In The
Longest Yard Burt Reynolds plays a down and out ex-pro
football player with one last chance to reclaim his former glory.
Ex-pro football star Paul Crewe (Burt Reynolds) winds up in prison
for drunk driving and “resisting” arrest. Upon entering prison,
the warden (Eddie Albert) wants Crewe to gather a team of inmates
to play against a team of semi-pro prison guards in a “friendly”
game of football.
CRITIQUE
The 1974 classic
The longest Yard is a simple and often very funny football movie,
you got it? Good. Burt Reynolds is excellent as down and out ex-pro
football star Paul “Wrecking” Crewe, not because Reynolds performance
was Oscar worthy but because this was a perfect role for him play, you
got it? Good. Eddie Albert is also very good as the warden who has his
own agenda for setting up this football game. Albert could’ve been
ridiculously over the top in his performance, but wisely chose to
downplay the warden.
The Longest Yard
works
because you get the feeling that the cast (Burt Reynolds in
particular) had a lot of fun making this movie. A cop asks Crewe, “Why
did you dump your wife’s car in the river,” and Crewe responds, “Because I couldn’t find a car wash” - this is
an example of the funny scenes in this movie. Call me old school but I
also like that The Longest Yard is not directed in an MTV short
attention spanned manner, the camera stays put and allows the actors
to do their thing. The football game at the end between the inmates
and the guards actually looks fairly realistic, no camera shakes or
people getting hit and flying 50 feet in the air.
I guess it’s fairly
obvious that I enjoyed this film, if you keep your expectations from
boiling over you will like The Longest Yard too.
THE VIDEO
Paramount
presents The Longest Yard in a widescreen format (the aspect
ratio is not specified) enhanced for 16:9 televisions. Producer Albert
S. Ruddy states in the director’s commentary that the film was shot in
1:33. This video transfer is especially good given the fact that this
movie was made 70’s. A majority of the scenes take place outside and
the colors look excellent, and again for an old movie the video itself
is pretty much spec free, I can’t imagine this film looking any
better. English is the only subtitle option available and the text
actually appears in yellow above the bottom black bar.
THE AUDIO
Paramount presents
The Longest Yard is presented in English and French Dolby
Digital 2.0 mono. Keep in mind that this movie was made back in 1974
way before surround sound so this is appropriate. All of the sound
comes through the front speakers. I wish the rear surround speakers
were used, especially in the football game at the end of the film. The
audio certainly won’t show off your system, but it is good enough for
this film.
THE EXTRAS
Commentary by Burt
Reynolds and Writer/Producer Albert S. Ruddy is far and away the best extra feature on this disk.
Reynolds and Ruddy tell a lot of funny and interesting stories
regarding the film’s production. A particularly interesting fact is
that this film was not intended to be comedy, but became one because
of Burt Reynolds’s involvement. The commentary is excellent and is
most definitely worth listening to.
Doing Time On The
Longest Yard
is about 11 minutes long and contains insight from the films producer
Albert S. Ruddy, Burt Reynolds and the opinions of sportswriters from
various publications. Nothing particularly exciting here, but I did
like the stories told about some of the lesser known actors that were
involved.
Unleashing The Mean
Machine
is also 11 minutes long and is basically an extension of the
previously mentioned feature (Doing Time On The Longest Yard). The
only difference here is the addition of pro football players giving
their opinion of the movie. This is basically more of the same,
nothing awe-inspiring.
Original Theatrical
Trailer
is also included for your viewing pleasure. This is an old school
trailer for an old school movie.
EXCLUSIVE LOOK: The
Longest Yard (2005)
is the least interesting and is nothing more than hype for the
upcoming film starring Adam Sandler.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Longest Yard
is a
very funny and entertaining film. It will be interesting to see how
the upcoming remake starring Adam Sandler will compare. Speaking of
the upcoming remake, you’ll get a voucher for $5 off the ticket price
included with this DVD. If you like football flicks you should give
this movie a look. The commentary by Burt Reynolds and producer Albert
S. Ruddy is excellent and should not be missed.
