Rollerball | John Houseman, Maud Adams | Jon-a-than, Jon-a-than, Jon-a-than............

Rollerball | John Houseman, Maud Adams | Great Movie

DVDs:

Rollerball

	Rollerball John Houseman, Maud Adams MGM (Video & DVD), 1998 average customer review:based on 116 reviews view larger image
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Jon-a-than, Jon-a-than, Jon-a-than............

The year is 2018 and there is no war and no crime. Corporations have taken the place of governments and the masses are entertained through a sport of modern-day gladiators on skates and speeding motorcycles where only the strongest may someday retire in peace.

Though released in 1975, Rollerball has stood the test of time due to the forward-thinking of the writers within the sci-fi/sports realms and using the setting to describe the age-old conflict of the individual versus a corrupt society.

Jonathan E - played by James Caan - is becoming bigger than the game and it is strongly suggested to him by Energy Corporation Executive Bartholomew - John Houseman - that he should retire. Jonathan E cannot bring himself to abandon his teammates & leave the game - a retirement party finds the superstar not following his script - which leads to a match that degenerates into a vicious life & death struggle to be the last player standing.

The game is already brutal enough before the last game - played on a track, with the object to place a metal ball into a cylinder to score points - as teams named for major cities actually compete for corporations.

The action sequences are brilliant and the drama of the last game is chilling. And that contest ultimately brings - on the track, at least - victory without a real winner.

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Great Movie

If you have not seen the original, then you are missing the essence of rollerball. The re-make is a total waste of time. The original movie was created from a short story in esquire magazine.

James Cann is the rollerballer who has been around forevever and is told to retire. The line in the movie that was supposed to capture the essence was "This not a game that man is not supposed to win" so of course he was told to retire and refused. It is a world where we are under corporations who have become our government. James Cann's journey to find out why he was told to retire is the key to the movie, because the journey becomes self discovery.

My take on his triumph is not about his victory over the corporation but rather the power of the individual over governments or corporations. Most of us do not allow ourselves to fight "city hall" and often we feel powerless. This movie says we are not and that it is our responsiblity to fight for what we believe in.

The remake is flash but empty. I will almost guarantee that after you see the first rollerball, The remake will seem more like a cartoon than a serious movie.

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Great movie.

If you've seen the remake of Rollerball, you have not seen Rollerball. Packed with social issues, action and James Caan--this movie has a lot going for it.

The only reason for giving the dvd a 4 is:
1. no commentary--damn.
2. the sound quality not so hot but it is coming from an older movie.

a dvd only with director's commentary?

i never realized this dvd was only dubbed with director's commentary blahblahblah from end to end, and it's so annoying to hear the director's reminiscent self-important voice over the dialog. this is not a big deal movie especially re-released today. i've tried to find if there's another category that i could avoid the voice-over commentary but, no, only his voice covered every scene. this is so bad, because all i wanted was to reminiscent the 70s movie by myself not by the director himself. sorry, man, this is not what i wanted.

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Needs the Anamorphic treatment

First off - I love this movie. No, it has nothing to do with the sport - just the idea of the Corporate Wars + governtment-controlled libraries is enough to keep me glued to the set. Of course, the main story is quite engaging, and everyone plays their parts perfectly for this '70s sci-fi action piece.

Now, onto the transfer - it's visually quite horrible. Really. It seriously needs to be enhanced for widescreen TVs in the worst way. The film could also use some cleaning up, but I'll be happy just to be able to watch it without the image distortion created by a 4:3 letterbox being projected onto a 16:9 image. This is why I give this DVD a 3/5 - if I was grading it on technical excellence alone, it would barely rate a 2. But as I say - I like the film, and this is currently the only version available.

Outside of that - the sound is pretty well remastered, and the bonus material is surprisingly good for a 70s cult movie. If you've never seen this, I highly recommend giving it a shot.

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