User Reviews

Watching "Rollerball" today provides an interesting perspective if you've been around say, since the 1950's or so. Every time I see a picture that has relevance to the present day I have to wonder whether the film makers were making a futuristic statement or were simply reacting to their times. When this picture came out in the mid-Seventies I would never have given a thought to the threat of globalization by a handful of dominant world bodies like the U.N., or corporate entities like RCI Energy, the company depicted here sponsoring the Houston rollerball team. But here we are, and the threat of statism and global governance has never been more palpable.

At the core of the story is Jonathan E's (James Caan) fierce determination to find out why he's being forced out of his starring role with the Houston team. As his team owner Bartholomew (John Houseman) makes clear, the elites at the top make global decisions for the greater good. That greater good requires allegiance to an authority that keeps the masses subjugated by means of a classless society whose attention is diverted by a game in which the rules constantly change. Jonathan E poses a threat to a society in which individual effort must be extinguished and never rewarded. It sounds a lot like liberals versus conservatives to me.

Rod Serling took up this theme in a number of his Twilight Zone episodes, and those were done in the late Fifties/early Sixties. I'm thinking of a couple of stories that tread on similar ground - 'The Obsolete Man' and 'Eye of the Beholder'. The whole idea of conformity and group think is one that just drives me crazy and yet we see it every day with stuff like reality TV (which isn't) and the growing chasm between the major political parties. The film that really makes the point came out a little over a decade later, and if you want a real good two and a half decade sneak preview of where we are today, check out 1987's "The Running Man".

One quick observation before I close with this film. In the opening minutes of the picture, the scoreboard for the first rollerball match is shown being set up for the game between Houston and Madrid. You don't know that at the time, and all you see are the graphics 'HOU MAD'. By the time the story's over, I had to think, 'HOW MAD' indeed.

In deference to Stanley Kubrick himself and the wondrous achievement that 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY is, was and forever will be, I do not speak of ROLLERBALL in the same breath. Having said that however, here is a film that although lacking the scope, budget and monumental depth of its compatriot, is a totally brilliant piece of film-making, equally awesome in its implications and social comment. Norman Jewison created a masterpiece with Rollerball - understated, misunderstood and undervalued both at the time of its release and later. Perhaps ultimately to its its greatest benefit - the release of the plebeian 2002 re-make which will stand for all time as the most nauseatingly insulting and tastelessly gratuitous reminder to recall the original with perhaps more relish than might otherwise have been the case. No purpose in re-hashing the plot - anyone reading this will already know it. Suffice to say, James Caan's Jonathan E stood for that most basic of human principles - the rights of the individual! As John Houseman, the corrupt and ubiquitous head of the all-powerful Corporation that owns and operates ROLLERBALL inc worldwide, tells Jonathan at one point, "Rollerball was meant to demonstrate the futility of resistance, no man was ever intended to become bigger than the game." This was a society (set in 2018) with media censorship in place to such a degree a centralised computer stores the worlds' entire literary knowledge (physical books being a thing of the past as in FAHRENHEIT 451. Marvellous interspliced sequence with Sir Michael Redgrave as keeper of the world's centralized computer to which Jonathan is drawn, seeking answers to questions he was never supposed to ask. You have to really watch and LISTEN to ROLLERBALL to EXTRICATE from it, what the makers are offering you in terms of reflective contemplation. So many saw the film's middle section as "boring!" So is looking at the sky if you have no knowledge of cloud formation, atmospheric beauty or even indeed WHY there IS a sky and what it means in the grand scale of things! Caan's gradual self discovery as to his own identity and purpose is hand-crafted for you during these middle scenes - THIS is what the film is about..not merely the superb action sequences which are so richly photographed and presented in that gladiatorial arena, a colosseum for the new millennium, no more no less! The highlight of the film, if you are able to see it, is the party for Jonathan E, supposedly to mark his resignation but which in fact might be seen as the Energy Corporation's Last Supper! The scenes of the amphetamine-fed yuppies, destroying the trees with the flame-gun has always made me cry, not because I'm a wimp, a greenie or even an anti lobbyist for hand guns, but because of what those terrible scenes stand for and bring to my own emotional recognition...a directionless society that we are right now so unerringly headed for. Look at the expression on the face of Jonathan's ex-wife as she comes to realise where its all gone wrong - not just for herself but for them all. Now tell me this is boring!!!! As has been recognised by some fellow critics, the absolute last scenes of the movie are perhaps the greatest. The point being less subtly made as we see Houseman staring through the glass at Jonathan E, the last man standing, his corporate outline encircled by the reflected flames on the track - hello? Does anyone understand this? One of the greats! Watch this film...don't just see it!

