Alicia I love this movie so much

LastingAware The greatest movie ever!

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

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.

evanston_dad People will see what they want to see in films, especially when it comes to metaphorical sci-fi, and many clearly see profound greatness in this dystopian 1975 film set in, amusingly, 2018. But what I saw when watching "Rollerball" was an inert, dreary film that establishes a central conceit early on and then spends the rest of its lengthy running time not developing that conceit at all.James Caan is zoned out in the central role of a celebrity Rollerball player who is asked by the shadowy corporate entities who seem to run everything, and who are represented by John Houseman, to retire because he has become too famous and is setting a bad example of an individual who is becoming more powerful than the masses. Individuality is to be avoided at all costs in this Orwellian world, apparently. Of course, if Caan gave the main character anything remotely resembling a personality, this premise might be more compelling. As it is, he wanders around looking confused and mumbling barely audible lines, and we're supposed to accept that he is a symbol of individualism because.....well, just because we are. Houseman is far more watchable, if only because he varies his inflections from time to time. He and his corporate cronies are supposed to be scary, but they're not very, because when Caan refuses to retire, they seem not to have any kind of backup plan for the eventuality that he might simply refuse. The laconic torpor of the movie is somewhat alleviated once in a while by scenes of Rollerball games, but these don't do a whole lot to engage our interest because we don't know what the hell is going on during them. There's a ball, and some dudes on roller skates, and some other dudes on little scooters, and they go round and round a circular ring, and they're supposed to get the ball into a target, but beyond that we've got nothing. "Rollerball" is an example of what happens when absolutely nothing about a film works at all.Grade: D

Eden Rabatsch The interesting thing about reviewing old films, especially old science fiction films, is seeing how incredibly wrong their version of the world is. But, sometimes the world building might be wrong in structure but very right in terms of spirit. This is the world of Rollerball. Rollerball, set in the distant future but actually next year (2018) is a 1975 sci fi film directed by the great Norman Jewison and based on a short story in Esquire called "Rollerball Murder" by William Harrison. The premise is that after a world war and a series of corporate wars, universal peace and prosperity has been found at the price of a subservient population who are moved like chess pieces by the elite managers of the various corporation cities. With no shortages of any kind, the population has become sheeplike with the one distraction being Rollerball, a highly violent cross between gridiron and roller derby. The game also serves to highlight that no one individual is above society, that the team always comes first. That was till Jonathan E (James Caan) became the greatest player in Rollerball history. Strikingly there is little Rollerball for large chunks at a time. The film starts and ends with long set piece games and there are some folded into the narrative but the core of the film revolves around the governing elite pressuring Jonathan E to retire as he has ostensibly become to big for the game and by extension is a rallying point for any subversive elements in society. As Jonathan E pushes back he tries to unravel how society got to this point using his stardom to access information unavailable to the rest of the population. It is actually in these little moments that the movie sharpens, such as when Jonathan visits the largest library only to hear that the entire record of the 13th century has gone missing and without any other reference points and certainly no books, it will not come back. There are quite a few philosophical debates between Jonathan E and Bartholomew (John Houseman) who is chairman of the corporate council in which they discuss free will, the need for barbaric practices in a civilised society and what it means to be happy in a world in which boredom is your greatest enemy. The cast is surprisingly A list considering there is no hiding how speculative it is and really on paper must have looked batshit crazy. James Caan is really good and is only three years removed from being in The Godfather. Caan embodies complete physical aggression while showing that he is the greatest player because he is also extremely smart and questioning. His nemesis, Bartholomew is played by the imperious John Houseman, who uses that immense voice to control all around him. All the players especially John Beck as Moonpie, do a good job of looking the part. A large piece of the sub plot revolves around how your wife (in 1975, there are no female executives) can be traded to a higher ranked executive. This is the weakest part of the film and does not work nearly as well as the world building and action scenes. For a film over 40 years old to talk about a population which is compliant while being drugged constantly and only consumes vapid TV while giving up all claim to individuality, it is incredibly striking and stands up extremely well.

John Brown I've just watched this film for the first time in many years, probably over 25. I remember it as being violent but compulsive viewing and it remains the same.The film is futuristic but clearly reflects the world of its time, the mid-1970s. No doubt many will be able to draw a range of pseudo-philosophical meanings from it but I prefer to be a little more simplistic. One man stands out against the corporation which aims to control both the game and the people who watch it; he threatens to become bigger than the game and the bosses want rid of him. Yes, this can be seen as an allegory for the Vietnam War and in general for the feelings of a significant part of the population of the USA at the time. In the end, the 'hero' wins, for the moment at least.The film is undoubtedly powerful and, despite a few slow moments, it is exciting; it's also quite brutal. However, by the standards of the 'cgi' world of 2015 it's actually pretty tame and there isn't really that much blood and gore. I have no idea what a modern youngish audience makes of it, but I still find it an interesting and oddly enjoyable offering.