Customer Reviews

Rollerball

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

"Rollerball" (judged one of the best sports movies of all time by Sports Illustrated) is more than a sports movie (although in 1975 Norman Jewison was only guessing at the thrall in which superstar athletes such as James Caan's Jonathan E could hold the public; fans carry pictures of him to matches as though he were Chairman Mao or Yasser Arafat), more than an action movie (though the stunt sequences during the games rival those of "Mad Max"), and much more than Orwellian science fiction.
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The strengths of the movie lie in the way a society that is run from cradle to grave by corporations (rather than governments) is effectively portrayed as being both class-driven (director Norman Jewison uses the time-honored Hollywood trick of using actors with English accents to play the ruling corporate class, while the Rollerball players have working-class Southern U.S. drawls when they speak at all) as well as completely desensitized from all of humanity's pains through the creature comforts (including those of the recreational pharmaceutical variety) provided by the corporations.
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The public channels what remaining passion for violence that exists in their world through the game of Rollerball, allowing themselves to be deluded into thinking that the carnage going on in their arenas and on their Multivision sets is perfectly excusable becasue it is not perpetrated by men but by machines ("Don't be silly, they're made in Detroit"). There is some question to the validity of the game itself; after the first match shown on film (the quarterfinal game of the season, it seems), the coach of Jonathan's team remarks that they will play New York in the Final. Knowing that they still have a game to play before reaching the Final, this seems not in itself anything more than a coach inspiring the confidence of his team. But by indicating that New York will be the opponent (when presumably New York also has a semifinal match to play) would seem to indicate that the season is pre-scripted, not unlike WWE wrestling or the soccer seasons in the former East Germany.
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And no one, save Jonathan E (the sports greatest and by default most violent player), ever questions the idea that no one is allowed to make even the most basic decision for themselves (men and women don't seem to meet and fall in love; rather, couples are "assigned" to each other).
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In a telling moment, Jonathan and his ex-wife (Maud Adams; in the future all women are models) are talking about the "benefits" of corporate society; she remarks that civilization has always been a crusade against poverty. Jonathan makes the most Libertarian remark I've ever heard in a major motion picture when he believes that the luxuries of corporate society have succeeded in "buying off" its citizens, that the last decision society ever made was to be comfortable rather than free, which then enabled the corporations to take over everything.
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This has always been one of my favorite movies; when I was a kid I enjoyed it because of the action (American audiences have always ben more riveted by the game itself rather than the deeper philosophical meanings to the film), but as I've gotten older and more politically aware I have come to appreciate the underlying nefarious themes behind the game and have thus gained an even greater enjoyment of an already terrific film.

The rollerball game of the future was created for a special reason. "To show the futility of individual effort." To make anyone that wants to go his own way, bow dowm to the powers that be. James Cann, in one of his best roles, is Johnathan E, rollerball's super star. He's relaxed and friendly off the track, and a determined gladiator on.

The action is great and strangly hypnotizing as skaters and motorcyclists race around a large circular track, trying to throw a steel metal ball into a basket.

John Housman makes one of the best establishment heavys as he hints, demands, and threatens Johnathan to retire. For people that like gladiator movies, sports action, or the lone man trying to survive, Rollerball will excite you. You'll be shouting Johnathan's name along with the crowd. And after it's over, you'll feel like taking on the world. Yes, a great motivational movie as well.

Pay no attention to remake. This is the one and only "Rollerball".

A friend came over the other night and poped the "Rollerball" DVD into the player - for a moment or two I grimaced, imagining some sort of .. poor 1970s version of "The Running Man" - little did I know it would be MUCH BETTER!

Was I surprised when the movie that unfolded was more like a cross between the stories of "1984", the computer game "Syndicate", and the court case against Bill Gates.

The story is about the fact that the world has evolved into a place where six major companies run everything, with very basic names: "Energy Corporation", "Leisure Corporation", "Food Corporation" etc., where each company has its own anthem and logo/colour scheme.

The corporations control EVERYTHING, including the main pastime for the people of Earth, "The Game", Rollerball.

Are you still with me? While it sounds very totalitarian, it is very realistic, with much of what goes on today reflected into this film...

Anyway, the plot revolves around a champion of "The Game", Jonothan E., who is so great, so popular that the Corporations Committee becomes scared and decides to force him to quit. But Jonothan has other ideas - the Committee has already taken his wife away, now his career... It is all too much for him, and the film develops into a battle (both violent and covert) against the Committee of Corporations.

