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Rollerball (1975)

 
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The Spike
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 8:29 pm    Post subject: Rollerball (1975) Reply with quote



Norman Jewison and William Harrison expand Harrison's short story into a full length feature film, with great results.

The story takes place in 2018 and the world is a global corporate state, a hegemony of six ruling cartels.

There are no wars, poverty, — etc

So, the cartels provide the antidote to pent up frustrations with a live-again game called Rollerball, a bloodthirsty arena sport where no quarter is given or taken. But when the sport's 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 cast including James Caan as Jonathan.

His and the other cast's performances are from the high end, and the photography is superb, 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 deft crafted dystopian sci-fier with literate smarts and lusty blood letting. 7.5/10

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Krel
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 10:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A movie about a revolutionary, who is not a revolutionary. He is just a man that wants to play a game he loves, and can not understand why they want him to quit.

The game in the beginning was not that violent. But as the Corporate Heads tried to eliminate Johnathan, the rules were revoked and the game got more violent.

It is interesting that after the incentives failed, the only way they tried to get rid of Johnathan is by using the game against him. If they did the movie now, there would be Corporate Assassins after him.

David.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 10:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Thanks, Spike and Krel. I've yet to see this one. I'll have to fix that soon.
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Bogmeister
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 11:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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________________ Rollerball Official Trailer #1


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The world of Rollerball may nearly be here. On this future world, there are apparently no nations, only corporations.

There is also apparently no war, no crime and no poverty. This description should mean that this is a paradise world. Perhaps, on the surface, it seems that way. But, if we dig a little deeper, perhaps peel away a layer, we may find some unsettling hints of . . . mass control.

The instrument of that control? Oh, yes, a game called Rollerball. It's a brutal spectator sport — a more intense version of Roller Derby & Football rolled into one on a circular track, including the use of motorcycles. Virtually the entire populace watches it.

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Jonathan E is the name of the captain of the Houston team (we also see battles against Madrid, Tokyo and New York City). Houston players come and go, but the star remains (played by Caan).

Picture all of today's spectator sports rolled into one; now picture all of yesterday's sports stars (Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, Barry Bonds) rolled into one — that's Jonathan. I say 'yesterday's stars' because Jonathan should have retired by this point and suddenly, there is a 'request' he do so. Or is it a demand? Despite Jonathan's status as a superstar, it is evident that certain corporate executives hold complete power — and complete control.


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I didn't like Caan's performace when I first watched this many years ago. He mumbled his way through and seemed too lethargic. But that's the intent, I learned. Almost everyone on this brave new world is half asleep, numbed by strange narcotics and self-delusion.

When a society has no struggles, no worlds to conquer — this film says — it stoops to the easy thrill, to apathy, to slow decay (Rome, anyone?). There is a subtle thrill involved when Jonathan begins to 'get' all this. We watch him slowly wake up and assume a heroic, even angry model of outrage.

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Rollerball was one of several Sci-Fi films in the seventies attempting to extrapolate from current events and project a picture of our world in the near future (Soylent Green and ZPG were others).

As more time went by, Rollerball began to look more and more insightful. It hasn't really dated. Sure, some of the fashions here still say 'the '70s' but I can sort of picture this world a few years from now (the year of the film is 2018). Isn't our individualism being slowly stripped away and aren't we all more obsessed with mass consumerism? The era of the individual may soon be over.




Besides that, the action scenes in the sports arena are gripping — we, the audience, start to buy into this violence just like the audiences in the film.

BoG's Score: 9 out of 10

This is probably the definitive depiction of future sports (another was The Running Man -1987; oh, skip the horrible remake of this in 2002).


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BoG
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Bogmeister
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 11:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rollerball rules!

There's another bit of trivia related to Rollerball which stuck in my mind for many years.

While the film was being made, during the hours people were 'off' or on break, many of the actors and production people would get together and play the game (or a version of it) on that track. This may have included James Caan himself, I'm not sure.

