Cool Hand Luke is a great movie from the 60s that features one of Paul Newman's best performances. After slicing the heads off of parking meters, Lucas Jackson is sent to work on a chain gang for two years. At first, Luke is disliked by many of his fellow inmates, but with time he comes to earn their respect. However, Luke is the rebellious type and refuses to be broken down by authority. This is a great movie about a rebel who refuses to give in to authority no matter what the consequences. Luke is somewhat of an outcast who has never fit in with the "norm" of society. Cool Hand Luke is full of famous scenes/lines like the "What we have here is a failure to communicate" line or the eating 50 eggs in an hour scene, but overall the movie is about one's man refusal to live the norm. Highly recommended if you have not seen it.

Paul Newman gives one of his best performances as Lucas Jackson, a rebellious prisoner on a chain gang who refuses to give up or be beaten down by authority. Newman's Luke is a man who struggles with the hand he has been dealt in life, and tries to overcome those problems. George Kennedy won a Best Supporting Oscar for his role as Dragline, a fellow member of the chain gang who becomes Luke's friend. Strother Martin is excellent as the Captain, the warden of the facility who delivers the "communication" line. In a brief, one-scene part, Jo Van Fleet is perfect as Arletta, Luke's dying mother. The chain gang is a huge list of character actors including JD Cannon, Lou Antonio, Robert Drivas, Harry Dean Stanton, Wayne Rogers, and a young Dennis Hopper. The movie also stars Morgan Woodward as Boss Godfrey, "No Eyes," Luke Askew, Anthony Zerbe, and Clifton James.

This is a movie that deserves a 2-disc special edition DVD, not the lousy cardboard Warner Brothers version with no extras other than a trailer and widescreen presentation. Moviegoers obviously love this movie so why isn't there a Special Edition DVD out there? Still, this is a classic movie and a must-have overall, so don't let this DVD scare you away.

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

"What we have here is failure to communicate"

So says the captain about the inmate called "Cool Hand Luke" in the film of the same name. In the movie, Paul Newman plays a man who lives in a small town. He personifies the very individualistic mindset.

Having nothing to do and no friends, Luke (Newman) decides to do a little drinking while cutting the heads off of parking meters. When confronted by the police, Luke acts like he is drunk (either he is actually acting or he actually is drunk) and finds his way into prison .Once in prison, Luke joins a chain gang. All goes well and, despite a rough start, the inmates begin to like him. He even makes a friend in the form of Dragline, an illiterate man played by George Kennedy. Luke is just about to get out of the prison. Then fate deals him a bad hand.

Luke learns about his mother's death. In his sorrow, Luke breaks out of prison, only to be caught. He escapes again, only to be caught and beaten. Then, he takes a prison truck and escapes along with Dragline, only to be shot by a very accurate prison guard.

This film comments on society's treatment of the individual. In the beginning of the film, Luke's attitude equals the epitome of self sufficiency. He is a loner who considers rules and regulations, as he puts it in the scene with the famous "Night in the Box" speech, "nothin' worth listenin' to." As he lives on in the prison, his attitude of I don't need you frustrates the prison officials who try to get his "mind right" repeatedly. They take their dismay, and persist in doing this despite it's lack of effectiveness, to the point that they beat Luke. Luke fights them at every turn. They lie and beat him, showing this most sadistically in a scene where they tell Luke to get his dirt out of the captain's ditch. They make him get the dirt out, then complain about the unavoidable effect of having that dirt on the lawn when he is done. He has to put the dirt back in. Right after that, he is forced to take the dirt back out again. This cycle continues until Luke reaches the point where he lashes out in frustration, only to be beaten to the point where he falls into the ditch. He comes back out, wrapping his arms around the nearest guard, crying about how his mind is now right.

