The Longest Yard (1974)
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A disgraced former NFL quarterback is forced to coach a team of prisoners to play football against their own guards.
The story
Former star pro football quarterback Paul "Wrecking" Crewe is sentenced to 18 months in Citrus State Prison after a car chase and an attack on police officers. While in prison, he is approached by the warden, Rudolph Hazen, a football fanatic who manages a semi-pro team of prison guards. Hazen wants Crewe to help coach the team to clinch a championship. Despite his initial reluctance, Crewe eventually agrees to play in an exhibition game. He begins molding a team of convicts, nicknamed the "Mean Machine," including a former weightlifter and a martial arts expert, to compete against the guards.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After being sentenced to Citrus State Prison for a car chase and assaulting police, former NFL quarterback Paul "Wrecking" Crewe is pressured by Warden Rudolph Hazen to coach a team of prisoners to play against the prison guards. Crewe assembles the "Mean Machine," a team featuring diverse inmates like Samson, a weightlifter, and Connie Shokner, a martial arts expert. The team faces internal threats, including a plot by a trustee named Unger to kill Crewe with a homemade bomb, which instead kills the team's manager, Caretaker. During the exhibition game, the guards lead 15–13 at halftime. Hazen blackmails Crewe into losing by at least 21 points, threatening to punish the prisoners. Crewe initially complies, losing 35–13, but later returns to the game after a heart-to-heart with a long-term prisoner named Pop. The prisoners refuse to cooperate until Crewe convinces them of his change of heart. The game becomes a brutal struggle, with the "Mean Machine" eventually scoring a winning touchdown to finish 36–35. In the aftermath, Crewe defies Hazen's order to be shot, instead handing him the game ball before walking away.
- First release year
- 1974
- Runtime (minutes)
- 121
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Robert Aldrich
- Writers
- Tracy Keenan Wynn · screenplay; Albert S. Ruddy · story
- Cast and characters
- Burt Reynolds · Paul "Wrecking" Crewe; Eddie Albert · Rudolph Hazen; Ed Lauter · Captain Wilhelm Knauer; Michael Conrad · Unger; James Hampton
- Genres
- sports comedy-drama
- Themes
- redemption; prison life; sportsmanship
- Tone and mood
- tough; funny; brutal; good-natured
- Premise and plot tags
- prison sports; football; redemption
- Source material / true-story basis
- original story
- Franchise connections
- remakes
- Content notes
- violence
- Reception
- The film received generally favorable reviews, praised for its balance of humor and toughness and its lead performance by Burt Reynolds, though some critics found it too long or criticized the portrayal of prison guards.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 74% · review count: 39; Metacritic · score: 61 · scale: 100 · review count: 7
- Production trivia
- The film was shot on location at Georgia State Prison in Reidsville, Georgia.; The production had the cooperation of then-Governor Jimmy Carter.; The film was released as The Mean Machine in the United Kingdom and South Africa.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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