I strongly recommend viewing this sequel before the original. Indeed, Le Retour will probably leave you intrigued to watch "Le Grand Blonde", but I can easily imagine a viewer seeing 'Le Grand Blond' and not bothering to look for a sequel.
"Le Retour" is worth watching even if you've recently seen the American remake, "The Man with One Red Shoe". In fact, give it a chance even if you didn't particularly like the Hanks film -- the gulf is akin to (but not quite as large as) the one between Jean Luc Beson's Le Femme Nikita and the Hollywood remake -- a huge difference in tone, richness and sheer cleverness (This film may be where Quentin Tarantino got his by-now-familiar Mexican standoffs.)
If you worry about seeing films out of order, have no fear! There's charming introduction, where the characters and events of the original 'Grand blond' are dealt out and explained as cards in a magic act (rather clever ...and apropos) It may leave you feeling as if you're missing a lot of background, but you aren't. It's a fine demonstration of the show biz maxim "leave them wanting more"
I first saw this film over 20 years ago at a college-sponsored "Midnight Movies" and enjoyed it so much that I never forgot it and kept an active eye open for an opportunity to see it again (and show it to my friends)
About a year ago, I happened across both movies at a small local video. By now, I'd long since forgotten if I had seen the 'le Grand Blond' or 'Le Retour' (the sequel), so I started with the original.
It was such a total disappointment that I couldn't bring myself to put the sequel in the VCR. Where was the charm I remembered? I wrote the whole thing off as one of those college experiences you can never re- create. Could I really have been that different at 16?
Fortunately, I did end up playing 'Le retour' a few days later. It still held a large measure of the appeal I recall from 1978, and remains firmly among the films I recommend
