Movies-TV

You can't watch it, you can only re-watch it...

This is a film that demands repeat viewing. When I was a kid, my brothers and I used to just fast-forward all the slow, `talkie' scenes to get to the action. We couldn't understand why the whole film wasn't just composed of game sequences (a criticism also leveled by at least one reviewer on this site).Now, having just watched the movie twice in a night, the second time with the director's commentary, I have finally got to grips with the scenes between the action, and discovered that I like it more than ever. The view of the future is not highly original; tipping its hat to the stratified societies foreseen by Orwell and Huxley, amongst others; but nevertheless the portrayal is engaging. Jewison astutely realised that only by filling in the image of the future society, the characters, and the political background against which the tournament unfolds, would the game be seen as truly REAL for the characters. In the meanwhile, he also has the chance to build suspense, upping the stakes for both the heroic gladiator/combateur Jonathon, and his would-be puppet master Bartholemew. In this way, when we come to watch the actual contests, our enthusiasm is whetted, and by making the rules progressively more dangerous with each passing game, the stakes grow ever higher.The central themes of the movie are (i) loss-of-soul/nihilism/sensual-vs-spiritual-happiness, and (ii) individuality vs state control. Perhaps the best scenes elucidating these themes are the famous `tree killing' scene, and the conversation between Jonathon and Ella in the forest. The use of imagery and metaphor is widespread; I will mention only the terrific concept of the roulette wheel as game arena, with the players INSIDE, instead of outside; and the Circus Maximus parallel. You may draw many interesting conclusions from this about the director's and writer's intent.My final word is: watch it once, soak up the action, and be bored by the rest. Then view it again, feel yourself in Jonathon's dilemma, experience his wrenching disappointment with the people in his life who betray him, and try to tear yourself away if you can as he is pushed inexorably to his fate in the arena of ROLLERBALL.

Disappointing!

Very disappointing film considering the actors and director involved. Not worth watching. Very slow and mundane. Could have been far superior.

Yowza

Bloody XFL style Pre Springer saga about ultimate death sport, where symbolic silver ball becomes virile sign of the times, while He-men get crunched and communal locker room shower shots don't last nearly as long as pretentious pseudo dialogue. James Caan ok in lead much better in Godfather and Thief. Several roller derby'esque grunt scenes quite fun to eat popcorn during.

Are professional sports headed in this direction?

A grim look at the future where corporations have taken over the nations of the world and a devastating global war has made its leaders decide to sublimate all hostilities into a competitive spectator sport. There's plenty of moving action and excitement for sports junkies, but not much of a plot; after all, it's all based on a short story. We get to see future gladiator-type athletes participate in a sport which is a combination of football, motocross, roller derby, and basketball, inside a circular track that resembles a giant roulette wheel.

Highly Underrated, Highly Accurate Look Forward

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!

Bad, Bad, Bad,

I bought this movie because I saw Pamela Hensley was in it. Don't waste your money because she doesn't look the same as she did on Matt Houston. As far as the movie goes I loss my interest 10 minutes into it. It's about how the local big wheels settle there deputes against each other. Usually when you watch a movie, you watch it because there's either and actress or something that catches you attention. Sure, this movie has Pamela Hensley in it and that in its self should keep you tuned to it. However, you barely even saw her and that in its self was a major disappointment. This was a bad, bad, bad, movie and that's being kind. Don't waste your money buying this because the movie just isn't worth it. I give this movie 1 weasel star only because I couldn't give it a zero.

70s classic

though Rollerball seems somewhat dated today it transcends it's era of filmmaking (70s) and the genre -- sci-fi/futurism -- to be a compelling, thought-provoking movie.

this is one of james caan's best roles and many of the scenes will stay with you for a long time.

