Rollerball (2002) VHS Movie Review
Analog Jones tries to survive this full-tilt action sports film in our Rollerball (2002) VHS Movie Review starring Chris Klein, Jean Reno, LL Cool J, and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos!
Quick Facts
Rollerball (2002) is a Sci-Fi action film that was released into US theaters on February 8, 2002, from MGM and Columbia Pictures. Rollerball had a budget of $70 million and had a box office return of $25.9 million. Rollerball was competing against Collateral Damage, Big Fat Liar, Black Hawk Down, Snow Dogs, The Count of Monte Cristo, A Beautiful Mind, I am Sam and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Rollerball finished 3rd in its first weekend at $9 million, trailing Collateral Damage at $15.1 million and Big Fat Liar at $11.5 million.
Rollerball (2002) is a remake of Rollerball (1975) starring James Caan as Jonathan E., team captain and veteran star of the Houston rollerball team in a future dystopian society.
Directed by: John McTiernan (Predator, Die Hard and The Hunt for Red October)
Produced by: John McTiernan, Beau St. Clair, and Charles Roven (American film producer and the president and co-founder of Atlas Entertainment. He is known for producing the superhero films The Dark Knight Trilogy, Suicide Squad, Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and more.)
Screenplay by: Larry Ferguson (Beverly Hills Cop II) and John Pogue (US Marshals)
Based on: “Roller Ball Murder” by William Harrison and the 1975 screenplay Rollerball by William Harrison
Starring:
Chris Klein as Jonathan Cross
Jean Reno as Alexi Petrovich
LL Cool J as Marcus Ridley
Rebecca Romijn as Aurora “the Black Widow”
Naveen Andrews as Sanjay
Mike Dopud as Michael “the Assassin”
Kata Dobó as Katya Dobolakova
Lucia Rijker as Lucia Ryjker
Oleg Taktarov as Oleg Denekin
Paul Heyman as Sports Announcer
Janet Wright as Coach Olga
The film features cameo appearances by Pink, Slipknot, Carroll Shelby, and Shane McMahon.
Trailers on Rollerball (2002) VHS
MGM “Means Great Movies” Promo
MGM.com promo “Come See What the Roar is About”
Stargate SG-1 TV Series and Jeremiah TV Series Promo
Pumpkin with Christina Ricci
A Rumor of Angels
Hart’s War with Bruce Willis
No Such Thing with Helen Mirren
Rollerball (2002) VHS description
From the director of Die hard comes this high-octane thriller that “roars along at a…breakneck pace” (Los Angeles Times)! Starring Chris Klein (American Pie), Jean Reno (Ronin), LL Cool J (Charlie’s Angels) and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos (X-Men), Rollerball goes full throttle with excitement from its death-defying opening until its explosive end!
Jonathan Cross (Klein) is the newest recruit in the most extreme sport of all time…where his fast moves and killer looks make him an instant superstar. But Cross’ life in the fast lane collides with reality when he learns that league’s owner (Reno) is orchestrating serious on-court “accidents” to boost ratings. Now Cross plans to take down the owner and his ruthless sport…before the game puts an end to him!
Box Quotes
“Turbo Charged! Body-slamming action!” -The Washington Post
“Full-tilt action!” -Houston Chronicle
Trivia
-Although the first draft of the script was considered by many to be very good and even superior to the original film, director John McTiernan didn’t like it because it focused more on social commentary, while he thought that the audience would like to see more of the Rollerball scenes. The social commentary is why he had the original script completely re-written several times and made sure that it focused more on WWE-like showmanship, including crazy costumes and stunts.
-McTiernan’s first cut, which was over two hours long, was test screened in Las Vegas around April or May 2001 and got a very negative response from test audiences. The release date was then pushed back from May to 13 July 2001 by MGM to test the movie again, hoping that they would find the right audience for it.
-On orders from the studio, around 30 minutes were cut out of the original rough cut of the film and the entire ending was re-shot and changed. Some of the cuts were made because MGM thought that the movie was “too Asian.” In the original ending, Petrovich gets killed by Sanjay and Jonathan and Aurora fly back to the US, during which Jonathan says that he will continue playing the Rollerball game in the US, and how he is now part owner of the game.
-The original score by Brian Transeau was also removed, purportedly because it sounded “too Arabic,” and was replaced with a new score by Éric Serra. Also, some of the other music was changed or removed from the first cut of the film.
-Rebecca Romijn was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award as Worst Supporting Actress, where she lost to Madonna for her cameo in Die Another Day.
-The creator of Rollerball, science fiction author William Harrison said: “I’ve never watched the 2002 incarnation of Rollerball, and have no interest in it.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDFgfZJvkbA
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