Review of Longest Yard, The (Special Collector`s Edition)

Introduction

Having watched the Adam Sandler featured remake of this classic sports movie (I was on a plane), and having been horribly under whelmed, I found myself constantly shifting this one to the bottom of the review pile. However, as I learnt, a bad re-make does not a bad original make.

`The Longest Yard` (original 1974 version) is often described by lovers of the genre as the finest Football movie ever made. It certainly features some exciting Football action that is entirely believable (unlike Sandler as a quarter-back).

So when I finally sat down to do my duty I had to concede that this version is actually not too bad. Well, grudgingly, I`d have to admit that it`s rather good.
It`s just the right mix of humour, action and pathos - in roughly equal measure.

A real early seventies period piece, the movie features Burt Reynolds in the Sandler role, playing an all-American football hero. He`s good too (this was pre-Deliverance, and very pre-Cannonball Run et al), having just the right mix of charm, good looks and a sporting physique. He`d played quarterback at College and, according to some sporting types on the commentary, it shows.

Reynolds plays ex-NFL superstar gone bad, Paul Crewe, now reduced to being a plaything for a demanding but wealthy lady having been caught with his hand in the cookie jar (i.e. accepting a bribe to throw a game).

Following a row, he steals his girlfriend`s car and takes it for a spin which soon attracts the attention of the police. A high-octane car chase ensues, with Crewe driving with one hand whilst drinking spirits with the other, bringing a whole new irresponsible dimension to the concept of drink driving.

Things don`t end well for Crewe and he finds himself shipped off to a certain Warden Hazen`s prison after he files a special request to house the ex-athlete. Hazen (played superbly by Eddie Albert) is a slimy, immaculately dressed Warden who has a passion for American Football - and in particular for his semi-pro prison guard team.

He makes Crewe an offer that he shouldn`t refuse (but does) to help coach the Prison Guard team. By way of revenge, Hazen demands that Crewe forms a prison team to provide live-bait for the Prison guard team as a `tune up` game before the season starts proper.

So now the scene is set. Crewe has a tough task ahead to pull together a viable team from the range of rapists, muggers and murderers who make up the prison`s population.

He`s ably abetted by `The Caretaker` (James Hampton), who can get hold of anything that Crewe might need, including film footage of the guard`s team in action, as well as a former NFL coach, Nate Scarboro (Michael Conrad).

There are plenty of good supporting roles too, like the mean Captain Knauar (Ed Lauter), the Warden`s henchman, and ex-NFL star Ray Nitschke and Richard Kiel of 007 fame (Jaws) as team members.

Of course, once the game kicks off it`s apparent that the prison team are at least an equal match for the prison guards. But the match is a symbolic one. It`s about power and authority and the Warden can`t let the guards lose. So at half time he blackmails Reynolds into throwing the game in the second half, despite all the blood, sweat and tears that he and the prison team have put into the preparation for the game. But, hell, he`s thrown a game before so why would this be any different?

But I`m not going to spoil a perfectly satisfying ending for you here, except to mention that alls not as bleak as it at first seems!

The football action is superbly shot and directed by seasoned Director Robert Aldrich (Dirty Dozen, Whatever happened to Baby Jane? etc), and the action, once it gets going, is as relentless and as exciting as the real thing.

Video

Presented in Widescreen 1.85:1 Anamorphic, this really is a very nice transfer from a print in near perfect nick.

Audio

It features a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack that works just fine. This was a big budget bash and all dialogue is crisp and clear, which means that there was some serious post on the exterior wides for example. A class act, despite its vintage.

Features

Well, we do all right for features too on this disc.

AUDIO COMMENTARY
First up is a very interesting, very informal commentary with Burt Reynolds and terribly earnest gravel voiced writer Albert S. Ruddy. There are plenty of `football` stories too from Reynolds who clearly remembers the making of the movie with some fondness.

DOING TIME ON THE LONGEST YARD (12 mins approx.)
This featurette has Writer/ Producer Albert Ruddy, along with Burt Reynolds and sidekick James Hampton (who played `The Caretaker` ) discussing the movie (talking heads style), along with comments form US sports journalists, Michael Silver, Howard Blazer and Bill Simmons. It`s clear that they all have a great deal of respect for Reynolds`s abilities on the field and suggest that this played a major part in the film`s authenticity. I couldn`t help wonder what they`d make of Adam Sandler`s lacklustre performance in the new version.

UNLEASHING THE MEAN MACHINE (11 mins approx.)
All the crew names above are joined by NFL stars Kassim Osgood, Doug Flutie and Tim Dwight to really analyse the football in the film. `The Mean Machine` was the name given to the prison team, and we learn that the film was shot on location in a real prison. We also learn that some of the blows featured in the movie were for real too.

ORIGINAL THEATRICAL TRAILER (4 Minutes)
All the best bits cut together with a big-voiced soundtrack. Why don`t they make trailers like this anymore? You can`t help but want to watch the movie!

EXCLUSIVE LOOK: THE LONGEST YARD 2005 (4 mins approx.)
There`s a weird irony to Burt Reynolds playing a professional footballer who falls from grace for the sake of some filthy lucre. His involvement in the travesty that is this film`s remake can only have been inspired by the same. Interestingly the audio here is muddy and at a low volume, as if the transfer engineer forced into including it, wanted to have the last laugh. Whatever the case, it`s worth a look having watched the original as it`s a good indication of just how bad it is.

Conclusion

Having watched the 2005 version of this film on a plane (that`s my excuse and I`m sticking to it), featuring an entirely unconvincing Adam Sandler in the key role, I had very low expectations of the film that had inspired it.

However, `The Longest Yard` is actually a very fine movie. In some ways, it`s everything an entertaining movie should be. It`s full of humour, action, and pathos - and a really high quality cast, headed up by the charismatic Burt Reynolds who was at the top of his game.

The disc itself is nicely presented with a high quality transfer and some worthwhile extras.

If you enjoy American football, or are just looking for a fun movie to take you through a Saturday evening, then you could do a lot worse than this.