Rollerball (2002 film)

Last updated

Rollerball
Rollerball 2002.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by John McTiernan
Screenplay by
Based on
Produced by
Starring
CinematographySteve Mason
Edited by
Music by Éric Serra
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • February 8, 2002 (2002-02-08)(United States)
  • March 28, 2002 (2002-03-28)(Germany)
  • May 11, 2002 (2002-05-11)(Japan)
Running time
98 minutes [4]
Countries
LanguageEnglish
Budget$70 million [6]
Box office$25.9 million [6]

Rollerball is a 2002 science fiction sports film directed by John McTiernan. A remake of the 1975 film of the same name, based on William Harrison's short story Roller Ball Murder, the film stars Chris Klein, Jean Reno, LL Cool J, Rebecca Romijn and Naveen Andrews.

Contents

While both versions of Rollerball use the same basic premise, the 2002 version has a much greater focus on action sequences, more muted social and political overtones than the original, and takes place in the mid-2000s rather than in a future dystopian society.

Rollerball was released on February 8, 2002. Upon its release, the film was critically panned, receiving criticism for the lack of the original's social critique, and was a box-office bomb, grossing $25.9 million against a production budget of $70 million.

Plot

In 2005, the new sport of Rollerball, a violent extension of roller derby involving motorcycles and a metal ball, becomes popular in many countries. Marcus Ridley invites the talented sports fanatic Jonathan Cross to join him playing for the Zhambel Horsemen in Kazakhstan. Jonathan refuses, hoping to try out for the NHL in some months. However, after he recklessly skates through his hometown, the police start looking for Jonathan, who is forced to accept Marcus's offer to escape them. The highly paid Marcus and Jonathan are teamed with low-paid locals, who are often severely injured in the game.

In the beginning, Jonathan, the team's star player and the poster child of promoter Alexi Petrovich, is enamored by the high-octane sport, the popularity, sports cars, and his female teammate Aurora. The two keep their relationship a secret and refuse to put a stop to rumors that Aurora is a lesbian. During one game, one of their teammates is killed by an opponent, something that is prone to happen in a match. However, the team quickly discovers that that murder might have been planned before the game, as one of the straps of the victim's helmet had been cut and the cameras filming the event seemed ready for the death to happen. Jonathan and Ridley eventually discover that Alexi and his assistant, Sanjay, have a vested interest in keeping the game as popular as possible, through planned gory "accidents" and ensuring that Jonathan and Ridley cannot quit the team and remain high-profile stars. Both the deaths and Jonathan's talent seem to generate upticks in ratings.

Jonathan and Ridley pretend to know nothing about this situation, wanting to keep their current lifestyle, but after an "accident" almost kills Aurora, the two friends decide that they need to flee the country to save their lives. Their teammates, including Aurora, cannot join them, though, as they have families there. Jonathan and Marcus are followed by Alexi and several bodyguards, who attack the two before they can reach the Russian border. Jonathan is injured and Ridley has to leave him behind. Alexi and his men capture Jonathan and kill Ridley before the latter can cross the border.

Jonathan says that he will keep working for Alexi if Aurora is traded to another team, wanting to keep her away from danger. Alexi complies, secretly transferring Aurora to the opposing team for the next match. Knowing he cannot trust Jonathan anymore, Alexi tries to stage a public execution of him by removing all the rules from the upcoming Rollerball match. The match becomes more violent than ever before, and many players die. However, Jonathan, with the help of players from both teams, starts a revolution, causing the fans to see the sport for what it really is. In a fit of rage, he kills Alexi and Sanjay before reuniting with Aurora.

Cast

The film features cameo appearances by Pink, Slipknot, and Shane McMahon.

Production

Although the first draft of the script was considered by many[ according to whom? ] 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. 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, while changing the film's storyline from a modern-day success story to a classic underdog story and changing the name of the main character in the film from Jonathan E. to Jonathan Cross.

The movie was filmed in about 15 weeks, between July 24 and November 2000. 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. MGM pushed the release date from May to July 13, 2001 to test the movie again, hoping that they would find the right audience for it.

