Be prepared! This movie will be most entertaining for those who like to watch extended scenes of police surveillance - in other words, people who like to watch people watching people will love this. Probably 75% of this movie revolves around police surveillance or various chases. That's not particularly a criticism - just know that it's a primary focus of the movie when you go in; it's not the now typical action-adventure type of movie. The surveillance is portrayed rather well, and it does lead to a gradual but deliberate buildup of the story, which revolves around a major shipment of drugs coming into New York City from France, and the efforts of a couple of NYPD detectives to stop it.
Gene Hackman won an Oscar as Best Lead Actor for his portrayal of Det. Popeye Doyle - and he was deserving. He was first-rate as a totally obsessed cop who's out to get the bad guys at whatever cost. His obsession probably reaches its climax (as does the movie as a whole in many ways) with the wild car chase scene, as Popeye commandeers a civilian's car to chase a train carrying a sniper who had tried to kill him. It's obvious in that chase that Popeye has no regard for his own safety - or for anyone else's on the road, so obsessed is he with catching this guy. That chase scene was exciting. The movie as a whole isn't particularly exciting, although it does provide a fascinating look at the methods of both the drug smugglers and the cops trying to stop them.
The movie is "based on" real events and real people, although all the names have been changed. My biggest criticism of the movie is the last scene. This seemed to be building up to a truly climactic resolution; instead, I found the ending to be a classic example of anti-climax, as it just seems to come to an end at a point that didn't make much sense as the ending, with the viewer suddenly being told in script what happened to all the main characters (which was a bit misleading, since the characters in this movie were only "based on" actual people.) It's a very good movie, but it did leave me a bit dry at the end. 6/10
Gene Hackman won an Oscar as Best Lead Actor for his portrayal of Det. Popeye Doyle - and he was deserving. He was first-rate as a totally obsessed cop who's out to get the bad guys at whatever cost. His obsession probably reaches its climax (as does the movie as a whole in many ways) with the wild car chase scene, as Popeye commandeers a civilian's car to chase a train carrying a sniper who had tried to kill him. It's obvious in that chase that Popeye has no regard for his own safety - or for anyone else's on the road, so obsessed is he with catching this guy. That chase scene was exciting. The movie as a whole isn't particularly exciting, although it does provide a fascinating look at the methods of both the drug smugglers and the cops trying to stop them.
The movie is "based on" real events and real people, although all the names have been changed. My biggest criticism of the movie is the last scene. This seemed to be building up to a truly climactic resolution; instead, I found the ending to be a classic example of anti-climax, as it just seems to come to an end at a point that didn't make much sense as the ending, with the viewer suddenly being told in script what happened to all the main characters (which was a bit misleading, since the characters in this movie were only "based on" actual people.) It's a very good movie, but it did leave me a bit dry at the end. 6/10