The track was actually built and there, as it was a real full scale version (this is way before computer FX and stuff like "Sin City") so, I guess, the thinking was 'why not?'

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The point being, this game may have really been addictive, both for an audience and for the players themselves. I'm not too sure how much of a negative or positive commentary that may be on we human beings. I gotta admit, it does look like fun, if you know how to roller skate and can steer clear of much of the violent aspects (in other words, play a 'tag' version instead of a 'full contact' version).

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The film really works (for me, at least) because of an internal logic and reality developed during the course of the film.

By the midway point of the film, I believe a viewer thinks of the GAME as a real game, a real sport. This goes back to the comment above about how some of the crew and stuntmen actually played the GAME during breaks in the filming. They developed detailed rules and worked it all out.

I read somewhere that some of this evolution to the GAME was worked into the film itself. The GAME works, for real. And as a resul,the world of the film works!

This also suggests the inherent weakness of many films today and their computer-generated realities. I think the audience is always aware that these modern films are computer-generated fantasies and cannot really lose themselves in the reality of the film.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 11:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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By gum, BoG has me convinced I should give this one a look! Unfortunately Netflix does not have it. Smile

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Krel
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2019 3:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The movie was filmed on Roller Derby rinks in Europe that were redressed to represent different locations.

After the film came out, the Author was approached for the rights to start Rollerball teams. He was totally horrified and adamantly refused to release the rights to the game.

David.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 19, 2019 3:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's interesting, Krel!

Perhaps if he could have insisted on a stipulation in his contract which stated that the competitors could only be people he didn't like, ex-wives with whom he had issues, and folks he owed money to. Laughing

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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 20, 2019 3:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I remember after this film came out I, along with a bunch of fellow employees at the place I was working and the NF Sheriffs version of CHiPs, made up a Rollerball team. We played after hours at a local skating rink and used off-road mini-bikes and full helmet and padding to play. It was WILD to say the least!

I think I still have the bruises to show for it!

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Pow
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 02, 2019 6:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The movie wasn't accurate with the concept that America would one day have a Rollerball sport as depicted in the film.

However, they were 100% spot on that corporations & not governments would rule the world.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 03, 2019 12:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
However, they were 100% spot on that corporations & not governments would rule the world.

You're right, Pow, that corporations exercise a frighting amount of influence over all countries. And yet the Trump presidency has shown us evidence that even though governments and corporations are both self-serving, they don't always have common goals.

With corporations, the almighty buck is the driving force. Profits are their primary goal.

With governments, it's the acquisition of power and the need to hang on to it. Winning elections is their primary goal.

Trump's tariffs are intended to influence voters by showing that he's discouraging companies from buying Chinese goods. "Bring back those jobs and American-made goods!"

But this has hurt the companies who need those imports, so they're fighting back in their own ways.

It's all pretty crazy, and God only knows what will happen next!

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


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Krel
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 14, 2020 1:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

For some reason I have been thinking about this movie.

The movie has been described as being dystopian. It is not. The movie is about a Utopia, and what does they say about utopias?

Utopias are boring.

In the movie, the worlds governments collapsed and the corporations took over, and somehow got it right. When you see the general population in the movie, they are happy. Everyone has a job, a home and they can go shopping. The cities are clean, and presumably there is little crime.

The population is well fed and happy, but being human they need distractions, or they will make their own. And Rollerball is the corporate designed and approved distraction.

But even utopias aren't perfect. Johnathan E lost his wife to a Corporate Executive, but the movie never really makes it clear if it was forced or a case of infidelity. This leaves a pinning Johnathan with only one outlet, the sport he loves and excels at. A sport that was designed so that there would be no standouts. But in every sport and game, there are always people that stand out. And Johnathan's prowess stands out on the Rollerball rink.

