Disc Reviews

Rollerball Blu-ray Review

29th Mar 2015

Rollerball seems like an obvious choice for Arrow Video to produce amongst their collection of cult classics. In fact the announcement was met here with a resounding “Haven’t we had that on Blu-ray already?”
And the answer is “No.”

Rollerball has had a couple of DVD releases – each with mounting extras which are all brought over onto this release – but this is the first Blu-ray release.

The film, starring James Caan, is set in a dystopian future where war, poverty and famine have been wiped out and replaced with corporate takeover. The main synergies including Energy and Water are now the ruling forced on the planet. And cities around the world are now also represented in a violent sport named Rollerball. This is a two team game of skaters and bikers on an oval circuit seeking to score points by capturing and then delivering a metallic ball that is shot onto the rink amongst the players. There are more to the rules that that – but the main player for the Huston team Jonathan E (Caan) is now being pressured to quit the game in the light of his fame becoming a bit too much for the corporations to even control.

The future (albeit still very 70’s looking thanks largely to the threads that people wear) has been designed very well and given the most futuristic look they could give the film thanks to some decent location scouting.

The corporate world that we live in (where even your own wife can be taken away from you) is a fascinating look at how we could and to an extent do live in a world ran by business. But ultimately what draws you into this film is the game itself. For all of the anti-violent statements that can be made about Rollerball, the game itself makes that point by how addictive it is to watch, and how thrilling the violence actually is.

We are treated to three games in the film as they Huston team approach the end of the series they are currently in. Each game shows off the brutality (not to mention superior stunt work) as each team aims for the goal. The influence of power also shows as with each game they start to remove penalties and time limits making the game all the more lethal for players.

The extras as mentioned are plentiful. There is a half hour making of featuring some cast and crew. Director Norman Jewison provides a commentary as does writer William Harrison. There are also some key interviews that have been recorded more recently featuring the stunt work as well as location scouting. These sound perfunctory, but considering both of these aspects are key to the film’s success they are nothing short of insightful. There is also a recent interview with James Caan as he wistfully recalls making the film. This is a nice addition as he has, up until now, been absent from the other featurettes. A solid effort, and there is also a customary short booklet from Arrow. If there is any criticism is that such a key title is not getting the Steelbook treatment. But Arrow are known to produce such items after an initial releases success. So perhaps with a bit of fan badgering this could become a reality. The thought of the original poster work with that giant studied glove on a steel cover is a fans dream.

But in the absence of such dreams – this is a strong release for a film that has dated pretty well.