X
- 1974
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 2 h 1 m
- 1974
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 2 h 1 m
Summary A sadistic warden asks a former pro quarterback, now serving time in his prison, to put together a team of inmates to take on (and get pummeled by) the guards.
Directed By: Robert Aldrich
Written By: Tracy Keenan Wynn, Albert S. Ruddy
- 1974
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 2 h 1 m
- 1974
- R
- Paramount Pictures
- 2 h 1 m
The Longest Yard
61
6.8
Where to Watch
Summary A sadistic warden asks a former pro quarterback, now serving time in his prison, to put together a team of inmates to take on (and get pummeled by) the guards.
Directed By: Robert Aldrich
Written By: Tracy Keenan Wynn, Albert S. Ruddy
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 7 Critic Reviews
61
57% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
43% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 7 Critic Reviews
61
57% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
43% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
The Longest Yard is an outstanding action drama, combining the brutish excitement of football competition with the brutalities of contemporary prison life. Burt Reynolds asserts his genuine star power, here as a former football pro forced to field a team under blackmail of warden Eddie Albert.
Deftly employing split-screen and slow-motion techniques, Aldrich makes the most of Tracy Keenan Wynn's incisive script, aided by fine cinematography and tight Oscar-nominated editing.
This Burt Reynolds offering is a look at both prison life and the sport, and offers two hallmarks of classic 70's cinema: gritty, no holds barred action – and Reynolds' chest hair.
For all its bone-crunching collisions, it's almost irresistibly good-natured and funny.
The themes are dignity and compromise, freedom and betrayal; if it all gets bogged down occasionally in its macho-violence trip, it's nevertheless very exciting, very witty, and elevated above its action-movie status by Aldrich's deliberate references to Nixon in Albert's characterisation of the warden.
What saves it, aside from good performances by Burt Reynolds and a thundering herd of supporting grotesques, is, of all things, a tough, tiny nut of valid social criticism.
Though The Yard is a terrible picture, I'll admit to having unwillingly enjoyed some of the football practice and parts of the final game —even though it's much too long.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 10 User Ratings
6.8
60% Positive
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
40% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 10 User Ratings
6.8
60% Positive
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
40% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Production Company
Paramount Pictures,
Long Road Productions,
Polyphony Digital,
Ruddy Productions
Release Date Aug 30, 1974
Duration 2 h 1 m
Rating R
Tagline THE AUDIENCES DON'T JUST SEE IT - They talk to it! They cheer it! They roar with it! They explode with it! They love it!
Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Win & 4 Nominations
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
American Cinema Editors, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
