Rollerball (1975 film)



1975 Dystopian movie set Twenty Minutes Into the Future, when everything is controlled by Mega Corps that keep the unwashed masses happy the best way they know how: full contact bloodsport!

The sport, Rollerball, is like roller derby on speed. Players come and go (usually violently), as the sport is meant to suppress individuality. That changes when our hero, Jonathan E, becomes a Rollerball star and refuses to retire. The executives don't like that and start making changes to the game in an effort to kill Jonathan.

There's also a forgettable 2002 remake, with twice the blood and half the plot.


 * Berserk Button: Through most of the movie, Bartholomew is amazingly calm and reasonable when dealing with Jonathan, until he pointedly suggests that Jonathan can be made to quit the game. When Jonathan answers that Bartholomew can't make him do anything, the executive shouts, "Don't say that! DON'T EVER SAY THAT!"
 * Chekhov's Gun / Tempting Fate: Moonpie is contemptuous of the Japanese players' short stature, though he's warned that even small opponents can cream a big guy three-on-one. Three guesses how Moonpie gets clobbered in the Houston/Tokyo game.
 * Film of the Short Story: The film is an adaptation of "Roller Ball Murder" by William Harrison.
 * Finish Him!: In the Houston-New York game at the end,
 * Freeze Frame Ending: The last shot of
 * Gorn: In the remake.
 * Make It Look Like an Accident: Jonathan is afraid of this at one point, refusing to go on a helicopter. It's later revealed that the corporation has rejected the idea as it's important that Jonathan die during the game, in order to demonstrate the futility of individual effort.
 * Master Computer: "Zero", which now stores all of human history after the corporations digitized the books. (They've lost the files for the 13th century somewhere...) It goes into a meltdown when Johnathan asks it a question that the corporations don't want it to answer.
 * Memento MacGuffin: A home movie Johnathan keeps of better times with his wife and his coach.
 * Ominous Pipe Organ: The corporate anthems. Also, the intro music.
 * One Nation Under Copyright: "Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for our corporate anthem."
 * Parallel Porn Titles: Don't ask.
 * Revenge: Jonathan is partly motivated by resentment over his wife being taken from him by an executive. Ironically,
 * Society Marches On: The anti-individualist bent of the bad guys makes sense within the context of the mid-20th century American business world (or the Japanese business world then and now, but that's neither here nor there), which was associated with stifling conformity, but missed the mark as to what the actual hypercapitalist, neoliberal Reagan era and beyond turned out to be like. Modern capitalist culture encourages "individualism" (so long as it involves buying stuff to make you "stand out"), while discarding the petty concerns of one's own self in favor of helping others is a socialist ideal. Today, the concept of corporations trying to stamp out individualism in favor of conformity would baffle mainstream audiences, who associate this kind of dystopia with an Orwellian, all-powerful government instead.
 * Toccata and Fugue in D minor: The Toccata section is memorably used as the opening and closing music for the original film.
 * Treacherous Advisor: Bartholomew, who initially gives Jonathan almost fatherly advice to quit the game, is soon plotting to have him killed when that advice is rejected.
 * Averted in the case of Cletus, Jonathan's friend who's a former player and current executive. He's powerless to interfere with the corporations' actions against Jonathan, but gives him some helpful information about dealing with them.
 * Trophy Wife: Jonathan had a trophy wife bestowed on him for his success, but he really did care for her. Then she was taken away from him and given to an executive. This seems to be completely normal behavior in that verse.
 * What Have I Done: At first, Mackie doesn't mind shooting up the trees. But, after the other party-goers have gleefully shot the rest of them, she's clearly upset over the act.
 * Zeerust: Liquid-state computing and pistol-sized plasma blasters, yet their skaters never progressed from quads to blades?