Harry Knowles from Ain't it Cool News was invited by McTiernan for a test screening of the film in Long Island sometime after the first test screening, and in his review of McTiernan's original cut, Knowles said that the movie was bad, but was at least an unapologetic hard-R film with much nudity and some brutal violence in Rollerball scenes, but even as a workprint it was obvious how poorly the action scenes were edited, and the story was bad. "The 'Rollerball' edit I saw was one of the worst films I'd seen in my life. There was jeering in the theater," Knowles said. Knowles was also one of the people who read the original first draft of the script (the one that McTiernan rejected) and he said that it was an amazing script which solved all the problems of the original film.

Following the negative test screenings, MGM ordered massive re-shoots and re-edits to be done on the film in the middle of 2001. Shortly after the test screenings, MGM appointed a new head of marketing and distribution, Robert Levin, who convinced McTiernan to let go of the summer release date. This would give the studio more time to devise a better marketing strategy and allow McTiernan to do re-shoots and to re-edit the film for a PG-13 rating, in an attempt by the studio to get a wider audience to see the film. The release date was then pushed back again from August all the way to February 2002, due to all the post production work causing delays. McTiernan shot two weeks of additional footage in late 2001 to clarify certain scenes, especially the film's ending, and also cut down the violence and all the nudity. [7] [8] [9]

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 the movie was "too Asian". [10] [11] 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.

Some of the scenes that were cut for the PG-13 rating, but were never put back even in later DVD and Blu-ray so called R rated versions of the film, include lots more blood in all the Rollerball scenes and parts like skulls getting smashed, bones getting broken, teeth flying out, a scene where Aurora is topless and walks towards Jonathan in the locker room originally didn't have a shadow over her (this was added in post production to cover her up for the PG-13 rating), their sex scene was also longer, and so was their conversation while they are lying down in a sauna. Some of the other similar edits that were done on more graphic scenes in the film include digitally replacing blood spurts with sweat.

Some of the action scenes were also longer in the original cut and/or edited differently or re-shot, such as the opening scene in San Francisco which was partially re-shot after the original version of it was considered to be too confusing due to the editing.

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. [12]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 3% based on 119 reviews and an average rating of 2.55/10. The site's consensus reads, "Removing the social critique of the original, this updated version of Rollerball is violent, confusing, and choppy. Klein makes for a bland hero." [13] On Metacritic the film has a score of 14 out of 100 based on reviews from 28 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". [14] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B− on scale of A to F. [15]

Time Out's Trevor Johnson described it as "a checklist shaped by a 15-year-old mallrat: thrashing metal track, skateboards, motorbikes, cracked heads and Rebecca Romijn with her top off".[ citation needed ] Chicago Sun-Times reviewer Roger Ebert called it "an incoherent mess, a jumble of footage in search of plot, meaning, rhythm and sense". [16] Chris Klein, the lead actor, was also a subject of criticism, with Ebert saying Klein seemed like a "nice kid" and was not convincing in what aspired to be a hard-edged violent film. [16]

Box office

The film was a box-office flop, earning a worldwide total of $25.9 million compared to a production budget of $70 million. [6] In 2014, the Los Angeles Times listed the film as one of the most expensive box office flops of all time. [17]

Accolades

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 . At the 2002 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, the film won the awards for Worst Director (McTiernan), Worst Remake, and Worst Female Fake Accent (Romijn-Stamos). Romijn-Stamos was also nominated for Worst Actress but lost to Madonna for Swept Away . [18]

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."[ citation needed ]

Controversy

In 2013, director John McTiernan was sent to federal prison for making a false statement to an FBI investigator in February 2006 about his hiring the private investigator Anthony Pellicano to illegally wiretap Charles Roven, the producer of the film, around August 2000. [19] [20] McTiernan (who was released in 2014) had been in a disagreement with Roven about what type of film Rollerball should be, and had hired Pellicano to investigate Roven's intentions and actions. [21]

Soundtrack

The score was released, but the soundtrack was not.

