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Mean Machine (2002)
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Reviews Counted:56
Fresh:19
Rotten:37
Average Rating:4.9/10
Consensus: Despite some genuine wit, this crowd pleaser is filled with too many cliches.
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: In this remake of THE LONGEST YARD, Robert Aldrich's 1974 Burt Reynolds prison tale concerning inmates who organize themselves into a football team and compete against the guards, British director... In this remake of THE LONGEST YARD, Robert Aldrich's 1974 Burt Reynolds prison tale concerning inmates who organize themselves into a football team and compete against the guards, British director Barry Skolnick pulls together a ruthlessly funny cast and changes the resident sport to soccer. The leader of the prisoners, played by Vinnie Jones (LOCK, STOCK, AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS), is a former soccer star who is asked by the warden to coach a team of prison guards. Instead, he offers to put together a team of inmates, who will be able to scrimmage with the guards' team. [More]
Starring: Vinnie Jones, David Kelly, David Hemmings, Ralph Brown
Starring: Vinnie Jones, David Kelly, David Hemmings, Ralph Brown, Vas Blackwood, Robbie Gee, Jason Flemyng
Director: Barry Skolnick
Director: Barry Skolnick
Producer: Matthew Vaughn
Composer: John Murphy
Studio: Paramount Classics
Reviews for Mean Machine
The scriptwriters are no less a menace to society than the film's characters.
There's just something about watching a squad of psychopathic underdogs whale the tar out of unsuspecting lawmen that reaches across time and distance.
A likably energetic star vehicle for English sports god Vinnie Jones.
Recapitulates Yard by eliminating the personality of the original, without adding a personality of its own.
Another incomprehensible trash explosion from the Guy Ritchie school of cinematic slugfests.
It's mildly entertaining, especially if you find comfort in familiarity. But it's hardly a necessary enterprise.
An even more predictable, cliche-ridden endeavor than its predecessor.
A fairly enjoyable mixture of Longest Yard ... and the 1999 Guy Ritchie caper Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
The comedy -- despite a plethora of attempts -- isn't particularly funny, let alone hilarious, and the drama is laughably bad when not gratingly predictable.
Follows the original film virtually scene for scene and yet manages to bleed it almost completely dry of humor, verve and fun.
Director Barry Skolnick and his screenwriters glibly tick off every point of "The Longest Yard" playbook like a checklist.
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