Versions alternatives

The version released on first Blu-ray release features a radically-different color scheme from all earlier versions - it was recolored with the assistance of director William Friedkin. The second Blu-ray release features a color scheme more like all the previous versions.

A Dolby Digital 5.1 surround remix was created for the 2001 2-disc Special Edition DVD from Fox Home Entertainment. Aside from creating stereo effects from the original mono elements, all the gunshots were replaced with more contemporary sound effects.

A "special edition" of The French Connection features several scenes that never made the final cut of the movie. One of these scenes has actor Marcel Bozzuffi being whipped by a topless hooker in his New York City hotel room. The trivia here is that the hooker is played by actress Darby Lloyd Rains who, several years later, would become one of the earliest stars of the adult film industry in such releases as Naked Came the Stranger (1975).

Current streaming and broadcast versions available censor a scene where a character uses a racial slur without any notation of alteration. Even on venues expected to have the full theatrical version. They censor by way of a noticeable chunk taken out of an unbroken scene around the 10:07 mark, causing a noticeable continuity jump.

Doyle's line "Never trust a nigger" is cut by Disney, who acquired 21st Century from News Corporation in 2019 which includes The French Connection's distributor 20th Century Fox, in the version shown on the digital platforms, Criterion Channel and TCM in addition to the May 12, 2023 screening at Aero Theater due to the usage of a racial slur. However, on Disney+ in a couple countries, the line remained intact.