Watch The Longest Yard For Free

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

People are voting emotionally.

An action-packed slog

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

THE LONGEST YARD (1974) is one of my favorite movies from the 1970s. On the surface, it's a by-the-numbers pre-Rocky underdog lighthearted comic tale of an eclectic mix of rural prison inmates, who band together to form a decent football team to challenge the semi-pro prison guard team. But it has a lot more going for it underneath as well. The movie has several running themes: morality, racism, inhumanity, camaraderie and does it with such ease and aplomb that puts to shame most so-called "better", "more serious" movies that hit these topics head on. These ideas fit like a glove within the plot and story of this timeless film.Burt Reynolds (in his greatest performance) stars as disgraced former pro quarterback Paul Crewe, who was banned from the sport for point-shaving. Crewe gets into an altercation with his girlfriend, steals her car, then she has him arrested. He is sentenced to 18 months in a rural chain gang prison. Crewe just wants to do his time peacefully so he can move on. But the martinet prison Warden Hazen (the esteemed Eddie Albert in his greatest film role) forces Crewe to put together the inmate football team (called the "Mean Machine") to take on the guards to showcase the talents of his semi-pro team, but also to demean Crewe and his fellow inmates.Reynolds and Albert are so smashingly good in their protagonist-antagonist roles that they were both worthy of Oscar noms. Their final confrontation is one for the ages.The superb supporting cast includes Ed Lauter (as hard-nosed head prison guard Capt Knauer), Michael Conrad (as former footballer Nate Scarboro, who had a shortened career due to a bum knee), James Hampton (effortless as Crewe's sidekick and team organizer Caretaker), and Harry Caesar (as hard-working, dignified, and athletically gifted Granville).Directed by Robert Aldrich, THE LONGEST YARD is one of the rare "man's man" films out there. But it doesn't come across as a cliché, chest-pumping exercise in testosterone, mainly because the characters aren't one-dimensional. Each key character is given enough detail to humanize them to the viewer. The big football game is one of the most realistic ever filmed, interspersing realistic, long-view shots of the game action with sideline scenes. No surprise that Reynolds looks so convincing on the field as he was a football player in real life before turning to acting. Both the football ending and the actual movie ending are among my favorites of any movie ever...A classic!

It is admittedly manipulative and quite violent, and being filled to the brim with references to The Dirty Dozen and the corrupt regime of President Nixon, it can be a little heavy-handed. These aside though, it is very well made with crisp cinematography and an imposing building for the prison, and the comedy is boisterous and comes by thick and fast, and it is pretty hard to beat with this on showing loyalty, dignity and liberty. Robert Aldrich directs with panache, the music is very good, the story is gripping, the script is sharp and the acting is excellent. Burt Reynolds exudes star quality as the imprisoned football professional who is forced to organise a team of convicts against their own guards, and it was nice to see Bernadette Peters as the Warden's secretary. But it is Eddie Albert who steals the acting honours as the sadistic warden. Overall, a very good prison drama, and definitely recommended. 8/10 Bethany Cox

