When I purchased this DVD in 2006, it had no subtitles, and it would not play in Region 1 (North America) - it was formatted to play only on Region 2 DVD players (Europe and the Middle East). The product description didn't say any of that, and that was probably the most useful part of my review. Now the description does say that it has no English subtitles, and it says that it is formatted for Region 1 players, but I'm wondering about that last part - maybe they actually did change the product to Region 1, since the reviewer "film fan" was able to manually add subtitles to it.
I haven't seen the movie since 1993 (because I can't find a version with English subtitles), but here's what I remember of the plot. There is an older, well-seasoned police detective in a major French city, and he is assigned a younger, rookie detective as a new partner. The senior detective makes extra money by taking small bribes, etc., and the young detective doesn't like this approach to policing, so it gets interesting. Even the simplest conversations are very funny.
From what I remember the movie was hilarious, and I liked it so much that I watched it twice in two days, and I don't think I've ever done that with any other movie.
This is a classic film and the DVD is of excellent quality. It captures the very essence of French life and humour remarkably well - it is fast moving, at times cynical and the marvellous pairing of Philippe Noiret - at his very best in this film - with former singer Thierry L'Hermitte is such a marvellous combination. Forget the old addage 'good cop, bad cop' and replace it with 'cynical guru cop and naive and pliable cop' and you get a real feel for this superb piece of film-making. One of the other great features is the magnificent cinematography - car chases became all the rage after French Connection I or Bullitt, but here we not only go storming through the streets of Paris, the use of camera so cleverly undertaken enables us to feel part of the scenery as we are given a delightful insight into Parisian street life.