There's an ironic note to all this. When Jewison was making the film, he was annoyed that the stunt team would get together on the down time between setups and actually play the game. They loved it, and apparently there were even inquires about making Rollerball a real sport. And yeah, the remake really stunk.
Oh come on! The remake wasn’t THAT bad. Granted, not really connected to the original film’s premise, but… OK, it was rather stupid, but a good popcorn flick IMO. (😏I’ll give this much: this seems to be first film where the Good Guys were trying to flee *into* Russia…)
Sort of like how anyone who watches The Blood of Heroes/Salute of the Jugger is compelled to try and create a relatively safe version of Jugger to play in real life.
I've read that some version of rollerball was played at the filming location in Berlin for two or three years after the movie was made. I've also read that the stunt team peed on the rollerball track on the last day of filming, so perhaps they got tired of the game.
That was a good film. But an even scarier film, from the late 60s, is Seconds, w Rock Hudson as a man who is given a fantasy life by a corporation/cult, and then regrets it, but finds he is on a production belt, of sorts. It has this film's would be oligarch- Will Geer- Grampa on the Waltons, as well as a biting critique of shallow consumerism, and the narcissism so familiar in the Internet Age. It's a more realistic version of what was to come in Soylent Green. Check it out. That Rock Hudson, a closeted gay man, is in the role as a man trying to flee from, then recover, his life, it's something.
70's scifi and fantasy titles are so choice. I was't born yet, but I feel vicarious nostalgia for those high concept stories. And the AESTHETICS!! We've slid backwards, man. Any idea why the 70's were such a great experimental era for wildly interesting scifi and fantasy?
It was a good combination of influences going on. Technology rising, the auteur success at the movies, cynicism from oncoming malaise and the failures of the civil rights movement, and a culture that had also been creatively liberated by those changes. You could say whatever you want, so people decided to say that the system sucks in the most creative way possible. At least, those with studio backing did. It changed when the success of Star Wars crowded out high-concept for the glossiest of space operas in the genre, driven by the 80's producer control over the movie industry from guys like Bruckheimer and Don Simpson, seen as necessary when the auteurs went decadent with their films. Read into the movie market effects of Heaven's Gate by Cimino. I think it's necessary to add that there was a lot of trash at the time too. For every Rollerball or Soylent Green or even Logan's Run, there were half a dozen half-baked nonsensical social critiques with basically no redeeming intellectual stimulation and horribly garish style choices that make it unwatchable.
another bunch of Dystopias I recomend are from the comics namely the 1980s comic American Flagg, written and drawn by Howard Chaykin, Scout written and drawn by Timothy Truman and 2020 visions by Jamie Delano.
This is the second time he’s made a reference to a gun tuber. First Ian McCollum of forgotten weapons and now Paul Harrell. I feel as though we may be subscribing to the same channels
that movie was the last gasp of John McTiernan and basically ruined him. It should have been better, but while I love McTiernan, it's not really his kind of material.
It's funny seeing you mention being the Paul Harrell of nerd stuff, that was my initial thought upon one of my friends showing me your videos. You make great stuff, glad to see a quality channel on subjects like this can still spring up on youtube from time to time.
Enjoyed this! Would have appreciated a Commodore PET mention as that was the true first "plug & play" computer that inspired the TRS-80 and was released the same year as it and the Apple II. And of course, the PET led to the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 which did more to put a personal computer in every home than any other brand for that first decade.
I'm going to guess you were born in the early to late 70s. Didn't have an early computer but we did have an Atari 2600. Complete with station wagon brown wood finish lol@@feralhistorian
I'm a little hesitant to do anything long-form, between copyright knock-downs and never really knowing what's going to resonate with anyone. That said, there's a few things in the works that will take longer to cover. Still kind of experimenting with the format a little.
@@feralhistorian Please understand that my comment was given with mirth. I know that wasn’t obvious but I cannot bring myself to use emojis. Truly though, I hope you find your way to twenty minute long videos at some point.
@@bombfog1 I think this format works because it is to the point, unique, and assumes the viewer is intelligent, something most YT arts/politics/religion channels do not. I think he needs to stay unique.
