I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did/do. The movie starts off by really showcasing the futuristic sport that it's about: Rollerball, which is like a combination of a roller derby, a chariot race and football. I'm not a sports guy, so the fact that the first 10-20 minutes of the film are nothing but coverage of the Rollerball game made me lose interest pretty quick. Don't get me wrong I enjoy the action of the game and those scenes later on in the film (they get more and more violent each time they play, and I read somewhere that this film contains some of the more violent stunts ever put to film), but those scenes are more enjoyable as we learn more about the main character (played by James Caan) and are emotionally invested in the character and what happens to him, the first scene is basically just designed to showcase what the game is and how it's played. Though the action is great and the visuals are dated something fierce, the true appeal of this film lies in the realm of the philosophical. Rollerball is set in a futuristic dystopian society where corporations rule the world and control the masses. The corporations designed the sport of rollerball to demonstrate the futility of the individual and thus keep people living, acting and thinking in herds because groups are much easier to control than individuals. So in other words one team might be better than another, but no individual player should be idolized (example: The Broncos vs. Peyton Manning), problems occur however when one Jonathan E. of the Houston team starts setting and breaking all records in the game. The fans become
obsessed with Jonathan and the corporations consequently want him to retire, when Jonathan refuses however the corporations keep changing the rules of the game to decrease the likelihood of Jonathan's survival in the game, even if it means killing all the other players in the process as well. In a world where the super bowl is as big of an event as it is (and considering that it is also controlled by the corporations who sponsor it), it's very easy to see some of the dangers of Rollerball paralleled in real life. One thing that is also illustrated in the film is "the man" trying to keep the people "down" and under control by taking away their education and ability to learn (all books have been processed into computers and nobody has access to them, or cares about them anymore) because sport is valued above knowledge. Some of the issues hit very close to home with current problems in society. Rollerball can also be taken deeper too in the sense that Jonathan goes on a sort of moral/spiritual/personal quest to find meaning in his life and "what's it all about?" by asking one of the future's super computers (think Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). Another interesting way to look at Rollerball is that it is a futuristic commentary on communism/socialism. Ultimately though Rollerball is about the triumph of the human spirit/will in adverse circumstances. A surprisingly intellectual film under the guise of an action movie, and enjoyable as both, it is interesting that Rollerball has become the cult classic that it is. The acting is top notch from supporting actors John Houseman (in one of his best known roles) and knighted English actor Sir Ralph Richardson, not to mention James Caan giving one of the best performances of his career. As I mentioned before though, the visuals have dated, and the film does drag a little at times, but it is relatively easy to follow, and though it is deep it is not verbose. It is also worth mentioning this is one of the many sci-fi stories that influenced the ever so popular Hunger Games series, and that the film was remade in 2002. I give this one a 4.5/5, you can view the trailer below:
This is apparently an incredibly hard to find film as it was never released on DVD. But if you do happen to find a copy of the film, here's what's in store: The movie is a historical fiction piece about novelist Franz Kafka as the main character in a world based on his own history (as an insurance clerk and writer before he became anti-establishment) and his novel The Castle. The film was the second film by Oscar winning director Steven Soderbergh (Ocean's Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen, Erin Brockavich, Traffic, Contagion, and Magic Mike) it stars Oscar Winner Jeremy Irons (Reversal of Fortune, voice of Scar from Disney's Lion King) as Kafka, it's one of the last movies by Oscar winner Sir Alec Guinness (Obi Wan from Star Wars A New Hope, and The Bridge on The River Kwai) it also features Ian Holm ( old Bilbo from Lord of The Rings and Hobbit trilogies as well as the android from Alien [1979]), and one of my favorite actors Armin Muller Stahl (Shine, Avalon). The film is in black and white for the first half and changes to color when Kafka enters the castle, it also has really cool special effects and a great fight scene on top of a giant glass dome. It's similar to Terry Gilliam's Brazil, or George Orwell's 1984 and it is pretty cool if you know a bit about Kafka, his life, and his writings. I give it a 4/5. (P.S. gotta love the internet, somebody uploaded the entire movie to youtube, find it here, or just view the trailer here.
I always enjoy Michael Crichton's films, he's one of my favorite sci-fi writers, and this film is written and directed by him. This movie stars Albert Finney (Big Fish, Murder on the Orient Express) and academy award winner James Coburn (The Great Escape, Monsters Inc.). The film is a futuristic dystopian thriller (like a lot of Crichton's work), where a plastic surgeon (Finney) learns that the last four patients he operated on have all died mysteriously, so tries to find a connection btween the deaths, and it leads him to a shady corporation. This film deals with such
themes as the media's concept of what the perfect woman looks like, and some women's obsession with wanting to look perfect. The film also deals with the concept of computers eventually replacing people (in this film they do so just in TV commercials), hypnotism through electronic signals sent out through commercials, and a gun that causes "invisibility" with a seemingly plausible explanation (something to do with the gun shooting beams of light that are part of the light/color spectrum that we humans can't see, that block certain
receptors in your eyes for a short period of time). There is a great scene where Finney gets beat up by an invisible assailant. The film is a really great thriller with great acting, music, special effects and is marvelously well written and so believable (like all of Crichtons work) that part of it has become actuality today.The only thing that might bother people is that the aspect of the story where a computer can make a replica of a person, or measure one's exact eye movements has already come true, so that may make the film seem dated to some, but to me it's a reminder of how crazy the technology we have nowadays, and that maybe the invisibility and hypnosis aspects of the story aren't too far away from becoming reality. I give the film a 5/5 and highly recommend it. You can find the full movie on youtube here, and the trailer is below:
