Double Dose Of Popeye Doyle On Blu-ray

What’s better than one 1970’s New York City cop movie? Two, of course! On February 24th Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will bring you both The French Connection and its sequel on Blu-ray.

Good old detective “Popeye” Doyle (Gene Hackman) is back, but this time, you can see him in the pristine picture offered by a Blu-ray disc. The 1971 film is based on a non-fiction book by Robin Moore that tells the story of Popeye and his partner Buddy “Cloudy” Russo (Roy Scheider) after getting involved in the “French Connection” heroin trafficking scheme. Not only did Gene Hackman win the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, but the film also won six other awards, one of which was the award for best picture. In fact, The French Connection was the first R-rated film to snag the best picture statue.

The French Connection II still starred Gene Hackman as Popeye Doyle, but that wasn’t enough to maintain the high status of the first. Also, unlike its predecessor, this film is not based upon a true story. Popeye is now in Marseille where he hunts down the French drug-dealer who eluded him in the original film.

The original also trumps the sequel in terms of bonus material. While the first boasts two discs packed with featurettes, commentary and deleted scenes, the second has only six selections to view other than the film itself. With the success of the first compared to that of the second, this could have been expected.

If you’re looking for something to give you some Oscar fever, The French Connection would certainly get you hyped for the awards. Even though I can’t say the same for the second, you could just use it as a time killer to ease any Oscar anxiety you might have. You might want to hold back some cash from that Oscar pool, because these discs will run you $34.00 each.

• THE FRENCH CONNECTIONDisc One
• NEW HD - William Friedkin Introduction to The French Connection
• Commentary by William Friedkin
• Commentary by Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider
• NEW Trivia Track
• NEW Isolated 5.1 Score Track
• Theatrical Trailer
• NEW D-Box Motion ControlDisc Two
• NEW HD - William Friedkin Discusses Deleted Scenes (Tailing the Frog, The Whip Girl, Devereaux at Work, Mutchie’s Bar, Mutchie’s Bar Part 2, Girl on a Bicycle, Street Walker, Hector)
• NEW HD Featurette: Anatomy of a Chase
• NEW HD Featurette: Gene Hackman on Popeye Doyle
• NEW HD Featurette: Friedkin and Grosso Remember the Real French Connection
• NEW HD Featurette: Scene of the Crime
• NEW HD Featurette: Color Timing The French Connection
• NEW HD Featurette: Cop Jazz-The Music of Don Ellis
• NEW HD Featurette: Rogue Cop-The Noir Connection
• BBC Documentary: The Poughkeepsie Shuffle
• Making the Connection: The Untold Stories of The French Connection
• FRENCH CONNECTION II
• Commentary by Director John Frankenheimer
• NEW HD Featurette: Frankenheimer in Focus
• NEW HD Featurette: A Conversation with Gene Hackman
• NEW D-Box Motion Control
• NEW HD Stills Gallery
• NEW Isolated 5.1 Score Track
• Rain of Madness (HD)