Customer Reviews

Longest Yard, the

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

To the second reviewer, Sonny Shroyer, or "Enos" of Dukes of Hazzard fame, was indeed in this movie! And if you really want another piece of trivia, James Hampton, who played Caretaker, served for one episode as Enos' boss on Dukes. Hampton played Sheriff Buster Moon, who subbed for James' Best Rosco character for an episode in the second season.

Shroyer plays "Sonny," who is the retarted player on "Mean Machine." You may remember it is a cheap shot that the guards give "Sonny" that leads Paul Crewe to his decision to re-enter the game.

By the way, this is probably the best football movie ever made. And certainly I would hope it would inspire any of you to attend or support your local minor league football team- and every community has one.

The players who play minor league football come from incredible backgrounds- everything from heroic concentration camp survivors (yes, as recently as last year Steve Moser, an Eastern European immigrant, was playing minor league football as a kicker at the age of 69) to college stars looking for a second chance to out and out thugs who realize now they should have worked harder academically are out there. The sacrifices these players make just to appear in a game are great, as is their expenses.

But who knows? David Dinkins of the NY Giants was playing minor league football just year. The talent can be there.

If you're one of these guys who long for players who play for the love of the game, then no place, not even high school football, can compete with minor league football.

This is the best football movie ever. One of the best prison movies also but not the best. Shawshank redemption or
Birdman of Alcatraz the best. Glad to see it came out after a hiatus.

Burt Reynolds Plays Paul Crewe,a former pro quarterback,whose life
takes a turn for the worse as he find himself in jail.The warden(Eddie
Albert)has a sadistic mean streak.he petitions Crewe to form a
football team from the inmates to play against the guards(a semi pro
team)in four weeks as a warm up match before the semi pro season
begins.the warden assumes an easy brutal victory against the
inmates.But Crewe and his ragtag bunch have other ideas.this movie has
everything,lots of one liners,some very funny situations.even some
drama,and action.oh,yeah,there's football too.i would classify this
movie as a dramedy,a drama/comedy hybrid,with some action.i laughed
quite a bit.the football scenes,especially the hits, are very authentic
and there is a lot of violence,though nothing very graphic.overall,the
Longest Yard is a very good movie,that is more than a football
movie.even if you don't like football,you should still enjoy this film.
a strong 4/5

To the second reviewer, Sonny Shroyer, or "Enos" of Dukes of Hazzard fame, was indeed in this movie! And if you really want another piece of trivia, James Hampton, who played Caretaker, served for one episode as Enos' boss on Dukes. Hampton played Sheriff Buster Moon, who subbed for James' Best Rosco character for an episode in the second season.

Shroyer plays "Sonny," who is the retarted player on "Mean Machine." You may remember it is a cheap shot that the guards give "Sonny" that leads Paul Crewe to his decision to re-enter the game.

By the way, this is probably the best football movie ever made. And certainly I would hope it would inspire any of you to attend or support your local minor league football team- and every community has one.

The players who play minor league football come from incredible backgrounds- everything from heroic concentration camp survivors (yes, as recently as last year Steve Moser, an Eastern European immigrant, was playing minor league football as a kicker at the age of 69) to college stars looking for a second chance to out and out thugs who realize now they should have worked harder academically are out there. The sacrifices these players make just to appear in a game are great, as is their expenses.

But who knows? David Dinkins of the NY Giants was playing minor league football just year. The talent can be there.

If you're one of these guys who long for players who play for the love of the game, then no place, not even high school football, can compete with minor league football.

An ex-football star (Reynolds) gets in a fight with a girlfriend, takes off with her car, dumps it in the lake and gets in an altercation with two cops who try to arrest him in a bar. This ends up getting Paul Crew (Reynolds) some hard time in prison. Eddie Albert is the warden and is very proud of his semi-pro football team, who's players consist of prison guards. He suggests that Crew ("the wrecking Crew") gets a team of prison inmates to play the guards. Crew just wants to "do his time and get out of here". But he may be doing more time than he thought if he refuses to come up with a team to play the guards. Crew puts his team together with some difficulty. He's not worried about winning, just surviving, but this is the prisoners chance to feel equal to the guards, to feel like real men again. They're taking this game very seriously and before it's over, so does Crew. You will recognize many of the actors in this show, all play good supporting roles.

