PIC of the Week – The Longest Yard
Article Series by Ray Schillaci
Cinephiles have struck pay dirt with Kino Lorber’s release of the brilliant sports comedy 1974’s The Longest Yard. Why a studio even attempted to do a remake in 2005 of this movie replacing Burt Reynolds’ smarmy charm with Adam Sandler’s typical one-note character is beyond me. Then to add insult to injury, to replace a seasoned veteran of cinema like director Robert Aldrich famous for The Flight of the Phoenix, The Dirty Dozen and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? with director Peter Segal, known for…what? The Get Smart movie? The third Naked Gun remake and the listless Grudge Match? The studio couldn’t find anybody else after they hired Sandler? Whatever, this is one of the gripes I have about remakes that should never be attempted.
Producer, Albert S. Ruddy, Robert Aldrich and Burt developed a story full of grit and bawdy humor. It was both dramatic and laugh out loud funny while delivering a Rocky-type ending that had people cheering and chanting “Mean Machine!” in the theater in the last twelve minutes of the film. The casting is pitch perfect with Burt as former star pro football quarterback, Paul Crewe, who was accused of shaving points off a game causing his team to lose, Eddie Albert (The Longest Day, The Heartbreak Kid, Green Acres) as despicable Warden Hazen, Ed Lauter (Cujo, Trouble with the Curve, Seabiscuit) as the tough-as-nails Captain Knauer, also coach of the prison guard football team, and a great cast of character actors that you will recognize instantly.
Paul Crewe has been living the high life off of his rich bitch of a girlfriend in Florida until they get into an ugly fight. In the end, he insists on taking her Maserati for a spin. Not the best idea, because she reports him to the police. Crewe drives crazy with drink on hand as the police chase after him. As soon as he loses them, he drives the Maserati off a pier just out of spite. He then walks off to the nearest bar where two police officers approach him and once again, that smarmy charm starts to work with the officers laughing. Eventually, it becomes no laughing matter when Crewe takes a swing at one of them.
Crewe is sentenced to eighteen months in Citrus State Prison where no one is too pleased with him for the rumor of shaving points. The convicts don’t like him. The guard have no use for him. The only one that is happy to see him is Warden Hazen who is looking for a professional to coach his guard football team to win the championship against the other prisons. But, before the warden meets up with Crewe, Captain Knauer roughs him up while he is shackled and handcuffed and gives him a warning not to accept the warden’s offer. Knauer is the Captain of the guard’s football team and he doesn’t want an outsider taking away his glory.
Once Crewe turns down the offer and Knauer is threatened by the warden to change Crewe’s mind, Knauer beats him up again and sends him in for swamp detail. After the abuse of the detail and some of the crazier convicts, Crewe finally agrees to take up the warden’s offer. He checks out the prison guard team and suggests what they need before the big game is to play a game with an underdog team that they can beat real bad and boost their confidence. But, there is a time crunch and the warden has no idea where to find such a team. Crewe suggests using the prisoners. Warden Hazen finds the idea brilliant, so much that he wants Crewe to coach and play quarterback for the prisoners. Crewe finds this a near impossible task because he hasn’t played in so long and does not want to get hurt. On the warden’s insistence, Crewe begrudgingly accepts.
This is where the real fun begins with the development of the self-proclaimed Mean Machine. Football practice and the actual game has never been this mean, violently funny and incredibly exciting. Just about every player stands out with all their unique quirks that had me laughing throughout.
This 4K UHD release by Kino Lorber could not be any cleaner. For a movie that was made in the early ’70s, the picture is brilliant. This presentation is so crisp and sharp you would think it was made a couple of years ago. The reason for this is because this new HEVC-encoded 2160p transfer is sourced from a new Dolby Vision HDR master. There is virtually no grain as you would expect from a film of this era. Colors are so bright and detailed. this is a vast improvement over the DVD and Blu. Especially towards the third act when director Aldrich delivers multiple screen shots at the same time of plays, players and attendees at the game.
The DTS-HD MA 2.0 track is a far cry better than what the original DVD had to offer. Dialogue is balanced well with the soundtrack and background ambience. The real difference with this track is the sound effects of the actual plays; the crunching, punching, tackling and the roar of the crowd. And, Frank De Vol’s exciting score is more pronounced than ever.
Bonuses are scarce, but the banter between producer Albert S. Ruddy and Burt Reynolds is very enjoyable and interesting, especially one tidbit where Reynolds talks about the scene that he was most concerned with – the fight between him and the girlfriend. He thought it was too violent and would have the audience hate his character. Ruddy assured him that his charm would override that. When they previewed it (and this was back in the ’70s), the audience cheered and Burt was stunned.
There is also a second commentary by film critics Alain Silver and James Ursini, authors of Whatever Happened to Robert Aldrich. A fascinating commentary discussing the development of The Longest Yard and the special characters created for the film. They also go into great detail about director Aldrich’s career.
Kino Lorber has given us every reason with this release to invest in 4K. The Longest Yard is one of Burt’s best films and performances, right up there with Deliverance, Boogie Nights and The End. This two-disc set comes with a Blu as well. The only thing I would have asked for was a blooper reel which would have been priceless with this particular film. Other than that, this is definitely one to add to your library.
Lowest Price – $25.63 – Walmart
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