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Although long-running franchises have become a seemingly permanent part of our current cinematic landscape, there's an argument to be made that even the most consistently high-quality series are subject to diminishing returns. The question of whether a sequel can match or surpass an original is still a topic of debate, and it's one that reaches all the way back to an era when sequels were hardly as common as they are now. While the debate makes sense on the surface — after all, on paper, how can any sequel be as fresh and unique as an original? — it's perhaps based on the wrong question. Maybe, despite all the constant franchise rankings and the like, we shouldn't be asking whether a sequel surpasses its predecessor, but rather what new depths and richness are brought to the material that enhances the franchise as a whole.

It's through that lens that I view 1975's "French Connection II,...

John Frankenheimer’s biggest production since Grand Prix turns the touchy subject of international terrorism into a frightening, outlandish story of a plot to kill thousands of spectators during one of America’s defining rituals, the Super Bowl. Black September operative Marthe Keller seduces disturbed Viet vet Bruce Dern into perpetrating the crime; Israeli agent Robert Shaw races to stop them. The super-crime is both outrageous and credible — making the show seem very modern, even prophetic. True to form, Frankenheimer filmed much of the movie’s final 40-minute suspense sequence during a real Super Bowl game.

Black Sunday

Blu-ray

Viavision [Imprint] 34

1977 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 143 min. / Street Date February 23, 2021 / Available from Viavision / 34.95 au

Starring: Robert Shaw, Bruce Dern, Marthe Keller, Bekim Fehmiu, Fritz Weaver, Steven Keats, Michael V. Gazzo, William Daniels, Walter Gotell.

Cinematography: John A. Alonzo

Film Editor: Tom Rolf

Original Music: John Williams

Written by Ernest Lehman, Kenneth Ross, Ivan Moffat...

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0 Chicago – “The French Connection” is one of those rare movies that’s always better than I remember it to be. Not that I think poorly of William Friedkin’s masterful procedural, a multiple Oscar winner and game-changer in the world of detective cinema, but that it’s a film that blows me away every time see it. So why did William Friedkin have to mess with the picture?

Maybe I’m too much of a purist, but I’m not alone in responding very negatively to the unusual video tampering done by William Friedkin on his amazing “The French Connection,” the winner for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, and Best Director. Both Jeffrey Wells and Glenn Kenny have expressed similar disappointment in Friedkin’s remastering for arguably one of the best films of the ’70s.

The French Connection was released on Blu-Ray on February 24th, 2009.

Photo credit: Fox Essentially,...