Rollerball (1975)

In a corporate-controlled future, an ultra-violent sport known as Rollerball represents the world, and one of its powerful athletes is out to defy those who want him out of the game.

Director:

Norman Jewison

Writer:

William Harrison (screenplay)

Stars:

James Caan, John Houseman, Maud Adams

Won 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
James Caan	...	Jonathan E.
John Houseman	...	Bartholomew
Maud Adams	...	Ella
John Beck	...	Moonpie
Moses Gunn	...	Cletus
Pamela Hensley	...	Mackie
Barbara Trentham	...	Daphne
John Normington	...	Executive
Shane Rimmer	...	Rusty, Team Executive
Burt Kwouk	...	Japanese Doctor
Nancy Bleier	...	Girl in Library
Richard LeParmentier	...	Bartholomew's Aide (as Rick LeParmentier)
Robert Ito	...	Strategy Coach for Houston Team
Ralph Richardson	...	Librarian

Storyline

In a futuristic society where corporations have replaced countries, the violent game of Rollerball is used to control the populace by demonstrating the futility of individuality. However, one player, Jonathan E., rises to the top, fights for his personal freedom, and threatens the corporate control.

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Plot Keywords:

dystopia | fictional sport | shower room | score | screech | 

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Taglines:

This movie will haunt your future ... because it's almost here!

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi | Sport

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 June 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

Роллербол

Filming Locations:

Frankfurt, Germany

Box Office

Gross USA:

$30,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Algonquin

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The shot sequence ahead of the New York game shows the Palácio da Alvorada, as well as the Congresso Nacional in Brasília, Brazil, the Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican, and Lower Manhattan, New York.

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Goofs

in the New York game, #3 is seen after he goes "off the board" (riding motorcycle 2) and #2 is also seen in the same manner later in the game.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Pregame announcer: Good evening everyone! And welcome to Houston, the energy city, home of the defending Rollerball World Champions. This key international battle pits the divisional champions, visiting Madrid, against powerful Houston. - - And here they come to a standing ovation. On the track comes Houston! Houston, lead by captain Jonathan E, again their leading scorer this year.

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Connections

Featured in Brubaker (1980)

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Soundtracks

Symphony No. 5: Fourth Movement
(uncredited)
Composed by Dmitri Shostakovich

User Reviews

Dated Look But Top-Notch Filmmaking

"Rollerball" is one of those classics of sci-fi that I somehow managed to miss for all of my 30 years. Whilst browsing the local store, I found the DVD for ten dollars and figured I had nothing to lose -- to rent it, if I could even find it on DVD, wouldn't cost THAT much less.

I had some vague notion of the storyline, but I tried not to read the case or liner notes and take in the movie on a first impression. Released in the summer of 1975, there are definite and readily apparent influences of earlier films, not the least of which being Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange." The colors, the film stock, the editing style are all reminiscent of that earlier, similarly-themed master work, yet I don't believe it detracted from this film at all.

Supposedly set in the year 2018 (though this is never established in the movie, that I could tell), corporations have replaced governments and managed to eliminate war, poverty, disease and bad hair days. People don't have too much of a say in what goes on around them, but they're all very physically comfortable. Of course, the violent nature of the human beast must be satisfied, and it is -- in the gladitorial ring of the world's most popular sport, Rollerball. The game consists of two teams (from cities all over the world) skating and motorbiking around a 1/8-mile track, trying to get a steel ball into a goal. As the course of the season progresses, more and more limitations as to what constitutes fair play are removed, and by the final, the melee is total.

James Caan plays the Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky and Joe Montana of Rollerball, Jonathan E.. He's the biggest star in the world, but he's also a thinking man, and when the corporation which owns his team wants him to retire, he refuses, wanting to know first why they'd want him to retire when he's playing at his best.

The rest I leave to the viewer to find out. I can only say it is a very well-crafted script with plenty to say about violence, the spirit of the individual man, and the bloodlusts that a happy and idle populace can muster. Very well-filmed with touches of brilliance in editing and framing.

A detraction which really couldn't be helped involves the portrayal of the future. Director Norman Jewison couldn't know what the world of forty years in his future would be like, so he took the wise route of not making it all that different from 1975, but with subtle changes (such as the interesting but impractical "multivision" concept in which all TV sets have a large screen and three smaller screens above it, each showing different but related pictures). The result, though infinitely preferable to lots of neon and superfluous antennae, is that the place looks like 1975 with slightly cooler gadgets. I can't tell you what 2018 will look like, but it won't look like that.

Interestingly, the "corporate inevitability" concept of the future, which I believe Jewison meant earnestly, plays out much more as a satire of the opposite, a communist world. Much of what the coroprate culture says, as personified by John Houseman's Mr. Bartholomew, sounds much like the rhetoric of communism -- people are fed and comfortable and happy, but the individual is beholden to the group at all costs. Indeed, some of the words of description of the culture seem lifted straight from Marx and Engels.

The DVD leaves something to be desired, though. The picture is a lot dirtier than I'd like, especially in still-shot scenes. The color is muted, though this may be part style, and some shots seem positively muddy.

The remastered 5.1 soundtrack is a disappointment. The rear speakers get very little play. One particular effect of note, I must concede, is one moment when you can hear the ball roll all the way around the arena, and it's as though you're standing in the center.

In all, it's an excellent movie, which I can't recommend enough, but if the disc had been any pricier than it was, I would have felt as though I was somewhat taken.

Perhaps after the release of the upcoming remake, there will be a better special edition.