The Prison Film, now there's a breed of Cat all its own. And it is one 'Genre' of Movie that seems to always resurface every once in a while and bring new wrinkles and variations, in accordance with the customs and mores of the particular time then present.Surely we all have had some favourite movie that could be classified as a Prison story, at least partially. As a 'list' of some representative films, at least partially in this column would be: THE BIG HOUSE(1930) with Wallace Beery and Chesteer Morris, I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG(1932) with Paul Muni, THE SECOND HUNDRED YEARS (1927),THE HOOSEGOW(1929) and PARDON US(1931) all 3 Laurel & Hardy.Others over the years would include; EACH DAWN I DIE(1939), BRUTE FORCE(1947), Elvis in JAILHOUSE ROCK (1957)COOL HAND LUKE(1967, PAPPILLON(1973))and even the recent SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION(1994).* So, we take the unmistakably winning charm of the Prison Film, blend in generous portions of Drama, Pathos, Humor, Action and Farce and we have a Comedy, in the Classic sense, and a good sample Prison movie for the Mid 20th Century 1970's.The crowning touch was the cast. A true gem stem to stern, the players in the story performed as a well coordinated unit, a sort of repertory company. Just about every player does his job to the utmost, within the framework of the story of course.The star of the show, one Burt Reynolds was a Molvie Actor who was just about at the very pinnacle of a great carer. He had demonstrated a definite versatility in the roles he took, of which there were many. The spectrum ran from DELIVERENCE(1972) to SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT (1977). But the Public seemed to prefer him in a semi-serious but carefree character.Other than the Star, Mr. Reynolds, the cast included: Eddie Albert as the treacherous, underhanded backstabber of a Warden. Bernadette Peters as the WEarden's Secretary and just about the only Female seen after the opening sequence. Michael Conrad as veteran Footballer/Convict, Nate Scarborough, who becomes the heart and soul of the Con's Football team. James Hampton, best known as 'Hannibal Dobbs' on "F TROOP"(1965-67), was "Caretaker", and the biggest back-up to Crewe's Coaching and Team organizational Set-up.Other's who deserve a mention(as really all of the cast does, are:Ed Lauter and Ex Pro football Players Joe Kapp(The Waklin' Boss), Mike Henry and Ray Nitschke as the Prison Guards. Harry Ceasar, John Steadman, Charles Tyner, Michael Fox, Bob Tessier, Richaed Kiel. Former U of Wassington QB, Sonny Sixkiller, has a good supporting role as convict"Chief" Anita Ford (Woo, Woo, Woo, woo!) is a real eyeful as Crewe's angry ex-girlfriend.So, his Paul "Wrecking" Crewe was a has been, top College and Pro Footballer, a Quarterback by trade. And it's not just Father Time and Mother Nature that have "benched" his career. We get some smatterings of the story, but not the whole truth. In short, Paul Crewe had been involved as the central player in a "Point Shaving" scheme's with some Underworld Gambler types.(It would seem that the story has plenty of relevance today!) At the time of release, THE LONGEST YARD must have been considered a better than average release of the yearly Paramount Pictures' output. We can remember that there was a promotional poster of Burt as Paul "Wrecking" Crewe, with the offer being touted on an offer sheet/coupon that was available in the supermarkets.Having been thought of and promoted even as a comedy, it is a strangely complex movie, displaying many different levels of story telling. While, it's true that it is a great film to be viewed as a Comedy with an audience, it also has a few serious strands running through the fabric of the scenario. Love, happiness, success, loyalty, class and exploitation are all examined as they relate to the guys at the Prison and to all of us in this weary World.NOTE:* There are a lot of films, which while strictly speaking, couldn't be considered to be 'Prison Films', do have a great component of Prison themes in them. Two of Chaplin's come to mind; first is THE PILGRIM (First National, 1923)and the feature MODERN TIMES(Chaplin Company/United Artists, 1936).

Reynolds, near the beginning of his wild ride to fame, is close to his sexiest in this cheeky, rough, but very entertaining, prison/football flick. He plays a careless, disrespectful kept man who is jailed for theft when he shoves around his benefactress Ford and takes off in her car. Thanks to his credentials as an ex-pro football player, the prison warden Albert requests his aid in coaching the semi-pro team, consisting of the prison's brutal guards. Chief guard Lauter refuses to allow Reynolds to have any input, but Albert recruits him in another way, asking him to form a team made up of convicts so that the guards' team can build up their strength and strategy. The film details his selection of the players and the trials they undergo in order to make it to the big game, a game which takes up nearly the entire second half of the movie. Reynolds starts the film off with longish hair and a moustache and sports a hilarious, yet very sexy, 1970's pantsuit. He then gets a haircut and a shave and looks even better. His smart-aleck charm and affinity for football are on full display here. His interactions with the various cons give him ample opportunity to do what he does best. Albert is a far cry from his amiable sitcom persona and is surprisingly intense and even scary in his role. Hampton plays one of his better screen roles as Reynolds' right hand man and friendly know-it-all. Other familiar actors such as Lauter and Henry as guards and Conrad and Tessier as fellow prisoners dot the cast. Quite surprising as well is a cameo turn by Peters as the impossibly-coiffed, amorous secretary to Albert. Known primarily for her stage work at the time, she received the role through her friendship with Reynolds. The film takes its time telling its story, letting Reynolds potentially unlikable character win over the audience as he wins over his cellmates. Filming in a real prison (located in Georgia, despite the film's Florida setting, and overseen by none other than Governor Jimmy Carter) and on sweltering outdoor locations help set the right mood. A crowd-pleasing, even inspirational film to many a young man, it was remade by Adam Sandler in 2005.