When a former and Pro Football player named Paul Crewe (Burt Reynolds), who actually steals his girlfriend's car and ended up going to Prison. When a sadistic Warden (Eddie Albert), who ends up, double crossing him to teach, train and play-Football against the Prison Guards. With not much of a Chance, Paul rediscover for the love of the game and his chance to redeem himself.

Directed by Robert Aldrich (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, The Dirty Dozen, The Killing of Sister George) made a clever funny sport drama film with a different attitude and feel also. Reynolds also shines is his Lead Performance, which seems to be his Best Role ever. This has a likable supporting cast also. James Hampton (Sling Blade, Teen Wolf) is terrific as Reynolds's Prison Buddy. The film's split image and cinematography has dated a bit. The Spirit of the flick is still intact. It's a expectional flick with a heart and soul. Written by Tracy Keenan Wynn (Who also wrote a Remake of British Version of the Longest Yard) from a Story by Albert S. Ruddy (Bad Girls). Grade:A-.

What a great movie this is. It has football, comedy, a little drama and great acting all thrown in together. You may have heard of great football rivalries such as Oklahoma-Nebraska, USC-Notre Dame, Auburn-Alabama, Raiders-Broncos-Chiefs, HOWEVER NOTHING comes close as between the Convicts-vs-the Guards at Citrus State Prison.

Burt Reynolds plays Paul "Wrecking" Crue, a one time NFL great who sold out his team mates and trashed his girlfriends car and is now serving time at Citrus State Prison. Eddie Albert portrays the Warden you Love to Hate, and other great actors and NFL Football Players are in the movie. Plus the sexy Bernadette Peters plays the warden's secretary.

The plot is great. From the time Reynolds enters the prison to the last down of the Football game, it is "The Longest Yard". I will not get into the details of the movie. However, you will find yourself laughing, cheering and be a bit sad at a certain point. This is a movie to watch over and over again.

Sometimes I wish they would make a sequel to this great movie, however, I am glad they didn't. Sequels 98% aren't as good as the original and a sequel might spoil what a great movie this is.

Highly recommended!

Perhaps Burt Reynolds best movie. However, at least one scene has been cut and some of the original music soundtrack has also been edited or cut. Enough to make me turn to my wife and say...."I think they cut the @&*%ing song!". She looked at me and replied "I think they cut the @&*%ing song!" Aside from the obvious editing faux pas, this is a great football film. Eddie Albert is masterful as the evil warden, and quite frankly steels the show from Reynolds. Try to overlook the fact that the guards are portrayed as "heavies", (because in real life these are the people that put their lives on the line daily), and focus on the football portion of the movie. Great slow motion sequence and action.

First off, I love the original film "The Longest Yard." However, as some of you have already pointed out, this "Special Home Video Version" has been tampered with to the point of ruining the film for long-time fans. As already pointed out, the closing song "You Gotta Be a Football Hero" had been changed to "When The Saints Go Marching In," and a scene with Crewe and the Warden has been deleted. That's bad news! What I don't think anyone has mentioned is that the song "Saturday Night Special" was playing in the original film when Paul Crewe has the car chase with the police, then dumps his car into the bay. This song was cut out of the lousy, worthless "Home Video Version." Sorry I can't be more positive. But this film should either be restored or discontinued to save people from throwing away their money.

Dear Paramount....please restore this film!

The only complaint I have regarding this rewatchable gem is what the studio has done to it. 1 scene has been dropped involving Crewe(Reynolds) and Hazen(Albert), and the music and credits have been altered. Original "You've Got to be a Football Hero" was much, much better than "Saints go Marchin in"!!
Please Paramount release a new DVD with the original footage and music(like it was in the theatres) including some extras. This DVD has no extras!I'm sure there are some interesting tidbits of behind the scenes involving the making of this one. I was only 5 years old in 74 and since it is rated R, I never saw it in theatres, needless to say I have never seen the original trailer or even a teaser trailer.I disagree with one reviewer, though, regarding one of the actors. This reviewer claims that Enos from Dukes of Hazzard plays one of the inmates, and I know that the "Enos" actor is not in this one.
Filmed on location at the Georgia State Prison at the time that Jimmy Carter was Governor, and film also includes 3 actors from Smokey and the Bandit(Reynolds, Mike Henry, and Alfie Wise).