satire as protest as entertainment

A lot of people think satire has to be funny. They confuse satire with parody. Satire can be grim, and usually has a very serious point. Parody by definition is supposed to make you laugh. As such, the hapless remake of "Rollerball" is unintentional parody - an imitation of quality that doesn't mean to make fun of itself but does. The original found gallows humor in exploiting a ridiculous trend of the period - roller derby - and using it as a metaphor for the consumer culture.The 1975 "Rollerball" is a hugely competent satire of American society, especially its relationship to the media-driven sporting event cycle that, as Noam Chomsky reminds us, only exists to distract us from things that are really important. In "Rollerball," what's important is the fascist state. The libraries are full of Cliff's Notes; corporate executives can take your wife anytime; the only thing on TV is a murderous circus of motorcycles and rollerskates, an orchestrated auto-da-fe of individual achievement whose theme song is Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Now that's pretty funny.While he also plays an excellent fast-talking wise guy ("Freebie and the Bean," "The Gambler"), James Caan is very credible as a not terribly eloquent brute ("Godfather," "Thief"), and he makes a great superjock. The pain and confusion in his performance may be partly due to his 70s cocaine addiction, but so what? His face is watchable, emotive, lovable, credible. His body is properly muscular and hairy and just a little beat-up. And if his wardrobe is a little silly, again, so what? This is a world in which the suits drop MDMA at black tie affairs and blow up trees for amusement; why shouldn't the famous athletes walk around in bolero outfits and funny hats? The choreography and photography of the actual rollerball games is surprisingly effective thirty years on, the stunts more viscerally interesting than the guy-wire acts of modern HK-influenced action movies. And John Houseman is even better here than in "Paper Chase," as a man with such jagged morals that you can't enter his office without cutting yourself.

Rollerball original still good

After viewing an old copy of Rollerball I bought my own copy and played it without distraction. It wasn't as good as I remembered it (I thought there was more action) but it still appealed to me both at a nostalgic level and as straight entertainment. Surprise, surprise my kids enjoyed it as well. Well worth a second, third and fourth look.

Holds Up Rather Well

I first saw ROLLERBALL when it was released in the theatres in 1975. It blew me and my friends away. The intensity of the action, coupled with fabulous music and images, really hit a nerve.

Roller Derby was the BIG thing back in 1975. Remember Roller Derby? We loved it. Every Saturday night we'd plunk ourselves down at someone's house and watch Roller Derby, followed by The Odd Couple, The Honeymooners, and Star Trek (viva WPIX!). I have yet to see a better tv lineup than that!

So, ROLLERBALL was a natural for us. But more than that, it was very dynamic filmmaking. The game rocked (the liner notes of this DVD say that the stunt cast loved the game so much they would play it on their days off).

It must be said that - even though the movie as a whole holds up well today - some of the "technical predictions" don't hold. For instance, the movie is supposedly set in 2018, but the computers are still using punch cards! The uniforms of the players look woefully childish in this age of Terminator.

But, that's easily overlooked. The final scene is still riveting. You won't be dissappointed.

An original look at a future blood sport!

Rollerball is based on the short story by John Harrison, which was much ahead of its time when published. So is the movie. Inspired by pinballgames, Rollerball is about a future dominated by corporate combines, where the only outlet for mass frustration is a world-wide televised game of violence called Rollerball.Here the opposing teams try to off each other with spiked gloves and motorcycles. But the game has a momentum and a logic all its own. It really plays! In fact, the stuntmen wanted to keep playing the game once filming ended.

"Rollerball" review

I had been wanting to see this movie for years, and could never find it on video. After seeing the preview of the new Rollerball, My husband rented this 1975 film starring James Caan as the Rollerball champion< Jonathan.
It's set in the future, as the filmmakers of the 70's saw the future, which is very archaic by today's standards. Basically, the film is the Rollerball tournaments, very 70's parties, and a lot of James Caan, which is fine by me. And some sort of mind bending drugs that make everyone behave a certain way, or at least the way that John Houseman wants them to.
Caan turns in a great performance as always. Is it worth watching? I'd say so. It had a few slow parts, but the acting and storyline keep you interested enough to see it through to it's very fitting ending.

Underrated 70's film

This movie presents a dark, disturbing look at a possible future. The movie portrays a cold, sterile society where humanity is generally absent. Corporations run the world and the global pasttime is a violent sport reminisent of the Roman Coliseum. The rollerball scenes, which get more and more violent as the film progresses, are disturbing enough. Equally disturbing is a scene where a group of drunk partygoers blow up trees with some sort of gun. The citizens of this future society are really lacking feeling and humanity. Despite the film's dated look, it's still a future that seems quite possible.

Jon-a-than, Jon-a-than, Jon-a-than............

The year is 2018 and there is no war and no crime. Corporations have taken the place of governments and the masses are entertained through a sport of modern-day gladiators on skates and speeding motorcycles where only the strongest may someday retire in peace.