I approached this movie as an action flick, and in that sense I was not disappointed. The scenes where the sport of Rollerball is actually being played are top notch; gripping, involving and fast moving. The scenes in between where we see what the main character's personal life is like, those kind of dragged. And the film's attempt at social commentary, well, that just sucked.

A good deal of the problem rests with the main character. When he is not playing his sport, he spends a lot of time moping about his palatial estate, moaning about how being rich and famous isn't so great. And yet, like so many rich and famous people who find themselves in such a funk, he doesn't seem the least bit inclined to give up his wealth and fame. Thus, he comes across as a self-absorbed jerk who has everything and laments to a work-a-day audience (i.e., us) "is this all there is? Poor me, poor me!" Yeah, I really feel for you mister rich-and-famous guy.

And then there is the theme of individuality in a world that demands absolute conformity. The misfire of this message really comes across in the movies' final scenes. Before the final game begins, we see Johnathan's team glaring at him. They know that they are all going to die because the corporations have arranged this game specifically to get at him. And yet, he survives, and the film ends with a big cheer for the individual, as he is surrounded by the dead and maimed bodies of his friends and teammates. This isn't a vindication of the individual, this is a celebration of solipsism. We are supposed to feel inspired because, although Johnathan may have lost his friends and the people who backed him up, he got what he wanted, and that's what's really important.

I will agree with most of the other reviewers that this movie's message has become more relevant as time has gone by. I will disagree though that this has happened in the way the producers intended it to. Modern America has come to celebrate the individual to a point where narcissism isn't considered a problem, but a gift. "Rollerball" truly captures the spirit of narcissism and expects you to rejoice in it. personally, I couldn't.

This film defies classification or easy description. It's science fiction, but not really. It's social commentary, but not really. It's an action film, but not really. It's a cautionary tale, but... Are you starting to get the idea? Well, not really.

Rollerball is a story set in a near future where nation states have destroyed themselves via war, and have been replaced by corporations providing social services, structure, and governance. A classic description of dystopia. But not really, because everyone's beautiful and well provided for. But not really, because corporate executives wield absolute authority over every aspect of people's lives, so there's no freedom. But not really, because everyone's happy with all their luxuries and easy living, and no one bothers to test the bounds of their lives or ask any questions.

Enter Jonathan E (James Caan), an uncomplicated man who's starting to get the idea that something's amiss with this world. Jonathan E is an athlete in a game called Rollerball, an amazingly violent, brutal distillation of football, hockey, roller derby, motocross, gladiatorial combat, Unreal Tournament 2004, and jumping into a chipper shredder. Jonathan is the best player the game has ever seen. And that's a problem for the corporate executives, who designed the game specifically to chew people up, to reinforce the concept that individual effort and achievement was futile.

Jonathan E is summoned by Mr. Bartholomew (John Houseman), Executive Director of the Energy Corporation, which owns the Houston Rollerball team for which Jonathan plays. Jonathan is politely asked to retire from the game. Bartholomew says the corporation is merely looking after his own best interests. But Jonathan is already soured on the idea of corporate benevolence, as they took away his wife some years ago and gave her to an executive. He was never told why. He seems to have accepted that indignity with great difficulty. But for this newest request, he hesitates. He doesn't understand why the corporation would want its best player to retire, or why he should be forced to compromise again. He starts asking questions. He wants to know why.

And that is simply Not Done in this corporate-run world.

The corporation retaliates by changing the rules of Rollerball to make it more brutal, more dangerous, presumably in the hopes Jonathan will be injured or killed. But it is Jonathan's closest teammate, Moonpie, who is seriously injured and rendered brain dead. It's here when Jonathan realizes that there are no "rules" in corporate society; that executives will change things around at whim to serve some unspecified ends.

Jonathan decides to seek out the highest authority he knows: a computer named Zero which is the central index of all human knowledge and history. He asks it how corporate decisions are made and who makes them. Jonathan gets essentially gibberish in response, despite the computer technician kicking the machine and yelling at it to answer the question. Whether the computer is actively refusing to tell Jonathan, or it simply doesn't know, is left unclear.