A brilliant film which is about to be remade - directed by John McTiernan, the guy who did Die Hard, Predator, Hunt for Red October, 13th Warrior etc... But watch the original and be able to see what maes it a great film.

The story is truly imaginative and clever, James Caan is brilliant, the art direction is great (winning a BAFTA). Watch this film, BUY IT!

This film is exactly what the world of sci-fi needed. It is a painstakingly detailed, highly tear-inducing, look into a future wherein everything is run by huge corporations. The world is a thriving marketplace. But this apparent happiness by many is shadowed by the game on which the entire world places their money. The game is rollerball; a strange mix of basketball, roller derby, rugby and ice hockey. The wounds some players endure are enough to take a life. There is a time when the games has no time limit, and the last player left standing wins for the team. It is at this game that we realize the brutality of the world in which we might live. The acting is marvelous; James Caan's fine performance is just as potent and unwaveable as was his Sonny Corleone performance in "The Godfather". The action is harrowingly realistic and the overall edge-of-your-seat suspense is easily provided. The camera work is often incredible as we can see the expressions on the players' faces. A widescreen version would very much help in exhibiting the grandeurof this movie. I thought the slow-motion sequences, though a vey old trick, were used most effectively, particularly during the game scenes. This picture is often called one of Norman Jewison's best films. If it's not the best, it is certainly the most underappreciated.

Amazon has mixed up the reviews for the original Rollerball (with James Caan from 1975) and the remake (with Chris Klein from 2002). The customer reviews for the original are generally fairly good (user rating average at IMDb is 6.4/10, above average), for the remake the opposite (2.7/10, abysmal). Just keep that in mind if you're trying to decide what to buy based on these reviews.

A a kid growing up in rural Snohomish, Washington in the 70's i was a big fan of this movie; I was thrilled, involved & excited by the furiously nasty snap of the game, which is not at all what the director Norman Jewsion intended; ( sorry, i was only 8 or 9!) Then a few years ago i read the short story by William Harrison and was struck by its sense of poetry, nostalgia and loss and also its sense of danger and foreboding--it really makes the game seem scary-- its quite a nice piece of writing. Then i watched the film again and was struck by how much of that melancholy tone from the story Jewison was able to capture in the film, without sacrificing any of the punch of the Rollerball games themselves. Ah, the 1970's! The last decade before sci fi got blanded-out and watered down for mass-consumption. While watching this film you get a sense of intelligence at work; a sense of something being communicated besides crass marketing of toys and tie-ins. This is one sci fi film that looks remarkably contemporary-- no one wears anything made of silver spandex-- and the themes--of depersonalization in the face of consumerism, of corportate-ruled societies filled with a drugged-out leisure class, of the slick and cynical packaging of violence as entertainment in modern sporting spectacles--are as timely as ever. I hate to say this but if you want to see just what an intelligent, thoughtful and well-made film ROLLERBALL is all you have to do is watch the incredibly stupid, insulting and uncalled for re-make; Its garbage, totally worthless. This one is a gem. And special mention must be made of JAMES CAAN who seems so perfectly at ease in the role that you'd think he really was a professional athlete in a dangerous future sport; he inhabits the role in a way that makes it impossible to imagine anyone else playing the part. He is especially good, oddly enough, in the quieter, more reflective scenes where he manages to suggest his character's lonliness and isolation with a mimimum of expression. Its a nicely modulated interior performance, perfectly countered by his furious grace and power when he is dispatching foes on the Rollerball track. Also excellent is JOHN HOUSEMAN, who has one of the biggest roles of his career here as the all powerful Mr Bartholomew, head of the ENERGY Corporation; he has an air of the tired aristocrat about him-- suave, jaded and menacing-- perfect for the role.
The DVD edition offered here is a great bargain; the film hasn't looked this good since it was released in theatres in 1975! And Norman Jewison provides an interesting and enlightening commentary. I am glad to see that MR Jewsion seems to have a certain fondness for this film because in my opinion its one of the best science fiction films that has ever been made and it joins SOYLENT GREEN and PUNISHMENT PARK as one of the benchmarks of 1970's cautionary sci fi filmmaking.

This movie tells about a future where countries are a thing of the past, and instead, the world is divided into geopolitical Corporations. The public is placated with Corporate provided entertainment, and for those needing violence as the rallying point for their loyalty, ROLLERBALL is offered. ROLLERBALL is a manufactured sport, a hybrid mixture of Motocross; Roller Derby, hockey; arena football; and what the NBA has devolved into; a violent packed war. All in all, a very entertaining game.

