Product: Rollerball (2002)
Rating: 5.0
Fast action and political intrigue!
The 2002 version of Rollerball takes off with excitement from the first moment and keeps up the pace through the entire film! It's not really fair to call this a remake of the 1975 version, which is good in its own rights. This takes the basic premise of the Rollerball game, but instead of being set in some futuristic sci-fi world, it places the game in our current time. Now that the Soviet Union has broken up into independent countries, men who were powerful under the Soviet government still seek to remain in power. Rollerball team owners are incredibly powerful men - men who are not willing to give up the trappings of power. They use their power with impunity, resorting to extortion, force, threats to accomplish their goals.The pace can become fast and furious. Much as if this were a real sport, the movie is cut with the style that would be appreciated by afficianados of this sort of sport - similar to the way professional wrestling is marketed. The fast cuts, choppy action, insertion of elements such as the player's trading cards, persistent music, all help focus on the experience that the Rollerball fans would relish.Chris Klein and L.L. Cool J are two Americans on a team based in Kazakstan (my apologies for any spelling errors). Their team travels to compete against teams in other Central Asian countries. When the TV ratings begin to drop, the team owners resort to any means possible to keep the ratings up. The methods used, in light of the political situation in that area of the world, are entirely plausible and believable. One should take note of the subtle ways that are used to control the team members.Although younger viewers may enjoy the action scenes and the music, more mature viewers will enjoy those plus the intrigue. I was already an adult when the original Rollerball was released, and I'm quite pleased with this version.