Rollerball (1975)

Plot Summary: In a dystopian future controlled by corporate conglomerates, a veteran star of the ultra-violent sport Rollerball resists corporate pressure to retire, exposing the system's control over society.

Director: Norman Jewison
Producer: Norman Jewison
Screenplay: William Harrison

Starring:
James Caan as Jonathan E.
John Houseman as Bartholomew
Maud Adams as Ella
John Beck as Moonpie
Moses Gunn as Cletus
Ralph Richardson as Librarian

Music: André Previn
Cinematography: Douglas Slocombe
Editing: Antony Gibbs

HOT DEAL

🎬 Get The Movie Now ↗

*Live prices & availability verified on Amazon

⚠️ SPOILER ALERT ⚠️

Corporate Dystopia, Violent Sport, and Mixed Impact

The third movie of our tribute week to James Caan is Rollerball, a 1975 sports drama directed by Norman Jewison. The events of the film unfold in 2018 (we are 4 years ahead already), in an ideal, at first glance, society in which there are no more wars, hunger, violence and disease. The comfort of living here is preferable to moral principles. It is dominated by corporations that control the sport that zombifies millions. Doesn't it remind you of anything? Well, as you understand, these corporations do not need the popularity of the captain of the Houston team, Jonathan E. (James Cann) at all.

Howdy partner! Let me start by asking where is the 4-screen TV set you promised me for Christmas? Who the hell thought that this wall-encrusted TV set was a good idea for the future of our home entertainment and comfort?  I had high hopes for this movie and they weren't met. I don't think that Rollerball was able to pass the test of time. Nothing looks futuristic in this 1975 sports sci-fi and there isn't much going on. I was not able to get a sense of a different world, the atmosphere was not built because the direction and storytelling are rather weak.  

Spectacle, Critique, and Strong Disagreement

The film is shot with high quality. I liked how much attention the director paid to the details. Rollerball itself and its rules (reminds me of gladiator fights in the era of the Roman Empire), a society of the future, constantly swallowing pills, a riot of fans. The game is shown so spectacularly that I even began to spin in my head. The special effects look a bit naive today. I wasn't very impressed with the acting. In fact, this film is a one-man theater in which secondary characters flash periodically, they are given little space and they look very bland. The main character played by James Caan (Jonathan E.) turned out to be quite real, a little sluggish and emotionless, struggling with the system.

I don't agree with you. I think that the director's and writer's work was shit. The pills thingy was stolen from "Brave New World". There aren't many original futuristic ideas in here except for the game of Rollerball which has 3 scenes that run for way too long with shots that are fast and confusing. You do have some cool moments in the game, but the movie needed an antagonist on the field. You needed a baddie in the Tokyo team and a baddie in the NY team to make things more exciting and... reasonable.

The acting is terrible and there was nothing special about James Caan. Everything seemed stalled. And that audience? Yikes, they looked all so bad! They didn't transmit a feeling of a different time nor of true excitement for such a bloody sport. The Tokyo fans were the worst with their victory choreography. So lame.  And I'm still having cringe flashbacks from those ridiculous zooms into the audience.

This movie won a BAFTA for best Art Direction. Lol, it must have been a bad year. The TV movie with James Caan that we previously watched, had way superior direction, aaaand acting. 

Final Verdict: Ambitious Premise, Underwhelming Execution

In Rollerball you will also get to see strange scenes like a party with 70's porno music going on and everyone having what seems like forehead sex, and an old guy shouting at the most advanced computer on earth for him to give him answers...

Rollerball should appeal to fans of sports and sharp competitions, fans of science fiction and dystopias. I myself do not belong to any of these categories, so it was boring for me to watch what was happening on the screen, since the film was also dragged out.

I'm a big fan of sci-fi and dystopian movies but this one didn't work for me. I don't recommend it either, because it runs for 2 hours and it can be quite boring because nothing really happens.

Freddy's Score

39/100

Krasnaya's Score

44/100

FINAL SCORE

Our blog is update everyday at 21:00 (WEST)

More from Cine It

Sci-Fi List