Movie: The French Connection

I was being a little sarcastic here. Waterworld stunk to high h*ll.
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When it was first advertised, people dogged it as simply Max Max with water. If only it had been like that...

I wonder what Dennis Hopper thought? He was sitting two rows in front of me in the theater.

Midnight Cowboy just made me feel all icky and stuff?!?!
Can't say why really. Just didn't do it for me.
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If that's how the film was intended, (a story about desperate losers, disillusionment, and city sleeze) you'd have to admit it was a good film. No?

Saying Midnight Cowboy is a poor film because it made you feel 'icky' is like saying Halloween is a bad movie because it made you feel scared.

Maybe that made sense?
 
#1 on my list of over-rated films, Casablanca. I'm a big fan of Humphrey Bogart, but that is not one of his better films. Not even in the top ten.
 
Bob W said:
When it was first advertised, people dogged it as simply Max Max with water. If only it had been like that...

I wonder what Dennis Hopper thought? He was sitting two rows in front of me in the theater.


If that's how the film was intended, (a story about desperate losers, disillusionment, and city sleeze) you'd have to admit it was a good film. No?

Saying Midnight Cowboy is a poor film because it made you feel 'icky' is like saying Halloween is a bad movie because it made you feel scared.

Maybe that made sense?
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While it does not change my disdain for the movie, you may well have me there Bob.;)
 
Bob W said:
#1 on my list of over-rated films, Casablanca. I'm a big fan of Humphrey Bogart, but that is not one of his better films. Not even in the top ten.
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Yeah that fits what we are talking about perfectly. Dare I say Gone with the Wind too. I would much rather watch the Wizard of Oz than either of the other two, which are snooze fests.
 
mycroftt said:
I don't think you can fairly compare it with today's movies. Within its own genre of gritty realistic police dramas I think it's right up there with other great movies like Serpico and The Seven-Ups.
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Luckily no one has. :p

I haven't seen Serpico in so long and never even heard of The Seven-ups, so I'll have to make an effort to see both.
 
Well? Which film HAS aged well in your views?

Most silent cinema has.

Apart from that?
 
willgoy said:
Well? Which film HAS aged well in your views?

Most silent cinema has.

Apart from that?
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I don't know, I'm not a filmophile or anything. I have seen good movies that are old; I just can't think of any off the top of my head.

The movie in question was very slow to fruition and the climax was a bit weak. I am able to acknowledge the limitations in techno. that doesn't bother me, but the pacing does. I don't think I could watch that movie again without getting tied down like in "A Clockwork Orange".

I could watch "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" once a year or so. The characters are much better built up and the story ebbs and flows many times.

"Papillion" is a great Steve McQueen and young Dustin Hoffman movie.
 
yeah the French Connection kinda sucked when i saw it....I'd much rather watch Jon Voight in Anaconda :p

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Is THAT the film with Jennifer Lopez in it?

Worth watching for the landscape then......!
 
I'm afraid that the greatness of certain older films has become diffused in our current time. Much that we take for granted in terms of technique and content in 2008 films was bold and innovative in prior times. If one were to immerse oneself in the great sea of mediocre urban cop films from the fifties and sixties, one might better appreciate the daring and realism (in comparison) of "The French Connection."

I encounter younger people all the time who have heard of the great reputations of films like "Citizen Kane," "Casablanca," or "The Searchers," but are disappointed upon viewing them. These films seem like relics, cave paintings practically, compared to the visual sophistication of current cinema. What we get in the multiplexes nowadays would be sensory overload to our parents and grandparents.

Ultimately, what matters is your own opinion. If you like it, you like it. But context is important when viewing older movies. Believe me, "The French Connection" couldn't have been made ten years earlier; the studio wouldn't risk the wrath of outraged grannies and preachers. When "Bonnie and Clyde" came out, it made the cover of Time magazine, and my minister sternly warned his flock to shield their children from its decadence. Now it seems quaint.
 
