leplatypus I saw this movie as a kid and it was really impressive: sure the gradual violence is unexpected, all the more than this sport has real visual punch like basketball. But the more disturbing lies outside the ring as this future society is really strange: everything is so policed and polished (except when there are games) that i understand that Caan feels really uneasy when he had to think over it! I think this kind of society could be indeed our future as us the common people are really useful for elites so long as we are peaceful and numb! So it's implies that we should abandon our liberty, our freedom of choice and that's just an impossible deal! So this philosophical debate is really the heart of the movie and as the 70s proved it, it was the best decade for those kind of movies (actually, Sci-fi producers prefer to put us asleep with big SFX and gratuitous violence). The only points for which the movie makes mistake are the People effect and the Corporations control! Indeed, as i just wrote, the world seems indeed going to the same globalization secure fate described in the movie but things are even more treacherous: Corporations, being intelligent, don't call openly for power but rather maintain the hollow democracies by corrupting weak politics!Next, in the movie, problems arises when an individual gets too much consideration as it's an exit from the dark crowd! It could be a rebel leader and inspire liberty fights so they must be eliminated! Today, it's all the opposite: we the common people gets fed up, flooded, intoxicated every day, every minutes by thousand useless news of the People (they even stole our name!) also known as called stars, celebrities, god, goddess! They have become like our puppets, our bones to chew on passively! It's a pity that so much people are addicted to this painless drug because instead of taking in charge their live, they are shut by cartoon, fake, surrogate identities! at last, when you compare this huge movie with the shameful remake, even directed by McTiernan, you can understand why i wanted to get out of the screening in 2002 and why this original vision is even more powerful today and this movie is an absolute essential recommendation!

feakes Rollerball is both a sci fi film and a social commentary on mankind. Set in the near future of 2018. War is no more same with poverty and crime. Also politics. the world is ruled by corporations dedicated to having complete power. In order to hide their illegal acts or at best The Shadier aspects they introduce a violent sport and recreate the bread and circus atmosphere of Rome and her Gladiators. Rollerball is designed to hold the population's attention to give them something to dream about argue about and gamble . And Rollerball is also designed to show the futility of individual achievement. Except. Jonathon E is a complete Champion. he's been rewarded more times then any other Rollerball Champion. He's popular. He's an idol to billions and he's setting the wrong example. Jonathon has the distinction of being the oldest player in the game. ten years and running. Quite a feat in a game designed to do one thing and that is to maim or murder. Jonathon's popularity worries the corporation and they fear that Jonathon E could be used as a sign to the people to revolt. Jonathon has no such designs. Until he's told he is retiring. He has no such idea he doesn't want to. But the corporate world wants him to. Do it nicely or have it done by force. Jonathon decides that now is the time for action and refuses to retire which sets the stage for the Championship Rollerball game where the objective for the other team is simply Kill Jonathon E.The Film was written back in 75 and adapted from a short story called the Rollerball Murder. And it was such a far fetched idea Corporations ruling the world giving us everything and the only thing we give up is freedom and will.Now its 2017 And suddenly the World of Rollerball doesn't seem so far fetched. It feels like the truth.

trashgang I still remember this flick as seen on telee as a kid together with my father, yes, nostalgia. I still knew a few things about it and with the Blu Ray release it was time to pick it up again. First of all, an excellent performance by James Caan. But seeing it again nowadays it is a strange flick. It takes place in the future and you can see that with the excellent settings used. The story itself is a bit weird and the main reason, why Jonathan E (Caan) has to quit isn't explained at all. The took his wife away from him and the only thing he wants is to see her again but things turn out differently. The rollerball game itself do offer some nasty shots, nowadays it is laughable but back then it was a rather rough flick. Clocking in at 2 hours it is a bit too long here and there and rare things are going on like for example always watching rollerball games at parties or shooting with fire toward trees.It is said that it is a classic and indeed they made a remake but it isn't for everybody..Gore 0,5/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 2/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5

RevRonster While I may have watched this when I was younger, I don't remember much about it except that I can't help but giggle at people on roller skates—it's hard to look graceful on them and that's why I won't wear them. Well, that reason and I'll spend more time falling and picking myself off the ground than actually rolling. Anyway, I finally sat down and watched this uninterrupted…it was okay.I really liked the sequences showing the game of Rollerball (even though I still laughed at the skates and people looking like they are on the verge of having the skates come out from under them at any moment) and I felt the story was fairly decent with its themes and such. However, the film definitely feels dated and I wasn't really that into James Caan's performance. In the end though, it's not a bad Sci-Fi film from a decade that gave us some pretty timeless Sci-Fi epics.