  1. "Boom" – P.O.D.
  2. "Told You So" – Drowning Pool
  3. "Ride" – Beautiful Creatures
  4. "Millionaire" – Rappagariya
  5. "I Am Hated" – Slipknot
  6. "Body Go" – Hardknox
  7. "Feel So Numb" – Rob Zombie
  8. "Keep Away" – Godsmack
  9. "Insane in the Brain" – Sen Dog
  10. "Flashpoint" – Fear Factory
  11. "When I Come Around" – Green Day
  12. "Crawling in the Dark" – Hoobastank
  13. "Time to Play" – Pillar
  14. "Never Gonna Stop (The Red Red Kroovy)" – Rob Zombie

Related Research Articles

In public use, a director's cut is the director's preferred version of a film. It is generally considered a marketing term to represent the version of a film the director prefers, and is usually used as contrast to a theatrical release where the director did not have final cut privilege and did not agree with what was released.

<i>Greed</i> (1924 film) 1924 film by Erich von Stroheim

Greed is a 1924 American silent psychological drama film written and directed by Erich von Stroheim and based on the 1899 Frank Norris novel McTeague. It stars Gibson Gowland as Dr. John McTeague; ZaSu Pitts as Trina Sieppe, his wife; and Jean Hersholt as McTeague's friend and eventual enemy Marcus Schouler. The film tells the story of McTeague, a San Francisco dentist, who marries his best friend Schouler's girlfriend Trina.

<i>Heavens Gate</i> (film) 1980 American Western film by Michael Cimino

Heaven's Gate is a 1980 American epic Western film written and directed by Michael Cimino, starring Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, John Hurt, Sam Waterston, Brad Dourif, Isabelle Huppert, Jeff Bridges, and Joseph Cotten, and loosely based on the Johnson County War. It revolves around a dispute between land barons and European immigrants of modest means in Wyoming in the 1890s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ain't It Cool News</span> Website about film and television reviews and comic books

Ain't It Cool News (AICN) is an entertainment news website founded by Harry Knowles and run by his sister Dannie Knowles since September 2017, dedicated to news, rumors, and reviews of upcoming and current films, television, and comic book projects, with an emphasis on science fiction, superhero, fantasy, horror, and action genres.

A test screening, or test audience, is a preview screening of a film or television series before its general release to gauge audience reaction. Preview audiences are selected from a cross-section of the population and are usually asked to complete a questionnaire or provide feedback in some form. Harold Lloyd is credited with inventing the concept, having used it as early as 1928. Test screenings have been recommended for starting filmmakers "even if a film festival is fast approaching".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John McTiernan</span> American filmmaker

John Campbell McTiernan Jr. is an American retired filmmaker. He is best known for his action films, including Predator (1987), Die Hard (1988), and The Hunt for Red October (1990). His later well-known films include the action-comedy-fantasy film Last Action Hero (1993), the action film sequel Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), the heist-film remake The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), and The 13th Warrior (1999). His last completed feature film was the mystery-thriller Basic, released in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Children of the Gods</span> 1st and 2nd episodes of the 1st season of Stargate SG-1

"Children of the Gods" is the first episode of the military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1. It was written by producers Jonathan Glassner and Brad Wright and was directed by Mario Azzopardi. The episode first aired on July 27, 1997, on Showtime. Originally presented as a television movie, the episode would later be split into two parts for repeats and syndicated viewings. A new, updated cut, which is entitled "Children of the Gods – The Final Cut" was released on DVD on July 21, 2009 by MGM Home Entertainment.

<i>Rollerball</i> (1975 film) 1975 film by Norman Jewison

Rollerball is a 1975 dystopian science fiction sports film directed and produced by Norman Jewison. It stars James Caan, John Houseman, Maud Adams, John Beck, Moses Gunn and Ralph Richardson. The screenplay, written by William Harrison, adapted his own short story "Roller Ball Murder", which had first appeared in the September 1973 issue of Esquire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Knowles</span> American film critic and writer

Harry Jay Knowles is an American former film critic and writer known for his website Ain't It Cool News (AICN). Knowles was a member of the Austin Film Critics Association until he was removed in September 2017 "by a substantial majority vote" of the organization following allegations of sexual assault.

