Review of The French Connection (1971) by Thomas B — 09 Dec 2017

***.

Unfortunately, I have experienced 'The French Connection' for the first time through the 2009 release Blu-Ray - which must feature one of the worst transfers ever. Despite the distracting nature of this, I was still able to enjoy the film for the most part; but I have to say that, bearing in mind this is one of the 'all-time classics', I was slightly underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, the film has many attributes: a great chase sequence and a sense of profound realism being among them. Yet, nothing really stood out to me as truly exceptional. The plot is serviceable but basic, character development is limited and I didn't, for the most part, care for any of them. The performances are solid, but again, not anything special. It just seems like a very middle-of-the-road cop thriller. It's a film I'm glad I've seen, and one that entertained me throughout; and one that has clearly had a great impact on the crime genre, but it's either dated or - dare I say it - overrated.