Rollerball (1975 film): Difference between revisions

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* [[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 Book|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, {{spoiler|Jonathan tackles the last New York player and is about to smash his head in with the ball. After a moment, he instead gets up, goes over to the goal, and jams the ball in for the winning score.}}

* [[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. {{spoiler|He pointedly erases it in her face when she returns to try to persuade him to quit.}}

* [[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, {{spoiler|by the time his wife is returned to him, he's not interested in giving up the game; he actually rejects her for cooperating with the corporation's efforts.}}

* [[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 [[George Orwell|Orwellian]], all-powerful government instead.

* [[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.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Films of the 1970s]]

[[Category:Hugo Award]]

[[Category:Sports Stories]]