User reviews

/refers to Seasons 1-3/ I regard myself as a fan of British and Scandinavian crimes series, but sometimes, for diversity, it is interesting to find out what is going on in other countries. Respective French series were rather unknown to me, but after Engrenages - a pleasant surprise! - I was sure that Braquo would bring along additional pleasant moments.

And I was not mistaken. The series is thrilling, meaty, with versatile characters and performances (particularly Jean-Hugues Anglade as Eddy Caplan and Karole Rocher as Roxane Delgado) with French characteristics and peculiarities caught. There is a thin line between police and criminal actions... well, I am not sure how realistic all this is in an EU/NATO country, but as the activities and comprehensions were motivated and seamlessly depicted, one did not wonder too often.

Well, for me, the Season 3 went a bit onto slippery ground due to post-Soviet mob relations, and those speaking Russian were sometimes not convincing, with terrible accent or mistakes, but still, I am looking forward to the Season 4 already and can easily recommend the Series to all them keen on intensive and effective crime-solving.

PS Season 4 is back on track, nice.

This french mini series came from nowhere and immediately had me stuck in front of the TV until the last episode.

I really enjoyed "The shield" but I find "Braquo" being even better. It's nice to see something this good coming from Europe for a change.

"Braquo" is a story about a group of cops that use really rough methods handling criminals during their investigations and soon gets the attention of internal affairs that does anything in their attempts to bring them down.

"Braquo" is dark, violent and really exciting.

if you're wondering how to spend a couple of hours then this is the answer. Enjoy.

This series is definitely one of the best cops/crime series ever, whatever country. It was strange how I completely forgot there were subtitles, it was like a seamless cross-over to French which I do not speak.

Acting by all is superb, especially Jean-Claude Anglade the charismatic head of 4 cops who get the bad guys seemingly through any means possible including the illegal. Interesting shots of a mostly depressing Paris which matches the mood of the numerous high level and low life criminals. Shows complicity of French politics with corrupt cops. Several stories happening at once so tension remains high even when one case is resolved. Creative and unpredictable moves on part of the police and criminal. Not like white-bread formulaic American cops and crime shows.

I watched all four seasons, binge style. I was sad when it was over, can't think of a way to have another season. Too bad, back to the mostly futile search through the scads of crap shows on TV or internet (except of course the truly excellent like Breaking Bad, Please call Saul, Six feet Under, Sopranos.... Renewed hope in me that great drama is not dead.

Can't believe anyone would pan season two of Braquo. You try putting together something as phenomenal as that show. Just be thankful that the world has crime and detection offerings from something beyond the technocracy filled serials originating in the US. Any human empathy in American serials is swallowed and drowned in the budding stage by the cacophonous technoRock background music. With European master film making we are given highly believable, living people situations with gut wrenching results. Focus on the use of music in Euro filming and compare it to the monster that has come into American stuff. It is sickening. Emotion is the creed with Euro filming not something on the "attempt to exploit" block. I am freaking to hear that Braquo isn't on board for 2014 presentation. It could only be that their writer died or went overboard, took a live round. The corollary serial 'Engranages' is doing well, what on earth could have tipped over Braquo other than the actors got paid and paid well and consequently OD'd in celebration (not acceptable). I think they should come back by popular demand. Their work is totally believable. Maybe the fatah had a hand in undermining the show. I think Braquo is an essential part of Europe's hope of preserving the culture of the continent and surviving the scourging flood of smuggled narcotic toxins.

Giving Braquo a 9 because it's totally racist as is it's follow-up/ counter part Engranages. Apart from that excellent TV. not enough adjectives to describe the great acting, writing, makeup or lack there of & production. Shear gritty over the top violent beauty.. Episodes just continue to get better each time..As in life.. everyone is bad, but as the series show, plenty of us are very, very bad. You will have no time to feel empathy for any of the characters.. And there will be times when you'll be rooting for their demise..Especially the cops. If you're trying to learn French, forget about it.. These series are made for native French speakers.. The Subs are so so, sometimes pretty dreadful.. Since 2013, I believe Hollywood has seen the writing of it's own demise on the wall and have begun to collaborate with international actors and film companies from several European countries.. American Hegemony has been waining for sometime and thankfully it's also affecting the film business. It's not that international film has always been this good. It's just that American TV has always been very bad.

"Braquo" is an entertaining and gripping Police TV Series. It is the story of a group of Parisian cops who deal with tough criminals with controversial methods. They often can be confused with criminals for their way of dealing with delicate situations, and they don't hesitate to kill people who can harm them physically or who can damage their status as Policemen. The main characters, the cops Eddy, Roxane, Theo and Walter, who are big friends, get in trouble very easily because of their borderline styles of life (Theo is a cocaine addict, Walter a restless gambler), and they always finish dragging the others in their own problems. They also always have to fight against their superiors who want to kick them out of the Police force. I watched both series and I can say that the second one is much more interesting because it has a quick pace and a very complex plot that involves former military men, ministers and ruthless criminals. The adjective I would use to describe this series is "tough" since there are many brutal scenes. A flaw or, If you want, a bizarre feature of the series is some unrealistic scenes: the police headquarters looks like a damp garage and the group of the 4 cops have a kind of bar inside the police station. However I think "Braquo" is a well done series even if I like "Engrenages" better.