A word of caution, a "remake" of ROLLERBALL was recently released, which, save for the "game" and the title, holds no real relation to the original ROLLERBALL, which is more about the devolution of society, and a trading of our independence and individuality in exchange for the allusion of safety and security. Steer clear of the "remake" for even the game itself is poorly portrayed.

Back to the original. James Caan, as our hero, Jonathan E, the greatest ROLLERBALL player of all time, is coming to the conclusion of his career, not out of choice mind you, or due to any loss of ability, but because John Houseman's character, has been ordered to retire Jonathan for reasons not revealed until later in the movie. Houseman's character is a member of the elite and privileged class of this new society, a "Corporation" officer. A member of this class requested and because of the level of privilege afforded them, was able to obtain Jonathan's first wife during their marriage period.

That incident along with his forced retirement, has Jonathan questioning what is happening in society. Jonathan attempts to obtain history books, only to find they have been "digitized" which is a polite way of saying there are no longer originals of books and they have been sanitized or the information restricted.

The game itself is already extremely violent, but to ratchet up the pressure to retire, the powers that be decide to change the rules. The first game, no penalties. When that doesn't get Jonathan to change his mind, even after the airing of his career tribute, the next change is no substitutions or time limit. The End is of course a "Hollywood" type ending. The action scenes are incredible and a number of the actors did suffer real injuries during the shooting.

But the larger message of this film is what is happening to our society today. This was supposedly a futuristic movie. It was shot in the 1970's and takes place sometimes around 2018. I recall at the time I saw it that I believed the future of giant corporations running everything and controlling every aspect of our lives and our politics was well underway. But I have long been deemed paranoid and prone to conspiracy theories. Of course having lived through JFK's, MLK JR's and RFK's asassination, followed by Watergate, probably contributed to my suggestibility to conspiracies. However, even I am surprised at the pace with which this future of Multinationals running the world and controlling everything combined with the blatancy with which our elected leaders are kowtowing to corporate interests over the welfare of their people as become so pervasive. If it continues at its current pace, ROLLERBALL will no longer be a possible future hidden in an entertaining movie, but rather a prophetic film whose message was ignored.

Get this film and show it to your children, your friends, neighbors, and other associated folks. Hopefully, they will see the message and start striking back and remembering what built this great country of ours, individual spirit, a willingness to stand apart, the resolve to risk it all and not rely on others for our welfare.

There are so many reviewers who've already stated what this movie is about, I'd rather state the issues that made this movie a work of genius. In order to do that, I have to lay some insight. If you don't want to read it, skip it and go for another review. What I write here it to add validation and credence to this movie and why I think it should be shown in schools and universities - for its social-economical merit alone, not counting its great entertainment value.

For those who did not live in the 60's and 70's, for those who grew up in Generation X or Y, they may not EVER understand the context or the insight to the social-economic concerns of the post war era that this movie brings to the screen. It is not filled with FX and foul language and a continuous bombardment of fast-paced sensory numbing violence and shock value like so many of the later movies we see today of which these later generations thrive on. No wonder so many people of the later generations cannot appreciate or understand what a great movie this is, ebbing with its soft and muted sequences and waves of unglorious violence which fills the sports world and society's lust for violence. However, there may be some from the later generations past the babyboomers who may really appreciate this movie and all it stood for and so I do not exclude those with that depth of insight.

In order to support this movie's weight and value of its perspective, I write a bit to validate it. The movie implies that in the future, we border on a half capitalistic/half socialistic society where all people's needs are met but that some of the rights of individual freedom have disappeared at the cost of social equality. And to allow a relief valve for such social pressures and forced adaptations, violent sports are given as a mainstay for the daily diet to the world populations. Not far off from the truth in this century as we near social-capitalistic homogenation with a global economy, political correctness, socialized medicine, and the dark side of capitalism just short of thievery.

Back in the 1940's boxing used to be called "modified murder". It was at one time the most popular sport in the world. We can see this advancement of modified murder in the "martial art" full contact competitions we see televised today with people getting their heads bashed in and their faces broken up while audiences watch on in a sort of sensory numbness. Society's lust for violence has not changed but rather increased over the last few decades. The movie addresses this beautifully in the rollergames where the games have become the only social outlet for violence, a relief valve for society.