Then there is the climactic scene with Lukein a church. Dragline comes in and tries to get Luke to give up peaceably. Here, Dragline represents society's desire to get everyone to just mindlessly conform to its ways. Luke refuses, and ironically gets shot. This shooting is interesting if nothing else for the fact that the authorities not only have no reason to believe Luke is armed, but also for the fact that he gets shot for impersonating a prison official. Luke's soul has refused to conform to society's rules and ends up needing to get extinguished.

Thus, "Cool Hand Luke" becomes a comment on society. Luke dislikes the need of his fellow inmates to latch onto him so tightly. Luke dislikes rules, becoming a non-conformist. Society has constantly tried to extinguish the non-conformists. Examples include the Civil Rights Movement, the Feminist Movement, and the homosexuals. Like them, Luke is also a non-conformist. Like them, society clashes with Luke. Like them, society tries to kill Luke. Too bad society has not learned to deal with other people's views.

I have just seen this movie again after many years. It is great to see Paul Newman at his best in a movie released in 1967 which was filmed about 38 years ago. This is one of the movies that made him so famous.

Luke is sent to prison into a chain gang for a petty crime. He finds himself in a very strict, brutal and crushing prison system. The story is about his incredible bravery as he tries in spirit and in actuality to battle back from being brutalized by the guards. In the end, he only makes it out of the prison in spirit. His prison escapes fail.

This is my favorite movie. It is one of the ultimate male-defining movies of all time. It has action, humor, tragedy, and drama. It rings true (the writer had actually served time on a chain gang). When, at the age of 12, I first saw this movie [particularly the fight in the yard scene], I realized that life isn't always an "A" or an "F". Often a person rates at least a "C" if not an "A" just for trying. In other words, one who puts forth real effort is deserving of respect whether or not they come out "on top" or "first place". The 50 egg challenge is great. The repeated "fugitive" pursuit scenes are well-done. The different songs played and sung by Harry Dean Stanton are perfect. The story is magnificent as are the many great lines: "Still shakin' it, Boss!" and "What we got here is a failure to communicate." With such a cast too! Joe Don Baker, Ralph Waite, Wayne Rogers, Strother Martin, Dennis Hopper, and, of course, Paul Newman. This movie inspired me and never fails to do so every time I view it again.

Paul Newman is not an acting legend for nothing. He has had so many spectacularly great roles and performances to his credit that it's hard to choose just one. And one of his best has to have been COOL HAND LUKE, that classic 1967 prison drama that was one of the defining films of that turbulent time and helped cement Newman's reputation.

Based on the book of the same name by ex-con Don Pierson, who co-wrote the script with Frank Pierson and who has a cameo role here as a prisoner, the film stars Newman as an out-of-work drunk who is arrested in a small southern town for "maliciously destroyin' municipal property while under the influence"--in other words, taking the heads off of dozens of parking meters. This lands him a two-year sentence on a brutal chain gang, whose leader, named Dragline (George Kennedy, in an Oscar-winning performance), takes an almost instant dislike to him until he engages Newman in a boxing match in which Newman's Luke doesn't quit even when he's down.

Newman gains the respect of his fellow prisoners for his "don't give a damn" attitude; but he soon raises the ire of the prison guards, especially after his escape attempts. After the first one, the head prison chief known as the Captain, played by Strother Martin, upbraids him with the line etched into Hollywood immortality: "What we've got here is...failure to communicate."

Just about the finest prison genre movie there has ever been, COOL HAND LUKE is directed in sterling fasion by Stuart Rosenberg, and features a perfect Americana score by Lalo Schifrin. Alongside Newman and Kennedy are such future stars and character actors as Dennis Hopper, Ralph Waite, Harry Dean Stanton, Luke Askew, J.D. Cannon, Robert Donner, and Wayne Rogers. Filmed almost completely on location in Stockton, California, and featuring many memorable scenes, including the famous egg-eating contest in which Newman consumes fifty eggs in 60 minutes, COOL HAND LUKE has lost none of its power in the thirty-seven years since its release, and is vigorously recommended, particularly alongside similar and more recent outings like THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION and DEAD MAN WALKING.