Times (UK) April 15, 2021 Quite efficient but pretty unremarkable.
Apart from telling a pretty exciting story with great mechanical skill, Friedkin examines the cop and his prey with a sceptic’s eye.
Guardian February 19, 2013 To watch The French Connection now is to experience the shock of the old: a lost world of the city, and a lost style of film-making.
The French Connection has the gritty authenticity of a first-rate documentary. When it looks cold outside, baby, you know it was.
Variety February 19, 2008 Producer Philip D’Antoni and screenwriter Ernest Tidyman have added enough fictional flesh to provide director William Friedkin and his overa...
In spots, French Connection literally is breath-taking, far above the average cop film. And Hackman, for what he plays, is right on the money: He l...
Detroit Free Press February 10, 2022 If you want a dog-eared guide book, stuffed with authentic detail, to the work of the New York narcotics squad, this is your film. It certainl...
It’s hard to imagine it now, but there are only two types of cop movie: pre and post-The French Connection. That’s how big it is.
No matter how hard I try to control my enthusiasm, I cannot help thinking that The French Connection is the most exciting, most stylish ...
In a dismal year of movie making, this is film in its best. In any year of filmmaking, this film could be the best.
One of the most exciting and breathtaking chase films ever made.
There is only one problem with the excitement generated by this film. After it is over, you will walk out of the theater and, as I did, curse...
Connection tells a straight story, has some respect for its viewer’s intelligence, and maintains dramatic situations that build with inc...
There are times in The French Connection when you feel you’ll be lucky to get home alive.
Village Voice August 28, 2007 Popeye also earned counterculture points by mistakenly shooting a federal agent and exhibiting a conspicuous lack of remorse.
Gene Hackman’s performance as Jimmy Doyle, a tough cop with a mean streak and an unbending determination, is the best thing this always...
RogerEbert.com October 23, 2004 The French Connection is as amoral as its hero, as violent, as obsessed and as frightening.
content.time.com February 20, 2009 A knockout police thriller with so much jarring excitement that it almost calls for comic-book expletives. POW! ZOWIE!
The film won five Academy Awards and set a new standard for action with its thrilling car chases.