I don't think it's a matter of older films not being worthy of appreciation, or 'aging' well. I just think the best films aren't always the ones that make the "Greatest" lists, and therefore naturally can't live up to prolonged scrutiny.

TIME Magazine had an interesting article recently highlighting past instances where 'superior' films and actors were passed up for Academy Awards. Interestingly, many of the same names listed above are also mentioned by TIME:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1713487,00.html

Another factor, with so many films to choose from, so many different "Top" lists, and peoples' different expectations of what a 'great' film is, is it any wonder that each of us can't agree with every single one of them? Here's a typical "Top 100 Films" list:
http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/the_complete_list.html
Some real treasures listed here that people will still be watching 100 years from now. Some films that I think aren't so great. Some blatant errors and omissions. And even a few that I've never seen.

Genres and subject matter make some of the old "great films" seem pale after time. War films, sci-fi movies, and social-issue films especially have a hard time keeping up. The advances in television drive other films into the ground - is The French Connection any more 'gritty' than an episode of NYPD Blue or The Shield, for example?

The exact opposite is true for other themes - even the best modern detective/mystery movies are blah and soul-less compared to original film noir stories, even those considered mediocre at the time.

Which film HAS aged well in your views?
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Bogart's great efforts: To Have and Have Not, Maltese Falcon, Key Largo
Hitchcock's classics, especially his older B&W releases.
Some comedies - I have no doubt that people will be laughing at The Three Stooges for generations to come.
Film Noir. When someone tries to 'modernize' it, they end up creating a sad imitation almost every time. Not even Chinatown can compare to the real thing, like DOA, Scarlet Street, or Detour.
Perhaps a lone western, or two? High Noon, for example.
 
I work with a fellow who thinks French Connection is the best movie ever made. We were talking about movies we'd seen time and time again. He made the comment that it was on at 2am and he stayed up and watched again.
 
I think what makes great films great comes down to a couple of basic factors. If you have a terrific story told with a great script by top notch actors, then you're going to get a good movie that will stand the test of time. As well as that, if you have a movie that does something that hasn't been done before, or does it particularly well, then you'll probably end up with a great movie.

I happen to like science fiction movies.

The ones that I call great, for the reasons above are:

Metropolis
Forbidden Planet
2001

There are others but they're probably at the top of the list.

Sure, modern movies look flasher, have better special effects and more explosions and suchlike, but those three above did things better, at the time, than most other SF movies.
 
Buffalohump said:
French Connection was critically applauded for its gritty realism. At the time, nothing else quite like it had been made for cinema, so it was groundbreaking in that respect. Hackman and Scheider hung out with real narcos and Hackman's character was based on a well-known NYC narc.

I like it because I'm a major Hackman fan, but for a real socko Hackman performance, the sequel is even better. That's the one that is set in Marseilles, when he is kidnapped by the traffickers and they get him hooked on dope.
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I really liked the French Connection too. I'm not that huge a Hackman fan but he was really good in it. I gotta say was bored with the second one.
 
Mongo said:
SIPPING WINE???:eek: Turn in your Man-card NOW!
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Well the man-card was already revoked, but I don't care, I'm Italian and we are allowed to drink wine per sub-section 6. International and Genetic Man-Card Exceptions.
 
Bob W said:
Bogart's great efforts: To Have and Have Not, Maltese Falcon, Key Largo
Hitchcock's classics, especially his older B&W releases.
Some comedies - I have no doubt that people will be laughing at The Three Stooges for generations to come.
Film Noir. When someone tries to 'modernize' it, they end up creating a sad imitation almost every time. Not even Chinatown can compare to the real thing, like DOA, Scarlet Street, or Detour.
Perhaps a lone western, or two? High Noon, for example.
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Funny I was going to mention the Stooges and Hitchcock. I liked Hitchcock movies even as a teenager, and teenagers are notorious for not appreciating the artistry of good movies. The Stooges, Laurel and Hardy and W.C.Fields are all great. Never no mind you can clearly see the wires, great humor is great humor.
 
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