Rollerball

"Rollerball" is one of those classics of sci-fi that I somehow managed to miss for all of my 30 years. Whilst browsing the local store, I found the DVD for ten dollars and figured I had nothing to lose -- to rent it, if I could even find it on DVD, wouldn't cost THAT much less.

I had some vague notion of the storyline, but I tried not to read the case or liner notes and take in the movie on a first impression. Released in the summer of 1975, there are definite and readily apparent influences of earlier films, not the least of which being Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange." The colors, the film stock, the editing style are all reminiscent of that earlier, similarly-themed master work, yet I don't believe it detracted from this film at all.

Supposedly set in the year 2018 (though this is never established in the movie, that I could tell), corporations have replaced governments and managed to eliminate war, poverty, disease and bad hair days. People don't have too much of a say in what goes on around them, but they're all very physically comfortable. Of course, the violent nature of the human beast must be satisfied, and it is -- in the gladitorial ring of the world's most popular sport, Rollerball. The game consists of two teams (from cities all over the world) skating and motorbiking around a 1/8-mile track, trying to get a steel ball into a goal. As the course of the season progresses, more and more limitations as to what constitutes fair play are removed, and by the final, the melee is total.

James Caan plays the Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky and Joe Montana of Rollerball, Jonathan E.. He's the biggest star in the world, but he's also a thinking man, and when the corporation which owns his team wants him to retire, he refuses, wanting to know first why they'd want him to retire when he's playing at his best.

The rest I leave to the viewer to find out. I can only say it is a very well-crafted script with plenty to say about violence, the spirit of the individual man, and the bloodlusts that a happy and idle populace can muster. Very well-filmed with touches of brilliance in editing and framing.

A detraction which really couldn't be helped involves the portrayal of the future. Director Norman Jewison couldn't know what the world of forty years in his future would be like, so he took the wise route of not making it all that different from 1975, but with subtle changes (such as the interesting but impractical "multivision" concept in which all TV sets have a large screen and three smaller screens above it, each showing different but related pictures). The result, though infinitely preferable to lots of neon and superfluous antennae, is that the place looks like 1975 with slightly cooler gadgets. I can't tell you what 2018 will look like, but it won't look like that.

Interestingly, the "corporate inevitability" concept of the future, which I believe Jewison meant earnestly, plays out much more as a satire of the opposite, a communist world. Much of what the coroprate culture says, as personified by John Houseman's Mr. Bartholomew, sounds much like the rhetoric of communism -- people are fed and comfortable and happy, but the individual is beholden to the group at all costs. Indeed, some of the words of description of the culture seem lifted straight from Marx and Engels.

The DVD leaves something to be desired, though. The picture is a lot dirtier than I'd like, especially in still-shot scenes. The color is muted, though this may be part style, and some shots seem positively muddy.

The remastered 5.1 soundtrack is a disappointment. The rear speakers get very little play. One particular effect of note, I must concede, is one moment when you can hear the ball roll all the way around the arena, and it's as though you're standing in the center.

In all, it's an excellent movie, which I can't recommend enough, but if the disc had been any pricier than it was, I would have felt as though I was somewhat taken.

Perhaps after the release of the upcoming remake, there will be a better special edition.

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.

There were quite a number of reasons why 'Rollerball' intrigued me in the first place. The concept was a really intriguing one. It has been praised for its use of classical music, a delight for a lifelong classical music fan. There are some talented names here, James Caan especially. And Norman Jewison has done some good films, such as 'In the Heat of the Night' and 'Fiddler on the Roof'.

My opinion of 'Rollerball' is that it is a flawed film but also a very impressive one. The momentum does sag, particularly in the middle, in some scenes not on the arena. Bogged down by a little too much extraneous talk, like the Ella story line, and a few ideas that could have gone into more depth. Of the characters, the only ones that are really developed like "real" characters are Jonathan E and Bartholomew (Ella particularly is a cipher), and parts while well intended are laid on too thick somewhat.

However, 'Rollerball' is well made visually. It's all very slick and stylish and the set for the rollerball arena still makes one go wow. Liked the look of the future dystopia, not extraordinary but it was atmospheric. Jewison directs with assurance, while the script has a lot of intelligent and thought-provoking lines and ideas that resonate a lot and still are very much relevant. The message is much appreciated and is very much pertinent.

Story is intriguing and has enough to compel, and Jonathan E and Bartholomew are very interesting characters. The supporting cast, particularly John Beck, are solid.

'Rollerball' excels particularly in four particularly strongly done areas. The tautly filmed and edited rollerball sequences are incredibly exciting and have a real sense of disturbing danger and nerve-shredding tension too. Andre Previn does well with the music score, but shining even more is to me some of the best use of classical music on film, including the most beautiful use of Albinoni's Adagio ('Manchester By the Sea' also used it beautifully but it's done more subtly here), Bach's Toccata used very creepily and the best use of Shostakovich on film. It's not just that the music itself is wonderful but also that they are so cleverly used, almost ironically and also unnervingly.

James Caan is a highly charismatic lead and gives the character nuances, while John Houseman's Bartholomew is chilling. One cannot review 'Rollerball' without mentioning the incredibly powerful ending either.

Overall, very impressive but flawed. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Rollerball is another of those great 70's cult sci-fi films. It features a great cast of actors and a smart script. It was notorious at the time for its violence, although that was greatly exaggerated in comparison to some professional sports and entertainment. It features a futuristic reimagining of the Roman Empire, with gladiatorial games to distract the populace from their bleak existence. It also predates cyberpunk literature, with ts depiction of a world controlled by powerful conglomerates, a world not too different from the present one.

James Caan is fantastic as Johnathan E, the Michael Jordan of Rollerball. He continues to succeed in a sport designed to show the futility of individual effort. The sport is constantly changed to stop him, yet he continues to overcome every obstacle.

John Housman is electrifying as the head of the Energy Corporation, owners of the Houston Team. He has conspired with his peers to keep the masses down and use this sport to both distract them and show them that the individual can't succeed. He grows more desperate as Johnathan E defeats his schemes. He tries every trick without success.

The supporting cast is filled with great actors, like Moses Gunn, John Beck, Sir Ralph Richardson (not John Gielgud, as one reviewer stated), Maude Adams, and Shane Rimmer.

The film demonstrates that the individual can triumph over insurmountable odds and cautions against corporate control of society. It uses both allegory and speculation beautifully, and packages it with thrilling action. The remake was destined for failure because it couldn't see beyond the action. The action was only window dressing for the greater themes. If only more recent sci-fi films were this thought-provoking, or other films for that matter.

This movie uses the characters of those involved in the game to question the wisdom of a supposedly perfect society where corporations rule. The corporations use the game as an opiate for the masses and to show the futility of individual effort, but the force of will of the main character shows how wrong that is. The effects and the game were remarkably well done for the time, and the characterizations are very good. Highly recommended.