The Executives worry about his popularity, and want him to retire. He is past the age for the sport anyway, they point out. Although Johnathan is not stupid, he is ignorant and stubborn. VERY, VERY stubborn. He just can not understand why they want him to stop playing the game he loves, even after having it spelled out for him by an Executive and some of his friends.

Maybe Johnathan is stupid. Or possibly just very dense.

Unfortunately for the game of Roller ball and the players, the Corporate Executives are even more ignorant. If they had just let Johnathan play, the odds are he would have suffered a game related injury, or been hurt in a game and just faded away. Strenuous sports is a young man's game. And Johnathan E. is not a young man.

But the Corporate Executives, who are suppose to look ahead, were short sighted. Or maybe they were just irked that a lowly Rollerball player was not listening to them.

So they poisoned the well.

They took a game that was designed to look more violent than it actually was and made it progressively more violent and lethal. This was not going to end well for anyone. The players will end up being severely injured, crippled or dead. The General populous will end up being repulsed instead of titillated. The Corporations will end up at the very least losing control of the game, and possibly destroying it. So, Executives probably lost their jobs after such a massive miscalculation.

And Johnathan E.? He is not a revolutionary by choice, the Executives did that to him. He is just a man who wanted to play a game — a game that may very well not survive the Corporate decisions. Johnathan E. is most probably screwed if the game is irreversibly damaged. But he is rich and will survive.

The society will survive. The people are basically happy and will want to continue that life. There will be repercussions in the Corporations, but they too will survive.

And there will be a new distraction. Who knows, it may even be a revived Rollerball if the public is forgiving. But with a lot of new players. A WHOLE LOT of new players. And possibly with Johnathan E. in charge.

Some musings:

Is Rollerball really much more violent than modern sports, like Football, or Hockey?

Johnathan E. is lucky that he was opposing the Corporations. If it had been a government who's offer he turned down, than he might have had an "accident".

The Corporations weren't trying to kill Johnathan or the other players, they were collateral damage. They just wanted him to be injured so they could force him out of the game. It was their stupidity and shortsightedness that kept escalating the violence in the game, trying to take out the sport's most accomplished player. The corporations were in a situation they didn't understand, a situation they had no knowledge of and were too ignorant to know it, They were too arrogant to even to consider that they didn't know all the angles.

They have advanced technology in computers and weapons. SERIOUSLY! Just what is that pistol, and why was it made? The movie said there is peace and no conflict. And I seriously doubt that the Police are going to want sidearms that fire explosive incendiary projectiles. Maybe for deforestation?

David.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 24, 2021 11:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Today I watch a DVR of this movie from TCM (it was the first time I'd seen it), and it was a very different story than I expected — despite having read all the comments on this thread since it was first start by Spike in 2014! Shocked

David, your review was probably the best one you've contributed to All Sci-Fi, and that's really saying something. Very Happy

Actually, I stopped the DVR recording about halfway through the movie and looked at this thread again before finishing the film.

My appreciation for your review was heightened by the fact that the first half of the movie had already corrected my preconceived notions about Rollerball which were based solely on what I'd read over the rears and the clips I'd seen.

Anyway, thanks for your contribution to both this board and my own enjoyment of the movie. Cool

Visually the movie is stunning. The sets and interiors are totally convincing as a utopian future. Nothing actually looked like set! It all seemed real.

The rooms we see in James Cann's house are absolutely gorgeous.

The photography and the direction presents us with a film that certainly doesn't look like many of the films from the 20th century which tried to portray the future.

Even the clothing was well chosen to portray a future culture, without being strange and comically dated 45 years later.

The deliberately slow pacing of the movie was appropriate for the kind of story being told. But of course, the fast-paced and extremely brutal scenes of the Rollerball games are the polar opposite.

That's consistent with the idea that society has been tamed to such a degree that people no longer feel any passion — other than for the blood sport of Rollerball.

It's a strange kind of slavery in which the slaves don't mind the chains they wear — in fact, they aren't even aware that they're wearing chains! Sad

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