After narrowly escaping his grasp in the conclusion of "The French Connection", Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle continues his hunt to bring Charnier, the leader of the French Connection drug ring, to justice. This time he goes to Charnier's home turf, Marseilles, France, to try to nail the kingpin. However, certain circumstances work against him in his quest

Gene Hackman reprises his role of "Popeye" Doyle, a New York narcotics officer determined to nab Charnier, even if it means bending the rules (or breaking them altogether). Convinced that the end justifies the means, Doyle unrelentingly pursues his prey with little regard to the law. When Charnier captures him, he is forced into heroin addiction against his will. After being rescued, and weaned off of the drug, he realizes that he was set up as a patsy -- used as bait by the French police to bring Charnier out in the open, in a risky plan gone terribly wrong. This infuriates him, reinforcing his desire to bring an end to Charnier and his operation, and eliminates any shred of restraint he still had left. In the conclusion to the film Doyle is truly a loose cannon who will stop at nothing to bring down his man. A worthy sequel to the popular and successful film "The French Connection" (which was based on a true story), part II utilizes the "fish out of water" storyline to perfect effect. Doyle flounders in France, knowing what he wants and how to get it, but with his hands tied by the French police, and unable to work independently due to language and cultural barriers. Director John Frankenheimer takes the reins over from William Friedkin without missing a beat, delivering a different type of film with a similar tone, staying true to the original characters. "French Connection II" may not contain a standout sequence that rivals the famous chase in the original, but it is an equally engrossing film for different reasons (and ends on an even more abrupt note than the first one). The acting is solid throughout, especially the always-reliable Hackman, who gets some very meaty scenes during his recovery from the forced addiction (including a great drunken monologue about baseball), as well as some friction-filled encounters with his French counterparts. I had been expecting a bit of a letdown from the original "French Connection", but was pleasantly surprised that this sequel works well on its own terms, and also as an extension of the first story.

Picture: Despite some regular appearances of dirt specks and minor scratches, the transfer looks reasonably good. Colors are pretty strong, and detail is, for the most part, nice and crisp. While the imperfections are noticeable, they don't tend to be a major distraction from the film. In fact, the look sort of fits the seedy, grimy nature of the story, characters, and locations. Sound: The stereo soundtrack is a bit of an improvement over the original mono track, adding some depth and presence to the audio presentation, while not being a full-blown reworking of it. The inclusion of the original soundtrack is always an appreciated feature, and the mono soundtrack presents itself quite well, given the inherent limitations of a single audio channel.

While not as loaded with extras as its companion in the box set (part II is limited to a single disc, whereas "The French Connection" received the double-disc treatment), "French Connection II" still offers some worthwhile added features. The main extras are the two commentary tracks, one with director John Frankenheimer, the other with Gene Hackman and producer Robert Rosen, which provide plenty of background information on the production of this film. All of the contributors obviously enjoyed the project, and fondly recall endless details about their experiences. Also included are the English, Spanish, and Portuguese trailers, as well as a "Still Gallery", which is divided into "Wardrobe" and "Storyboard" sections.

A worthy successor to "The French Connection", "French Connection II" also supposedly boasts the distinction of being the first film sequel to simply add "2" to the original title. In an interesting marketing move, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has made this DVD available only as part of the "French Connection" box set (unlike "The French Connection", which is available as a stand-alone title). I don't think that this will cause a major problem, since customers who want this title will undoubtedly also want the first one. People who skip the box set in favor of only purchasing "The French Connection", however, will be missing out an excellent film, and a great companion piece to the original.