<i>Two of a Kind</i> (1983 film) 1983 film by John Herzfeld

Two of a Kind is a 1983 American romantic fantasy crime comedy-drama film directed by John Herzfeld and starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. The film reunited Travolta and Newton-John who had appeared together in 1978's Grease. The original musical score was composed by Patrick Williams. Travolta plays a cash-strapped inventor while Newton-John plays the bank teller whom he attempts to rob. They must come to show compassion for one another in order to delay God's judgment upon the Earth. Despite being a critical failure, the film's soundtrack was a commercial success, yielding three hit singles for Newton-John and being certified Platinum.

<i>9½ Weeks</i> 1986 American romantic drama film

9½ Weeks is a 1986 American erotic romantic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne, and starring Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke. Basinger portrays a New York City art gallery employee who has a brief yet intense affair with a mysterious Wall Street broker, played by Rourke. The screenplay by Sarah Kernochan, Zalman King and Patricia Louisianna Knop is adapted from the 1978 memoir of the same name by Austrian-American author Ingeborg Day, under the pseudonym "Elizabeth McNeill".

<i>The Thomas Crown Affair</i> (1999 film) 1999 American film

The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1999 American romantic heist film directed by John McTiernan and written by Leslie Dixon and Kurt Wimmer. It is a remake of the 1968 film of the same name. Its story follows Thomas Crown, a billionaire who steals a painting from an art gallery and is pursued by an insurance investigator, with the two falling in love. It stars Pierce Brosnan, Rene Russo, and Denis Leary.

<i>Driven</i> (2001 film) 2001 action drama film directed by Renny Harlin

Driven is a 2001 American action sports film directed by Renny Harlin and starring Sylvester Stallone, who also wrote and produced. It centers on a young racing driver's effort to win the CART FedEx Championship Series auto racing championship. Prior to production, Stallone was seen at many Formula One races, but he was unable to procure enough information about the category due to the secrecy with which teams protect their cars, so he decided to base the film on CART.

<i>Supernova</i> (2000 film) 2000 American sci-fi film

Supernova is a 2000 science fiction horror film written by David C. Wilson, William Malone and Daniel Chuba and directed by Walter Hill, credited as "Thomas Lee." "Thomas Lee" was chosen as a directorial pseudonym for release in lieu of Alan Smithee, as the latter had become too well known as a badge of a film being disowned by its makers. It was originally developed in 1988 by Malone as "Dead Star," with paintings by H. R. Giger and a plot that had been called "Hellraiser in outer space." Jack Sholder was hired for substantial uncredited reshoots, and Francis Ford Coppola was brought in for editing purposes. Various sources suggest that little of Hill's work remains in the theatrical cut of the film. The film shares several plot similarities with the film Event Horizon, released in 1997, and Alien Cargo, released in 1999. The cast features James Spader, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster, Lou Diamond Phillips, Peter Facinelli, Robin Tunney, and Wilson Cruz. The film was shot by cinematographer Lloyd Ahern II and scored by composers David C. Williams and Burkhard Dallwitz.

<i>Bolero</i> (1984 film) 1984 film by John Derek

Bolero is a 1984 American romantic drama film written and directed by John Derek and starring Bo Derek. The film centers on the protagonist's sexual awakening and her journey around the world to pursue an ideal first lover who will take her virginity.

Versions of <i>Blade Runner</i>

Seven different versions of Ridley Scott's 1982 science fiction film Blade Runner have been shown, either to test audiences or theatrically. The best known versions are the Workprint, the US Theatrical Cut, the International Cut, the Director's Cut, and the Final Cut. These five versions are included in both the 2007 five-disc Ultimate Collectors Edition and 2012 30th-Anniversary Collector's Edition releases.

<i>Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li</i> 2009 American film

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li is a 2009 American martial arts action film based upon the Street Fighter video game series produced by Capcom. Directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak from a screenplay written by Justin Marks, the film serves as a non-canonical spin-off and theatrical tie-in to Street Fighter IV (2008). The story follows the quest of Street Fighter character Chun-Li, played by Kristin Kreuk, before the events of the original Street Fighter. The film co-stars Neal McDonough as M. Bison, Chris Klein as Charlie Nash, Michael Clarke Duncan as Balrog, and Black Eyed Peas member Taboo as Vega.

