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Rollerball
Motorbikes, violence and rollerblades, it could only be, Rollerball. If ever there was a dodgy sporting movie, it’s this. The story revolves around a game, in which the owners of the franchise/television rights figure out that the ratings improve as the level of violence in the games increases. So, they do the logical thing and insure that more violence occurs, bad for the players, excellent for us.
Like any good sporting movie, the hero has moral issues to face and problems to overcome, but I don’t really remember the specifics, after all, it wasn’t that deep, and the script isn’t really going to encourage you to watch the film. What does encourage you to watch Rollerball is the game, and of course, the escalating violence.
My biggest complaint about Rollerball is that they spent too much time trying to develop a plot, and not enough time playing Rollerball. But, to be fair, I don’t think they would have got it past the movie execs if they tried to sell them a movie that consisted solely of a sports match, after all, that’s why we have ESPN.
Dodginess
When rating the dodginess of a movie like this, you have to give credit to the creator of the game of Rollerball, after all, it was his vision that gave shape to the sole source of dodginess in this film. And while the movie is very dodgy, it doesn’t have tha special quality that would put it over the top and earn it maximum points. Rollerball gets 4 on the Stay Puft Marshmallow scale. In a surprise victory, the dodgiest moment does not occur in a rollerball game. No, when Jonathon manages to block a shotgun blast using a cocktail drinks table, that managed to overshadow the rest of the film.
Rewatchability Rating
This is one of those movies that you kind of forget about until you flick over to the right channel and catch a glimpse of the rollerblades, when the memories of how much you enjoyed it the last time you saw it come flooding back. The script is forgettable, there aren’t a lot of fantastic action sequences that don’t involve the Rollerball game, and yet, it still rates a 4 on the rewatchability rating.
Most Memorable Quote
Watching Rollerball is almost like watching pro-wrestling in that it causes the brain to shut down. Despite this, there is one line, spoken by LL Cool J that stands out. “You ever tried to get laid with an accounting degree.”
Final Thoughts
Rollerball is not a great film. By most standards, it’s not even a mediocre film. Just as well we don’t apply normal standards. Rollerball is enjoyable if not memorable, just don’t expect to learn anything while watching it other than how to disengage your higher brain functions.