The movie addressed the power of corporate influences and control over society. This movie, "Rollerball" addressed these serious issues which would emerge in the future. Today, we have just that. We see corporate wars today, with corporations and their influence over government decisions, their brainwashing advertising influencing every walk of life and behavior of today's generations. And here in the new century, we see that the movie's major points of concern such as: corporations making decisions for society, limited access information, while feeding people on a diet of violent sports games in order to satisfy people's appetite for violence in order to maintain social order. Corporate wars, government bailouts using taxpayers money to reinforce corporate strength, while feeding people on a lust for shock and violence is exactly what we see today. What comes next in our own society is to put all books on computers and eventually do away with printed paper. In this way, all knowledge can be edited and controlled filtering down to the average citizen only what they need to know, not what they want to know. Rollerball forsees a day in the future where this control of all knowledge will be managed by corporations. And indeed, we see that on today's news, it is filled with local petty stories of actors and the latest gossip instead of showing us the world events that goes on outside our plastic bubble. Why is that? Because sponsors who buy airtime on television stations (corporations) do not want to sponsor anything that is less than tolerable for today's happy go lucky citizen. Who wants to buy products when they show up right next to a broadcast of people being shot in Iraq? So in some ways, we see that a filtration of information is of course a normal operation of our corporate society. Rollerball hit it right on the head again. Today's television is filled with superficial news in order to keep people buying and spending and supporting corporate interests.

No longer do corporations pay people to wear their iconic logos (like in the 50's) but now people pay extra to buy and wear iconic logo name brands on their shirts and jackets and tennis shoes. Advertisers (owned by corporations) fill our minds daily on what to buy, eat, wear, drink, and invest, and what to watch. So as we can see, the insight of "Rollerball" was way before its time.

About the criticism of the movie's "slow points". This movie has "normal" points of the heart where "think time" is given (unlike today's fast paced reactionary society which hardly know what think time is)the movie allows the audience to breath and reflect on the high cost of a near socialistic society where government decisions (corporate decisions which run the government) are made for people while giving them a life of comfort and safety. For Jonathan E. (James Caan's character), he faces life changing forces that he has no control over. About the movies lavish parties, filled with drugs and sex, well, is this any different from a Hollywood party where all the drugs and sex are upstairs and the drinks and coversation are downstairs? Not much different at all.

The interesting thing, the slow grinding twist in the movie which tightens like a turnequet on a bleeding wound is that Jonathan E. becomes so popular as to stand out alone, breaking the bonds of corporate reinforcement that socialistic ideas of the team is more valuable than the individual. In Jonathan's refusal to retire and in his effort to understand why he has been asked to step down, he pushes beyond the boundaries of the deadly games and becomes a single hero of epic proportions. He brings back the calling of the individual, rather than the corporate team player.

Rollerball is an incredible movie and is rich with the depths of human emotions and struggles on every level. This is a world class movie. Watching it with the director's commentary is very insightful as well.

go to IMDb or read other reviews here, for commentary regarding one of the best science fiction films of the 1970s. Subtle layers and themes in this cinematic tale (based on a William Harrison short story) that can be appreciated on repeat viewings.

Douglas Slocombe's superb cinematography is not as well served as it could be here, by the existing late-1990s DVD transfer.

(Why was there never even a 'Superbit' DVD edition of this?)

director Norman Jewison's underrated classic is a magnificently photographed film, with great sports action sequences that deserve the highest possible playback viewing resolution.

Logan's Run is out on Blu-ray November 3, 2009. The entire Planet of the Apes series is out on Blu-ray.

August 2009 - it's long past time for a fully restored Blu-ray Disc (with expanded supplements from the initial DVD release) edition of this classic picture.

[Energy Corporation CEO Bartholomew, played by John Houseman]:
"Corporate society takes care of everything. And all it asks of anyone, all it's ever asked of anyone ever, is not to interfere with management decisions."

If you look beneath the gore and violence (and there is a lot) there are several interesting plot elements woven together in this suprisingly complex story:

- Jonathan E., greatest rollerball player ever, is being forced out of the game. Why? Because no one person may be allowed to dominate. The group is paramount, not the individual.

- Control of information: no primary sources of historical information are available, only censored summaries. This supports the official view that the world was a bad place until the end of the "corporate wars". Now everything is so much better.

- Power corrupts: the corporate CEOs have absloute power. They'll be good to you unless you question management decisions.

There is a lot of gore and violence, but it isn't excessive and it is central to the story (a statement AGAINST violence). Although the 1970's view of the future looks a bit dated, this is an excellent film. If you like action films, buy Rollerball. You'll be glad you did. This film has been in my top ten list since I saw I first saw it.