Though released in 1975, Rollerball has stood the test of time due to the forward-thinking of the writers within the sci-fi/sports realms and using the setting to describe the age-old conflict of the individual versus a corrupt society.

Jonathan E - played by James Caan - is becoming bigger than the game and it is strongly suggested to him by Energy Corporation Executive Bartholomew - John Houseman - that he should retire. Jonathan E cannot bring himself to abandon his teammates & leave the game - a retirement party finds the superstar not following his script - which leads to a match that degenerates into a vicious life & death struggle to be the last player standing.

The game is already brutal enough before the last game - played on a track, with the object to place a metal ball into a cylinder to score points - as teams named for major cities actually compete for corporations.


The action sequences are brilliant and the drama of the last game is chilling. And that contest ultimately brings - on the track, at least - victory without a real winner.

This wasn't meant to be a game!

First of all let me make this clear, this is not a review of the Rollerball remake that came out in the theaters recently. I am not very interested in remakes. I believe that a movie should avoid simply borrowing ideas: since many remakes do just that without adding anything new or interesting, they end up being not only unimaginative, but often also irritating in their lucrative purposes. That said, I have no idea whether the remake of this movie is bad or not; although there has been a lot of critical lambasting against it, I simply do not blindly trust critics. Especially mainstream critics. Maybe the remake is terrible, maybe not, but since I have not seen it nor I have intention to spend money for a ticket to see it, I simply can't tell.Ok, enough with the rant. Let's talk about the original.Rollerball is one of those pictures that are stuck in a limbo: it never became a classic, but it never got completely dismissed and forgotten. The reason is quite simple: although undoubtedly not without flaws, and probably pretty far for being an immortal masterpiece, at the core Rollerball has some insightful ideas that, despite the years gone by since its initial release, are probably more valuable and worth discussing today than they were when the movie came out in 1975.On the surface, Rollerball is simply a movie about a violent sport that takes place in a not-so-distant future, and a warning against violence sold as entertainment. In a way it is, but seeing it only on that level is missing the movie's much broader agenda; with themes like globalization and corporate power being so present today, it would be inadmissible to do so. If one doesn't stop at the most superficial level of analysis, the experience of watching Rollerball is a rewarding insight on the value of individuality and choice, and on the true meaning of progress. Sure, these themes have been treated in many books and movies before and since, but the film puts a nice spin into them and, although probably not completely original, it still delivers some unique and strong moments.The movie opens in year 2018. After the so-called "Corporate Wars" that threatened the stability of people's lives, all competition has been shut down and now everything is run by a big trust of companies that provides the world population with everything they need. An unquestioned authority, the "Board of Directors", makes all the decisions. There are no more governments and no more big problems such as hunger and wars; people can rely on the corporations for many comforts, and they are asked back loyalty and conformity.The most popular form of entertainment is a gladiatorial-like sport called "rollerball", which mixes skating, American football and motocross. The rollerball is a violent sport: injuries are common, and there are even occasional deaths. The crowds attending matches of rollerball are often drawn into the excitement at the point of behaving somewhat violently themselves, yet in a world that keeps such tight control over the population, this is the legal way (and also, promoted by the corporations themselves) to give the masses the escapism and crazy excitement they want.Jonathan E. (James Caan) is possibly the most popular rollerball player in the world. He has been on top level for over ten years, and to this day he still is seen as a hero by thousands of fans worldwide. In the film's opening match, he leads the Houston team to yet another victory. But his joy won't last long: Bartholomew (John Houseman), head of the corporate power and supporter of the Houston team for quite a long time, wants him out for reasons he doesn't feel like explaining.But Jonathan has no intention of retiring: the rollerball is everything he has. And since he feels the corporation has been influencing his personal life in the past, he simply doesn't want to blindly obey without knowledge about the reasons this time. The problem is, the corporation thinks that the reasons are better left unanswered, because they would expose a flaw in the sociological environment. Jonathan's popularity, it seems, could lead people to think that their own individuality is more important than conformity and complete collaboration. Jonathan's refusal to retire will open a path of paranoia as he further tries to discover more about the world he is living in, and as the corporation will do anything legal in their power (including modifying the rules of the rollerball itself, hoping that Jonathan would experience a permanent injury) to take Jonathan out of the business.As I said, some of the points of the movie are very relevant today; the rollerball is a form of entertainment to keep the masses happy, but the corporations promptly try to modify it when it might offer thought-provoking (or even subversive) ideas; when Jonathan is offered a deal that would have permitted him to live a wealthy, "happy" life in exchange for leaving the rollerball business, he claims that progress is not how many comforts we are provided with, it is freedom and the possibility to choose: it is particularly interesting to see him debate this point with his ex-wife, who has instead decided to completely conform to the comforts that society provides. In a world where mass media and entertainment are often in the hands of a few people who decide for the masses, these are points we should not forget.The movie is very Kubrick-ian in its visuals (probably too much): there are some elements of A Clockwork Orange, but it is clearly 2001: A Space Odyssey that influenced the director Norman Jewison the most. Like in those Kubrick's popular movies, there is an amount of classical music (the film opens and closes on Bach's Toccata and Fugue) and a lot of cold-looking scenes through the use of white and music in that mood. Rollerball is not the visual masterpiece that 2001: A Space Odyssey is, if anything for the much smaller budget, but it manages to deliver good visuals especially in the scenes where the actual game of rollerball is shown.James Caan gives a good performance, and the rest of the cast is satisfying. However the slow central part does detract from the movie a bit, as insightful and interesting scenes are alternated with slower, more monotonous (and ultimately, unexciting) ones. Fortunately, the movie ends on what is probably the strongest scene of them all, an exciting climax where the point is made very clearly.Overall, I do recommend Rollerball. Yes, it could have been a better film. But it's still good and intelligent entertainment, and despite being a little bit overlong and not without flaws, in the end it is a rewarding movie experience.

a dvd only with director's commentary?

i never realized this dvd was only dubbed with director's commentary blahblahblah from end to end, and it's so annoying to hear the director's reminiscent self-important voice over the dialog. this is not a big deal movie especially re-released today. i've tried to find if there's another category that i could avoid the voice-over commentary but, no, only his voice covered every scene. this is so bad, because all i wanted was to reminiscent the 70s movie by myself not by the director himself. sorry, man, this is not what i wanted.

Highly underrated

While not the greatest movie I've ever seen, I believe it's the most underrated movie I've seen. There's quite a lot of texture surrounding the movie -- the underlying society in which it takes place. Also the music was excellent.

Film holds up well

I just saw this film again and was very impressed at how well its held up against time. It suffers somewhat from a 1970s modernism (the BMW corporate HQ in Munich was used as a backdrop) in terms of interior design and architecture, but by and large the message of corporatism, the loss of individualism and the public's lust for violence stand out as clear now as they ever have. There are few science fiction films 25 years old which are capable of this kind of staying power (Star Wars and 2001 are the others) and there are few, if any, other *current* science fiction films which make any clearer or more accurate commentary about our present society.

It would have been nice if the film had spent a little more on the backstory behind the settings, but I think this lack of explanation is supposed to help drive Jonathan E's search for meaning.

The one scene which remains unclear to me is the party scene where the partygoers take a gun of some sort out and shoot pine trees into flames. The symbolism of this is lost on me.

Very underrated movie

This film is truly an unappreciated gem from the 70's. Although the character development is not great, the underlying tension of the individual versus the collective rule is overwhelming seductive and ultimately extremely entertaining. Roller Ball is the rare 1970's futuristic film that can stand the test of time. The triumph of the individual versus the will of the collective governing body is the underlying theme. Although set in the not too distant future the film belies its roots in the spirit of Ayn Rand's novels. Jonathan E. is a compelling protagonist. Seemingly with everything on the surface but haunted by unresolved heartache, he is driven to find the underlying truths of society while preserving his individual desires for self actualization.

"How bout a good old American fist in the face!"

Future corporate gang warfare sponsored by Enron.

Amazing synchronicity with current day events and forecasts of the near future. James Caan in his absolute prime and John Houseman at his malevolent best as a chief exec of the Energy Corporation that runs half the planet. Much better than the new release and a fantastic soundtrack laced with some classic and very haunting pipe organ wizardry ala. Phantom of the Opera.

The DVD release is very very good. Aside from a stunning video presentation and spinejiggling 5.1 audio, we also get a very revealing audio commentary by Director Norman Jewison, additional behind-the-scenes footage, trivia, and more. 4 Facemasks