NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

TheLittleSongbird There were quite a number of reasons why 'Rollerball' intrigued me in the first place. The concept was a really intriguing one. It has been praised for its use of classical music, a delight for a lifelong classical music fan. There are some talented names here, James Caan especially. And Norman Jewison has done some good films, such as 'In the Heat of the Night' and 'Fiddler on the Roof'.My opinion of 'Rollerball' is that it is a flawed film but also a very impressive one. The momentum does sag, particularly in the middle, in some scenes not on the arena. Bogged down by a little too much extraneous talk, like the Ella story line, and a few ideas that could have gone into more depth. Of the characters, the only ones that are really developed like "real" characters are Jonathan E and Bartholomew (Ella particularly is a cipher), and parts while well intended are laid on too thick somewhat.However, 'Rollerball' is well made visually. It's all very slick and stylish and the set for the rollerball arena still makes one go wow. Liked the look of the future dystopia, not extraordinary but it was atmospheric. Jewison directs with assurance, while the script has a lot of intelligent and thought-provoking lines and ideas that resonate a lot and still are very much relevant. The message is much appreciated and is very much pertinent.Story is intriguing and has enough to compel, and Jonathan E and Bartholomew are very interesting characters. The supporting cast, particularly John Beck, are solid.'Rollerball' excels particularly in four particularly strongly done areas. The tautly filmed and edited rollerball sequences are incredibly exciting and have a real sense of disturbing danger and nerve-shredding tension too. Andre Previn does well with the music score, but shining even more is to me some of the best use of classical music on film, including the most beautiful use of Albinoni's Adagio ('Manchester By the Sea' also used it beautifully but it's done more subtly here), Bach's Toccata used very creepily and the best use of Shostakovich on film. It's not just that the music itself is wonderful but also that they are so cleverly used, almost ironically and also unnervingly.James Caan is a highly charismatic lead and gives the character nuances, while John Houseman's Bartholomew is chilling. One cannot review 'Rollerball' without mentioning the incredibly powerful ending either.Overall, very impressive but flawed. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Leofwine_draca ROLLERBALL is many things, but a simple action movie it is not. It's a condemnation of society's appetite for violence. It's the story of one man's rise and fall against the system. It also happens to be a lot more complex and intelligent than you might give it credit for, with the premise. The '70s vision of the future may be quite laughable these days - this is a future with flares and punch-card computers - yet it displays a society who really have no moral regard for their own actions. For fun, people shoot down trees with flare guns, not worrying about the consequences. The game of Rollerball itself starts off as a game with violence in it, but the violence is really the reason everybody watches. By the end of the film, all of the rules have been dropped and only the violence remains.While flawed, ROLLERBALL is still one to watch. Running at two hours, half an hour of extraneous dialogue could have been cut with little damage. A lot of expository scenes drag on to seemingly pad the film out, and the inclusion of Caan's wife holds the film up even further. Her story could have been told in the space of ten minutes instead of half an hour. On the plus side, we have great use of music (my favourite horror theme, Bach's Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor is used at the beginning and end), some good acting from a bunch of seasoned performers and an intelligent script.James Caan is the stubborn hero of the film, refusing to go down even when he's pushed. His dominating screen presence anchors the film and he seems to have been cast well. John Houseman is his nemesis, the corporate man who will stop at nothing to see him go. Loads of familiar faces pad out the rest of the cast, including Maud Adams, Moses Gunn, Shane Rimmer, Burt Kwouk, and even an amusing cameo from Ralph Richardson.Although there are only three Rollerball sequences in the film, each are lengthy and exciting. The first introduces us to the game, a tough game where people get hurt but are bound by the rules. By the time the second game comes around, penalties have been dropped, and violence reigns. People are hit, beaten, die, have their necks broken and are burnt alive. When the end comes, it is a release from the carnage. By the time the third game arrives, rules have been dropped completely. It's not even about the game anymore but more a case of "last man standing". There are no penalties and, crucially, no time limit. The final survivor will naturally be the victor. The excellent ending sees Caan, the inevitable winner, skating round the rink while the audience chants. The camera freeze-frames on his face and the Tocatta music plays. The ambiguity of his future will stay with the viewer and make him think. This makes ROLLERBALL something of a minor classic...

