Jackson Booth-Millard I had heard of this film long before the original 1975 Norman Jewison/James Caan version it is based on, mainly because of the leading actor and the fact that it's not rated well, I am relieved I watched the original before this remake, directed by John McTiernan (Predator, Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October). Basically in 2005, Rollerball is a sport that has become hugely popular in Central Asia, Russia, China, Mongolia and Turkey, it is an extraordinarily violent extension of roller derby involving motorcycles, a metal ball, and many trappings similar to professional wrestling. Marcus Ridley (LL Cool J) invites NHL (National Hockey League) hopeful Jonathan Cross (American Pie's Chris Klein) to become part of a team of rollerball, Jonathan soon becomes the star player, and the poster child of promoter Alexi Petrovich (Jean Reno). Jonathan at first enamoured by the high- octane sport, the fame and popularity, and with female teammate Aurora (Razzie nominated Rebecca Romijn), but he and Ridley discover cynical Alexi and his opportunistic assistant Sanjay (Lost's Naveen Andrews) want to keep the game popular, through planned gory "accidents", and ensuring Jonathan and Ridley will not quit and remain high-profile stars. Aurora is almost killed in an accident, so to save themselves Jonathan and Ridley flee the country, but they are followed by Alexi and several body guards, before they can reach the Russian border, the two are attacked, and Ridley is killed. Alexi tries to stage a public execution for Jonathan, following the escape attempt, by removing all the regular rules of Rollerball for the upcoming match, however Jonathan, with the help of his teammates, start a revolution, and cause the fans to see the sport for what it really is, a violent game where blood brings in the audience figures, and Alexi is killed as a result. Also starring Oleg Taktarov as Denekin, David Hemblen as Serokin, Janet Wright as Coach Olga, Mike Dopud as Michael 'The Assassin' and Kata Dobó as Katya, with cameo appearances by P!nk, Slipknot and Paul Heyman. I assumed Klein missed being in American Pie: The Wedding to be in this, this turned out to be untrue, he lacks charisma to be the lead, Romijn just looks gorgeous and doesn't do much, and the rest of the well known stars like Cool J, Reno and Andrews are silly. Cool J admitted the movie "sucked", but did his "duty" to promote it, he really should not have bothered, the performances are wooden, the story is full of clichés, and the pacy rollerball sequences and action set pieces are worthless, there are no thrills to be had here, it is one of the most boring films I've seen in years, a highly dull and pointless science-fiction sports drama. Poor!

joopaul First of all the original film needs to be rated much higher on this site. Anything below an 8 never mind a 7 is criminal. 6.6 ?Anyway back to this utter **** up remake. McTiernan you ought to be thoroughly ashamed to even call this film 'Rollerball'. Was the editor being fxxxed up the arse sideways while he pressed the buttons?? $70,000,000 budget on what - plastic surgery for the acting line-up and foie gras sandwiches?What in hell's name was the film about? It was disjointed and impossible to follow. Dialogue - forget it. The characters barely developed during the whole film and you couldn't care if they got bludgeoned to death during the game anyway.Save your money or down a few pints instead !!

Joe On The Spot Fanboys, enough already! Its a really good action flick...This is where the fan boys get stuck at, "oh no! not a remake of my favorite movie of all time!". Does that mean the "favorite of all time" always makes the remake the "worse of all time", i say no, not at all. So don't be fooled by all the negative comments by those fan boys, because it doesn't give justice to this very well done, fast pace action pack movie.OK, i have to admit i'm a fan of the original and thats what attracted me to see this movie. Although at first i was a bit shocked by the flagrant differences with the original, i've then decided to let that fact go and just let the movie drive me, and you know what, it did his job, which is to entertain me. Yes, the plot, if we can called it that, is somewhat nonexistent, and the script doesn't deliver any memorable moments, because it was intended that way, its typical with all action flicks. I was happy i give this movie a chance with an open mind(keep in mind its an action flick though). Considering all the facts, my final note: 6.5 In conclusion, i hope you'll give this movie a chance, just forget about the original, watch it purely for the action and you won't regret it.

Son_of_Mansfield because it's missing something. The biggest flaw is Chris Klein, he is the most bland actor that I have ever seen. How does a pretty boy like him survive in a bloody, winner take all game like Rollerball? More than that, he doesn't have the charisma to lead a movie. Adding to the problem is that there isn't enough going on in this movie aside from distracting night vision scenes. There isn't any of the social commentary that the original had or the tense action scenes, it fails on both fronts. The only solace is some of the cast: Jean Reno, Ice Cube, and Rebecca Romijn. Ice Cube would have made a better lead and a much more believable Rollerballer with his body. But, as is, This is mess that is best forgotten.