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Movies / On DVD / Rollerball
Rollerball

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Rollerball (1975)

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68 %
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Reviews Counted:25

Fresh:17

Rotten:8

Average Rating:6/10

Runtime: 2 hrs 8 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Synopsis: In the year 2018, corporations rule a world where there is no crime or war... only the game of Rollerball, a violent combination of football, rollerblading and hockey. The man who has been the... In the year 2018, corporations rule a world where there is no crime or war... only the game of Rollerball, a violent combination of football, rollerblading and hockey. The man who has been the champion player for over ten years has become too good, and the corporation, apprehensive of his skill and popularity, wants him to retire. He resists, and the authorities decide he must be stopped -- whatever the cost. [More]

Starring: James Caan, John Houseman, Maud Adams, John Beck

Starring: James Caan, John Houseman, Maud Adams, John Beck, Moses Gunn, Pamela Hensley, Ralph Richardson, Shane Rimmer

Director: Norman Jewison

Director: Norman Jewison
Producer: Norman Jewison
Screenwriter: William Harrison
Composer: André Previn, J.S. Bach, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Dmitri Shostakovich, Tomaso Albinoni

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Rollerball

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
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Inside the arena, it's a fantastic action movie, but outside, it's starchy and pretentious.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
08/05/08
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Ultimately, Rollerball gets by on its sheer monolithic quality - an abundance of quantity. Despite indifferent direction and dire humour, it is well mounted and photographed.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The performances of star player, James Caan, drawn into the politics behind the sport and John Houseman as a creepy corporate boss, are excellent.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
09/11/01
George Perry
George Perry
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

So the script's a little laboured, but for shere exuberance and adrenaline pumping you don't get better than this unless you're at a rave.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Clark Collis
Clark Collis
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

James Caan, on roller skates, is trying to save the world. This needs a bit of explaining, which is only the beginning of the trouble with Rollerball.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment Comment
08/04/08
Jay Cocks
Jay Cocks
TIME Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Norman Jewison's sensational futuristic drama about a world of Corporate States stars James Caan in an excellent performance as a famed athlete who fights for his identity and free will.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
08/04/08
Variety Staff
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Seems to being going around in circles trying to say something but is not sure about what it wants to say, as it keeps stumbling around every bend.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
01/24/08
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

The performances of Caan and Richardson are excellent, and the rollerball sequences are fast-paced and interesting.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
06/05/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Lifeless, uninspired, and crammed with enough hints of intellectual consistency to give the socially conscious critical establishment shivers of excitement.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
06/05/07
Don Druker
Don Druker
Chicago Reader

No review available.

comment Comment
11/19/06
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

This original version could EASILY have been trimmed down quite some with plenty of repetitive moments popping up throughout the film.

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
06/24/06
JoBlo
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

It seems pretty prescient about violence, corporations, and TV.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Brad Laidman
Brad Laidman
Film Threat

No review available.

comment Comment
07/29/05
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

No review available.

comment Comment
07/22/05
Randy Shulman
Randy Shulman
Metro Weekly (Washington, DC)

No review available.

comment Comment
06/19/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Everyone else, including Mr. Caan and John Houseman, who plays a leading Houston executive, is more solemn and serious than the movie ever merits.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/09/05
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One of the most powerful science fiction films ever made.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
10/21/04
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews

No review available.

comment Comment
08/22/03
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
08/09/03
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

No review available.

comment Comment
06/21/03
Ryan Cracknell
Ryan Cracknell
Movie Views
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
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