<i>Stargate SG-1</i> season 1 Season of television series

The first season of the military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1 commenced airing on the Showtime channel in the United States on July 27, 1997, concluded on the Sci Fi channel on March 6, 1998, and contained 22 episodes. The show itself is a spin-off from the 1994 hit movie Stargate written by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich. Stargate SG-1 re-introduced supporting characters from the film universe, such as Jonathan "Jack" O'Neill and Daniel Jackson and included new characters such as Teal'c, George Hammond and Samantha "Sam" Carter. The first season was about a military-science expedition team discovering how to use the ancient device, named the Stargate, to explore the galaxy. However, they encountered a powerful enemy in the film named the Goa'uld, who are bent on destroying Earth and all who oppose them.

<i>Alien</i> (film) 1979 film by Ridley Scott

Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Dan O'Bannon, based on a story by O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett. It follows a spaceship crew who investigate a derelict spaceship and are hunted by a deadly extraterrestrial creature. The film stars Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, and Yaphet Kotto. It was produced by Gordon Carroll, David Giler, and Walter Hill through their company Brandywine Productions and was distributed by 20th Century-Fox. Giler and Hill revised and made additions to the script; Shusett was the executive producer. The alien creatures and environments were designed by the Swiss artist H. R. Giger, while the concept artists Ron Cobb and Chris Foss designed the other sets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Walker (film editor)</span> British film editor

Joe Walker is a British film editor who has worked in both England and Los Angeles. In 2022, he won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for his work on Dune, having been nominated twice before for 12 Years a Slave and Arrival. For the American Cinema Editors Award for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic he has received a string of five nominations over eight years and in 2016 he won, for Arrival. He took the European Film Award for Best Editor for Shame in 2012 and Satellite Award for Best Editing for Sicario in 2016.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Rollerball (2002)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films . Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  2. ↑ Meza, Ed (May 8, 2002). "Helkon breaks distrib ties with Buena Vista". Variety . Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  3. 1 2 Harris, Dana (May 4, 2000). "MGM, Atlas pact for pix". Variety . Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  4. ↑ "ROLLERBALL (15)". British Board of Film Classification . February 14, 2002. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 "Rollerball (2002)". British Film Institute . Archived from the original on December 31, 2018. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 "Rollerball". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  7. ↑ "The Way 'Rollerball' Bounces - Page 2 - Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on October 13, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  8. ↑ Harry Knowles (June 7, 2001). "ROLLERBALL (2001) test print Review". Aint It Cool News.
  9. ↑ "ROLLERBALL still sucks'". Aint It Cool News. February 5, 2002.
  10. ↑ "The Way 'Rollerball' Bounces". Los Angeles Times . February 6, 2002.
  11. ↑ "ROLLERBALL to be gutted to PG-13 and released Feb. 8th!". Aint It Cool News.
  12. ↑ "The John McTiernan's ROLLERBALL page". www.conancompletist.com.
  13. ↑ "Rollerball (2002)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango . Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Rollerball". Metacritic . Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  15. ↑ "ROLLERBALL (2002) B-". CinemaScore . Archived from the original on December 20, 2018.
  16. 1 2 Ebert, Roger. "Rollerball movie review & film summary (2002)". Chicago Sun-Times .
  17. ↑ Eller, Claudia, "The costliest box office flops of all time, Los Angeles Times (January 15, 2014)
  18. ↑ "Past Winners Database". The Envelope at LA Times. Archived from the original on August 15, 2007. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
  19. ↑ Alex Ben Block (January 15, 2013). "'Die Hard' Director John McTiernan Headed to Prison After Supreme Court Denies Appeal". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  20. ↑ Johnson, Ted (October 4, 2010). "Judge sentences McTiernan to year in prison". Variety.
  21. ↑ Shprintz, Janet; McClintock, Pamela (September 24, 2007). "John McTiernan sentenced to prison : Die Hard director lied to FBI about Pellicano". Variety.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.