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Movies / On DVD / Rollerball
Rollerball

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Rollerball (2002)

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Reviews Counted:115

Fresh:4

Rotten:111

Average Rating:2.5/10

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

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Release:

Jun 18, 2002

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Rollerball

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101 - 115 (sorted by date)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6
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It's dull, spiritless, silly and monotonous: an ultra-loud blast of pointless mayhem, going nowhere fast.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
02/07/02
Michael Wilmington
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A lot like the imaginary sport it projects onto the screen -- loud, violent and mindless.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
02/07/02
Tom Maurstad
Tom Maurstad
Dallas Morning News

Composed almost entirely of smash cuts and camera gimmickry, it makes most rock videos look like Ingmar Bergman dramas.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
02/07/02
Terry Lawson
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Dreadful acting, confusing action cinematography, choppy editing and embarrassing dialogue, with the added bonus of a plot almost as dumb as that of the original film.

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment Comment
02/07/02
Connie Ogle
Connie Ogle
Miami Herald

By the end, you just don't care whether that cold-hearted snake Petrovich (that would be Reno) gets his comeuppance. Just bring on the Battle Bots, please!

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
02/07/02
Steven Rea
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer

Rollerball IS as bad as you think, and worse than you can imagine.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Daily News | comment Comment
02/07/02
Gary Thompson
Gary Thompson
Philadelphia Daily News

Derailed by bad writing and possibly also by some of that extensive post-production reworking to aim the film at young males in the throes of their first full flush of testosterone.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
02/07/02
Kevin Thomas
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Klein, charming in comedies like American Pie and dead-on in Election, delivers one of the saddest action hero performances ever witnessed.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
02/07/02
Norm Schrager
Norm Schrager
Filmcritic.com

The action makes no sense, the death-metal soundtrack drowns out most of the dialogue and the acting feels half-hearted.

Full Review Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel | comment Comment
02/07/02
Todd Anthony
Todd Anthony
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

McTiernan and the talent-deprived buffoons who wrote the remake took away the futurism and stripped most of the social satire from this cautionary tale.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
02/07/02
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel

I went with it. So, I'm guessing, will a lot of that cherished demographic, 14- to 34-year-old boys.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment 1 Comment
02/07/02
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Disjointed, puerile and ugly-looking to boot...a visual, as well as a narrative, wreck.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
02/07/02
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

The uneven Rollberball still feels like the dopiest, punchiest studio satire since Starship Troopers.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
02/06/02
Ed Gonzalez
Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine

An incomprehensible story, lackluster actors, embarrassing acting, and, get this, no villains!

Full Review Source: FilmsInReview.com | comment Comment
02/06/02
Victoria Alexander
Victoria Alexander
FilmsInReview.com

Say this for the soundtrack, it drowns out the lousy dialogue.

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
02/03/02
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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