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Burt Reynolds was one of the biggest stars of the '70s, but like a lot of '70s stars (Faye Dunaway, Michael Serrizan, Karen Black, etc.) other decades have not been so kind to him. Here he stars in one of his finest films, "The Longest Yard," made in 1974, directed by Robert Aldrich, and also starring Eddie Albert, Michael Conrad, Ed Lauter, James Hampton, and Bernadette Peters.

Reynolds plays Paul Crewe, a football player who goes to prison after he hits his ex-girlfriend, steals her car, and runs it into the river. He's a football player with a scandal in his past, when he was suspected of shaving points off of a game.

The sadistic warden (Eddie Albert) wants him to organize a football team for the prisoners so that they can play the guards. The real agenda is that on the football field, the guards will be able to practically beat the prisoners senseless. With the help of Caretaker (James Hampton), Paul chooses a football team and starts training them. On the day of the big game, he gets an offer that he should refuse but might not be able to.

This is a really fine film. I wouldn't call it a comedy, but it's one of those movies where you wind up rooting for the bad guys. Reynolds' character learns self-esteem, pride in his work, and also a sense of camaraderie. The football game itself is very exciting.

"The Longest Yard" is a film that holds up well, and not the usual type of prison movie you'd see today. And Bernadette Peters' hairdo is a no-miss!

If there ever was a manipulative film, this is it. By the end you are rooting for the prisoners (the nice guys, you know, armed robbers, murderers, rapists, child molesters) against those awful guards. Those poor sweet prisoners, being taken advantage of by those sadistic guards. Then there's the warden, Mr. Douglas from Green Acres, Eddie Albert. Rotten to the core. Bert Reynolds is his mugging best, first selling out, then winning one for the Gipper. It is violent, raucous, ridiculous from the stolen uniforms to the cross dressing cheerleaders. I am a non violent person, I knew everything was designed to work over my prejudices and my primitive feelings of revenge. And yet, when the game started, I was transfixed. I don't get it. Have I no taste?

The chase scene in the beginning of this film is still one of my favorites of all time.

Oh, and the rest of the film ain't bad either... 👌

You just can't get away with this stuff anymore. In the first ten minutes, Burt Reynolds has beaten his girlfriend, stolen her car, gone on a massive police chase, dumped the sportscar off a bridge, then attacked two cops. Oh, and he's the hero of the movie, too.

Nowadays the remake -- starring Adam Sandler -- is rated PG-13 and he's a total wimp. Back in the '70s you could get away with being vicious, sexist, homophobic and racist and live to tell about it. In 2005, Adam Sandler says the F-word in one of his movies and parents are banning the film companies.

Yup, this film is clearly racist, homophobic and misogynist. Women are treated as sexual objects throughout, from the opening to the part where a prison warden's intern requests sexual favors from Burt Reynolds in return for handing him a movie-reel he needs.

African-Americans are portrayed as racist tough guys who are better than the whites at football, and they call whiteys "honkies" and other such words. In return all the whites are racist towards the blacks and it creates an interesting tension.

The homophobia sneaks into play when it's suggested one of the inmates is in love with Burt Reynolds. Quite a funny scene, actually.

"The Longest Yard" was one of Robert Aldrich's most successful films and many claimed it was him "selling out," but viewed 30 years later this really does stand apart from many of the other sports-comedy films of the decade. What is so special about "The Longest Yard" is probably that it plays like a mix between "Cool Hand Luke," "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Smokey and the Bandit" -- it's got car chases, it's got sports, it's got funny stuff, BUT it also spends a lot of time developing its characters and creating some very dramatic sequences.

This is well directed, gritty, and fun -- not as much a "comedy" as you might expect, it is actually more serious. By the end of the film we've come to root for a bunch of murderers and rapists and even Burt Reynolds, and let's face it -- when was the last time you saw Burt Reynolds in a movie and actually LIKED his character?! A classic of the genre.

After seeing this flick again last year after I don't know how long, at first I wondered why I used to really like this film. But after watching the whole thing to the end, I remember why. This is one of those films that generated a whole bunch of "copy-cat" movies, none which are even worth remembering (or seeing). Sure, it's a macho-man movie, but it works, and to see the talent (both actors and ex-pro ball players) on the screen, this is a movie you can watch over and over. By the way, it was refreshing to see the widescreen DVD version which was just released.