The Longest Yard (2005)
Paramount Home Video
Cast: Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Burt Reynolds, Nelly, James Cromwell
Extras: Director Commentary, Featurettes, Behind-The-Scenes Footage, Music Video, Gag Reel
Rating:

Suspended from the NFL for throwing a game, former football pro Paul Crewe (Adam Sandler), who drowns his sorrows in vast amounts of alcohol, decides to take a joy ride in his estranged girlfriend's sports car one night. His actions lead him to prison, where he meets fellow inmate, know only as "caretaker" (Chris Rock). When asked to form a football team comprised of fellow inmates to compete against the prison guards, a hesitant Crewe decides to take the advice of long-time inmate and retired seasoned pro football player, Coach Nate Scarborough (Burt Reynolds) and accept the offer from crusty prison warden Hazen (James Cromwell).

In this remake of the classic Burt Reynolds film "The Longest Yard" from 1974, the 2005 update was critically bashed for not living up to the original. True, the film does lack the depth of its predecessor, but I rather enjoyed the comedic pairing of Adam Sandler and Chris Rock and some of the hilarious dialogue exchanged between the two. Although not as memorable as the original, this modern take of "The Longest Yard" still managed to deliver a decent version, with its share of funny moments all wrapped up with some great sports action and a nice punchy soundtrack!

Paramount Home Entertainment presents MTV Films' "The Longest Yard" in a sharply presented anamorphic transfer. Colors were richly saturated and provided natural looking flesh tones that did appear slightly red in some scenes. Strong deep black levels were present throughout the films exhibition providing a wealth of detail. There was nothing worth mentioning in the form of compression issues or dirt particles as Paramount has produced a sampling of what we have come to expect with modern DVD transfers.

Available in Dolby Digital 5.1, the provided soundtrack managed to compliment the film quite nicely, by underlining the solid transfer with a dynamic mix of good old classic rock and more recent hip-hop contributions. The overall sound mix displayed good balance and presented dialogue that was natural in appearance.

There is an impressive amount of value added materials including; an audio commentary from director Peter Segal, behind-the-scenes featurettes titled "Lights, Camera, Touchdown!", "First Down and Twenty-Five to Life" and "The Care and Feeding of Pro Athletes" that focuses on the vast amounts of food, especially red-meats, needed to keep the rather large cast mates fueled during a typical American summer heat wave. An "Extra Points" section offers five short clips on how filmmakers produced some of the special effects in the film. Also included are deleted scenes, the music video "Errtime" performed by "Nelly", a musical montage to the song "Boom" and a gag reel titled "Fumbles and Stumbles" that compliment this nicely packed DVD.