Review of Rollerball (2002) by Neil K — 25 Jan 2012

Bartholomew: The game was created to demonstrate the futility of individual effort. .

"In the future there will be no war. There will only be Rollerball.".

Rollerball is an interesting, if dull dystopian tale. I'm in between with my feelings on the film. On one hand, it has some spectacular ideas, but on the other hand, they weren't used to their full potential. These type of dystopian films normally sound amazing on paper, but once I actually start to watch them, I lose interest pretty quick. Most of them are so bland, and other than the violent game scenes; Rollerball is a pretty bland movie.

Corporations have taken over the world and it is now the year 2018. Violence is outlawed and there is no more war. But people have to have their fill of violence, so a new game is invented called Rollerball. The best player in the world is Jonathan, and his popularity is sky-high. He's a veteran of the game, as he has been playing for 10 years. The corporate backers don't like how popular Jonathan is getting and try to nudge him out of the league. He fights back and refuses to stop playing. .

James Caan delivers a stellar performance as Jonathan and makes the movie a bit more watchable. I liked the game sequences, but other than that there just wasn't that much here to like. It had the possibilities and potential of being one of the better movies of this genre. It just never all came together. Good try, I guess. .