Take " The Shield" and amp it up by swearing more, having more violence, and way more sex, et voila! Well not quite. In Braquo the dialog has a male macho Black and White staccato. The action is fervid, and it's this that saves it, because the plot holes are massive. Bring disbelief into viewing it and it becomes comedy, so best thing is to amp up the Lizard brain and bring out the teenager or Trump voter that lurks inside. "How are they going to get out of this" buildups are followed by RUFKM plot twists dreamed up by writers that don't care about the real world of cause and effect. Tortured for days and voila nothing to show for it but some stitches, just to remind us of the torture, juiced to the max by electrical prods and voila able to recover in 5 minutes flat.

The first season of this classy French crime thriller was quite superb . Excellent story lines , first class acting and great cinematography. It all just felt so real with the dodgy cops trying desperately to keep one step ahead of everyone....crooks , internal affairs and fellow police officers.

Then came along Season 2 and everything changed . The story got quite unbelievable , the actors definitely looked as tho their hearts just weren't in it any more and the basic direction was very lacklustre. The soul had completely gone from Braquo . Its no surprise that the show has now been cancelled.

I loved the first episodes of the the series. Set in Paris, it features a french police brigade.It has some nudity, violence and action with a French accent and flavour. Nice and refreshing since most shows are about the American or English reality. Unfortunately, the crudeness that was interesting and refreshing in the first episodes goes on and on. It is as if the plot is always the same, a group of hard policemen and women that fight crime not really caring about the law. They kill the villain. Then comes another.... So, murder after murder and law violation after law violation, the cops always get away with it. It gets unbelievable.... It should have lasted one or two seasons and give it a good finale as a prize. Some characters manage to disappear from season to season without much explanation, probably the actors weren't available...

This series has nothing in common with the wire. The criminals are not central to the plot. There are no complicated drug cartels. The only continuous theme is the dysfunction of the police unit. They have gone so far over the line that it's hard to take anyone seriously. This show is somewhat entertaining but has no overarching theme or intrigue to make it stand out among other cop shows. For a french show to crossover into the American market it must bring a level of complexity that is simply not present in this show. French film makers have nailing this genre for years (Jaques Mesrine, The Prophet to name a few) and have much better to offer than this show. The French Wire it most certainly is not.

French movies can be quite way more disturbing if you know what I mean: "Doberman" or "Truands" ("Crime Insiders"). And "Braquo" will not disappoint you - there is no political correctness, there are no white teeth and something that you may lack in US productions - many characters smoke cigarettes like people in real life. Detective's job can be quite dirty and you need to have solid comrades that you can relay on. That TV series will hit you with so much reallity and good twists. This is not to watch with family on Sunday afternoon. But you have been warned - start watching first episode and you will end up watching the last.

The best crime/thriller I've seen. Wished there were more seasons.

Brilliant cop show if you are a lover of the cop show genre as I am and again like me a massive fan of the shield then you will love this

A very well done and refreshing police crime series courtesy of French cinema television. A bit dark and sullen but that only enhances the energy and momentum of the 4 season series. Don't believe the reviews here that some are writing about season 2 being not up to par and off track. It isn't. It's every bit as good as the rest in the bigger picture and sets things up nicely for continuity. The 4 main characters police detectives...Caplan..Walter..Rox..Theo..with Caplan being the captain of the team are well written and played out by their respective actors. Typical themes of drugs..gambling..prostitution..mafia..dirty cops..troubled relationships are all part of the storylines of appeal here....done much better here than the bland Hollywood rhetoric that gets churned out. This has a nice setting in Paris but has that international feel and suspense. Give this french crime series a viewing..the characters alone will leave you wanting more after the last episode wraps up nicely and brings their lives and morals to a final understanding of the human condition. A solid 8/10...Darryl Arrand.

I really liked and enjoyed Braquo's first season, a gritty, crude, climactic production with a very fine script and remarkable performances. It was a pleasure to watch.

The rest of the seasons were noticeable inferior to me, basically in terms of the storytelling and script-writing, while the performances and production remained equally good.

While the first was more subtle and rich with nuances, the remaining seasons were more "commercial" and a bit cheap to me, introducing too many unbelievable situations, cartoon-like characters and extremely violent scenes which were as unnecessary as excessive.

Even so, despite the slope down, it is a fine show which will delight dirty cops and gore lovers.

Yes, technically it's a well done show, good camera work, production value and all. On the level of character/story though it's very different. We have 4 'rogue' cops from Paris who out of unknown reason seem to be an 'elite' group of the French Police but really are just utterly clueless and super violent and brainless morons. Their grasp on vocabulary is covered with the words 'putting' and 'merde'.

What keeps them not getting fired on day 2 seems to be a French miracle. Their inner life is so empty one wonders if they aren't one of those new zombie robot squads. The 'reality' they depict is nonexistent.

And still those characters are essentially portrayed as 'heroes' - which is most annoying. I see this show a perfect fit for adolescents craving lots of beer and dreaming of one day also becoming member of this elite 'cops'.

In one word: awful. There's much better fare to be found in France, like Engrenage, Un Village Francais, or Les Revenants. Braquo is a colossal fail.

Personally I loved every minute of each season.

Gritty and yet, generally believable story lines brilliantly interpreted by each of the cast. Watching here in the UK, the subtitles really weren't necessary as each nuance of every scene was clearly revealed by the superb acting.

I'm going to miss it, but at the same time, I'm glad they didn't run it into the ground, as is the case with so many similar shows.

Au revoir mes amies.