Rollerball (2002)

Director:

John McTiernan

Writers (WGA):

William Harrison (short story "Roller Ball Murder")
William Harrison (1975 screenplay)

Release Date:

8 February 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Sport

Tagline:

Get In The Game.

Plot:

The big thing in 2005 is a violent sport which can have some pretty serious consequences... like dying.

Plot Keywords:

Blood | Critically Bashed | Beautiful Woman | Disfigurement | Exploding Motorcycle

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Chris Klein	...	Jonathan Cross
Jean Reno	...	Alexis Petrovich
LL Cool J	...	Marcus Ridley
Rebecca Romijn	...	Aurora (as Rebecca Romijn-Stamos)
Naveen Andrews	...	Sanjay
Oleg Taktarov	...	Denekin
David Hemblen	...	Serokin
Janet Wright	...	Coach Olga
Andrew Bryniarski	...	Halloran
Kata Dobó	...	Katya
Alice Poon	...	Red Team #7
Lucia Rijker	...	Red Team #9
Melissa R. Stubbs	...	Red Team #12 (as Melissa Stubbs)
Paul Wu	...	Red Team #16 - U Chow
Yolanda Hughes-Heying	...	Red Team #28

Also Known As:

Rollerball (Germany)
Rollerball (Argentina) (video title) (Spain) [es]
Ölüm Pateni (Turkey: Turkish title) (DVD title) [tr]
Batalia pe role (Romania) [ro]
Rollerball (Finland) [fi]
Rollerball (France) [fr]
Rollerball (Greece) [el]
Rollerball (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
Rollerball (Austria) [de]
Rollerball - Könyörtelen játék (Hungary) [hu]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, extreme sports action, sensuality, language and some drug references.; Rated R for violence, nudity and some language. (video version)

Runtime:

98 min | Germany:95 min

Country:

USA | Germany | Japan

Language:

English | Russian | French | Arabic | Korean | German | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Malaysia:18SG | Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:18 | Hungary:16 | Peru:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:M18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 (original rating) | USA:R (home video version)

Filming Locations:

Blainville, Québec, Canada

Company:

Atlas Entertainment

Trivia:

The building posing as the sports arena in Azerbaijan is the France pavilion at Expo '67, in Montreal. It is now the Montreal Casino.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Mongolians do not speak Cantonese.

Quotes:

English Sports Announcer: ROLLERBALL!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Soundtrack:

Taking a Chance

Plain dreadful film.

I was really speechless after watching "Rollerball". I expected a dull movie, not something so dreadful. "Rollerball" has all the elements to make one of those bizarre cult classics from the 70's and 80's. Except the fun element.

The movie starts with the worst police chase in years. Believe me, any Lorenzo Lamas movie, even one featuring appearances from Dolph Lundgren, can be capable of a car chase better than this: we see Chris Klein running from police in a mix of skateboard and racing-car, in San Francisco. Then, helped by his friend LL Cool J., he goes to an Asiatic country. There, the most popular game is the Rollerball, a mix of basketball and roller-skating that seems to be deadly and a great money-maker. Rollerball is controlled by Jean Reno's character, the average "mad-business-man" stereotype. Then, we learn that Chris Klein is having an affair with his Rollerball partner, Rebbeca Romjin-Stamos.

What comes next is not worth telling. Of course, Chris, LL and Rebbeca will make a rebellion against Jean Reno. But there isn't anything new in this idea. It's wasted by a script that, once tries to make a cheap social critic, then tries to shove action sequences in the screen at all coasts, and both are really bad.

The acting is at the last level. It's incredible to see Jean Reno, an actor that is mostly great (watch "Red Rivers") making such a mess with his role. It's so stereotyped and has so less to do (despite it's importance in the plot) that you can completely forget about it. LL Cool J. is a special case: he keep going well for a while, and then completely disappears, showing that, maybe, good acting wasn't allowed in Rollerball rules.

Oh, the main couple. Chris Klein and Rebbeca Romjin-Stamos. Well, Rebbeca is incredibly sexy in this role, and it's nice to see her in topless scenes, so we can forget she's so bad here. And Klein. Let's just say Chris Klein will NEVER work in an action movie anymore. At least we hope so.

In the end, the movie is a complete mess. Is not only a waste of money, but also waste of time, celluloid and Jean Reno. That is a complete sin. It feels like director John McTiernan wanted so badly to make a stylish movie that he forgot to make a good movie.