Although Norman Jewison's stolidly grim and ultimately ludicrous 1975 original was hardly a landmark of nightmarish sci-fi, it towers over this.
Rollerball (2002)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:28
Fresh:2
Rotten:26
Average Rating:2.8/10
Consensus: Removing the social critique of the original, this updated version of Rollerball is violent, confusing, and choppy. Klein makes for a bland hero.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for violence, extreme sports action, sensuality, language and some drug references
Runtime: 3 hrs 14 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:Feb 8, 2002 Wide
Box Office: $18,894,427
Synopsis: It's the year 2005; the new sport of Rollerball is hugely popular in the unstable, ex-Soviet republics of South Asia. Marcus Ridley (LL Cool J) invites NHL-hopeful Jonathan Cross (Chris Klein) to... It's the year 2005; the new sport of Rollerball is hugely popular in the unstable, ex-Soviet republics of South Asia. Marcus Ridley (LL Cool J) invites NHL-hopeful Jonathan Cross (Chris Klein) to join him playing for the Zhambel Horsemen, in Kazahkstan. The highly paid Marcus and Jonathon are teamed with low-paid locals, who are routinely severely injured in the game, which is an extraordinarily violent extension of roller derby involving motorcycles, a metal ball, and many trappings of the World Wrestling Federation. Soon the team's star and the darling of promoter Alexi Petrovich (Jean Reno), Jonathan, is thrilled by the high-octane sport, the hype, the sports cars, and female team mate Aurora (a glowering, scar-faced Rebecca Romijm-Stamos). But gradually Jonathan discovers that the cynical Alexi and his opportunistic assistant Sanjay (Naveen Andrews) will go to any lengths to manipulate the game in order to provide an evermore gory spectacle and improve the game's television ratings. Director John McTiernan's movie is grungy and even more violent than the original 1975 ROLLERBALL. He conveys the visceral nature of the game with sharply edited action sequences and a goosed-up soundtrack, and then he shows the volatile game convulsively spinning out of control and causing social upheaval. [More]
Starring: Chris Klein, LL Cool J, Jean Reno, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos
Starring: Chris Klein, LL Cool J, Jean Reno, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Naveen, Andrew Bryniarski
Director: John McTiernan
Director: John McTiernan
Screenwriter: John Pogue, Larry Ferguson
Producer: Charles Roven, Beau St. Clair, John McTiernan
Composer: Eric Serra
Studio: MGM/UA
Get This Movie
Reviews for Rollerball
The new version just makes you feel like you've been watching a lame late-night rerun while stuck in a thunderdome.
John McTiernan's botched remake may be subtler than Norman Jewison's 1975 ultraviolent futuristic corporate-sports saga. It's also stupider.
It's almost enough to make Burton's Apes retread seem like a work of artistic ingenuity.
Like a gerbil exercising in a wheel, this movie spins and spins, generating a lot of action and noise, but getting absolutely nowhere.
For those with the stomach and stamina for its heartbeat-quickening intensity and body-slamming action, Rollerball delivers exactly what it promises: A people's hero you can really get behind.
Jewison's rich and provocative 1975 original has been de-metaphorized, made narrow and pointless, while remaining just as loud and violent.
A remarkable film: Remarkably empty, remarkably noisy, remarkably pleasureless.
With this new Rollerball, sense and sensibility have been overrun by what can only be characterized as robotic sentiment.
Successfully creates for the viewer the feeling of being trapped inside a video arcade going at full tilt, a thrilling prospect for 14-year-old boys, no doubt, though it's hard to imagine anyone else enjoying it.
Despite the technical advances of the past quarter century, the game sequences are as goofy as the first go-round.
Not so much a redo of the 1975 sci-fi allegory of the same title as a denial of everything that made that film timely and interesting.
It had a chance to improve upon the crude and stupid 1975 original, set in a future America. Instead, it's only cruder and stupider.
This oddly scrambled new version eventually falls apart so badly you feel embarrassed for the people who made it.
Missing a few key elements: a script, a reason for being and maybe a few Britney Spears ads strategically placed throughout to break up 98 minutes of solid tedium.
An incoherent mess, a jumble of footage in search of plot, meaning, rhythm and sense.
Little more than the skin and bones and ear-flaying soundtrack of a dubiously fleshed-out premise that seemed dated 27 years ago.
McTiernan's remake may be lighter on its feet -- the sober-minded original was as graceful as a tap-dancing rhino -- but it is just as boring and as obvious.
Latest News for Rollerball
October 31, 2006:
RTIndie: Can Indie Studios Survive Without Big Studio Backing?
With the sale of independent-minded ThinkFilm last week, can indie film distributors survive without big studio backing? More...
July 15, 2005:
LL Cool J Finds a Multi-Pic Home at Lions Gate
The Hollywood Reporter brings news of a deal between actor/rapper LL Cool J and Lions Gate Films. Although the exact numbers have not been released, Mr. J (born as: James Todd... More...
July 11, 2005:
Pogue Pens Remake of a French Fright Flick
Screenwriter John Pogue has sold his pitch for a remake of the 2002 French horror film "Malefique" to Paramount, says Variety. Producer Neal Moritz... More...
June 05, 2001:
Romijn-Stamos, cast as the scarred Aurora the day before production started, had to learn to ride a hog. Fast. ![]()
More...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
RT On Current TV
DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
CloseSponsored Links
Around The Network
- Rollerball at Rotten Tomatoes
- Rollerball at IGN
- Rollerball at AskMen
Fresh Links
Featured

The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox

Hollywood.com ponders whether or not an animated film could win Best Picture.

Richard Corliss previews the season's best offerings and hottest tickets.

The AV Club's Mike D'Angelo airs his beefs with Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men.
Promos

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!



Top Critic



