THE FILM
FILM DIRECTOR: Norman Jewison
SCREENWRITER: William Harrison
FILM STARS: James Caan, John Houseman, Maud Adams, John Beck, Moses Gunn, Ralph Richardson, Burt Kwouk.
COUNTRY: USA
THIS BOOK
AUTHOR: William Harrison
TYPE: Short Story
PUBLISHER: Orbit
THIS EDITION PUBLISHED: 1975
COUNTRY: Great Britain
COVER: Paperback
THE ORIGINAL BOOK
ORIGINAL AUTHOR: As Above
YEAR FIRST PUBLISHED: 1973
ORIGINAL BOOK TITLE: Roller Ball Murder (Short Story)
NOTES
GENRE: Sci Fi
WORDS: The book is a collection of short stories, including the one the film is based on, by sci fi writer William Harrison. Harrison expands this short story into a screenplay for a (just over) two hour film. And it works. Every kid in the 70s loved this film, though as kids we were drawn to the action. There is philosophising and the “near future” of institutionalised violence, corporate sport and anti-individual capitalism is more “near’ than “future”. I’m not sure the deliberate pace and pauses for contemplation would appeal to many of the youth of today who have been brought up on the wham bam of the superhero universe. Caan in Rollerball was superhero enough for us. There was a superficial, bland remake made in 2002.
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An entertaining movie. It did a good job of conveying an air of dystopian menace. James Caan is a very good actor who didn’t get as many worthwhile roles as he should have.
I think Caan got a lot of good roles, especially in the 1970s and 80s. His career is lengthy and the good roles seem small by comparison, perhaps.