There's a scene in "Rollerball" where Johnathan, Moonpie, and Blue are talking to the newly-drafted players as a way of explaining the game to the audience. That scene makes it pretty clear to me that Johnathan is probably *more aware than anyone* that his success comes from good teamwork and that he's the Rollerball equivalent of a top Striker in soccer. Which just makes the bug the executive has up his rear about Johnathan being "too good" seem even more like a problem confined to the inside of one entitled old man's head. Which can also be compared and contrasted with Royalton from the Speed Racer movie.
If we wanna go down the rabbithole of Evil Corporation films, you gotta watch Kurosawa's The Bad Sleep Well. The ending is one of the bleakest in film history. That said, it's even scarier because it's NOT sci fi!
Yah my first computer was an Apple 2 back in 83. first games I got were nuke war, santa paravia and Taipan , yep all bootleg had for about 0.50 USD each , with xeroxed manuals. hahah. Also my parents used the Peachtree spreadsheets to do accounting for their business.
I always found it interesting how the party goers run to the empty field to destroy the few lone trees standing. I guess in the future most remaining trees are protected and the Uber rich get there kicks by shitting on what's left of nature.
Jugger is a more functional fictional blood sport, with a twist that players stand up for the nobility of their blood sport. They might smack other players with chain-balls but kicking a guy who is down is simply wrong.
Love rollerball , I first watched this on Bootleg betamax back in 79. Watched it about 30 times since then. The remake done about 20 years ago is really bad, not comparable to the original.
@@feralhistorian yah I rented it out in Manila, Philippines, back then 100 percent of the video rentals in the PH were bootleg betamax, VHS never caught on.
I think any analysis of Rollerball is incomplete without relating it to Slap Shot. In some ways they are the same movie. But while the sci fi drama is a dark dystopia, the present day satire is a comedy. I think taken together they show that people can recognise dangers but when actually presented with that danger in the flesh, all they can do is gawk and laugh.
Great point about Slap Shot, although it gives us two hero figures, one who rebels for personal reasons and one (Pual Newman) who disrupts because of ambition and ends up being rewarded for it. After watching this video essay, it occurs to me that Gladiator also hits many of the story beats of Rollerball.
As evil as the Corporation in Rollerball was, they've got nothing on video game companies like: EA, Ubisoft, and Activision Blizzard. Good movie, don't watch the remake. Some films, shows, video games, etc don't need remakes or sequels.
Isn't "Corportism" in regards to Fascism from the Latin "Corpus" (body), in reference to the Fascist focus on the nation and views of the nation being like an organism with all people within like cells with their specific roles to play.
Great analysis! Would love to hear your comments on Death Race 2000--yes, Roger Corman's ripoff of Rollerball is goofy, but there's a political commentary going on that's deliciously absurdist--and kinda spot-on (and ties in with much you talk about--[spoiler] in Death Race 2000, if you examine it, Stallone's character is the better driver).
@@feralhistorian Yep the other fave dystopian films of the 70s were: Omega Man(well post apocalyptic but that was my most fave sci fi movies of the 70s), Silent Running, Final Programme., Mad Max, Clock Work Orange , THX 1138, No Blade Grass, Zardoz, also like to mention, the animated movie Wizards 1977 while not technically dystopian well its also some of my most fave sci fi fantasy movies of the time, along with Quintet 1979 where what is left of society revolved around playing a boardgame.
@@feralhistorian 1973 Czech-French cartoon called Fantastic Planet- it is a one of a kind film, whether you like it or not. Also the 78 version of LOTR by Ralph Bakshi- so much more interesting than Jackson's bloated mess.
Also please analyze the world of Wizards 1977 Ralph Bakshi, yah Elves vs. mutant nazis with machineguns , panzers and stukas, haha even their version of Sauran was inspired by the mein Kampf a million years in the future haha
You ever watch any anime? Both Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Ergo Proxy seem like they'd be up your alley, or maybe Yukikaze for something shorter.
Blood Bowl is a game of risk management. Losing a roll ends your turn and shifts the initiative. So you must understand which actions are safe and which can wait.
Rollerball is the final objective of techno-faclscists like Musk and Thiel. Project 2025 is merely the start. Rollerball is the final phase of totalitarian Capitalism. Way to miss the point, Feral! 😂😂😂😂
