First Down...And Ten Years To Go

Burt Reynolds leads the downfield charge in this raucous, rough-and-tumble comedy-drama directed by Robert Aldrich (The Flight of the Phoenix, 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 (Roman Holiday), in a sharp turn away from his Green Acres persona, is the sadistic, scheming warden who recruits Crewe to form a team of convicts to go up against the wardens polished, semi-pro team of prison guards in a championship game. Crewe has agreed that his team 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 and outright survival as the Mean Machine defies the wardens iron-fisted control and attempts to go the distance in The Longest Yard !