Rollerball

When I was small, there was a movie I was scared to death of. I would hear the opening notes of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, and I would just freeze. I don't remember why-- there must have been some sort of formative event, but it escapes me as to why I couldn't watch this movie.

I eventually overcame this fear, and I actually own the VHS version of this film (I know-- how 90s can I be). It has come to be one of my favorite movies, and I saw the last five minutes of it the other day.

Every time I watch Rollerball, I am reminded of how visionary Norman Jewison was, because I sure do see parallels between his movie and sports of today. Perhaps that's how things were in the mid-1970s and earlier. It certainly seems plausible to me.

The 2002 knock off of this movie will not be discussed here. Sacrilegious.

James Caan is a great Rollerballer in a violent sport of the future. This is a game where rules are changed in order to increase ratings and excitement, sort of like changing a rule such as the line of scrimmage for the kickoff in football. Players must go along since they are under contract. Individualism is frowned upon, even punished (instead of fined). The players are expendable, and there is a seemingly endless stream of new guys to replace the ones who are hurt.

All of these things I see in professional sports today. I have no trouble connecting the dots.

I've not included every plot detail, and I don't believe in spoilers as it relates to a 40-year old-movie, so here we go.

Rollerball is a dangerous and deadly game played on a slightly banked track. Two teams comprised of bikers and skaters try to take the object, a large, weighted, metal ball around the track and score a goal, seemingly by any means necessary. The game does not start with a national anthem, rather a corporate hymn or anthem.
  
Jonathan E (Caan) as the protagonist is just a mean dude in this movie. He has had a great rollerball career, but he has started asking questions about how and why things are the way they are. Mr. Bartholomew (John Houseman) of Energy Corporation (based in Houston) has decided he needs to retire and has planned a half-hour show around Jonathan's supposed announcement. He defies Energy Corporation and does not retire, as his Houston team is advancing in the postseason and he doesn't want to leave them in the lurch. This now makes Jonathan expendable, and the rules again are changed in order to eliminate him.

Bikers and skaters going at it in a Rollerball game. Jonathan E is shown with the rollerball in his right hand.
This picture is from the Madrid at Houston quarterfinal match.

Jonathan then has to compete against New York in the finals-- a side that has been instructed to do the eliminating. Our hero barely has any support in his own locker room, as his teammates don't approve (or have been told to not approve) of his individualism. The final game is played with no penalties and no substitutions (a step up from the semis vs. Tokyo, where there were limited penalties and limited substitutions), and players from both sides drop like flies as the game's violence does its work. Eventually, Jonathan emerges battered and bloodied but victorious, much to the dismay of Bartholomew, whose best-laid plan has been foiled. The movie ends with Jonathan skating defiantly around the track, slaloming around the motionless bodies on the track as toccata and fugue in D minor ends the proceedings.

Jonathan E is one of my favorite movie characters, and this movie really speaks to me. Now you know a little bit as to why.