vesil_vesalier It's interesting to see how some films can be unaffected by time, and how others are DIRECTLY affected by it, in terms of their appreciation as the years go by.Consider THE STING. I consider it a painting of the time, a time capsule that captures the Great Depression in a very unique way, showing off not only the story-line but the beautiful backdrops of what was happening to America at the time. This movie does not age, because it is literally frozen in time.When it comes to ROLLERBALL, there is no way it could NOT age poorly. When I think about cell phone technology, it is a direct reason as to why people today would have a problem relating to a film that dared to proclaim the future, and missed by thousands of miles. Technologically speaking, compared to today's world, the movie's inner-workings seem to be just plain silly. Does this detract from the quality of the film?Not for my money, no.All films are fictionalized, no matter how realistic they may be. The actors do not actually die. The things you see flashing up on the screen are not real. CSI actually takes weeks, not an hour an episode. We are dealing with fantasy here, guys. Not reality. You have to consider everything when you watch a movie. Especially one like this, one that dared to predict the future.The main point of the film is just as solid as ever, and just as threatening as it ever could be. In a world where corporations rule everything, one of them tells the best player of Rollerball to give it up. Quit. Let the younger guys play, your time has come.The only trouble is, he's at his prime. It's not like he's starting to decline, or that somehow he's ready for the locker room. Jonathan E is playing the best damn game of Rollerball in his life. And why would anybody want to give that up? So he chooses to defy the corporations, and this is truly where the movie gets interesting. In his defiance, they begin to change the rules. As they change the rules more and more drastically to try and force him to quit, he becomes more and more defiant. One of the only criticisms I would have in the movie is one of semi-logic, and believe me I dismiss it as quickly as it comes up: Do you really think having his best friend go brain-dead would STOP him? I would think it would just push him harder.Braining Jonathan E would make more sense. But I guess a corporate world based all on fear tactics would rather have him submit than be beaten. And that's what we see. His inability to be beaten. His inability to submit.And that is what I celebrate about this film. That is what makes the film work for me. You have the subplot of his unfortunate relationship with his ex-wife, which some could argue one way or another when it comes to who left who and why, but it really doesn't matter. He dreamed about her. He came to realize it was JUST a dream. He gave it up.But NOTHING could make him give up Rollerball.

Joxerlives Watched this as a kid and was totally engrossed in the game, really wanted to play Rollerball for real although I'm a lousy skater (maybe I could have ridden one of the motorbikes?). Reputedly the cast and crew actually did play Rollerball (presumably with penalties, substitutions and time limits rather than the ultimate no holds barred version we see at the end?) in between takes and really got into it. I wonder if there's any film of that? In the 70s 2000AD magazine had a comic strip 'inspired' by Rollerball where the players wore jetpacks which is about the only way you could make the game more exciting.What makes it special though is that it's not just a glorification of a brutal futuristic sport but a study of the role of the individual in a civilized society. Thomas Mann would recognise the concept although he probably wouldn't have included motorbikes in it. The future is depicted as a quasi-benign dictatorship as Plato always advocated. We have no wars, no crime, no poverty, corporations run the show and conflicts are confined to the boardroom and stock exchange. People are free within the system as long as they don't question the established order. Some have described it as fascist but actually it strikes me as more communistic, the individual sublimated for the sake of the greater good. However mankind never changes so an outlet is needed for aggression and populist entertainment. Hence we have Rollerball. Problem is in a society which values conformity Jonathan E has become an individualistic superstar and that threatens the whole nature of society. Great performance from James Caan and equally great from John Houseman who isn't exactly the villain, it's very subtle on his part, you can't really be sure who's right or wrong in all this (noticeably Houseman's character doesn't want Jonathan to have an 'accident'). Also like Shame Rimmer as the team manager, the obedient corporate stooge who tells it as it is but still cares about his team, trying to prevent an injured Jonathan E from going back out to probable death during the final game (the New York manager noticeably succeeding in doing the same for one of his players). Fantastic music too, the classical influence contrasting with the sheer brutality of the game. And it is still shocking after all these years, the scene where the injured player slides down the rink leaving a bloody trail behind him still makes you cringe. You're so happy that Jonathan spares the final New York player and then goes on to score the final point, to him it's still all about the game rather than the violence. No offence to Star Wars but it rather killed the more thoughtful sci-fi we had in the 1970s, Silent Running, Dark Star, Logan's Run, THX 1138, Westworld, Solaris, The Omega Man etc. The only bad thing is Jonathan's trip to the the computer bank in Geneva which is utterly baffling.