Editing The French Connection (film) (section)

==Home media releases==
''The French Connection'' has been issued in various home video formats. In 2001, it was released on [[VHS]] and [[DVD]] in box sets featuring both the film and its sequel, ''[[French Connection II]]''.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}} For a 2009 reissue on [[Blu-ray]], Friedkin controversially altered the film's [[color timing]] to give it a "colder" look.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/movies/homevideo/22dave.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&sq=french%20connection&st=cse&scp=3|title=Filmmaking at 90 Miles Per Hour|first=Dave|last=Kehr|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=February 20, 2009|access-date=August 8, 2009|archive-date=May 24, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140524015922/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/movies/homevideo/22dave.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&sq=french%20connection&st=cse&scp=3|url-status=live}}</ref> Cinematographer Owen Roizman, who was not consulted about the changes, called the new transfer "atrocious".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2009/02/atrocioushorrif.php|title=Atrocious...Horrifying|author=Jeffrey Wells|publisher=Hollywood Elsewhere|date=February 25, 2009|access-date=August 8, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090602220341/http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2009/02/atrocioushorrif.php|archive-date=June 2, 2009}}</ref> In 2012, a new Blu-ray transfer of the movie was released whose color timing both Friedkin and Roizman supervised; the 2009 edition's desaturated and sometimes grainy look was corrected.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=8328|title=The French Connection Gets a New Blu-ray Release, New Master|access-date=2014-08-10|archive-date=2014-08-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812202448/http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=8328|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-French-Connection-Blu-ray/39973/|title=The French Connection Blu-ray|access-date=2014-08-10|archive-date=2014-08-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812210632/http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-French-Connection-Blu-ray/39973/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2023, media publications discovered that a version of the film available on digital platforms such as [[Apple TV app|Apple TV]] and the [[Criterion Channel]] had been altered to excise a scene that contains racial slurs.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Archer |first=John |title=Apple TV And The Criterion Channel Outrage Film Fans By Censoring Classic Movie |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnarcher/2023/06/06/apple-tv-and-the-criterion-channel-outrage-film-fans-by-censoring-classic-movie/ |access-date=2023-06-08 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref><ref>[https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/06/french-connection-racist-slurs-censorship/674341/ Don’t Censor Racism Out of the Past], The Atlantic, June 9, 2023</ref> The decision received backlash from fans and cineasts, who compared the censorship to vandalism and called out the decision for hiding its historical context. Joseph Wade compared the cut to vandalising a piece of art.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Aubrey |first=Elizabeth |date=2023-06-07 |title='The French Connection' has been censored and fans are furious |url=https://www.nme.com/news/film/the-french-connection-censored-fans-furious-3452641 |access-date=2023-06-08 |website=NME |language=en-GB}}</ref>