2002 Directed by John McTiernan
In this fast action-packed thriller, Jonathan, Marcus, and Aurora compete in a dangerous, fierce sport called Rollerball. Although, Johnathan and Marcus try to quit, cruel and vindictive promoter Alexi Petrovich encourages them to still participate.
Chris Klein LL Cool J Rebecca Romijn Naveen Andrews Jean Reno Oleg Taktarov David Hemblen Eugene Lipinski Frank Ferrara Janet Wright Lucia Rijker Paul Heyman Jeffery Feaster Andrew Bryniarski Kata Dobó Alice Poon Melissa R. Stubbs Paul Wu Yolanda Hughes-Heying Jay Mahin Simon Girard Tom Farr Kevin Rushton Eitan Kramer Anatoly Zinoviev Victor Callender Ruth Chiang Mike Dopud Shawn Stewart Show All…
Scott Hecker Eric A. Norris Michael Minkler Myron Nettinga Bruce Tanis Peter Zinda Jason W. Jennings Joe Dorn Eddie Bydalek Louis Marion Kenneth L. Johnson
Atlas Entertainment Toho-Towa Mosaic Media Group Yorktown Productions Helkon Media Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
High speed and special ops Underdogs and coming of age Monsters, aliens, sci-fi and the apocalypse car, cars, action, adrenaline or racing future, sci-fi, technology, action or technological sports, team, coach, football or athlete action, explosives, action-packed, villain or exciting martial arts, kung fu, choreography, cool or action-packed Show All…
The cinematic equivalent of a drinking 10 energy drinks while simultaneously watching professional wrestling and listening to nu-metal. McTieran's directing is his zaniest here; he loads the film with jump cuts, Dutch angles, camera flips, and near indecipherable edits. One 5 minute action sequence is shot entirely in night vision and features a couple of the best sound effects of all time. Really the only part I thought was actually terrible was Chris Klein who is 30% leading man and 70% drywall.
I'm seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey later tonight in theaters. I don't know how it's going to live up to this.
this is a damn JOHN MCTIERNAN movie with paul heyman, ll cool j, a slipknot performance, cameos from p!nk and shane mcmahon, and an entire scene filmed in night vision for no particular reason at all.... oh yeah, it's also all about colonialism and the dangers of capitalism and literally ends with workers revolting against their bourgeoisie masters. what more could you ever want from a movie?
Part of Dastardly Difficult December: film nr.11
So I read somewhere that for a review to count in this little project of December insanity it has to be at least three paragraphs long.
Ok. Hmm. So they remade Rollerball.
Heh. Ahem. Hehheh. Hehehahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
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No.
Just....no.
Cinematic Time Capsule
2002 Marathon - Film #21
”Is anybody going to stop this?”
Why is Chris Klein attempting to go full Keanu? Only Keanu, can go full Keanu! Everybody knows you never go full Keanu.
Chris Klein: What do you mean?
Check it out. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, ‘Looper,’ looked like Keanu, acted like Keanu, not Keanu. Was actually a young Bruce Willis. Action hero? sho'. Not Keanu.
You know Matt Damon, 'Bourne Identity.' Smoldering? Yes. Kinda Keanu? maybe. Even wore a trench-coat. But he’s only 5’ 10”. That ain't Keanu. Both you and Keanu are 6’ 1”, I checked,
You went full Keanu, man. Never go full Keanu.
You don't buy that? Ask Jason Patric, 1997, “Speed 2” Remember? Went full Keanu, went home empty-handed.
”Stop!… Before you say something even more stupid”
"This is bullshit" -Aurora,
-John McTiernan Ranked: boxd.it/ao4QO
Sucky.
This was pretty bad and seemed to miss much of the point of the original film. Instead of subtle social commentary and engaging dialogue this movie went with rock music interludes and boring action. The rollerball scenes themselves are so heavily edited it's hard to even get a real sense of the action and the script is shit.
I see why it's rated so low.
There's like 10 minutes of action scenes in the middle of the movie that are shot in night vision and there are 2 possible explanations for this: Either the footage was fucked and they ran out of money, or McTiernan is off his nut. The fact that there's 2 instances of a "springy clown" sound effek at random points during these scenes pushes it firmly towards option B, though. Absolutely deserving of its status as a disaster.
Look. I know this movie is a total, chaotic mess with "boing" sounds inserted into the sound effects during a desert night vision chase scene between a motorbike and a jet...what was I saying? Oh Yeah, this movie is a complete mess. But I kind of loved the international feel of the movie. Maybe it's just my stream of this, but there doesn't seem to be any subtitles when people are speaking another language. No idea what they're saying, but I actually hope that was a choice and not a screw up with my streaming service.
Anyway the best thing about this is when Rollerball is actually happening. It's not well shot, they don't ever tell you the score or…
the fact that so many acts of violence here are given an instant replay isn’t a choice merely informed by formal intentions, just like the stylistic design of the sport and its arena: this is a sport with rules as arbitrary as any other taken to aesthetic extremes in an attempt to mask the fact that violence is its only real public appeal, as well as the completely blatant capitalism on display. the whole culture in which the arena is situated has been reappropriated with gratuitous sex appeal and violence which is only reflected by how these privileged players treat others through their perpetual smirks for the camera, until they’re alerted – much like the viewer consistently is – to the…
Sloppier than I've ever seen McTiernan, yet even as he dives fully into the grimy mechanics of the sport Jewison's original handled perfunctorily, it gets at the broader social implications better. Where the corporate overlords of the old version inexplicably keep Rollerball free of heroes to promote collective docility, McT 's execs understand that heroes and star athletes sell the merchandise that makes them money. Axial cuts over shoulders to onlooking overseers say more about the asphyxiating control exerted over these social control props than the ritzy backroom meetings Caan had to attend to when all the momentum got let out of the film. Still chaotic in a way I don't expect from this director, who could make even the endless jungle of PREDATOR seem clearly oriented in his shot patterns, but not deserving of the scorn heaped upon it.
In Capitalist Russia, Ball Roll You!
This is completely bonkers, never settles down for a moment, the height of x-treme cinema and borderline incoherent (I was warned about the night vision sequence, but I wasn't prepared). Has the whiff of something that's been mercilessly cut down for that sweet PG-13 rating, but the lack of real ultraviolence makes the jittery editing and camerawork stand out even more. Explicitly posits the ethical theory that it's acceptable and even necessary to kill your bosses if they've tried to kill you first. With Slipknot as themselves.
mctiernan you nut, thank you for making this glorious work of avant garde, garish,
anti capitalistic mastery. whole climax is cosmic brain level good, also has a random shane mcmahon cameo, paul heyman basically playing himself and the best opening sequence in all movies (slight hyperbole but not that far off)
