Review – Rollerball

Strap yourself in and get ready for some heavy-handed allegory from the depths of the 1970s. In a dystopian future, corporations run the world, individuality is discouraged if not absolutely forbidden, and all society’s former violence is now concentrated into the cathartic experience of an bloody football/basketball/roller derby combination called Rollerball. Star athlete Jonathan E (James Caan) has become a little too popular for his own good, to the point where he’s in danger of engendering a cult of personality that might re-introduce individualism to an otherwise-happy world. In order to encourage him to drop out of public view, the powers-that-be alter the rules of the sport to make it more and more likely that Jonathan (not to mention all his teammates) will be killed. The result is a gaggle of impressive action sequences punctuated by a lot of preachy posturing. Mildly amusing