'm with KITT on this one as well, I bought the DVD as everyone says what a great, iconic film it is.
What I watched was a slow, not particulary well put across film which has some marginally interesting sections. The car chase which everyone raves on about sneaked up on me and left me bewildered as in "why is that considered good".
Most of the older "good" films simply aren't anymore (Bullit been a case in point) and I guess the new generations who didn't see the first time round are missing out on something.
What I watched was a slow, not particulary well put across film which has some marginally interesting sections. The car chase which everyone raves on about sneaked up on me and left me bewildered as in "why is that considered good".
Most of the older "good" films simply aren't anymore (Bullit been a case in point) and I guess the new generations who didn't see the first time round are missing out on something.
ettore said:
clearly a fool!
I thought I might prevoke some reaction, but I can honestly say I didn't enjoy it. Didn't hold my attention really so I kind of lost the plot too. Maybe I'll watch it again some time to see if it really was that boring. Actually, thinking about it, I didn't enjoy Bullitt either
However, I did appreciate the chase scene with the Mustang and Charger 
A great car chase doesn't make a great film; take Ronin for example.
The French Connection was based upon real times and real people. Hackman & Friedkin made these events gritty and realistic, not like the laugh a minute, wisecracking, incendiary glitz you get these days in thrillers (OK there are some exceptions). To some that may come across as slow.
MTV anyone?
The French Connection was based upon real times and real people. Hackman & Friedkin made these events gritty and realistic, not like the laugh a minute, wisecracking, incendiary glitz you get these days in thrillers (OK there are some exceptions). To some that may come across as slow.
MTV anyone?
FC is ONE of the best films of all time IMO - FC2 - maybe not so!
Bullitt isn't a great film - but as a great car chase ...
70s New York never looked so cold as when Doyle is watching Frog 1 in that restaurant ...
And the chase though the New York streets into the subway is a classic ...
I've never seen a bad film that Gene Hackman was in - The Conversation is another classic he made that I'll watch everytime it's on ...
Bullitt isn't a great film - but as a great car chase ...
70s New York never looked so cold as when Doyle is watching Frog 1 in that restaurant ...
And the chase though the New York streets into the subway is a classic ...
I've never seen a bad film that Gene Hackman was in - The Conversation is another classic he made that I'll watch everytime it's on ...
I can't remember exactly as I saw it a few years ago but I remember being extremely disappointed in it. Being a huge Coppola fan and film buff I anxiously waited ages for it to come on TV but found it to be very slow, thin on plot and not very well made. Maybe I just didn't get it but it wasn't what I expected from the man who brought us Apocalypse Now and the Godfathers.
I always think the drug stash in the car is odd though. The mechanic says "I ripped everything out except the rocker panels" which to me firstly sounds like something engine based but it turns out to be the kick plates, one of the first places you might expect to look if you are stripping a car for drugs.
Oh well, here's the full script if anyone wants it.
www.awesomefilm.com/script/frenchconnection.html
Oh well, here's the full script if anyone wants it.
www.awesomefilm.com/script/frenchconnection.html
dick dastardly said:
I can't remember exactly as I saw it a few years ago but I remember being extremely disappointed in it. Being a huge Coppola fan and film buff I anxiously waited ages for it to come on TV but found it to be very slow, thin on plot and not very well made. Maybe I just didn't get it but it wasn't what I expected from the man who brought us Apocalypse Now and the Godfathers.
The plot in The Conversation is Harry Caul. A cynical, paranoid man who believes his whole being is compromised when it's his turn to have his privacy invaded. The main storyline (the trade of the tape etc.) is 'flimsy' for this reason, it allows us to concentrate on Hackman's character.
Even down to the glimpes of his private life, playing sax alone (quite proficiently too) to his favourite recordings; a sure sign that the man doesn't want to expose himself or bare any part of his soul --- (I can empathise there).
I can understand that some may not find it as immediatley spectacular as The Godfather or Apocalypse Now (over-rated in it's own way) but even if Coppola hadn't turned in these two then The Conversation would still be a classic.
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