edwagreen The films dealing with a futuristic society have a tendency to go way overboard and this 1975 film is no exception.It comes down to rollerball player James Caan fighting the executives of the corporation who control this outrageous sport attempting to force him into retirement at the height of his career.Fresh off his supporting Oscar win 2 years before for "Paper Chase," John Houseman again comes across as a pompous domineering executor whose very sinister appearance spells doom.As the rules change, the sport in question becomes far more violent and at this point the film goes further down in quality.

vesil_vesalier It's interesting to see how some films can be unaffected by time, and how others are DIRECTLY affected by it, in terms of their appreciation as the years go by.Consider THE STING. I consider it a painting of the time, a time capsule that captures the Great Depression in a very unique way, showing off not only the story-line but the beautiful backdrops of what was happening to America at the time. This movie does not age, because it is literally frozen in time.When it comes to ROLLERBALL, there is no way it could NOT age poorly. When I think about cell phone technology, it is a direct reason as to why people today would have a problem relating to a film that dared to proclaim the future, and missed by thousands of miles. Technologically speaking, compared to today's world, the movie's inner-workings seem to be just plain silly. Does this detract from the quality of the film?Not for my money, no.All films are fictionalized, no matter how realistic they may be. The actors do not actually die. The things you see flashing up on the screen are not real. CSI actually takes weeks, not an hour an episode. We are dealing with fantasy here, guys. Not reality. You have to consider everything when you watch a movie. Especially one like this, one that dared to predict the future.The main point of the film is just as solid as ever, and just as threatening as it ever could be. In a world where corporations rule everything, one of them tells the best player of Rollerball to give it up. Quit. Let the younger guys play, your time has come.The only trouble is, he's at his prime. It's not like he's starting to decline, or that somehow he's ready for the locker room. Jonathan E is playing the best damn game of Rollerball in his life. And why would anybody want to give that up? So he chooses to defy the corporations, and this is truly where the movie gets interesting. In his defiance, they begin to change the rules. As they change the rules more and more drastically to try and force him to quit, he becomes more and more defiant. One of the only criticisms I would have in the movie is one of semi-logic, and believe me I dismiss it as quickly as it comes up: Do you really think having his best friend go brain-dead would STOP him? I would think it would just push him harder.Braining Jonathan E would make more sense. But I guess a corporate world based all on fear tactics would rather have him submit than be beaten. And that's what we see. His inability to be beaten. His inability to submit.And that is what I celebrate about this film. That is what makes the film work for me. You have the subplot of his unfortunate relationship with his ex-wife, which some could argue one way or another when it comes to who left who and why, but it really doesn't matter. He dreamed about her. He came to realize it was JUST a dream. He gave it up.But NOTHING could make him give up Rollerball.

Spikeopath Norman Jewison and William Harrison expand Harrison's short story into a full length feature film, with great results. Story takes place in 2018 and the world is a global corporate state, a hegemony of six ruling cartels. There are no wars, poverty and etc, so the cartels provide the antidote to pent up frustrations with Rollerball, a bloodthirsty arena sport where no quarter is given or taken. But when the sports number one star, Jonathan E, becomes a free spirit and too big for the sport, the corporations aim to retire him…Headed by a superb James Caan as Jonathan, the performances are from the high end, the photography superb and the action during the games themselves is beautifully choreographed. The use of classical music to run concurrent with the themes in the narrative is smartly rendered to the tricksy plot, while the writing is sharp and deserving of the utmost attention from the viewer. It's folly to suggest that when the film is away from the Rollerball ring it sags a touch, so patience is required and a respect of literate posturing is also expected to get the most out of it.A deftly crafted dystopian sci-fier with literate smarts and lusty blood letting. 7.5/10

Joxerlives Watched this as a kid and was totally engrossed in the game, really wanted to play Rollerball for real although I'm a lousy skater (maybe I could have ridden one of the motorbikes?). Reputedly the cast and crew actually did play Rollerball (presumably with penalties, substitutions and time limits rather than the ultimate no holds barred version we see at the end?) in between takes and really got into it. I wonder if there's any film of that? In the 70s 2000AD magazine had a comic strip 'inspired' by Rollerball where the players wore jetpacks which is about the only way you could make the game more exciting.What makes it special though is that it's not just a glorification of a brutal futuristic sport but a study of the role of the individual in a civilized society. Thomas Mann would recognise the concept although he probably wouldn't have included motorbikes in it. The future is depicted as a quasi-benign dictatorship as Plato always advocated. We have no wars, no crime, no poverty, corporations run the show and conflicts are confined to the boardroom and stock exchange. People are free within the system as long as they don't question the established order. Some have described it as fascist but actually it strikes me as more communistic, the individual sublimated for the sake of the greater good. However mankind never changes so an outlet is needed for aggression and populist entertainment. Hence we have Rollerball. Problem is in a society which values conformity Jonathan E has become an individualistic superstar and that threatens the whole nature of society. Great performance from James Caan and equally great from John Houseman who isn't exactly the villain, it's very subtle on his part, you can't really be sure who's right or wrong in all this (noticeably Houseman's character doesn't want Jonathan to have an 'accident'). Also like Shame Rimmer as the team manager, the obedient corporate stooge who tells it as it is but still cares about his team, trying to prevent an injured Jonathan E from going back out to probable death during the final game (the New York manager noticeably succeeding in doing the same for one of his players). Fantastic music too, the classical influence contrasting with the sheer brutality of the game. And it is still shocking after all these years, the scene where the injured player slides down the rink leaving a bloody trail behind him still makes you cringe. You're so happy that Jonathan spares the final New York player and then goes on to score the final point, to him it's still all about the game rather than the violence. No offence to Star Wars but it rather killed the more thoughtful sci-fi we had in the 1970s, Silent Running, Dark Star, Logan's Run, THX 1138, Westworld, Solaris, The Omega Man etc. The only bad thing is Jonathan's trip to the the computer bank in Geneva which is utterly baffling.