Reviews of Rollerball

Ganbare! Tokyo!

Posted : 1 year, 3 months ago on 19 July 2008 12:59 (A review of Rollerball)

As part of my ongoing quest to plough through as many films on THIS LIST as possible, I stumbled most recently across Rollerball, which just edged onto the list as position #47.

Released in 1975, Rollerball follows a veteran and highly skilled player of the game as he heads towards the pinnacle of his career. The game itself is packed with violence and brutality, much to the delight of the millions of worldwide fans who flock to the matches. The captain in question, Johnathan E (James Caan), is perhaps the greatest Rollerballer who ever lived. Plying his trade with the Houston team, the film begins after they win a match against Madrid, setting them up for a place in the semi-final of an esteemed cup.

The dystopian element comes from the fact that these teams are not owned by managers or chairmen, but by multi-national energy corporations. The sport itself is a violent and combative team sport which seeks to emphasise the futility of the individual and promote team play, a mantra that is clearly designed to extend to the world in a wider sense. Jonathan's reputation however becomes so prolific that he begins to become a clear threat to this 'ineffective individual' mentality. He is threatened after the opening match to retire immediately by the chairman of the Energy Corporation in charge of the Houston team. He is offered a beneficial retirement package, but refuses the chairman's orders, deciding instead to play on for the benefit of the team.

After realising that their efforts have failed, the Energy corp. decides to force him out in other ways, and the rules are changed as the team progresses through the cup to make the sport drastically more violent. Resulting in great personal loss for Jonathan as he continues to play on.

It is a competent performance from James Caan, who portrays a charismatic and modest protagonist. There is nothing much else memorable about the film other than the Rollerball matches themselves, of which the action is realistic and well choreographed. The sport itself also benefits from being quite entertaining to watch. It's an enjoyable film, nothing ground-breaking or mind blowing, it fits into the same sort of niche as The Running Man and Futuresport.

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