Not even Jonathan is sure of his motives at this point. But the idea of simply walking away, as everyone around him has pleaded with him to do, is even more of an anathema to him as he enters the final game of the Rollerball season. The rules have been changed again, essentially to ensure that no one will leave the Rollerball rink alive. With essentially no rules, the carnage is total. All pretense of sportsmanship and fair play are abandoned. Jonathan is badly injured but plays on. Jonathan smashes the only other remaining player from his motorcycle. He is about to cave his face in with the game ball, but relents. He seems to discover, in that moment, that his enemy is not the player before him, but the game itself. With labored effort, he stumbles toward the goal and plunges the ball in -- the only goal scored in the game. The scoreboard reads 1-0, with him as the last man standing. Jonathan has not won the game. He has defeated it.

This film leaves you asking lots of questions: How could a corporate state succeed in comprehensive economic prosperity where previous governments failed? Why did the corporation see Jonathan's removal from the game as their only option? Why was Rollerball the only public spectacle available? Surely you want multiple spectacles so that you can diffuse popular interest, so that no single spectacle or emerging personality can dominate the popular consciousness.

Perhaps that is the hallmark of an important film -- one that keeps you asking questions. Rollerball doesn't neatly slot in to any of the common cinematic genres. It's not flashy, it doesn't have a rich score or very quotable dialog. The acting is restrained. It has a few good action sequences, but nothing compared to modern spectacles, or even other action movies of its time. The look of the film is dated, due to its heavy 1970's jet-set vision of the future (for which I have a nostalgic attraction). There is not one single thing that you can point to in this film that is its stand-out, defining quality.

And yet, the film as a whole seems to demand to be seen. As you watch the film, you can't help but get the feeling that Something Is Going On Here. That there's something important and significant about this film, and that you should pay attention.

And I guess that's what I have to say about this film: Find it, watch it, and pay attention. Because it's that kind of film.

Rollerball is an intriguing film that makes excellent use of symbolism, dialogue, aesthetics and decent all-round performances to convey a chilling message, yet a message which ends on a high note and not a depressing one.

In the future, there are no wars and no crimes. The whole world is ruled by a multitude of faceless Corporations (which all seem to be part of an even larger whole), and apparently exists in a state of utopia - almost everyone lives in luxury without poverty, disease or famine.

There is a dark side to society however - both the violent tendencies and thirst for entertainment of the populace are subjugated by a violent blood sport known as "Rollerball." The game takes place in a large domed stadium, around a banked circular track. The players all wear skates and various items of protective clothing (none of which are truly adequate for keeping them safe). Some players on each team are allowed to ride motorcycles (futuristic looking mopeds) which of course is extremely dangerous.

Added to the mix is the heavy metal ball, which is fired at high velocity from a gun at the beginning of play, and nasty spiked gauntlets. This all adds up to a recipe for destruction.

Indeed, the game is designed to kill the players, with the rosters for each team constantly changing - the game is designed by the Corporations not only to keep the masses entertained, but also to make them realise that individual effort and thought is futile, and so keep them suppressed.

Jonathan E (played convincingly and with feeling by James Caan) essentially breaks the purpose of the "sport" by living through a ten year long career, apparently the longest ever, and becoming a superstar whose name everyone chants. He is loved by the people and is a shining example of the individual's triumph over the system.

This obviously makes him a thorn in the Corporation's side, and so they attempt to get him to retire. When he refuses, they use everything in their power to force him to do so.

The film has a surprising number of themes and symbols for its at first simple appearance - and has many moments that are sad and thought provoking.

One of my favourites is the scene in which a group of drugged-up revellers use a futuristic weapon to destroy large, aged trees for no reason at all other than for a quick jolt of mindless entertainment.

Somehow the scene, which could have been boring or confusing, manages to be a grotesque and almost horrific symbol of the excess of such a society.

The 1975 imagining of the future also manages to avoid feeling dated. Even the old grey panelled computer banks are believable - many supercomputers today look very similar still.

The action sequences feel believable and brutal, in a way I enjoy them far more than the CGI-infested stuff in almost all films these days.

My one criticism of the film is that occasionally the themes of the film are unnecessarily laboured, and some scenes are a little slow as a result. This clumsiness takes a little impact out of the punch of what would otherwise be a fantastic film, but ultimately the depth is there more when it isn't being obviously stressed.

People over than Jonathan and his teammates are also almost universally cold and unlikable, but there is a deliberate point to their characterisation.

Finally there is the ending. I won't spoil it here, but it is a masterpiece of tension and ends the film on a real feeling of hope. Even though we don't see it, we get the impression that Jonathan may be the one individual that spurs the rest of the world into action. I highly recommend the film to anyone who fancies a film that is both viscerally exciting and yet has room to toy with deeper and darker themes.