Hollywood great Burt Reynolds (White Lightning, Semi-Tough) leads the downfield charge in this raucous, rough-and-tumble comedy-drama coached by legendary director Robert Aldrich (Vera Cruz, The Dirty Dozen). Reynolds plays one-time pro quarterback Paul Crewe, now behind bars for leading the state police on a wild chase in a “borrowed” car. Eddie Albert (Hustle) is the sadistic, scheming warden who recruits Crewe to form a team of convicts to go up against the warden’s polished, semi-pro team of prison guards in a championship game. Crewe has agreed that his crew—dubbed the “Mean Machine”—will provide only passive resistance to the squad of brutal guards. But the gridiron showdown turns into a gritty game of cunning strategy as the Mean Machine defies the warden’s iron-fisted control and attempts to go the distance in The Longest Yard. Featuring Ed Lauter, Michael Conrad, Bernadette Peters, Richard Kiel and a rowdy roster of real-life football greats, it’s survival of the fiercest. And the funniest!
For thoughts on The Longest Yard (1974), please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:
Video Quality
Kino Classics presents The Longest Yard with a pretty stellar 2160p/Dolby Vision transfer for the first time on 4K UHD Blu-Ray sourced from a 4K scan of the Original 35mm Camera Negative. This film was never released previously on Blu-Ray in the US, which makes the jump straight to 4K UHD even more sweet. The Dolby Vision is a standout element of this release as it brings out the nuances in the hues and handles contrast well. Elements such as clothing and some of the vegetation surrounding the prison radiate with deep saturation. Black levels are pretty deep with not much left to be desired in shadow detail and in resolving crushed blacks. When the prisoners are working in the blazing sun, highlights stay firm with no indication of blooming.
The included remastered Blu-Ray provides a great level of detail and clarity that is improved even more with the 4K UHD. The transfer retains some natural film grain without too much indication of digital management. The grain does run a bit light, and it resolves very well with it looking sharp and compact. The texture on display in the clothing and within the environments stand out more than ever. Subtle facial details such as perspiration present with impressive clarity. The most noticeable downturns are near the end when optical overlays are introduced with multiple boxes on screen, but these moments are brief.
This transfer does not seem to feature much in the way of stray specks or damage after being restored with care. This disc avoids anything in the realm of jarring digital anomalies such as compression artifacts, banding and any other such nuisances. This presentation is a strong effort from Kino Classics, and it serves as a much-deserved step up from any other previous release.
Audio Quality
The 4K UHD Blu-Ray disc comes with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track in English that handles this material without fault. From the opening moments dialogue comes through clearly and without any trace of sibilance-related issues. The score is used perfectly to settle you into the tone of the narrative, and this track handles it admirably throughout the duration of the film. Every sound maintains a good balance so nothing gets drowned out within the mix. The environmental sounds from the car chase or the roar of the spectators at the game are rendered well alongside everything else. There does not seem to be any egregious instances of age-related wear and tear. The track is rock solid throughout while always sounding robust. Kino Classics has delivered a good audio presentation for this one. There are optional English SDH subtitles provided.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary #1: Film Critics Alain Silver and James Ursini, Authors of What Ever Happened To Robert Aldrich?: His Life and His Films, provide an incredibly informative new commentary track in which they discuss where this film fits into the career of Aldrich, the techniques used by the director to provide quick exposition, the reservations star Burt Reynolds had about certain scenes, the confrontation of toxic masculinity, the background of the various performers and more.
- Audio Commentary #2: Star Burt Reynolds and Writer/Producer Albert S. Ruddy deliver an archival commentary track in which they discuss how they became involved with this project, the genesis of the story, memories from the production, working with Robert Alrich, how they felt about the characters, shooting on location, working with real prisoners and more that is well worth a listen.
- Doing Time On The Longest Yard: A 12-minute archival featurette in which the creative team and various historians/writers discuss the legacy of the film, its impact on culture, the production, the performers and more
- Unleashing The Mean Machine: An 11-minute archival featurette which continues along the lines of the previous entry with a greater focus on the players on screen.
- Trailers: The four-minute trailer is provided for The Longest Yard (1974). There are also trailers provided for Semi-Tough, Fuzz, Shamus, White Lightning, Hustle and Gator.
Final Thoughts
The Longest Yard (1974) is a really entertaining Dirty Dozen-esque narrative of a ragtag group of colorful characters banding together to face a daunting obstacle. There are moments that make you wince from modern discomfort, but many of these characters are supposed to be at their worst before embarking on a path of redemption. A lot of the laughs still hit after all of these years, and director Robert Aldrich even brings some palpable tension to enhance the emotions to greater heights. All of the performances are memorable and prove key to making this story work. Kino Classics has released a 4K UHD Blu-Ray featuring a strong A/V presentation and a decent array of archival supplemental features. If you are a fan of the film, you should feel the long wait for a decent upgrade was worth it. Recommended
The Longest Yard (1974) is currently available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray and Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Kino Classics has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.