Raymond In a way I waited for about 30 years to see this movie and finally caught it on a local art house cinema. It was shown from a 16mm print. Even in the 80s when I was a kid and growing up with the movies this had a bit of a cult reputation. Very violent, so no one was allowed to see it so it became a bit of a curiosity. Later I just never ran across it, no video or dvd rental seemed to have it nor was it shown in TV. Later I have also built up a major affection for 70s sci-fi movies, especially those that have something to say, so I was pretty excited to see it.So.. did it live up to the expectations I had built? Not really. The rollerball action scenes were amazing and I was very drawn into the movie early on. Very well made. But when the actual plot started to reveal, I kind of lost interest. The movie is about corporations ruling the globe and the corporations apparently don't like the fact that a rollerball player (James Caan) is starting to gain individual following and hero status over a "team effort". So they try to get him to retire and as he doesn't want to, they change the game rules to get him out of the game "natural way". James Caan's character starts to question the whole system and goes on to find answers and keeps playing.It kind of sounds interesting, but it never really is. The motives - for everyone - are pretty vague. We don't see much of anything about the so called dystopian future, so it's difficult to put any actions into a proper context. Why don't the executives just ditch Caan, he gets to play as if no one really cares if he plays or not. The same when he goes to an "all knowing" computer to seek answers. He just walks in. But doesn't get any answers. The whole scene is pretty awkward.The music is also somewhat overly dramatic many times with well known classical pieces like Albinoni adagio. They kind of work, but then again they don't quite fit every time.There are good stuff too. The cinematography is amazing by Douglas Slocombe, one of my favorite cinematographers. There are very nicely directed scenes, very effective stuff. I'm not a huge action fan, but the rollerball scenes were very well done.So definitely a mixed bag. I wouldn't rate this among the best dystopian future movies, but it's nevertheless an interesting catch. Maybe it would require another go to really get into it.

Tweetienator The 70s got some of the best sci-fi movies ever done: Soylent Green, Colossus, Silent Running, Solaris, The Omega Man, Logan's Run, Westworld, Dark Star, Star Wars, The Black Hole, Alien, Mad Max, Stalker and and and.One of those classics is Rollerball with James Caan as the superplayer of a deadly game, made by the corporations who rule now the world to entertain the masses. Jonathan (James Caan) the hero of the masses got so famous and popular that the bosses get afraid of him.Many of those mentioned movies may look now a little old-fashioned or vintage compared to the modern sci-fi CGI galore productions but despite the very reduced special effects compared to the contemporary movies they got innovative ideas, good to superb directing and - imo the far better actors. Nowadays Hollywood darlings are imo really shallow to watch if I compare them with such titans like Heston and Cann and the many nameless good sidekick- actors.This one is the mother of all Gladiator movies in a sci-fi/dystopian context. Watch.

Hitchcoc The game of rollerball is a super-violent form of roller derby. The idea is to skate around and through a group of skaters and plant a steel ball into a tiny receptacle. James Caan's Jonathan E. is the best. He is admired by all and afforded sex and other favors for his successes. However, this sport is a microcosm of the society that has created it. For at some point, Jonathan E. will be passé and a new, more interesting person will take his place. Of course, he will need to be killed. There is no retirement from this sport or withdrawal from the culture. These athletes are owned by the bosses. It's almost like a street gang mentality. This is a film about what transpires when Jonathan begins to see the implications of his actions and realizing that the state is in control of his life.

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.